28 June 2012 | La Linea and Gibraltar
03 February 2012 | La Linea
10 December 2011 | La Linea
03 December 2011 | La Linea
17 November 2011 | La Linea (near Gibraltar)
06 November 2011 | Barbate
01 November 2011 | Barbate
28 October 2011 | Chipiona
19 October 2011 | Mazagon
11 October 2011 | Ayamonte
05 October 2011 | Ayamonte
21 September 2011 | Sines
10 September 2011 | Lisbon (Oeiras)
09 September 2011 | Lisbon
24 August 2011 | Povoa de Varzim
16 August 2011 | Viana do Costelo
12 August 2011 | Bayona (Baiona)
Introductions
28 June 2012 | La Linea and Gibraltar
Well now that we have been here for a few months I suppose it’s time I introduced to a few of the characters that we have met, some of whom we still spend our time with and some who have moved on.
I suppose I should better start with our new bar family.
As I mentioned in an earlier blog, our drinking hole of choice is the “Panorama bar” where we are members of the regular tea time crowd and sometimes late night slippage. It is run by an English lady, Violet, and her Spanish husband, Bartello. It’s a no frills place just recessed between flats and looks out over the main road. The bar is just one square room with a small counter, a few fridges for the important stuff and a dartboard. There is also a spillage of tables and chairs outside which constitutes the terrace. From here we have the “panoramic” view of Gibraltar and the western end of the frontier. Sometimes entertainment is provided by the constant cat and mouse antics of the Guardia Civil and the cigarette smugglers. The general consensus is that it is just a token gesture for the authorities as the young Spanish involved could possibly resort to more desperate measures to generate income should that source be controlled more tightly. So every now and again we get a flurry of vehicles storming the area and the subsequent bomb burst of fleeing smugglers, sometimes getting away and sometimes not. It’s better than the telly!
Violet hails from the London area and is herself half Spanish. Bartello is local and as Violet speaks fluent Spanish, he speaks very little English. Between them they share the toils. The bar is also adorned on most evenings by Bartello’s friend Mavu (pronounced Maboo ). Mavu is an eccentric guy who’s ponytailed bohemian style belie his years. He speaks very little English also. Between them they humour my bad Spanish and are more than helpful in putting me right.
Among the regulars now.
There’s Simon who works in the betting industry and holds court at the end of the bar with Heineken in hand casting his acerbic wit on the subject of the day. Very amusing guy. There’s Pete and Sue. Pete is an ex submariner now working as an electrician in Gib and his wife Sue helps out in the bar from time to time. Sue can also turn her hand to a spot of needlecraft and is currently helping Denise run up some new curtains for the boat. There’s Jules and Jason who live in the flats next door and have an even better, elevated view of the shenanigans mentioned earlier from their balcony. It’s also an excellent spot for the occasional sundowner. There’s a host of other casual acquaintances that come and go, too numerous to mention suffice to say that they all contribute to the banter that draws us there.
Neil and Jane are a couple that we originally met in the Panorama but have now moved on to Gibraltar itself where they both work. They travelled here in a borrowed camper van and lived in it for 18 months before getting a flat in Spain and then Gib. Neil is ex RAF and pub landlord before moving out here. They are both cheery optimists and describe their current situation as “ living in our holidays”. Neil is also an aspiring drummer and that’s where the common thread takes us all along to the open mike nights. I get to mess a couple of songs up and he gets to play Animal from the muppets. Great nights and good company.
All of the above extend their friendships beyond just the bar. Sunday lunches are a favourite for a get together away from the Panorama and Denise, as ever, is always keen to entertain on Sea Dawn. Perhaps my favourite is accompanying Bartello and Mavu to the local football matches when I’m not working on Sundays.
Down by the waterside in marinaland we have a lot more friends but by the very nature of the pastime, tend to be more transient but there are some like us who have committed to a longer stay for various reasons. I’ll start with Jaques and Robbie. They have actually just left for the summer and are heading for the Balearics but they did spend the whole winter in La Linea and we got to know and like them quite well. They were our nearest neighbours on the pontoon in their Rival 41, Spring Dawn. Robbie is a mild mannered guy with a timely wit but Jaques could certainly give Denise a run for her money breathing through her ears. They also formed our partners in the new “boat gypsies” quiz team every Tuesday at a pub in Gibraltar. We wish them well on their travels and there is a chance we could see them again later in the year if they decide to come back this way.
On the other side of us is a Bavaria 41 belonging to Stephan and Jessica, a young German couple who we have quite hit it off with. Although not on the boat now they did spend a couple of months on board after bringing it from Greece over the last summer. Stephan had retired from the German Luftwaffe where he worked in traffic control and bought the boat in Greece. He had a few problems on the way that turned out to be a little more expensive than he thought and eventually conceded that he would have to return to Germany and find some work. They are a vibrant and carefree young couple and are certainly a breath of fresh air in a world of people that are mostly our age or thereabouts and we became good friends. They are unsure at the moment whether they will have to sell the boat or not but we will certainly see them from time to time as they come over for a break or to do some work on it. As a footnote I should mention that if anybody should want some cheap accommodation, Stephan is quite happy to come to some sort of arrangement for the use of his boat which has a quite generous double berth and a couple of singles. A recoup of any of his costs may or may not determine whether or not she has to go. ( Stop Press ) On their last visit here last week they announced they are to be parents. Good luck to you both!
Further round the place we have Debbie and Luc from Belgium. They live aboard their self built steel boat and are sticking around for a bit like us. Although we don’t see that much of Luc, Debbie is always flitting around. She and Denise often get together for coffee or to go to the shops and market together. Debbie is keen to see more of a social aspect to the marina and spends a lot of her time liaising with the staff trying to get something arranged. I must say it could do with a few events throughout the summer and I believe she is having a little success with a barbeque in the offing at the end of the month.
Recently arrived we have Eric and Sandra. Eric is in the process of transferring his boat repair business to here from Almerimar since the new lift out and repair facilities opened a couple of months ago. He has picked up a good bit of work here already and I have been quite happy to muck in whenever he needs an extra pair of hands until he gets established. It’s always good to keep on the favoured side of these people. You never know when it will be beneficial.
There are lots of other nodding acquaintances around the place including the marineros who I will get to know better as my Spanish improves not to mention the passing crews now that the season is well under way.
Well that’s about it for the social scene around these parts but there is one more person I want to introduce. I’ve saved him until last because his is a story in itself.
His name is Joseph Lafferty.
I first met Joseph when I started work for the security firm and we worked together patrolling the now halted airport tunnel site. We got on well and talked a lot through the long nightshifts. It was obvious there was something a bit different about him.
Joseph ran away from his family in Glasgow as a teenager mostly due to an abusive alcoholic father. He fled south and after a bit of roughing it he eventually found someone in Wales who took him in and gave him some work even though he was underage. He became trusted and the trust was returned insofar that they didn’t try to contact his family or the authorities. After a while he began to move again and I suppose the obvious new family he would find would be the new age travellers. They were the alternative lifestyle of the time and making a few headlines. He soon adopted the unkempt style that is familiar including the Mohican and took the tribal name of Joel. Life was good for Joseph, living off the land and he embraced the culture.
Now as you know this group of people became heavily involved in conservation issues around the land protesting against the swallowing up of green belts to sate the consumer desire for new and wider roads. The most famous of these was probably the tree top protest on the proposed site for the Newbury by-pass.
Well Joseph was no slouch when it came to direct action. You have all probably heard of Swampy who became the “cause celebre” of the campaign. Swampy taught Joel how to climb and use the equipment and in many of the press photos of the time Joel was either there or not very far away. He has regaled me with tales of the ingenious methods they used in the constant fight against firstly the bailiffs and as things intensified, the police. One particularly amusing tactic was to drill a hole through a tree that was marked for removal and two of them would pass an arm each from either side and cuff themselves in the middle.
History records that the by-pass was eventually opened in 1998 but not after costing around £24 million dealing with the protest.
Joel remained living off the land but also began to develop a bit of taste for their distilled hooch which in turn started to take him in to the towns and cities in search of more and so began his downward spiral in to alcoholism. He busked and hustled for his next drink until the realisation came.
I’m glad to say and he would happily tell you that he is recovering and has been dry for over 7 years now. During the early days of his recovery he even became the subject of a BBC documentary and campaigned to get the “super strengths” better labelled and less prominently displayed.
There was some reconciliation with his family in Glasgow but he now lives in Spain with his wife and new born baby. He’s a larger than life character that you can’t help smiling with and one of the most interesting people I have met. Good luck “Bruvva!”
That concludes the little round up of new friends. Big hello to the old also!
More soon.
La Vida!
21 April 2012 | La Linea
A couple of months have passed now since my last blog so I suppose it’s about time I brought you up to date.
We have settled nicely in to the marina here and have a pretty good social life both with other liveaboard boaties and outside of the marine environment.
The weather has, on the whole been very good even by the standards here. It’s been very dry with little of the promised rain that usually falls here in February and March. We’ve had a little at the beginning of this month but we really can’t complain. When it does you don’t get the damp and miserable feel that we grew accustomed to back in Ramsgate, though due to our short memories we do have to remind ourselves of that now and again. The temperature has rarely dropped below double figures even at night, dispensing with almost completely the need for any kind of heating and as for outside, scarves and gloves have become redundant and languish in the foot of a locker somewhere. There is the wind though! Because of the geography of the area it is fairly relentless and either blows east or west but rarely not at all. Great for drying clothes but not so great against the pontoon when it’s strong.
I am still working but things took a little bit of an upturn as far as that is concerned recently.
As I have previously told you, I work for a security firm on the rock. It’s a large company and they do pretty much most of the security over here. Most of the sites are what you would expect, in car parks, dusty building sites etc. but they do have a couple of fairly prestigious contracts. About a month ago I was called and told to report to Ocean Village for training as one of the guards there had left.
Ocean Village is not only Gibraltar’s premier marina but a large leisure complex including three towers of apartments, a casino and a plethora of bars, restaurants and retail outlets. The apartments are privately or corporately owned and have their own pool area above the main promenade. Starting price for one on the lower floors is around ¼ of a million so you get the idea.
The types of cars in the car park are the marques that you see Jeremy Clarkson et al putting through their paces on Top Gear.
The job itself is more security/concierge and the combats and polo shirt have been replaced with plain suit, shirt and tie.
There are four guards here giving 24hr cover between us on a rota of 5 on, 2 off then 2 on and 5 off alternating between days and nights. Unfortunately the hourly rate is no different but I can live with that given the “time off” friendly shift system. With 2 days holiday submitted I can string together 9 days at a time which means we can stretch our sea legs a bit and explore Morocco or further round the coast of Spain this summer.
Result!!!
Gibraltar with its unique set up seems to be immune from the economic crises affecting other European countries and the reason is probably blatantly obvious to the worlds economists and financiers and best left for them to quantify but sadly just over the frontier is quite a different matter.
Over the few months we have been here we have witnessed the situation in Spain worsening as they implement their own austerity measures under a new right wing government. I know “austerity” is the buzz word of the new decade as Europe recovers from the mess left by the unrestrained exploits of the banking sector but each country is having to exercise it’s own degree and if you think it’s bad back in the UK, spare a thought for the situation here.
The general unemployment rate is between 30 and 40 percent but amongst the young it’s as high as 50 per cent. Those that are in work are also feeling the squeeze. For example, here in La Linea, the local municipal workers have not been paid for 8 months now. After months of demonstrations they have now set up a camp outside the town hall and are holding vigil there. I went along and introduced myself and in turn was introduced to the two local officials of the main unions representing them. They told me that the town hall was bankrupt and the focus of their campaign was to try and get the regional and/or national government to step in and deliver some funding. Most of the workers, which include the local police (Guardia Civil), have been living off their savings or borrowing from their families. I asked what they thought the outcome would be and the reply was that they didn’t expect to receive all of their back pay any time soon but were hopeful of a part payment in the near future.
It was an honour to be invited in to their camp and they made me feel very welcome. They would not accept a donation towards any hardship so I left them an FBU flag as a token of solidarity as I wished them all the very best for the future.
On a lighter note, I have got a new toy!!!
It’s an Aprilia SR125, goes like snot, scooter.
I bought it as crash damaged from one of the security guards here. In actual fact the only damage was superficial and I was just going to leave it but the more I looked at it and fawned over it the more it pleaded to me for a new life.
As if by magic I was approached by one of the marina staff who explained that he had the same model at home that he would be prepared to let me pick at. I started with the full body kit as mine was three different colours and I’ve had lights, a brake lever and various other small parts. I then treated the rest of the sun ravaged plastic to a respray, removed the tatty old filter box, degreased and polished the whole thing. Much better! The urge now is to tweak and tune it further but I’m being watched! Stealthily does it!
Denise’s knitting fingers have been at full “clack” for the last few months as she eagerly awaits her new grandchild at the beginning of May. She must have gone through three sheep already and the surcharge for extra luggage on her flight back for the event is a distinct possibility. Other times during the day are spent with the ladies that lunch and other distractions. I don’t know how she finds the time to go shopping and do the laundry, I really don’t!
Seriously though, the social side of life here is very healthy both afloat and ashore. Although the marina doesn’t really provide any entertainment in the way of bars and restaurants because of its incomplete status, there is a good network of fellow travellers that have started to arrange social events off site so that we can meet and share experiences and knowledge.
If discussions on shackles, sheets and cruising chutes all gets a bit tiresome then we have friends who live and work locally that we have got to know and enjoy their company at quiz nights and, much to my pleasure, open mike nights in Gib where I get to get up and murder a couple of songs now and again. We have also taken to following the local football team, Real Balompedica Linense who are doing quite well and could possibly clinch promotion this season. I’m sure that I will have stories to tell over the coming months so I will leave introductions of individuals until then suffice to say they are an interesting bunch made up of expats and Spanish alike.
As we are staying in La Linea for at least this year and there will be a little bit of extra money, it’s a good opportunity to treat our beloved Sea Dawn to a bit of TLC. We’ll start with the basics and get her lifted out soon for everything below the waterline and possibly renovate the paintwork on the hull. It is generally in good shape but the blue stripe is looking a bit tired and sun damaged so we’ll get a quote for that while we’re out. Another thing that we are looking at is a complete cockpit canopy that will serve as protection from the sun as well as extra living space and shelter in the colder months. It will also be a good idea to replace sails as and if finances allow. After all she is our home.
It won’t be all work and no play though as we intend to take full advantage of the fantastic sailing grounds here and get out there for day sails and further when time off from work allows.
It goes without saying that visitors are more than welcome if you fancy a few nights in the V berth up front. We are expecting my mother and youngest sister at the end of this month for a few days but after that the booking diary is free. The flight links to Gib are excellent and it’s literally a 5 minute walk from the airport.
More soon!
A very different winter!
03 February 2012 | La Linea
First of all, Happy new year to you all and we hope that 2012 will bring to you everything that you wish for.
Telfer and Denise.
Christmas and new year was a pretty low key affair for us primarily for the reason that I will go into in a bit more depth shortly. For both of us it was our first Christmas break out of the UK and away from our friends and families which as you know tends to be the main focus of attention and not a little stress sometimes. Although we did miss this to some degree it was quietly compensated for by the stark contrast in climate and the different attitude towards the festive season here.
We weren’t complete humbugs though and enjoyed a few celebrations not least with our German neighbours, Stefan and Jessica who opted to stay here for the holidays before returning to Germany and new jobs after a summer afloat.
I mentioned in my previous blog that work here is very hard to come by. In Spain it is impossible on two counts. One, that unemployment is probably the highest in Europe and two, phrase book Spanish doesn’t quite cut the mustard for gainful employment here. So that leaves Gibraltar.
Whilst imbibing in the local hostelry one evening before Christmas we had cause to celebrate one of our new friends, Tracy, landing a job for a security firm over there and I asked her if she thought that they would be taking anybody else. She said that she would ask for me. True to her word she returned the next day and informed me that they were indeed expanding and looking for extra staff and that if I was interested I should call at the office the following day. This I duly did.
The interview went something like this,
“Hello, my name is Telfer and I hear that you are taking on new staff”
“Yeah hi, my name is Andy blah-de-blah, when can you start?”
I’m not usually lost for words but managed to splutter out that I would be available in a couple of days. I got the impression that if I had said now, they would have whisked me off to some post there and then and Denise would have been left wondering where the hell I was. However this seemed acceptable to them and I was asked to bring in some ID the following day and I would be processed and briefed then.
Now I know that security work is pretty much bottom of the food chain and is very low paid but hey, work is work and I was more or less offered as many hours as I wanted and started a couple of weeks before Christmas. The work itself is standard security work, stationed at various posts around the rock, anything from car parks to building sites and usually 12 hour shifts either days starting at 0800 or nights starting at 2000. Nothing more demanding than tedium.
Hence our low key festive period mentioned earlier. No doubt because I was the new kid on the block, I was given shifts covering Christmas day, Boxing day and nights on New Years Eve.
Denise understood fully and as a special treat on Christmas day decided to attempt a full roast Christmas dinner on our limited cooking capabilities and it would be ready to go when I got in from work at 8 o’clock in the evening. The chicken would be cooked and the roasties and veg would be prepped and ready. Boy was I looking forward to that!
I arrived home and everything was as promised. I got changed, set the table and dimmed the lights, popped a bottle of beer and opened the wine for Denise. The mood was set and the final preparations were under way when………pphhhuutt!!
The gas had run out!!!
Disaster! We didn’t have a spare since we converted to camping gaz and it was Christmas day.
Oh how we laughed as we sat down to our roast chicken and gravy sandwiches.
With the Christmas period now behind us, our focus of attention would now turn to something a bit more pressing.
As you blog followers probably know, our furniture is stored in a 7.5 ton lorry parked up behind a friends pub near Bracknell with an arrangement that we thought would be reasonably long term. Well that wasn’t to be.
We were informed late last year that the pub was up for sale and could we possibly make alternative arrangements for the vehicle and it’s contents. With no timescale indicated other than impending we had to sit down and think about what we were going to do about the situation.
The lorry, apart from now being illegal to use on the roads had been standing for over 18 months now and we had no idea of what sort of condition it would be in let alone think about moving it.
A good deal of soul searching went on before we decided that the best thing to do would be rid ourselves of both the lorry and the furniture.
The rationale! We are enjoying living aboard Sea Dawn and have only just begun our little adventure. We don’t know how long we are going to be away but expect it to be a minimum of 3-5 years, barring catastrophe, and hopefully a bit longer. Consequently we have no idea when we would be living in a house again and with that in mind asked ourselves if we really wanted to keep that furniture for that kind of unspecified time or refurnish when the need arises. Anyway, would the stuff remain in good condition after years of exposure to the seasonal microclimates going on inside the truck?
Flights were booked and we gave ourselves a couple of weeks to complete the task.
On arrival at the site and on first inspection, the decision to do this was almost immediately justified. Most of the stuff was OK but two main casualties of water damage were two parts of the leather suite and the oak table which had wicked moisture from wooden floor of the lorry and warped beyond practical use. Other than that everything was fine but how much longer it would have lasted? Not another few years that’s for sure.
The first two days were spent separating all of our personal effects and compacting them in to four plastic boxes. These would be kindly looked after between Denise’s parents and her brother Steve.
Some of the items were bought by various members of our families who live nearby and the rest was split between rubbish, the charity shop and ebay. ( Sorry to all friends and family up north who missed the great garage sale )
We realised that in the time we had we would never get the value that we might have achieved had we had more but if we could cover the cost of the trip and maybe a bit more we would be happy and walk away with less to worry about. We also got to thinking that maybe we should have done this in the first place.
Last but not least was the disposal of the lorry. This was arranged through a local scrap merchant. It had sunk about six inches in to the ground and after half a day of coaxing it out it was eventually taken away on a low loader with a day to spare before our flights back to Gibraltar.
Many thanks to Ange from the pub for letting us keep it there for that time and we wish you all the best in your post licensee life.
We had hoped that there would be a little time left to visit more friends and family here and there but alas, the mission took us to the wire and it was just logistically impossible. Sorry folks!
We are now back aboard Sea Dawn and it really felt like coming home. Aaahhhhh!
That was an unexpected, unwelcome and unplanned trip back to UK but recently our families are determined to keep us returning by announcing happy events that we can’t ignore. Such selfishness!
Now that reporting restrictions have been lifted I can tell you that first on the calendar is the arrival of new life from Janine and John giving Denise her first grandchild on her side. Boy or girl? We’ll have to wait and see at the end of April.
Secondly, the marriage of my son Jordan to Emma at the beginning of July up in Middlesbrough.
This has made us think about the logistics of getting there and re-evaluate our situation here.
Given our present circumstances it would be a good idea to stay put for another year (such a difficult decision!) and take advantage of the good flight links from Gib. The fact that I also have work here is a positive as it will replenish the sailing fund and give us the money for a few modifications to the boat for the Med.
So now Denise can easily fly back for the birth and we can both easily make the wedding in July. Infact so easily that we have already booked the flights.
More importantly during the discussions I felt it necessary to stress that given the length of stay and in order to carry out my work effectively I will need a scooter to get around on. Whheeeee!
More soon folks!
Settling in!
10 December 2011 | La Linea
The “winter” so far hardly seems like it. We have been here for nearly a month now and are settling down to marina life once more in a lot warmer climate which apart from the occasional wet and windy storm sees us still wearing autumnal attire and enjoying temperatures not falling below double figures.
A little bit about where we are.
As I have mentioned before we are just on the Spanish side of the border with Gibraltar. The reason for this is primarily economic as the rates here are way cheaper than the other side of the runway not that I think we had any chance of getting a berth there anyway as they are pre booked well in advance for the winter.
Alcaidesa is a brand new marina development which has been started and stunted by the recession. All of the main services are in place as far as berthing goes but there is none of the planned leisure complex due to surround it. Basically that means that we have all the facilities to enable us to be comfortable here, water, electricity and shower/laundry block, but around us is just brown site with no sign of any impending progress. The only work going on here at the moment is around the hard standing area where they hope to have lifting and maintenance services up and running within a couple of months. Consequently there is not the community here that we have enjoyed in previous stopovers and certainly not as convivial as our last winter in Ramsgate.
This is more than made up for however by our proximity to life and society in La Linea and the 20 minute walk or so to Gibraltar.
La Linea is a fairly large town which has suffered mixed fortunes over the years due to its links with Gib. It’s history goes back to the times of the Moorish invaders but in more recent times and within living memory of some of it’s inhabitants were the Franco years. The dictator had the border with Gibraltar closed as leverage for Spain’s sovereignty claim on the enclave and to leave it in isolation. Apparently this was not popular with the people here as a large percentage of them made their living on the rock and they were now deprived of their livelihood. On top of that, Franco did nothing to improve or develop the area and it fell in to decline during those years. After the end of his regime and the re opening of the border things have gradually improved resulting in a very vibrant and very Spanish town with little or no sign of that deprivation. Of course there are still the same social problems brought about by Spain’s predicament within the current Euro crisis and we’ll have to see how this living history pans out.
We love going out and about here and especially at the moment as the Christmas festivities are a very different flavour from those at home. Here the commercialism isn’t shoved down your throat and we have enjoyed some magical days and evenings around the squares where sometimes there is a seasonal market, fair or just simply families out celebrating some saints day or another.
We also do most of our shopping over here as it is generally cheaper and there is no shortage of shops and supermarkets. To facilitate the conveyance of said supplies we have even replaced our weary wheeled granny bag with a couple of bicycles.
These bikes are of the shopping variety and came equipped with basket at front and rack at the rear. A few minor improvements to their carrying capacity means we can carry twice as much shopping home including our liquid supplies.
Liberation! (from longer arms at least)
Denise was a bit wary of getting around on hers at first, especially on the roads but with a bit of encouragement she’s cracked it.
“ C’mon Denise, it’s like riding a…………..well, yes….ermm”
We have had our first visitors.
My sister, Diane and her husband Ian came over in the middle of November for a few days. They flew in to Gibraltar so there were no car rides or taxi fares to collect them. We simply walked back through the border and walked round to the marina with them. I’ve never had easier airport duties.
We have enjoyed their company previously back in Ramsgate but this time there was an added interest as far as Ian was concerned.
He had visited Gibraltar before aboard HMS Arrow back in his days in the “mob” and was keen to re visit his old haunts, see what had changed and generally reminisce.
We hadn’t really looked around Gib before they arrived so everything was new to us over there and we took the opportunity to do the tourist thing on their first day.
Ian’s camera clicked and whirred as we did the main street and made our way to the cable car that takes you up to the top of the rock where the famous and notoriously mischievous apes roam free. There are numerous advisory notices outlining the do’s and don’ts when in the presence of these quite intimidating creatures and we all took heed of them. Didn’t we!
Oh no, that’s right. You didn’t, did you Di!
As soon as we had left the cable car, Ian wanted to change a lens on his camera and asked Di to pass the one in her bag. Well, this lens was wrapped in crinkly plastic and instantly attracted the attention of a nearby adult ape who obviously thought there was something yummy in there. It leapt across and made a snatch at it which immediately turned my sister into a whirling dervish, screaming and flailing her handbag any which way she could. I recognised this behaviour as very akin to her reaction in the company of wasps. Blind fear!
The excitement soon abated and we continued on our tour, a lesson learned. Well, you would have thought so.
Ten minutes later, a peckish Diane emerged from the cafeteria and proceeded to unwrap a wheaty snack bar. Oh dear!
The beast came from nowhere and was all over her shoulders in an instant intent on liberating this food for it’s own consumption.
Head bowed and spinning furiously, breaking off now and then to run off in no particular direction, I think Di did her best to scare the living daylights out of this lesser primate and eventually it scurried off with only half of the bounty.
Seriously though, my sister was terrified but I’ve got to say that there was no permanent physical or psychological damage so begging your pardon Di,
IT WAS HILARIOUS!
The next day I buddied up with Ian to explore the rock in a bit more depth and we left the girls behind on the boat to talk about shopping and knitting.
Thanks for coming guys, enjoyed your company and see you again sometime soon.
Over the last few weeks we have been over to Gibraltar quite a few times now and it’s still a strange experience. Every time I get to the other side I can’t help smirking at the very British ness of it. From the checkpoint you catch a double decker bus and pass red phone boxes, bobbies and pub signs. Disembarking in the main square you walk up Main St past Marks and Spencers, British Home Stores, Peacocks and others. There is even a Morrisons supermarket laid out in exactly the same way as back in the UK. Incredible!
Although we do prefer to be over on the Spanish side, Gibraltar does have it’s uses. As a tax free enclave you can buy cigarettes and spirits cheaper than I’ve seen them anywhere. For instance a 200 pack of Regal Kings will set you back about £23.
The drawback however is as Gibraltar is not in the EU you can only bring 200 back over the border in to Spain.
Obviously a little bit of smuggling goes on and in quiet corners around the place you can often see the young Spanish stuffing packets of fags in to every available bit of space in their scooters. Others simply walk across and insulate their arms and legs with a layer of tobacco and walk back through. It’s quite comical watching them pull packets from everywhere like a magician when they get to their “ Mr Big” who in turn puts them in a bin liner and off to a waiting car or something. It’s all pretty blatant.
We are told that they only make about 3 euros on each 200, which isn’t a lot and that the people that do it are generally unemployed so nobody really begrudges them the small amount that they make.
We have a new local.
The Panorama bar is a very small place that looks more like a shop front than a bar and we had walked past it a few times on our way to town before calling in and discovering that it was run by an English lady and the clientele is an interesting mixture of both nationalities. We are now on first name terms with most of the regulars as we enjoy our tea time drink there and arrange the swapping of books and DVD’s etc. It’s not quite the Grenadier or Churchills in Ramsgate but it’s very sociable and we enjoy the company.
If there is a negative to report, I suppose it would have to be the prospect of finding any kind of work. It’s probably not going to happen. Those that we have talked to and do work here are so uncertain about their own jobs at the moment and some have even been laid off as the recession bites in this corner of Europe as well.
Well that’s about it for now.
More soon, well in a month or so when there’s more to tell you.
Summary
03 December 2011 | La Linea
It seems like ages since we left Ramsgate and I suppose in relative terms it is but really 6 months is only a fraction of the time we intend to stay away.
Those of you that have followed the blog will know that our plans have been pretty much fluid as we have made our way round to here. Our original intention was to make for the north west tip of France and take on the Bay of Biscay from there. That notion was always on the proviso that we had at least one other person on board to share the watchkeeping as it would have meant at least four days at sea and with the best will in the world and given our experience it was a big demand on responsibility but as things turned out, the decision not to undertake the passage was kind of made for us. Sure, initially there was disappointment but in retrospect the experiences that we had in south Brittany kind of set the benchmark for the way we would take on the rest of the journey. That would be to take our time and savour as much as we could of the coastlines of France, Spain and Portugal. Of course there were still long stretches to cover in some of the more remote areas where safe refuges are further apart. A few 80 and 90 milers not to mention the crossing from Le Sable d’lone to Santander, which was just over 200, took us more or less to our manageable limit and pitched us against a wide array of conditions. If you take our average cruising speed as 5 knots under motor or sail you can work out the time spans we are talking about. Add to that the physical demands of coping with the more lively elements of wind and water then I think it is fair to say that we can feel proud of ourselves and have certainly come this far knowing more than we did before, both about ourselves and the capabilities of our beloved Sea Dawn.
But please don’t run away with the idea that it was all howling gales and mountainous seas, it wasn’t!
We watched the weather closely and made our decisions to go or not to go accordingly. Although not always entirely accurate, the forecasts were there or thereabout and for the most part we had glorious cruising days, ghosting along in clear skies and gentler breezes. Now and again there were reminders of how things can change quickly and contrary to the forecast but by now we had learned not to become too complacent and dealt with it.
In May when we set off, the British summer was just starting and that kind of climate more or less stayed with us until we reached the Portuguese border when we definitely felt the change to the more southern continental temperatures that we head for in droves every summer. There were a couple of false starts further back as far as France but now the fleeces could be well and truly put to bed and shorts and, well, nothing else really, would be de riguer. As a bonus there was an unseasonal extension to the summer with temperatures remaining well in to the 30’s right up until the beginning of November, which was nice!
As you know within the first few weeks we had left British waters and were sailing in foreign lands. This brought it’s own difficulties not least our inability to communicate as neither of us have any language other than our native tongue. This was to prove both frustrating and comical in equal measure as we bumbled from French to Spanish to Portuguese. We had picked up phrase books in each from second hand shops in Ramsgate as we thought it important to at least learn the basic salutations thinking that if we tried it would immediately endear us to our respective hosts.
I’ll start with French.
A beautiful language to listen to but understanding it is a pig! It’s fair to say that a friendly “Bonjour” is usually well received and responded to with an equally friendly reply. We continued to learn a bit more each day, nothing too intellectual you understand, just how to ask for a loaf of bread, beer, tobacco and a few numbers.
Of all the languages, Denise took to this one with more confidence than the others with quite comical results. Armed with this confidence she would go off on daily shopping trips. Her style, (and I’m not knocking it because it worked!) was to almost sing the phrase with a broad smile.
“Bonjour!”
“ Un baguette sil vous plait”
“Merci”
“Au revoir”
All came out in a melodic mantra and was always responded to in an equally open and friendly manner. Good on her. It was a pleasure to witness.
Just when we started getting to grips with a few more key words and phrases we left the shores of France and crossed to northern Spain. Start again!
Again a few basic greetings go a long way but the reliance on your host having a smattering of English certainly made things easier. Depending on where you were and who you were talking to, this was either forthcoming or not. Generally speaking most of the marina staff do speak English but once out of the complex especially in the less cosmopolitan areas, you are on your own. But try you must and within a couple of weeks I had picked up enough words to convey my general intent. With no grammar and a lot of sign language I was not always understood but eventually smiles were exchanged in some sort of agreement and we got what we wanted most of the time.
As we stayed in northern Spain for some time our language skills improved, not drastically but a little each day. We found that more than anything it was our understanding that improved most which was strange. Listening to it more enabled us to pick out the meat and recognise words and sound bites with which we could respond either in the positive or negative and not be left standing agape at least.
Of course neither of expected to become conversant in such a short space of time but by the time we left Spain for Portugal we certainly had a lot more of the language than we thought and certainly more than nothing.
Portuguese next!
This was definitely the most difficult to learn, pronounce and understand and in fact we didn’t really get past yes, no, please and thank you. Contrary to what you may think it is very different from Spanish. All of the hard sounds turn into mushy “sch” type sounds which just roll in to each other and we found impossible to follow. The people however are probably the friendliest that we met and their expectation of you being able to speak Portuguese was realistic as they politely forgave you.
Once past the Algarve we were back in Spain again but this time with a slight advantage. At least we had a slight grounding and we are continuing to learn more the longer we stay. It may even be a good idea to take advantage of our stay here and take a few lessons especially in the grammar and structure. We’ll see.
The people that we have met along the way are too numerous to mention individually.
The sailing community side saw us alongside people from all nationalities in various stages of transit. It is these people that you have most to do with rather than the resident berth holders as it is on the visitors berths or moorings that you invariably find yourself.
There were fast moving, multi crews charging towards their destinations in any weather either through time constraints or for the sheer adrenaline rush. There were summer cruisers going as far as they could and returning home again later in the summer. And there were those like ourselves who were heading for the Med, some quicker than us and some slower. All of these people had their own stories to tell and advice to trade. It would probably be accurate to use the length of time we spent somewhere as a good indicator of the social conviviality at that time. Many of these good folk we are still, or will stay in touch with and probably will meet several of them again somewhere along the line.
Sea Dawn herself has served us more than adequately on the journey. Apart from looking a little bit tired cosmetically nothing much has let us down. She has proved to be very strong and seaworthy looking after us in the best and worst of times with the pedigree and temperament of a good horse, forgiving me for a bit of rough handling at times and focusing on the task of getting us safely across the line.
Among the minor things that she has needed are a new battery and 2 new genoa sheets which had become a bit more frayed since leaving and threatened to part. Hardly anything to break the bank.
If anything did catch us out and was unexpected it was the cost of mooring fees.
There are no real publications that can accurately predict the cost of marinas or harbours during the course of any given year and that is understandable. All they can do is give you a rough guide and as facilities improve or deteriorate at any given place the prices can vary very differently from previous years. Even the information that I am about give will be completely out of date by the time you read it. There are huge inconsistencies in the quality of services you get for your money even sometimes 30 miles apart and I have given up trying to find any kind of reason.
Before I start it is important to mention that all rates both in the UK and the continent increase in the summer months, usually from the beginning of April until the end of September. You are charged for the length of your boat in most cases but some places abroad they use a formula that takes into account your beam. In our case and for reference, Sea Dawn is 10.87M x 3.81M
Starting with UK. Pretty much as you would expect as you get round on to the south coast, increasing as you get closer to the hallowed sailing grounds of the Solent. Nothing unexpected there.
Across to northern France and the prices are quite reasonable but you tend to pay more at the bigger marinas like Cherbourg where it was almost 30 Euros. Most of N. Brittany was between 15 and 25 Euros but prices started to creep up as you got round to the south of the peninsula. The islands were premium as you would expect but the smaller mainland marinas were cheaper.
The first big shock came when we reached northern Spain. Santander charged us 43 Euros a night. This was particularly outrageous as the marina was miles from town and right next to the airport. As we were stuck there for nearly a week due to bad weather you can start to see that the budget started to take a bit of a hammering.
Along the northern coast I think the minimum rate barely dipped under 30 Euros and as it was such an exposed coast the opportunities to find sheltered anchorage were virtually nil.
There was a brief respite from the wallet bashing as we went round in to the Rias as there was far more opportunity to anchor here in the shelter of the islands. Even the marinas round here were on the whole reasonably priced and plentiful.
Crossing the border into Portugal, the northern ports and marinas were back up to between 30 and 40 again but as you reached the middle they got cheaper and some but not all had anchorages just outside or nearby. So again, not too bad.
Rounding the cape and on to the Algarve it was seaway robbery. At least Dick Turpin wore a mask!
Prices anywhere along here were not less than 41 Euros with places like Villamoura charging 54 for a night in a hole in the water surrounded by reclaimed land adorned with disco/pubs and screeching revelry. Aaaaarrrrrggghhhhh!
This is when we made a bolt for Faro and anchored in the pool there. We probably saved ourselves around 500 quid as we waited for the winter rates to kick in.
Once back in to Spain the reduced rates took the price of a night on a pontoon right down to between 10 and 12 Euros.
Our choice of winter stop over in La Linea was well researched and obviously the cheapest around here. Because we have paid in advance for 6 months we were entitled to a further discount of 8% on the daily rate which brings it down to just over 7 Euros.
So there you have it.
Chuntering amongst our fellow travellers, the general mantra seems to be that these people look at you as having a boat means that you are loaded. I’m sure that they are right when you look at some of the craft we have seen but for the budget traveller it is an extremely hard pill to swallow. We are told that as we head further east next year that things in the Med are no better in this regard and some popular places even more extortionate so it looks like we will be spending a lot more time at anchor.
Well that just about covers it I think, a general summary of the voyage here.
We have thoroughly enjoyed the trip here and have seen some wonderful places, places that we would not have seen if we had taken the express option and we have no regrets and make no apologies for our slow pace. I think that I mentioned way back in the blog that if we liked it somewhere we would stay for a little while and enjoy it. This we did and took several mini holidays along the way.
“Life is good” is one of Denise’s oft repeated little phrases. I couldn’t agree more!
I will keep blogging throughout the winter as we settle in under the Rock.
More soon.
End of Part One
17 November 2011 | La Linea (near Gibraltar)
As predicted, the weather returned to normal for this time of year and we saw our opportunity on Tuesday. Even the wind was remaining in the west for the next couple of days which was right up our street.
This final leg round to Gibraltar obviously takes you through the straits which have their much written about peculiarities and timing is the key here. Let me explain.
The Med has little or no tidal range and the loss of water from this sea is mostly through evaporation. Consequently there is a constant surface flow from the Atlantic side, eastwards through the straits to replace this. Added to that there are tidal streams either with the flow or against it and they vary in strength from the coastlines to the centre where they are strongest. The third and probably most important factor for small craft is the wind. The prevailing wind here is the Levante, an easterly wind that funnels through reaching over 40 knots at Tarifa for more than 300 days of the year. Adding all of this information together you can begin to see why the timing is critical as getting it wrong against certain conditions will have you sailing backwards.
As I mentioned earlier the forecast was for the wind to remain in the west which was an absolute bonus for us this time as the Levante was having one of its few days off.
The ideal time to leave Barbate to gain maximum advantage of the combination of tide and surface current was just after low water in Gibraltar. This also worked out well for us as it fell easily within daylight hours.
We slipped the pontoon at 0900hrs bang on time and set off down the coast toward Tarifa point. For the first few hours we were making good an average of around 6 knots and sailing well. There was a slight swell but nothing too uncomfortable as we enjoyed the stark contrast to our last leg from Chipiona. The coast of Morocco loomed closer as we started to round the light at Tarifa. As we altered course for the strait, the wind was now directly behind us so we just let the big jib fly and haul us along. This was fantastic! We were creaming along as our speed over the ground crept up to 7 knots, then 8, then a whoop whoop hollering 9! I urged her on to double figures but we didn't quite make it.
With all the excitement we hardly noticed the famous rock start to appear and were astonished at how quickly we had reached here. We rounded up in to the bay as the focus of attention now changed to dodging anchored ships and staying out of the way of the numerous fast ferries coming in and out of here. The sea inside of the bay became very confused and gave us a bit of a bumpy ride over to the marina at La Linea. We rounded the breakwater at around 13.30hrs which meant we had covered the 37 miles or so here in 4 and a half hours. The conditions could not have been more perfect for us on this day and we were delighted after one of the best sails of the whole trip.
We congratulated ourselves with an extra special wee nip......then another one!
The next day we went to the office and booked ourselves in for the winter and paid up to take advantage of the discount which will see us here until the end of April next year. Our berth is south facing and the view through the companion way gets no better. The imposing Rock of Gibraltar is the first thing we see every day and is about a 20 minute walk away. We think we will like it here.
I will keep blogging throughout and perhaps include a bit of a summary of the journey here.
To all those that have followed my blog, thank you very much and I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it. All of your comments were and are greatly appreciated and always remind us of our friends and families back at home, lest we forget!
More soon