Changing Nav Plans

Marina Bay, Gibraltar

GS (aka Chief Navigator) has made plans….yet again.  A non-sailing one and a sailing one this time as we will have a guest aboard come October. 

The Motleys are setting off for a trip to Morocco mid-September, leaving WJ3 snug in her Marina Bay berth.  Our foray into the deserts of northern Africa will be on tour (Intrepid if you’re interested in the itinerary) leaving from Casablanca and finishing in Marrakech. No navigation, no anchoring, no planning, no tourist research, no driving and no worries!  We think this may be a precursor for our future Med travels.  We normally do well hitting coastal spots, making forays into immediate landscapes and researching our own historical and local information.  Sometimes though, you just miss too many chunks in the “whole” story and, since our chances of being back this way are slim, thought this just the ticket.  So, sign me up Scotty!  Captain and Ms Motley will join the coach tour set.  They promise to behave – don’t they, Cap’n, hmmmm?

This is the itinerary for our 2012 Morocco Tour.
Now, we just have to get ourselves to Casablanca!

Our next announcement is that we have crew arriving in October to help us sail back to Lagos.  The Cap’n is excited to have an all (old**) girl crew, reviving hopes of one day, having a Bow Bunny (BB) aboard.  His dream may not be quite dashed yet.  GS is looking forward to having conversations that don’t revolve around boats, new boating equipment, boating manuals, power tools for boats or lately, rugby. 

For our guest’s sake, this is our intended route back to Lagos (disclaimer: over 4 weeks; weather & time permitting; on crew approval):

Gibraltar.  A few days to recover from jet lag and take in the sights.  A chance to meet the neighbours and do a bit of monkeying around on top of the Rock…

Smir, Morocco.  Just be sure WJ3’s really out of the EU.  Taking time for a ride up to Chefchaouen to walk through blue streets of the walled Medina to the Kasbar…  

Cueta, Spain.  (said “suit  a”)  A Spanish enclave on the African coast to wait out the right tides and winds to get from the Med back into Atlantic waters.

Cadiz, Spain.  Taking history lessons in one of Spain’s oldest, most notable port cities.  Their ham (jamon) and sherry is also highly recommended.

Seville, Spain.  Doing flamenco whilst munching tapas in famous tascas! (Drinking fresh orange juice of course!). To get close to Seville, we'll cruise up the Guadalquivir River and anchor near Gelves.

Rio Guadiana.  Borders Spain & Portugal.  We hope to have time to spend a few days exploring rural towns that dot this navigable waterway.  As long as we can get under that bridge near Ayamonte though….

Faro, Portugal.  Anchor in a small lagoon behind Culatra, a barrier island,  to do a bit of stork-watching (in the Parque Natural de Ria Formosa) then a quick swim in cold Atlantic waters before exploring Faro’s old town (fun dinghy ride included in price). 

Portimao, Portugal.  A chance to swim, eat freshly caught seafood and relax on a pleasant beach or two.

Lagos, Portugal.  Haul out time.  Lagos has an old town to explore, more than a few restaurants and a nice beach 2 minutes from the boatyard.  Other activities - as time permits!

Meanwhile, our BB will (patriotically) have to wear her red bikini in Spain, her blue/white one in Portugal and her green one in Morocco (under her djellaba).  Not much more required in her suitcase really. 

**Our guest-to-be is rather younger than the Motleys, however she is a veteran visitor having spent time in Malaysia with us.  Whilst there, she ran the Port Dickson Hash through cobra infested palm oil & rubber plantations with the pack and an equally athletic Cap’n.  Ahhh, memories!!!)

No Pressing Engagements

Gibraltar

Given that Gibraltar is a mere 8 km square (with most of it uphill in a really steep way) and the Motleys here for an extended stay, touristico activities have just had to be metered out.  A Lent for globalistas, if you will!  Of course it’s August and the place is crowded as only a small town can be when almost daily, huge cruise liners disgorge thousands.  Those are not good days to be lining up in the heat for the one and only cable car.

Gibraltar was once a garrison town.  It is not pretty and its ramparts stocky and grey; this is no fairyland castle but real and tested fortifications.  Gibraltar has a long history as an outpost with significant strategic advantage as our visit to the Museum testified.  Rather than regale you with historic detail, Wiki has this interesting summary.  Meanwhile, political issues continue to bubble between Spain and Britain over Gibraltar.  To celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee, Gibraltarians projected a large picture of the Queen on the Rock’s steep north face.  Spain took offence and protested.  Meanwhile, even eggs sold at the supermarket are individually branded British….

Royal Engineer Gates Alameda Gardens

We began our tour at Casemates Square; a large open precinct that has seen life as a barracks, an ammunition depot and a site of punishment.  The last public execution is said to have taken place in the 1860’s.  From here we did battle with ship crowds that flooded Main Street and its duty free shops.  We escaped down Irish Town, a narrower and cooler pedestrian thoroughfare eventually surfacing at the Referendum Gates (renamed in 1967).  Here, against the Garrison walls is a small but well cared for cemetery.  Some of the graves are of those who perished in the Battle of Trafalgar (1805).  Nelson, also a victim of this battle, was preserved in a casket of brandy (as you may remember from our Caribbean commentary), and brought to Gibraltar before being transported to the UK for burial.  We thought you would enjoy this, cemetery visit Karen, particularly as the sentiments (the brightest ornament - see below) are so charming!

Battle of Cadiz 1810 (topped with a canon ball)

Battle of Trafalgar 1805

Nearby is a rather brittle Alameda (Botanical) Gardens (1816). Not due of course to its age, but rather that it’s the height of the Mediterranean summer.  We wandered through dry garden beds, admired turtles basking in a green, lush dell, became annoyed that soldiers were docked a day’s wages to pay for Wellington’s marble bust, sat by a tiled fountain (opened very recently by Prince Edward & Countess of Wessex) and wondered about the statue of Molly Bloom.  (She was a character featuring in James Joyce’s “Ulysses”, (1922).  Molly had come from Gibraltar.) 

Cooling off by the fountain in the Alameda Gardens

By this stage we needed a beer and retreated, with loads of other visitors, to the Angry Friar for a pint before doing battle back down to WJ3’s marina berth.  We had nothing to complain about though.  This marks our 5^th year of endless summer.

On Tour with Hercules #1

 Hercules in Gibraltar

10^th Herculean Labour: The Cattle of Geryon

Ancient Greeks knew the northern entrance to the Mediterranean, the Rock of Gibraltar and its southerly counterpart across the strait, Jebel Musa as the Gates (or Pillars) of Hercules.  According to legend, Hercules created these pillars to commemorate his rather epic voyage westwards in a goblet** .  Well, that's how one story goes.  Needless to say, there are many, many variations on a theme here, so we"ll follow the story of our hero in the the footsteps of mythographer , Apollodorus.  (See Wiki links Apollodorus and The labours of Hercules.)

Gibraltar Strait is thought to be the location of the 10^th Herculean Labour. (Are you seeing a chance for a bit of a theme here?)  In this neck of the woods, Hercules was obliged to fight Geryon, a three-headed, six legged ogre for his famous cattle.  The cows (were just that!) wandered and gods meddled, so getting said beasties back home to Greece was the most challenging part of his task.  A good Aussie cattle dog would have done him proud, right?

We'll add photos and further finds about our hero as we meander through the Mediterranean and opportunities arise.  There is nothing left on Gibraltar of the shrines and temples said to have been set up for ancients & the adventurous who ventured here seeking a bit of godly advice, safe journeys and perhaps refuge from the elements.  At the very least, I imagine!

Moon's Clap

Gibraltar

Gibraltar Rock sits like a slice of Victoria sponge, a crowning glory on the shores of the Med.  In truth, it is more a layer cake of history; caves in its vast Jurassic limestone cliffs offered shelter to Neanderthal Man, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Moors & other Islamic conquerors, Spanish and British masters.  It was the last stop in what could have been a nasty, one-way ride over the waterfall at land’s end.  

Engraving from Wiki

When winds blow from the Levante (mystic east), great swirls of cloud engulf the rock in extraordinary aerobatics.  There is often not another cloud in the sky.  It is easy to see how the ancients imagined it imbued with mysterious powers, a place for the gods. The Phoenicians called it Mons Calpe and its twin across the Strait, Mons Abyla.  The Greeks called them the Gates (or Pillars) of Hercules. 

What is this, an upscaled Tardis? 
Patriotic Public Rest Rooms of course!

The Museum didn’t mention Hercules.  It held other, less improbable treasures.  Housed in the old Ordinance Depot (or Bomb House) this unassuming rabbit warren of displays holds some surprising finds.  Foremost would have to be a replica of the 1848 find in Forbes’ Quarry – an adult Neanderthal skull.  This and other discoveries, including a Neanderthal child, settled Gibraltar’s caves as a rich storehouse of ancient dead.  Excavations by experts continue.

The caption says it all - this man existed some 60,000 years ago!!

Another room revealed a mysterious Egyptian mummy (800 BC), complete with wooden caskets.  It was found floating in the Bay in the 1930’s – little more is known about it.  (Perhaps there’s more smuggled than we imagine?)  A further treat was found down in the dank underground basement.  A once-luxurious 14^th c Moorish bath-house, complete with steam room and refreshing pool to cool off after a massage and sauna, had been excavated.  During its long life, this complex once served as stables to the Military Depot. It is gratifying to see, as we discover more about our history, we try to preserve and learn from it.

Wiki is a great start to (on-line) learning more about Gibraltar's extensive history.  Interestingly, Gibraltar's current name is a derivative of Jabal Ṭāriq, after an Islamic conqueror, 711.  Gibraltar had become a destination of religious pilgrimage for many peoples of the Mediterranean since Neanderthal times; many were travellers and sailors as they headed out into the wilds of the Atlantic to the unknown beyond.  No wonder it has an aura of mystery, sending a chill up your spine, especially when ringed in cloud.

A Jolly Voyage

For those interested, we’ve made significant progress with updating our posts from 2008-2010.  These are WJ3’s voyages through the Caribbean, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, into the Atlantic ICW along America’s east coast, then up to Maine.  All that remains is to replace the photos still held on Typepad (that will disappear when we close down the account) and correct a few glitches in the editing.  More of "something to do" when we get home!

English Harbour, Antigua 2008

So, if you missed the story, want to reminisce with us or just need something to read, follow Windjammer’s first few years here in blogger limelight.  Or try the new link on the right or the Tab above.  Our path is still shown on WJ3's map and tracker.  Enjoy...

Crabbing at Great Bridge, the ICW (Virginia) USA 2009

Meanwhile, it's high season here in Gib and demands on the internet are such that good reception at the marina is a hit & miss affair (even at 3 in the morning) and posting of photos almost always impossible.  Going for a beer is expensive in this British enclave, so even our visits to bars & cafe wifi venues are "infrequent".  The Cap'n has taken up cross border incursions... to re-stock the "pantry". (wink! wink!)  We call it Survival Training.  So, we really are here.  We're really not doing much.  Because we can't.  And we're really, really, loving it!!!

Meeting Many Rules

Marina Bay, Gibraltar

We’ve done our homework and decided.  We are not moving.  Gibraltar has the pleasure of our company until early October.  Here we will rest the Captain’s still ailing wrist and here we can hide away (legally) out of the Schengen area. 

Cloud settles over the Rock in a Levante (wind from the east)

WJ3 can roll into her next 18 month limit (or we pay VAT – at 23%...gasp, gurgle gurgle!!) and we too will have some respite from the ever-clicking 90 day Schengen limit.  (After 90 days, we can’t re-enter any Schengen country for a further 90 days).  Long term tourist visas are out of the question.  Finding non-Schengen countries close by is difficult – Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia….  Portugal is happy to extend our stay marginally, giving us time to haul out and fly home from Faro.   

And our neighbour's dog just loves fixing things - he's a Springer Spaniel, natch!

We had toyed with the idea of going to Cueta or Smir on the African coast.  Both would have to be stays in marinas anyway and they are reported to be more expensive than Gib.  Cueta is a Spanish enclave, so we would have to set the Schengen clock ticking again and Smir, a Moroccan port is a bit of an unknown (no dockage rates on the web and it’s currently Ramadan).  Duty free Gib then, gets our vote; supermarkets full of brands we know, cuts of meat we can cook, beer we can drink and a few friends to monkey around with.  So here we are, snug as two bugs in a British rug.  And yes, that’s really a roast (British) lamb you can smell in the oven.  Who knows, maybe we’ll be ordering a satellite TV dish shortly too....

Yars, this dockside business is the life for us. 

Clearing Out (or In?)

For those of you who noted the yellow flag our Captain clutched as we docked in Gib, you are quite right, that is not the Gibraltar flag and no, we do not have the plague. It is our Q flag and we are required to fly it from the starboard spreaders as we enter each new country. A quarantine or sort of “crossing the border”flag!  Otherwise we would be simply be, ummm errrrr, illegals…..

Once docked or anchored, the Captain (and occasionally crew) must report to the authorities with passports and boat papers. Sometimes we even need to take a list of on-board items such as electronics, cigarettes and alcohol – just in case we decide to sell them whilst in country. In Trinidad for instance, we could trade but not sell any unwanted boat bits. It’s all about tax.

Some even have a drawbridge...wonder if there's a cannon too?

As soon as we are cleared in, the Q flag is downed and a small courtesy flag hoisted – of that particular country. That way, when the coast guard do their checks, as they regularly do, we are on their computers. That way they know whether we have overstayed our Schengen allowance (90 days) or not paid up on a myriad of revenue-raising minor taxes (lighthouse tax??). Fines are so unattractive.

We visited Nelson.  It seemed the right thing to do under the circumstances..

It goes without saying that we wear a larger Aussie flag from our stern. Our current flag is a little “windswept” but will do for the moment. Some nationals enjoy flying flags the size of bed sheets. We’re a little more modest (and in keeping with convention). We also have few club pennants, burgees (a nice RANSA one), a boxing kangaroo and even a Dangar Island flag that we can raise when the occasion demands it.  GS even brought some prayer flags (from Nepal) to dress WJ3 when she needs to look smart. So far, the Dalai Lama hasn’t visited us in Portugal. Or Spain. But you never know…

(I found this Flag Etiquette information on the RANSA site if you’re interested in finer points. Look under the Membership tab.)