Gibraltar Misc

Morrisons grocery store, just like the UK (not meant as flattery) apparently they actually ship horrid British food out of that country! We moved our boat to a Spanish marina 2 days before departure just so we could provision...

Talking to a guy that has lived there for 40 years, said it was the worst winter since he's been there, figures it is on a 50 year cycle....recurring theme of the trip...

We were tied up along a wall with some decent protection. Boats on the inside were subject to a swell that lifted and dropped their boat ends around 4', really tough to get on and off and worse to live like that, in a supposed protected harbor to boot!

I have yet to chronicle my French canal experiences, some of which resulted in scrapes and bruises to the boat and my ego. I met a sailor here that was doing (many) of the canals alone, he would put on his autopilot as he approached a lock and get things squared away. As he was on the bow making preparations, charging down the canal at 6 knots with his autopilot engaged, the self steerer decided to make a 90 degree turn to starboard, within 20 feet (as he scrambled back to the cockpit) the boat had driven itself up a low concrete wall and put a huge hole in his bow. I plan to get the rest of the story when I see him in the Canaries, but suffice to say I felt a bit better about my experiences after that chat...

Gibraltar was the 1st time, since leaving the UK in November, that we met other sailors! People to share stories with, commiserate over boat problems, talk about where we've been and where we're going. Actually being part of a community (weird cause sailors are non-joiner independent types). Different from our journeys so far, I think we're starting to fit into the bigger picture and becoming part of the flow (except that we're really talking about the stragglers, everyone now is in the Carib planning to depart for hurricane season just as we plan to arrive).

We're so close to being out of the Med we can taste it! You can see Africa from here. Hope springs eternal. Soon we'll be headed towards the Equator, nothing but high barometric pressure, warmer water, current going our way, winds the same....you can see it from here!