We have now been in La Linea for a week and it's been quite a busy time. The key issue was fixing the starboard engine which, upon finding that the shaft of the coolant pump could be moved around like a joystick (hint: it should be rock solid) and there was lots of coolant in the bilge soon diagnosed the problem. A couple of other knowledgeable contacts confirmed the disease. After a few calls and a bit of walking we found a local Volvo dealer who said they could get the new pump in by Wednesday, they did, but minus one of the gaskets needed, more waiting, but it did turn up in the afternoon. Jeff Nunn who runs the local sailing school/diesel training came on board on Thursday to fit it whilst Chris watched/handed tools etc. An hour and a half later and the engine sounded much happier and Chris feels confident that if the port side goes he will be able to repeat the exercise. Mind you we hope not as the part, as with most Volvo stuff, was ludicrously expensive - more than E550!!
We have done some of the tourist stuff in Gibraltar. Having been here about 11 years ago we tried not to repeat too much but took the cable car to the top of the Rock and walked down, taking in the Caves of St Michael and the old Moorish Castle and the macaques on the way. We skipped the war tunnels as we did them before but they are worth a visit. We revisited Queensway Quay Marina where we moored the last time, it seemed very small compared to our memories, probably having experienced many more marinas since!
We met up again with Fred and Diane on 'Catch-Up' who we first saw in Portimao, she's a catamaran that Fred built all himself with a bright red hull. (Other sailors have referred to her as 'Ketch-Up' - perhaps accidentally?) We visited the local Club Naval for an evening meal together and whilst the fish was very good there was no-one else in the place. The staff tried hard to bridge the language barrier and it was a fun evening.
We have walked all over the town looking for an Orange shop to recharge our SIM and to the Carrefour on the edge of town as we were told they had good cheap folding bikes for sale. It was a long way and when we got there the bikes weren't that great, they only had two and when Chris test rode one changing gear had no effect. It was also a long walk back!
We invited two couples from nearby boats for a drink on Splice one evening; Alex and Anna on 'Pantalaimon II' are on their way to join the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) which crosses the Atlantic in November to St Lucia. Duncan and Pat on' Samji' are heading in the other direction from us, back towards to Portugal, planning to spend the winter in Lagos, a popular cruisers haunt over the colder months. We had a great few hours with the time before dinner passing very quickly in company who have the same issues and lifestyle. Everyone's dinner was late that night as we just kept talking.
Today has been tackling the odd jobs that are always present on a boat, pumping up the fenders and cleaning off the black muck that accumulates, recalibrating the anchor chain counter and checking the windlass and running up the repaired starboard engine to check the coolant levels. We have also prepared the navigation routing, tides and weather research in readiness for leaving the marina tomorrow to fuel up. Gibraltar is very cheap for diesel - about 36p per litre!! Everyone tries to arrive here with empty tanks. We will stop off and then anchor overnight in the bay to wait for the westerly wind that is due on Monday. Then we will enter the Med, heading towards Estepona. (Sailors wouldn't usually say 'to' Estepona as the winds and weather could well make your eventual landfall somewhere else entirely!)

The photo shows one of the Macaques with a baby at the top of the Rock. In the background you can see Africa and some of the shipping we had to negotiate!