Headed off from Tarifa at about 1.30pm after a quick whip around their fabulous old town full of castles and churches and city walls etc. I was a little hungover from drinks the night before with Isa (German woman) and Mussimo (Italian guy) off the catamaran 'Manta'. We new we needed to head through the strait today because conditions would be on the nose from Saturday and when the tide is with us we can benefit from the incredible current that sucks you along toward the Med. What we'd read about was that at the change of tide all sorts of bizarre current activity happens and when it coincides with bad conditions, the Strait really gets nasty. We were extremely lucky with 3 knots of current on top of our 5 knots under sail and motor and the wind at our backs. What was even more incredible was the whirlpool effect that surrounded us - small whirlpools, nothing nasty - as the tide turned in our favour. We cruised into the harbour around 6pm after a great trip but couldn't work out where we should anchor...Gibraltar or Spain? Spain won because there were no formalities required and we had a dinner date on Manta that night.