Author: Paul and Claire

With a need to get the exhaust to the courier we bought the wrapping materials downtown and got packing.

Been here long enough to start a new business….

  The cave includes a concert hall with seating

Starting with parades and the release of 30,000 balloons             We turned up as darkness fell for Soulmates from Holland                                                 For local bands Lightspeed and Jetstream but ultimately for Gibtraltar heavy yet culturally diverse band Breed 77                            

Which calls for a journey to the top of the Rock by cable car             At the top over hanging the 1,200ft drop               But not as the locals do                 Don’t we know each other? If the ape lifespan is as they say we may have met a couple of times before             You can see where evolution went too far. Perfect arms for lashing the sail and winching, great legs for climbing the mast, but

Some of Gibraltar’s star attractions The border is operating again             Across the runway             The Botanical Gardens                           Nelson’s dockyard             100 ton gun (a Victorian gun capable of launching a 2,000 lb shell 5 miles, today painted by the Army). The barrel was split by the then over eager management pushing the cycle time design from 3 minutes to 1.5.                    

In La Linea marina waiting for exhaust parts. Not too bad a hike into town and a very quiet marina with little change over. Not too bad a view.   Stern to Med mooring                     La Linea town                      

After leaving Cadiz we motored into a steep sea and as we thundered into the back of the waves our speed fell away to 3 knots. The engine seemed to be down on power as it was a struggle to reach 5 knots. As we turned toward Trafalgar Point we fell of the wind and raised the sails tanking along on a close reach at 7.5 knots (which may be 8.5 but we need to think about recalibrating the log) in 18 knots of wind and we started over taking the other 2 boats on our course. The first slipped

Some sights from Cadiz Security lights at the marina mean wehave no idea if it’s day or night Cadiz city walls Main Street       City Centre at night with a little FX Navigation round town is tricky given the narrow streets  A tower is a must have! Protests over unemployment but actual attendance is very low Swinging a cruise liner through 180 degrees in Cadiz harbour during a F8 gale

A word on cruising reality. Food shopping usually involves a 2 to 5 mile round trip which when you add in getting lost in the latest town having heard a rumour that there’s a supermarket somewhere to the north then you get some idea of what it’s about. We often leave around noon and break up the shop with a bit of lunch returning around 5 to 6pm. Sometimes we find shortcuts but often not. Weight is evenly distributed across the crew and one of our key shopping criteria is how much can we/do we want to carry? Approximate round