Onto Gibraltar
09 August 2012 | Gibraltar
PJ
The next day we deflated the dinghy after Jackie had made a quick foray ashore for fresh bread from the bakers. By 09:30 were heading out. The winds were light as had been the pattern over the previous few days, light winds in the morning, picking up by lunch time, steadily building during the afternoon, till by 18:00hrs we were experiencing 20-25 Knots of wind. This then reduced till by about midnight they were back to a more manageable 10kts then they would steadily drop till by sun rise it was calm, and the whole process repeated again. We had seen this trend over the last week or so so weren’t too worried that we had to start off motoring. Soon the wind came and by 11:00 we were sailing south without engine, this continued by 17:00hrs we were arriving at 'Cabo de S. Vinceatey' the very bottom left hand corner of Portugal as you look on the map.
The plan had been to sail on through the night and arrive at Cadiz the next day. However conditions were good the boat behaving herself properly. We decided that if conditions allowed, we might try and push on to Gibraltar in one single step instead of two separate legs. The next morning after a fairly uneventful night where we followed the coast (about 4 – 5 miles out) the winds once again were light, 'following previous experience' and were just making about 3.5knts. Jackie and Nat were down below sleeping.
Pete spotted a motor boat heading straight for us. Grabbing the bino's he saw this was a military vessel. So quickly checking the charts, that we had not entered any illegal areas or crossed any shipping lanes, that we should not have done. But all seemed fine! Five mins later, Portuguese Motor-launch Orion was hailing us on channel 16. We then switched then to channel 06, he informed us that he would be sending a team over to inspect our boat, and requested our co-operation. As he had a massive big gun on the front of his vessel and under light winds I could only make 3.5 knots, there seemed little we could do but comply. Quickly a Rib was launched from the back of the patrol boat and three crew members came across. Two jumped on board. Pete had by this time woken both Jackie and Nathaniel, remembering the shock he had on waking up to a British customs officer in 'full combat fatigues' towering over him at 01:00 in the morning in 2010. He thought they should be prepared. The inspection it turned out was mainly to look at the paperwork, but was more thorough than we expected. They asked to look at..............
Passports
boat registration papers
Marine Insurance
Authority to captain ( International Certificate of Competence)
Ships radio Licence
Radio operators Licence
Receipt from last Portuguese port
Portuguese marine tax receipt
Life-jackets for all crew members
Life-raft Service Documents
Fire extinguishers
Flares
We thought that they would be looking for drugs, or Illegal contraband. But they never asked to search the ship, and just really wanted to check the paperwork. We failed on two points that was that the life-jackets must have the boat name on them. Something we had on one but not the other two we presented. Also we had not paid the 'Portuguese Marine tax'. This is something we weren’t aware of, apparently it should have been demanded by the marine police at the first port where we entered Portugal. The marine police in Peneche had checked our passports and boat registration documents, but had not mentioned this. Possibly because most yachts enter Portugal further north and so when they reach Peneche they have already paid the tax. Apparently it is a one off payment and is valid for a year but as were heading for a Spanish port they let this go …......Phew!
The inspection lasted about 40min in total before they left on the rib, and then shot off to check on someone else.
We sailed on and decided to make for Gibraltar. Night came and the wind rose, then died at about 01:00am so on with the engine. Early morning light came to find us motoring through the straights of Gibraltar. Morocco to on the Starboard side and Spain on our Port. It was quite amazing to realise how close the two continents are. With a change of a few degrees we could make Africa in a few hours if we wished.
By 10:00am we had arrived at La Linea Marina just across the border in Spain from Gibraltar. We are facing the runway that separates the two states. From the cabin roof you can easily see the planes land and take-off. Fortunately there are only a few flights a day and none at night so the disruption is not too great. We will leave the boat here, whilst we head off to Cyprus for a friends wedding. Meanwhile Nathaniel, will 'boat sit' and take care of Argonauta.
In five weeks we’ve made it from the UK to most southern part of Europe, and only 30 miles from Africa. Not sure even we can quite believe that!
Will post more on Gibraltar and Spain later.