Trip Report #2-2000:Gibraltar  

Filed from Gibraltar via Winlink 

April 20, 2000

Greetings everyone:

We said good-bye to friends  and left Rota, Spain, at 8:30 am on April 18, intending to sail to Barbate, Spain, and get lined up with the tide and current to go through the Straits of Gibraltar most efficiently. Within an hour of our departure we had 20 knots of wind on the starboard quarter and by noon we were passing Cape Trafalgar and nearing Barbate. We quickly checked the tide and current information for the straits, using "The Straits Sailing Handbook", by Colin Thomas, which we had purchased from Sheppard's Marine in Gibraltar for 7.50 pounds (about $12.00 US) on one of our trips there by car. We found that for the next hour we would have the tide against us, resulting in a one-half knot adverse current; but for the 6 hours following that, the current and tide would be with us, propelling us along. We decided to continue and we had one of the best sails of our lives.

Photo: Pta. Camarinal, east of Cape Trafalgar

The Straits Sailing Handbook clearly describes the dangers of running into the tunny nets, large fishing nets that are laid each year along the coast. These nets have been known to stop small freighters and represent a real hazard to sailors. They are usually in place between March and October in about the same locations each year, and GPS locations are identified in the handbook for all of the nets. We saw some of these nets but they were usually closer to shore, clearly marked and visible in the daytime. We had no problem identifying and avoiding them.

As we approached Tarifa, the wind picked up to Force 7 [click here to learn more about the Beaufort Scale] and we reduced sail, taking in some of the mainsail and the staysail. From Barbate our speed over the bottom had steadily increased to over 11 knots right into Gibraltar Bay. The day was fairly clear, except for some haze in the distance, and the mountains of Morocco were visible for a long time. 

Photo:  Hills of Morocco seen from the Straits of Gibraltar

As we neared the point at Tarifa, the Rock of Gibraltar came into view and we had an impressive view of the "pillars of Hercules".

Photo: Nearing the Rock of Gibraltar

We cleared through customs, which turned out to be a very quick and easy process here; and we were tied up, bow to the pontoon at Marina Bay, by 7 pm. We had our dinner in the cockpit that evening and watched the full moon rise over the Rock of Gibraltar. We had been to Gibraltar by car twice to get supplies for the boat. Each time it took us close to an hour to drive through customs to enter and an hour or more to exit Gibraltar. We both much prefer arrival by boat.

Gibraltar is a very busy port with many shops offering a variety of duty-free goods, good yachting services and supplies, book stores, chart services, a movie theater and an excellent cybercafe. There are also Safeway and Checkout grocery stores, well stocked, and with a variety of British specialty items. Many cruisers find the prices here rather high and choose to go across the border to Spain to provision. There is so much history here: all of the major civilizations of the Mediterranean have been here and there is still much evidence of the Moorish occupations. The last reconquest by Spain occurred in 1462 and the Rock stayed under Spain's control until 1704 when a British-Dutch force took control with Spain's consent to prevent the French from gaining a strategic base there. It is, of course, still a British territory (and the subject of much political discussion between the UK and Spain), and it is a treat for us to be able to communicate in English again, even for a short time.

Next stop: Estepona, Spain

Cheerio,

Peg & Tom

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