Fourth Dimension : close to Gibraltar
01 September 2014 | North Atlantic heading towards Gibraltar straits
Bill's last satellite email received 1 Sept later in the day:
160 to go
Been going at 7 to 8 kts all morning, slowed to 6 now cos winds lighter. No fish caught but a squid landed on deck so P cooked it and presented it on avocado biscuits. P has been adjusting the water maker all day and it now seems to be working. It runs off the generator so that's going as well, maybe hot showers later.
It's a bit tricky transiting Gibraltar Straits. With only 9 nautical miles at the two closest points and the Atlantic meeting the Mediterranean Sea, it's no wonder there are strong currents. Luckily the winds are predicted to be light the next couple of days, but it would be best if the boys transit at high water. They might even get a bit of a sleigh ride at 3 knots with them! The above chart shows the currents and shipping lanes of Gibraltar Strait. I am assuming Fourth Dimension will be transiting on the African side. When we went through with Lati last year, we were on the Spanish side. We stopped in Barbate and timed our transit with high water which meant we were going quite fast!
Here's an excerpt from this blog describing our experience on Lati. She is 31ft. Fourth Dimension is 50ft. It will be a different experience for Bill.
Gibraltar
Position : 36 08 91 'N 05 21.23'W
22 May 2013
In order to catch the favorable currents in Gibraltar Straits, we had to leave Barbate , on the Spanish Andalucian coast by 9am. We managed to untie Lati without scratching her. We really need lots of practice. Because she is a long keel boat, she is difficult to manoever especially in reverse. No matter what Bill does she is not predictable. This makes life a bit exciting in tight spaces. A little stressful to say the least.
As we made our way through the Gibraltar Straits, we enjoyed an extra 3 knots of current with us. There wasn't much wind so we motor sailed all the way. Coming closer to Gibraltar the AIS went berserk with ships everywhere. Most were anchored but we had to keep a sharp look out for the ones that were moving. I couldn't tell easily which ship was which on the AIS, so eyeball navigation it had to be. We tried to keep out of the way of 2 ships coming near us and I did hear one of them talking about a sailboat that could have been us. It reminded me of Singapore but none of them blasted their horn at