September 11 - 20, 2018 Gibraltar

 I’m posting this from A café  where I don’t have access to our photos. Come back a little later and hopefully I will be able to have uploaded some...

No luck with the predicted downwind sail to Gibraltar, and yet we were grateful for an easy day. About 4 hours into the journey our engine began struggling not to stall and straining as though it could hardly breathe. I asked Frank to check the filter, because we didn’t want the engine to quit on us as we had just been through this a few days ago. He pulled the filter to find it completely gunked up after only about 40 engine hours. Uh oh! I Now we know without a doubt we got bad fuel in Sardegna when we topped up last season. We normally use the Baja filter but did not remember using it that time. I won’t get into what a colossal mistake that was. We get complacent. Thank goodness Frank brought back a few extra Racor filters from Texas. New filter in and we were good to go. 

With that eating at our insides we pushed the negative thoughts away as we came within sight of the Rock. The entire mass is much larger than what we’ve seen in pictures. Impressive and looming; it’s many faces revealed as we approached. We made several failed attempts to get a selfie with the famous peak at our backs, but the seas were pitching us so wildly, we dared not go out on deck. So we tried from inside the cockpit. 

This is another milestone, another “Wow” moment for us to have “Sailed to Gibraltar” on our own vessel. And what happened the very minute we made the turn into the massive bay? Massive winds darn near knocked us sideways, making entry into Queensway Quay a bit of a challenge. I guess we should have prayed to the god Eurus for that Easterly.

We were fortunate to get into Queensway - thank you Ute and Hans (Taimada) for the recommendation. It is small and very protected. Surrounded by lovely townhomes and condos on all sides, with secured floating pontoons and local restaurants - no bars - lining the quay, we felt the stress slide right off. The manager originally gave us three days but extended our stay to roughy 10. We needed every bit of that to sort things out before we go to sea from here. The alternative was Marina Bay/Ocean Village, where the docks are fixed concrete wharfs which would be a major challenge for us at low and high tides because the difference is about 1.6 meters.

Queensway Quay (Destiny at end on rt.) - note the formidable dock lines!

the dock we would have been moored to at Marina Bay almost at high tide

We have friends who came to Gibraltar but didn’t care for it. We have friends who came here and enjoyed it. We fell into the latter class. We were thrilled to hear and to speak English. We were very pleased to find Sheppards chandlery who employs the most skilled RayMarine tech we have yet to meet. He got our radar up and running in 5 hours. A record! We discovered Morrisons supermarket that has the largest supply of fresh prepared meals we’ve ever seen. We turned on the freezer and stocked it up. It was wonderful to shop without the translate App on my phone. Thanks to Gail from s/v D’ol Selene’s blogs we were able to source and stock up on Easi-yo packets. We found real ground coffee that hadn’t been pulverized to a powder for the first time since Oz in 2012. Frank was able to stock up on his favorite Scotch and to buy Cuban cigars. Then we became tourists.

We toured the Rock, inside and out. Outside is a monkey habitat (where if not careful, the monkeys will steal you blind and jump onto your backs), a glass skywalk viewing platform onto which we could walk to take photos of the base and beach below, several viewpoints from various points on the Rock where you could see north Africa and Spain from various angles. There were platforms above the caves and defense tunnels. The cave has been turned into a concert or stage arena, and is lighted in varying LED colors set to music. The tunnels were dug by the British and filled with artillery and canons, etc., used as a very strategic defense fortification.  At the base of the ocean-facing side of the Rock, caves have been explored revealing Neanderthal ruins and artifacts that were discovered therein, that are displayed in the Gibraltar Museum. 

Looking at the British side of Gibraltar

View of the airport from the Rock. Across the runway is Spain

A canon facing Spain

Frank in the tunnels of the Rock beside a canon

  
We walked across the famous runway that separates Gibraltar from Spain. We got our Gibraltar stamp on our passports. We visited the Gibraltar Museum, we toured the Gibraltar Botanical Gardens. We visited Ocean Village and O’Reilly’s where, according to Paul and Glor on s/v Scallywag, you can get the best Steak and Guinness Pie (so true we’ve had it time and again). We know this town and the cruise ship schedule better than most. We even did a few things that I can’t mention or it will ruin the surprise for our  friend and crew member who will be joining us in Lanzarote.

Entering Gibraltar across the runway from Spain

Delicious steak and Guinness pie

beautiful park in the center of Gib

Walking across the runway back into Gibraltar from the Spain side

Gibraltar center

Leaving here on a sailboat is a scientific feat. Timing tides, wind and current correctly are paramount. We listened to a lot of sage advice. We have downloaded all applicable Apps and references and The Captain has studied them until he is feeling confident that our day and time of departure will be Saturday, September 22nd at approximately 4:30 PM. Now we sit back, read books, shop and pray.