Windy days in La Linea

We had the usual 0400 start this morning to get to Gatwick in time for the Easyjet flight. The flight itself was a bit boring as there was a lot of cloud around. We saw a bit of the Golfe du Morbihan and then nothing till we were approaching southern Spain and even then, there was a lot of cloud around. I enjoyed the landing. The pilot had warned us that with the wind just south of west it would be a bit bumpy. There was a bit of turbulence but nothing too much.

The wind has been blowing very hard though and after a bit of nap we were just getting ready to go to the shops when it started raining. It has been belting down and has also shown a leak around the galley which will have to be found and sorted out.

Still, it is nice to be down here still and now the rain looks like easing off I will go and get some supplies.

Thursday now and the rain has definitely gone. The wind has however been in the north or north west which has meant chilly nights though it is nice and warm in the day. We Sunday to walk out to Europa Point and in an extravagant moment, I bought a long lens for the camera. So far it is great and also quite long as well. 300 mm is really at the limit of being able to do hand held pictures.

We have also acquired two 24 m lengths of rope to replace the halyards but now find that the splicing kit I bought doesn't have a needle for threading the core so another visit to Gibraltar is called for.

Lastly, I started looking at the starter motor on the engine as it has not been working properly as the gear has not been engaging with the flywheel properly. Getting it off looked really difficult as the nuts holding it to the main engine block are extremely tight. On a whim, I tried starting the engine and it worked fine. The bit of banging I gave it as well as a long rest has obviously done it some good. We would still really like to replace it with a nice shiny new Beta engine but will have to wait for redundancy or Mr Camelot to help out there! The fuel filters need changing and I should really change the oil as well but will need to check that we can dispose of used filters and such like.

19/04
Well, we bought two lengths of braided three strand rope to replace the halyards along with a couple of splicing needles. I have managed to get so far with the one designated as the main halyard. The essential process is to pull some of the core out at the beginning of the loop and then thread it up inside the cover. You then repeat the process for the excess cover and voilà! You have a loop. The principle is easy enough, it is just the effort in getting the additional core and cover to sit inside the core above the loop. I did eventually get the core to do what it should but have now ground to a halt with getting the needle threaded down to pull the cover up. There must be some technique that I am missing as riggers do not all have forearms like Popeye.

The wind continues strong from the north west which is making a sail across the straits increasingly unlikely. We could have a great sail to Cueta but then a vicious beat back across a very busy shipping lane.

We may wind up getting the ferry in the end.

We have now purchased a day's wifi here so I will post this. The wind continues howling seven most of the time with a few gusts to eight. I don't think we are going to get any sailing in. Still, it is a nice relaxing time here.