Webcam

Turns out Puerto Alcaidesa have a webcam

webcam

We are on the third finger from the left. You can just make her out near the root of the pontoon.

Back in Harness

Well, I have now been back at home for a week. I still dream that I am on the boat at night but now manage to feel the edge of the bed and not leap out to deal with dragging anchors or whatever. That is a relief for Audrey of course.

Getting back into the routine of work has been a bit more challenging but we need to keep plugging away at that for now.

Today was more fun with a run down to Bursledon and the rash purchase of a Rutland 913 windmill. We had a bit of heart searching about it and as Force4 are offering a good deal on the complete kit at the moment it seemed sensible to get it now. We wondered if we should spend the extra ninety quid on the newer 914 but feel that the 913 should be able to provide for our modest needs.

Another purchase has been Lynn and Paul Chandler's harrowing book about their year and a bit in captivity courtessy of Somali Pirates. I am reading it on the tube to and from work. Although you know it has a happy ending it is still very difficult reading and a salutory lesson in how badly the whole thing can go wrong. They are working hard on getting Lynn Rival back in shape ready for more cruising. The book can be purchased here:At Amazon as well as other bookshops etc.

Plans for the future are still quite nebulous but we are currently favouring the idea of heading up the Mediterranean coast of Spain to France and then through the Canal du Midi with a planned winter over in La Rochelle before repeating the Atlantic coast of Iberia more slowly

It is strange being so far away from the boat and not being able to get down to see her simply by jumping into the car. We hope to get down later in November for a long weekend, as much for Audrey to get a look at her winter home and "do" the Gibraltar thing.

I am going to work on getting some sort of online photo album up so can then present all the indifferent as well as better pictures to an advisedly indifferent world.

Reflections on being back have reinforced more than ever the motto I read a while ago that runs: Live slowly, Sail fast

Finally, you will note that I have skillfully found the tick box that allows paragraph breaks to be inserted into text. I will have to see if I need to go back and edit previous posts or if this is a global setting. Thank you blogger!

More Photos

This is the classic image of Gibraltar really. The cruise is now complete!

Here for reference is a picture of Plymouth as we were leaving it two months ago followed by a picture of the Rock and from where we are now.

Much nicer looking methinks!

Where to now?

Some Photos

The method of incorporating photos on Blogger is quite difficult in the dark with a dodgy wifi connection so I will follow past practise and put a bunch up here.

This is a typical street scene in Cadiz

Barbate is famous for it't tuna which they catch using a system called Almadabra which involves mooring very long nets to the sea bed for the entire summer. They are a particular hazard when navigating the straits. Happily the season was over when we went through but there was this collection of impressive anchors ashore.

The Sraits of Gibraltar are one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world - very similar to the Dover Straits really. This is a picture of the AIS screen when a few miles short of Tarifa. For the uninitiated, each of the triangles represents a ship which could be anything from a yacht to a supertanker. It is not as scary as it might seem since there is a thing called a traffic separation scheme which is like a virtual motorway on the sea and I am outside the TSS and in what is called the Inshore Traffic Zone. Big ships don't go in the ITZ. :-)

Passage Update

We have arrived in Gib. Well, La Linea really of course but there is a dirty great big rock towering over me which kind of makes it Gibraltar for me. I have cracked open one of the Betty Stoggs and drunk it. Now, in honour of the other Iberian country we visited I am having a glass of a very nice Douro wine we acquired somewhere. As I approached the marina I saw a few boats anchored and was suddenly grabbed by the desire to spend a night at anchor so I will be going into the marina tomorrow. It feels very nice to be at anchor though it is also a bit odd to have finished the cruise. It will take a little while for all of that to resolve itself. I have no doubt though that planning future cruising will be a good antidote to any post cruise blues. As I approached the Bahia de Algecireas which is a better name than Bay of Gibraltar the Mediterranean was looking tantalising beyond Europa Point. It feels both great and rather strange to have finally finished. The inevitable question now is what next. We will have to decide what to do now but we can decide that over the next few months. The passage round from Barbate was a very long and tedious motor into the teeth of a very strong wind around Tarifa. The RCCPF guide says that it blows more than thirty knots of wind around Tarifa for 300 days of the year! I had a good thirty and for a while even thirty five which is technically gale force though it wasn't a gale as the wind was so localised. The seas did not build up much but there were unbelievably short and steep being almost less than a boatlength. This seriously slowed us up especially at first as we had a foul tide – I had allowed as much time as possible. The strangest thing was when we got past Isla de Tarifa. Two miles past, and the wind had dropped from a 7 gusting 8 to a force six. Five miles past and we had a force 3 and no wind at all in La Linea. It was a relief that I did not turn back as I did consider at one point.

Found the Place to get a Stronger WIFI here

The signal is impossibly weak on the boat but when I walk all round the marina to the office it works like a dream. Today, was spent in Gibraltar - after tying up here at Marina Alcaidesa in La Linea. The woman in the office was extremely helpful and seemed astounded that I was able to stutter a few words of Spanish. As noted previously, crossing into Gibraltar is a surreal experience. Still, after a quick investigation of Marina Bay for chandleries, I took myself to the cable car and rode it to the top of the rock. This was certainly the best thing to do as you leave the city behind and are treated to spectacular views of both the Ensenada de Algeciras and the Mediterranean to the east. I also found that you can walk down which was a great if rather hot experience. On the way, I visited the old gun batteries and was underwhelmed with the fact that they were able to fire around 29000 yards while North Africa was 25000 odd yards away. Then, I walked out to Europa point but a fog had descended on the straits and Africa was hidden from view. There was also rather a strong smell of drains and, sure enough, the evidence was there and Europa Point seems to be a sewage outfall! Anyway, here are some reflections of arriving yesterday.

We have made it at last. I will get a more detailed posting up soon but we are now established in Marina Alcaidesa literally just over the border from Gibraltar at La Linea. It feels good to have completed the cruise successfully but also a bit strange.

Saw Andy and Katrine Off

The taxi arrived promptly and they are now on their way to La Linea the fast and easy though expensive way. Now the dilemma is when exactly to leave sunny Barbate. The weather window is undoubtedly today and the tide favours a nine start - imminently but I think I will wait till nine thirty as the wind is still dropping and since it is on the nose as little as possible is of the essence really. It was a shame for poor Katrine and Andy to have to miss out the last few miles, not least since an arrival in Gibraltar by sea should be quite a spectacular affair. Still, we are nearly at the end and the Betty Stoggs in the bilges _should_ be drunk today!

Got a wifi here now

The Levanter is still howling away but all the weather sources are confidently predicting it will drop for tomorrow though not go into the west. Too many highs out in the Atlantic I suppose. I don't think that this connection is strong enough to upload photos but here is the text of the last few days anyway. Here, also is the current weather forecast for those of you who can speak Spanish :-) http://www.aemet.es/es/eltiempo/prediccion/maritima?opc1=0&opc2=1&zona=and1 08/10 Well, we are in Barbate now and gearing up for the final leg of them all. We are about 40 miles short of Gibraltar though when people get to read this we will be there as there is no wifi in this marina. The chief benefit of Barbate is that it is a convenient break in the journey from Cadiz to Gibraltar. The trip here was not the nicest one unfortunately. We had a bit of wind out of Cadiz and managed a broad reach for an hour or so until the wind went light. Then, just as we approached Cabo Trafalgar (no pigeons or Nelsons column) it blew up from the east with a proper levanter and we were pushing into a force 7 on the nose with a nasty steep chop to go with it. By contrast, we had a very nice visit to Jerez de La Frontera yesterday with a cheap and reliable train and a good tour of the Gonzales Byass Bodega though I succumbed to buying one of their best sherrys which we will open at Christmas. 09/10 The weather continues frustrating with very strong easterlies. The forecast for today was for a force 7 off Tarifa which I interpreted as being closer to 40 knots and a no go for us. Accordingly, Andy made a very sensible suggestion to get the bus to La Linea and so that they get a chance to visit Gibraltar – henceforward to be referred to as “The Rock” on this blog. Very naff and it will probably not last. We walked into Barbate and found the bus station where there was even a helpful person who sold us tickets to La Barca de Vejer where he assured us we could get a bus onto La Linea. Amazingly, they also meshed quite well in timings but the bus to La Linea took a long time and we only had two hours there. Nearly four hours on the bus for two hours visiting. The bus ride was an enjoyable affair as it passed through some very scenic but windswept valleys full of wind generators before following the coast near Tarifa confirming my interpretation of the weather. Lots of board sailors and kite boarders. The views from the N340 over Algeciras towards The Rock were spectacular and there were also very good views of Africa along with lots of ships in the straits. The two hours on The Rock were chiefly enjoyable for the walk, first through customs and then across the airport runway. We just had time for lunch and then had to rush back to catch the bus for 1600. I will spend some more time there when we eventually get the boat there. Current forecast is for the wind to drop on Tuesday but to stay in the east. I am rapidly warming to the idea of sailing in tradewind areas where you can count on the wind to at least blow from a consistent direction and plan accordingly.

Weatherbound in Barbate

For the last few days there has been a persistent and annoying Levanter which has prevented us from getting anywhere. This is being done from an internet cafe here in Barbate as the marina has no wifi. We have hopes of the wind dropping tomorrow and getting round the final 35 miles to La Linea/Gibraltar.

Some Photos

Rather than try and edit the past post which is a bit of a nightmare. Incidentally, apologies for the lack of paragraph breaks. There seems to be a bit of a funny between blogger and Open Office! I have a reasonably good wifi connection here in the bar at the Puerto Atlantico in Cadiz. Here is a sunset on the first night we spent at anchor in the Ria Formosa. This was just inside the entrance off the Cabo de Santa Maria

Here you have the sand dunes at Culatra. This was one of the true highlights of the cruise discovering this place.

Cadiz is famous in Spanish history for being where the first liberal constitution was written and this is the monument to it. Given the importance of this to the nineteenth and twentieth century history in the Iberian penninsula it was an intriguing experience seeing this monument.

Today we "sat still" here in Cadiz and took the train to Jerez de la Frontera where we visited the Bodega de Gonzalez Byass as well as drinking some sherry and eating some good food. I'll do an update soon.

Longest time yet out of touch

Well, since this cruising malarkey is supposed to be about getting away from it all this should not really come as a surprise but one of the things on the list for the future is going to be some sort of 3G dongle that we can use in different countries. Since the last update a lot has happened and we have both changed crew and country. Poor Audrey had to fly back to the UK on the first of October but Andy and Katrine are enjoying Spain. We are in Cadiz today having arrived about lunchtime and had a walk around the city. Below are the various ramblings from the last few days. 24/09 We are just finishing our second day anchored in Alvor and for a change have moved up to anchor outside the town. Yesterday, we left Lagos and payed the eye watering 86 euro for the two nights we spent there. Although we liked it in there, there is very much a feel of it being an English outpost and it was also nice to get to the quiet of the Alvor lagoon. Alvor is only a couple of miles east of Lagos but, so long as you stay near the entrance and on the boat is a world away being very peaceful though busy with kite boarders when the sea breeze picks up. There were a surprising number of boats anchored there including Tala Hinna who we had met in Muxia and then Baiona. She is en route to the Rio Guadiana. Owing to a massive surplus of onions and garlic thanks to the Pingo Doce supermarket and a miscalculation on my part we were able to pass on some spare ones which were gratefully received. Today, we spent most of it ashore exploring Alvor. It is very touristy and much less nice close to than from a distance. We also made a classic mistake of choosing the first cafe to hand when I felt like a coffee without noticing that everything was in English first and then Portuguese. Cue a thin and watery coffee. At least lunch was an enjoyable affair and we had a nice walk amongst the sand dunes in the afternoon. Tomorrow is on for another change at Portimao which will be a fair sized town though we hope to only spend one day in the marina since they seem so expensive on this coast. 25/09 After another very short passage we are anchored in the entrance to Portimao. The anchorage is quite crowded but is a pleasant spot with the light wind we have at the moment. There is lots going on with dinghies sailing around, powerglider things buzzing overhead and cruise ships leaving. Tomorrow we plan to go into the marina, so this should get updated though we are finally going to get the train and bus out to Sagres. 26/09 We finally got around to doing our trip out to Sagres. We put the boat in the marina for security and also because we wanted to do marina like things such as charge up batteries. More on the marina later. We decided to try the train to Lagos and then the bus on from there. I enjoyed the train though it is a bit of a trek from the marina being at the northern side of town and the marina being right near the mouth of the river. Still, we enjoyed the short train ride and picked out where we had anchored in Alvor. As is typical with such trips, the times didn't mesh at all. We started with a one hour wait at Portimou station and then a thirty minute wait at Lagos bus station. Still, we got to Sagres for a latish lunch and had a very nice if rather expensive lunch in a restaurant overlooking the bay where we had anchored five nights previously. We walked out to the Fortress on the point – supposedly a school of navigation set up by Henry the Navigator. It was a bit underwhelming. It is far more likely that the stuff done by Henry was at Lagos and he just had a fort out on the point though of course, there is little way of telling as Drake attacked the fort then the earthquake in the eighteenth century destroyed it completely. Still it was a good spot to visit and the information provided by the visitor center was amusing if badly translated. We had another half hour wait for the bus and then a further half hour wait at Lagos for an onwards bus to Portimau. The marina has not best pleased us here. It is very expensive as they all seem to be along the Algarve being just short of forty euros a night. They don't have free wifi and the toilets are distinctly poorly maintained. We tried to pick up fuel but an unusual easterly had picked up preventing us from tying up so we left and anchored back on the other side of the Rio Arade. The wifi was particularly unhelpful as they would only sell it for a weekly package rather than by the day. One of the things to look at for our continuing cruising will be a local 3G dongle. 04/10 For various reasons I have not had a chance to update this much recently. We are back in Spain and have also had a crew change. Poor Audrey had to fly back home last Saturday but Andy and Katrine are now with me and we have got as far as the Rio Guadiana now. Today we plan to head to Mazagon at the mouth of the Rio de Huelva. The pace is going to be a bit fast till we get to Cadiz which we hope to reach on Thursday by way of Chipiona at the mouth of the Rio Gualdaquivir. It has been nice to get back to Spain simply because I am able to speak more than the three words – bom dia, Obrigado, un ceveja. The young woman in the office here at Ayamonte was staggered that a yotttie should be able to speak any Spanish which I find a bit surprising but there you are. The town of Ayamonte is very nice though it was a bit strange to change time zone with the crossing of a river and there is a very nice big sign by the ferry dock pointing across the river and saying Portugal We really feel to be on the last stages now being less than a hundred and fifty miles from Gibraltar. Once we get to Cadiz it really will be the final stage though we hope to sit still for a bit and visit Jerez de la Frontera. 06/10 We actually managed a bit of sailing today on the way from Mazagon to Chipiona. The forecast was for an easterly-southeast three but we got a bit of a four for a while and the main had it's first outing since the northern rias. Sadly, it didn't last very long and after a couple of hours it was back to the donk. Chipiona is a nice place and we had the thrill of opening out the chart to have the last bit with Gibraltar on it. Tomorrow will be round to Cadiz and a couple of nights there sitting still for a short break. For me the end of the cruise is now looming and we will have less than a hundred miles to cover. As ever, this has led to mixed feelings. At one level, I am really looking forward to getting to the end of this particular adventure and plan for the next one. On the other hand. I will find it very difficult to get back into the normal daily routine. Audrey is back at work already.