Departing Gibraltar

Restowing the Lazaret (aka garage)

Finally the winter maintenance tasks are completed the spare parts have arrived, all gear is stowed and we are now ready for departure. Our first stop is only a short passage of 130NM up the coast to Almerimar in Spain.  This will (hopefully) be a short stop over to have some minor stainless steel (anchor pin) and fibreglass repair jobs (no we haven't hit anything - yet!) completed.  All going well we will then be off on our first passage in the Med to Palma in the Baleares Islands.  After three months in the marina we are very keen to get underway sailing again.   
 

 

Puente Nuevo

Filling our 6 kg propane gas cylinder was not possible in Gibraltar and required a 45min trip up the coast to Estepona in Spain. While possible to catch a local bus, we decided to hire a car stopping at Estepona and then visiting Rhonda, about a 2hr drive from Gibraltar. Established in the 9th century Rhonda is one of the most ancient cities in Spain and is high in the mountains. Rhonda is spectacular location with a rich history, dating back to Islamic times with  the Moorish city walls and mosques still evident along with a Roman theatre carved out of rock.
 



The Puente Nuevo (New Bridge) is the "newest" bridge & largest of three bridges that span the 120mtr chasm of the Guadalevin River.The bridge was started in 1751 and took 42 years to build. The chamber above the central arch was used for a variety of purposes, including a prison.  Allegedly some prisoners were killed by being thrown from the windows during the Spanish Civil War.

   


We visited the bullring in Rhonda which is recognised as the first purpose built space for fighting bulls. At 66 meter diameter it is the largest, and most dangerous bullring with seating for 5,000.  After six years of building, the first bull fight occurred in 1758. The bull fighting museum provided an excellent history of bullfighting, the matadors and customs. We learned about the infamous Pedro Romero who retired from the art of bullfighting after killing 5,000 bulls without suffering any personal injury. 

Over the last few weeks we have been studying the weather forecasts in anticipation of departing. Over the next two months we need to get to Greece - basically heading east for roughly 2,000 NM. Below is last week's forecast, we are hoping we don't see too many like this in the next few months - gale force winds from the east for most of the Med.

Below are some photo's from Rhonda.

 

 

A missed calling possibly?

 

Winter Lay Over

Oven Repairs = no cooking for 6 days

After almost three months in Gibraltar our winter task list is almost complete with Sabbaticus showing the results of the constant attention and many hours of labour.  How naive we were to think we could have managed paid employment during our winter stop over - surprisingly the boat tasks have been all consuming. 

Attaching tell tales to the main

Our maintenance lists now shows 65 tasks completed, while satisfying there is always more to do which ensures there is never a dull day without activity.  The range of tasks have included; three coats of polish on the fibreglass, diving the boat to inspect and clean the hull, repairing the oven, sewing covers for the NAV plotter and outboard motor,installing a new winch control unit, oil changes, fitting the fishing rod holder, getting the sails re-cut and new shorter battens installed, servicing all (7) winch's and the windless (for the anchor), replacing the bow, gas and lazaret locker seals, cleaning the teak decks, restocking the boat, refueling the diesel, reading and planning the passage to Greece   .... the list just goes on so we will stop there!
 

Servicing the winch's

While none of these tasks are difficult it is surprising how much time is spent researching to find the right part number, sourcing the spares, talking with manufacturers on the repair process and then waiting for the spares to arrive.  We have sourced parts now from the UK, Canada and Sweden, ironically the UK parts always take the longest (up to 3 weeks) to arrive through the postal and subsequent customs process.  A simple task of collecting spares from the courier required four different office calls at the airport before the spares were released by customs.  Logistics can be so frustrating at times and is not assisted when the incorrect part is shipped and then everything shuts down for Christmas holidays resulting in another delay!  Thankfully the UK Oyster Customer Support provided by Sam has been invaluable at collating our spares order and sending one consignment avoiding more costs with customs clearance for each shipment. Lessons learned have showed us the advantage of being in one location for an extended period to access wifi, receive parts and re-stock spares used.

Anti-Chafe destroyed

Katabatic winds in the marina

Our winter has been very mild with only about 2 weeks total of wet weather which has made it easier to complete our 'outside jobs'.  We have experienced some katabatic winds, resulting in gusts up to 50kts in the marina, the wind indicator misaligned and corresponding surges for a few days. At time like this it would have been good to be living on land and not have the disturbed sleep hearing the constant noise, groans and movement of Sabbaticus as she strains on her mooring lines. Although we had spent considerable time researching and then procuring anti-chafe webbing from the UK - after three days of surge the anti-chafe was worn through which was disappointing.  

Refueling at Gibraltar was a pleasure with tax free diesel at .39p the tanks (total capacity of 770 litres) are now filled for our passage across the Med. We are now waiting for our last two spares to arrive so that we can start heading east to ensure we are in Greece by May to meet Maree and Colin (John's sister and brother-in-law) who are joining us for six weeks cruising the Greek Islands. 

Refueling in anticipation of leaving

 Time to start passage planning for our trip across the Med ........

Living in Gibraltar

View of Gibraltar looking towards Spain

We have now spent six weeks living in Gibraltar and are starting to feel like locals who are enjoying the mild winter temperatures of 15 - 20 degs.  We even have library membership where there is no cost for borrowing new releases and the fine for an overdue book is 1 penny per day!  Instead of writing about the endless boat maintenance tasks this blog will provide an introduction to Gibraltar.

Gibraltar has an extensive and rich history and is recognised as the southernmost points of Europe.  It is  strategically positioned at the entrance to the Mediterranean, forming one of the ancient Pillars of Hercules. Gibraltar is small, just six square kms in total, the average width is 1.25km and the distance around the island is only 16kms with the highest point at 426mtrs.

Morocco - a short distance away

Border Crossing to La Linea

Spain is a short walk across the border and Morocco is only 24kms across the straits. It is easy to cross the border into Spain with about 30,000 workers and tourists crossing daily into Gibraltar. Given the small land mass & local population of 35,000, and daily influx of workers/visitors, surprisingly Gibraltar does not feel crowded with most people living in apartments.  The roads are busy at peak hours with scooters a popular mode of transport - this is despite the free buses for locals. 

The Tower of Homage remains of the Moorish Castle

Gibraltar is steeped in history combining civilisations and cultures dating back thousands of years. A very brief summary is Gibraltar was under Moorish domination for seven centuries, taken over by the Christians for 24 years in the 14th century and then recaptured by Spain. Gibraltar remained Spanish until 1704 when it fell to a combined Anglo-Dutch force. After this conflict Gibraltar was then ceded to the UK in perpetuity.  Though this did not stop the Spanish with many bloody conflicts to regain the Rock.  The four year "Great Siege" from 1779-1783 was an attempt by Spain to take back Gib. They failed. Spain again attempted to reclaim Gibraltar in 1969 which resulted in the border being closed for 13 years.  Political tensions continue to this day. 

The Mosque of The Custodian of The Holy Mosques

We like the cultural mix of Gibraltarian's today with the racial and religious harmony that is evident with a mosque, synagogue and churches all in close proximity and actively supported. The mosque, built in 1997 by the late King of Saudi Arabia, is said to be possibly the most expensive mosque in Europe per sq mtr costing five million pounds. The mosque complex’s ground floor area covers 985 sq mtrs and contains the Imam’s house, accommodation facilities for the caretaker, six classrooms, a conference hall, a morgue, library, administration offices, a kitchen and ablution facilities. For the opening the Saudi royal family and entourage required 60 limousines & associated security. I can only imagine the logistics planning required for the opening ceremony.

Not surprisingly both English and Spanish is taught in the schools.  We are now used to hearing a fluent Spanish speaker with a Brit accent and have adapted to most businesses closing for an extended lunch hour.

One of the reasons for the English success in the four year siege are the 'The Great Siege Tunnels' which  are heralded as one of the most impressive defence systems devised by man.  The tunnels were built into the Rock to allow the guns and companies of men to live there and withstand the siege. The tunnels were further extensively developed during WW2 on the direction of Churchill who believed an attack on Gibraltar was imminent.   As a result today there are now 48kms of tunnels in the Rock!  These are impressive to view - especially given they were built to accommodate 16,000 troops for a period up to one year complete with power, water supply and sanitary arrangements.  The allied African campaign was run from these tunnels.  

Gibraltar has a strong economy with 10% growth last year, and is VAT (=NZ GST) free, and is famous for cheap fuel, perfumes and alcohol - a 1 ltr of Bombay Gin is only  NZ$16 - one could easily become an alcoholic here at these prices! Gibraltar is also famous for the  'Barbary Apes' which are a species of tail-less monkeys from North Africa that inhabit the upper reaches of the Rock.  

Relaxed in his pose .. 

These are the only free-living monkeys in Europe today with approx 160 of them living in the natural reserve at the top of the Rock.  I was definitely not keen on them as they are known to jump on people to access their back packs for food (one tourist was recently badly bitten).  Hence on this hike I had our lunch box securely sealed in John's back pack just in case they could smell it!  There are fines of 4,000 pound for feeding the monkeys. Despite being semi-wild monkeys they did seem quite used to being relatively close to people.

 

A visit to Gibraltar wouldn't be complete with a hike up the steep Mediterranean Steps which required a few stops to catch your breath on the way up. The steps runs mainly along the South- eastern side of the Rock, an area that is primarily cliffs! The view from the steps are breathtaking, taking in the Mediterranean Sea, Spain and Morocco.  

We are enjoying our 'winter over' in Gibraltar and the ease of living in a small town but having access to La Linea for greater variety of hardware stores. Thankfully everything is in walking distance which keeps us fit.  Our daily exercise now sees us alternating between a hike up the Rock, pilates in the local park, or a run out to the lighthouse before starting 'work'. Once we get sailing again we will miss the hill climbs and spectacular views.

View from the Eastern side looking North to the Spanish Coast

View looking NW towards La Linea, Spain

Border crossing is across the runway

Spain in the distance across Gibraltar Bay

Our current berth in Queensway Quay Marina

The next blog update will focus on the boat maintenance that is being completed.  If only to dispel the myth that we are sitting around all day enjoying G&T's on deck!

Arrival in Gibraltar

We have been in Gibraltar for a month now and have been busy in maintenance mode - so the blog updates have slipped while we make the most of the mild winter to get the outside tasks completed. The trip from Cadiz to Gibraltar at 80 NM was our shortest, and last, trip for 2014. We opted for a late departure from Cadiz at 1730hrs to ensure we arrived in Gibraltar during daylight hours. While the plan was good, we had stronger winds than forecasted with the main and geona reefed at 3/4 for the duration of the trip with excellent sailing conditions. We arrived at the entrance to Gibraltar on 13 Dec at 0500hrs - so much for daylight hours! This was a particularly taxing arrival due to the volume of shipping traffic with both of us staying on watch from 0300hrs to ensure no collisions. It was like a city coming into the straits of Gibraltar with all the ships lit up.  

Qcean Village Marina

After completing our check-in process and hot showers it was time for breakfast then a much needed sleep.  I was fully prepared with my PJs on making breakfast while John completed his final checks on deck.  It was then we realised the docks were not floating - a major problem for us as the davits (and the dinghy) were overhanging the concrete dock.  You would think this would be easily solved, just move the boat further away from the dock - this would work but then we could not get on or off the boat.  Okay, take the dinghy off and retract the davits - yes that works but there was nowhere to keep the dingy for an extended period and it won't (easily) fit on our foredeck.  

Safely berthed at Queensway Marina

With the rising tide we would have woken to a damaged dinghy and davits and no way of getting off the boat.  So much for a sleep!  To give ourselves some time to assess the situation (noting this was to be a long term stop over) we initially moved the boat to a temporary finger pier (alongside berth).  With only two marina's in Gibraltar there are not many options. I had contacted Queensway Marina (the other marina) for a berth but they had not confirmed availability so we walked down to see if they had floating docks and a spare berth.  Fortunately they had both so it was back onboard and our third move in less than four hours of arriving - and yes another Med mooring!  Queensway Marina is a small marina surrounded by apartment blocks and restaurants, with good security and quiet location (no runway) with a good view of 'The Rock. 

View from our berth

We are now back into a 'work mode' as we catch up on a myriad of boat tasks.  These have included finally taking out the passarelle (a boarding platform to get on/off the stern of the boat when Med moored), five months after purchasing a 8HP, 2 stroke outboard motor it was fitted to the dinghy and run, completing some minor repairs, installing a new deck wash pump, replacing the port winch power control board (which had previously failed), stripping and cleaning all seven winches and the windlass and the never ending task of cleaning and polishing the GRP and stainless steel. Thankgoodness for audio books and podcasts to listen to while working.

Testing the outboard - or playing!

While we had planned on one month in Gib sourcing spares from the UK, and being delivered the wrong items (it always comes back to logistics!) compounded by the Christmas holidays has meant our time here will be extended. Although our Christmas Day was quiet with just the two of us we are now settled into Gib and enjoying the ease of living on a small island with a population of 35,000 and an area of 6.4sq km - it is so easy to walk everywhere. We have only had one day of rain in the month and the temps are mild - with highs of 20 degs and over night low of 10 degs - this is better than a Welly winter:). We are a short 10 min walk to the town's shopping area and a 30 minutes walk to cross the border into Spain for a greater variety of shops and more competitive euro prices. With 35,000 people daily crossing into Gibraltar during winter the border crossing can get busy - just as well passports are not stamped as the queues would be long even longer. It is certainly faster to walk across the border than travel by car or scooter, however, it is interesting to note a resurgence in political tension between the UK and Spain over the status of Gibraltar!  Hmmm - must look at our insurance - don't want to be caught in any incident that could be characterized as an act of war for which we are not covered. LOL!

Border Crossing from La Linea to Gibraltar - easy but political tensions remain!

The passarelle - akin to walking a plank

Looking down on Queensway Marina

As a result of questions we have received we have now added a page called 'about the yacht' which provides information on Sabbaticus and her systems for the yachties out there. 

Our next blog will cover the more interesting tourist highlights of Gibraltar.  Below is one of the 'locals' we see on a regular basis when doing our daily exercise on The Rock.