Still in Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gateway to the Atlantic

Mediterranean Sea
36'09.7N/5'21.8W

A week has gone by since our last update and I am sad to report we are still at anchor at The Rock. This past week has been a constant back and forth to land where we are able to check Internet and the weather. We have been receiving weather gribs on the boat as well. But with the strong winds predicted, it is better to use more than one resource.

In the midst of all the land trips we were able to get propane with the help of Don from S/V Redwood Coast and Tom from S/V Two Extreme. Once Tom and Don signed their lives away for two propane tanks, purchased an EU valve, and borrowed Tom's fitting things, things were looking up. The rig was hooked up with the full bottle a bit higher for the liquid propane to drain into our empty tank and so we waited. We weighed the tank every 30 minutes and... nothing.

A few hours have now passed. As our last resort, we look to see if Mr. Nigel Calder has written anything about this process. For those of you who don't know who Mr. Calder is. He is a boat electrician guru. And you can guarantee that every cruising boat has his books on board. We were in luck and found a mention in his book. Mr. Calder suggests pouring hot water over the full tank to heat up the liquid so it passes faster. [From Ron: Here is a way to transfer propane without hot water]

After moving the tanks up forward, securing the full tank, upside down, to the boom for more leverage, we then poured hot water on the tank. And just like Mr. Calder promised, we could see it flow. And with one tank full, and another half full, we are happy campers. It is by far the most expensive propane we have purchased because the store decided not to return our deposit. But, we are full.

Also this week our outboard motor has been acting up again causing us to have to break out the oars and row a few times. And with the heavy rain and winds here, rowing is no cup of tea. Last night was the straw that broke the camel's back because once back in the dingy we noticed we lost a oar, and the outboard decided not to run. With only one oar, and a flip-flop for the other paddle, it was a long trip home. We decided to take her apart one last time today, Tom spliced the wire to the spark plug and first pull, she started up. She's been doing good all day. So fingers crossed we don't get stranded again because we only have one paddle and the flip-flop didn't work so well.

Our trip into town yesterday consisted of us at the Internet checking weather once again. Last we saw it wasn't looking good for us to make the Canary Islands. There is talk of a nice marina in Rabat, Morocco (Africa) just 230 nautical miles from here. So if we could make that we would try. However, what we saw yesterday was predictions for the wind picking up today and tomorrow. Maybe a break on Wednesday for us to make the trip to Africa. But if not a nasty looking front is coming in over the weekend. So we may be here for another week. Of course we will keep you posted after our weather check tomorrow.

Cheers,
Amy and Tom

Gibraltar

Gibraltar , Gateway to the Atlantic

Mediterranean Sea
36'09.7N/5'21.8W

Happy Trafalgar Day! Sandpiper is still anchored just under 'The Rock' waiting for favorable winds to blow us to the Canary Islands 700 miles south of here.

Since arriving we have been busy exploring the surrounding area and getting the 'Piper ready to leave. The only safe anchorage in Gibraltar is north of the runway that separates Spain from Gibraltar. Being on this side of the border (Spain), then crossing over to Gibraltar is a bit like crossing over to Tijuana. We go from one country where no one knows what we are saying to a country where everyone speaks English, our first English speaking country since leaving Australia.

Gibraltar is rich in maritime history. It is only two and a half miles long and barely a mile wide. Most of the country is an enormous rock that forms a peninsula. The rock drops from a hight of 1400 feet to sea level.

Gibraltar has been a part of all major wars for the last two centuries. For a little history... Gibraltar was used as a base during the battle of Trafalgar. And it is where the body of Admiral Nelson was brought ashore by HMS victory. Gibraltar was also a major base in WWII, used to block German shipping from entering or leaving the Med. And to try to trap German U-boats. You can see this in one of the greatest movies ever made about WWII called 'Das Boot'. Towards the end of the movie, after their brutal Atlantic patrol, they have to skip pass the Royal Navy at Gibraltar to try to get back to their base in France.

Since our arrival to Spain at our last stop in Almeria it was never clear where we were supposed to check in. So we never did, figuring we would do it once we got here. Now that we are here, once again no one can tell us where to go to check in. And it seems that no one really cares. When we walk across the border from Gibraltar the Spanish customs officers ask us where the stamps are in our passports.  We explain that we can't figure out where to check in. So they say "That's OK. Don't worry about it." I believe that none of the other boats here are clearing in or out either since its to confusing on the Spanish side. And it is so busy here that they are not too concerned with the visiting yachts.

Storm Update: That storm that blew through here 2 weeks ago, the one we hid from in a marina in Almeria, Spain. That storm was only forecasted to blow 30 knots. Turns out that same storm was the worst storm Gibraltar has experienced in 40 years. Most people we talked to say they have never seen anything like it. Along with the broken ship on its coast, the storm caused much damage to the harbor, with both marinas being closed due to storm damage. [Video of damage]

One of the things we have been trying to accomplish these last 4 days is trying to get Sandpiper's propane tanks refilled. While this is always an adventure in every county we have visited, we have always found someone that had the right fittings to top our tanks. Here in Europe, everyone swaps their empty bottles for full ones. And it is illegal to refill tanks in Europe. We have only recently been educated on this after the last 4 days, one of the days walking around town with our propane tank behind us on a small cart only to find out that no one could help us. Sandpiper has to large propane tanks that have lasted us since stopping in Egypt.  But are now they are almost empty. We are not sure that we want to leave on this next 700 mile passage with a chance of running out of propane en route. So we might be staying here for a few days until we can get this worked out.

We are working with another California boat to get the right propane fittings to fit the EU bottles. If  that works, then we will just connect the European bottles to ours and fill them that way. Hopefully the next entry we will be at sea cooking something.

More soon,
Tom and Amy

Gibraltar

Gibraltar, Gateway to the Atlantic

Mediterranean Sea
36'09.7N/5'21.8W

Sandpiper is securely anchored in Gibraltar, right under 'The Rock'. From where we are anchored, we are just under 'The Rock' and it looks just like in the Prudential logo "Get a piece of the rock". We made much better time from Almeria than anticipated and was able to set the hook before the sunset among about 20 other boats from all over the world.

I had said in my last update that we were not worried about a night approach to the anchorage here. But now that we are here, I take that back. I had not anticipated the amount of shipping underway and at anchor and at anchor. Gibraltar is a crossroads for mariners traveling to the Med or to the Atlantic, and most yachts stop here, along with a lot of ships.

As we have stated previously, the weather in the Med can turn bad in a very short amount of time. This is why we were quite happy to motor in windless seas. As we approached Gibraltar, right under the lighthouse were the remains of a ship that was pushed up on the rocks just last Friday in a major storm that blew through thru. The ship was at anchor and when the storm hit. They drug anchor right onto the rocks. Some of the crew was taken off by helicopter until the helicopter had to make an emergency landing due to mechanical failures. The rest of the crew was taken off by a crane that lowered a basket down to them from the cliff above. While this was going on, the ship cracked in half. When we passed yesterday there were salvors all around the remains mostly trying to pump the ship's fuel out. We passed thru some of the fuel in the water, and the main port was closed off with oil booms to protect the boats in the harbor.

When we approached the anchorage we stopped and talked to a small Canadian boat that had been here for the last week, after a transit from New York. They told us that they had been anchored there when the storm blew through, and they showed us where a section of the break wall used to be. The waves were so large that inside the bay that the waves tossed all the rocks off the middle of the break wall. This was the same storm that passed over us last Friday after our arrival to Almeria. Lucky for us we were no longer in transit from Malta when this passed over.

One note to add about this area. The border between Spain and Africa is wide open for smuggling, mostly people and cigarettes. We had one small inflatable boat with 3 persons onboard pass us, headed from Spain to Africa, when we were 20 miles offshore. These guys looked pretty suspect being so far offshore in a small inflatable.

Gibraltar is just a small piece of land that is self governed and is a territory of England. But the land just off our stern is Spain. After we got the hook dropped last night and had gone to bed we heard a small outboard and Spanish voices. I popped my head out and saw 2 young guys in a dinghy holding on to our starboard side talking into a hand held radio. I said "Hola", and they started pointing outside the anchorage and then at us saying "police". I was a bit confused. At first as I thought they were saying that THEY were the police and that we had anchored to close to the Spanish side of the border between Gibraltar and Spain, and were asking us to move.

They kept chatting into their radio. With my very broken Spanish, and a lot of pointing, they told me that they were smuggling cigarettes with their dingy between the Spanish shoreline and Gibraltar. I am not sure which way they smuggle the smokes. They told me they were hiding from the police who were out in boat looking for them, and a friend of theirs was on a radio telling them where the police were. Once the coast was clear they took off, saying 'Adios'. At least they were honest smugglers and told me everything they were doing.

Our current plans are to stay here till we get a good enough weather window to head south to the Canary Islands 700 miles from here.

More once we step ashore.
Tom and Amy

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Notes From Ron:

• The cigarette smugglers are bringing cigarettes in to Spain, via Gibraltar. Here is an article.
  
• Technically, Tom and Amy are in Spain. They are anchored just a few yards north of the border.
  
• Gibraltar is so small that the only road in and out of the country has to cross the middle of the county's only airport runway. Take a look.