Spain 2019

The final leg to Gibraltar

 

We got a little behind with the blog as the sailing came to an end - the last update had us sailing past Faro headed for Cadiz. Since then, we made it into the Med, left Atlantis in Gibraltar and said goodbye. 

 

Cadiz was a lovely city surrounded by sea, with beautiful parks and large beaches along the coastline. We explored the city, stocked up on food for the final leg, then departed (I took us out of the marina, which was a first!). We then had a bit of a motor down toward our next anchorage, at Ensenada de Bolonia, a sprawling and busy beach with a large dune at one end.

 

 

During this sail we caught sight of the foothills of North Africa, at one point only about 10 miles off to starboard. The weather was hot, a regular 30 plus. That night we could see a myriad of lights to the south, Tangier. We spent a morning on the beach before escaping the heat of the land and heading, for a final time, to sea. Sailing through the Strait of Gibraltar was pretty special, Spain to our left and Morocco to our right, large shipping then from nowhere, 25 knots. We'd been motoring one moment and the next were putting in a reef! All was well, and we were welcomed into Gibraltar by a pair of dolphins playing in the bow waves. A slight correction is that we did not, in fact, sail into Gibraltar. We sailed into La Linea, a town on the Spanish side of the border. Quite odd being in 35 degree heat, Spain and only a stone's throw from the UK. Gibraltar itself was a very interesting place with a lot of history. Accessed via a level crossing style airport, it was a strange mix of home, Spain and Africa, with fish and chip shops, tapas and monkeys (Barbary macaques)! Worth a visit. 

 

The trip on the whole has been a grand adventure, a much appreciated break after finishing university, a fantastic opportunity to learn some of what makes an ocean sailor and a doorway into a new community. I am not used to writing like this, so will have missed out much, but I hope enough of the journey has been captured to entertain whoever's interested and jog my memory when I'm a bit longer in the tooth. 

 

Until next time,

Hector.