For me, the hardest part of passagemaking is when the winds are unfavorable, either not enough wind, too much or from the wrong direction. On this passage the wind has been very light which has slowed us down a lot. It has been quite frustrating to slowly motor sail much of the time.
Fortunately, with a bit more than 400nm left to go, Things are improving as the wind has gradually increased so, with brief lulls, we have been sailing well for the last day so I am happy. As we get closer to Portugal, we will likely have too much of a good thing but at least we will be moving toward Gibraltar at a good clip.
We cannot see Gibraltar yet but I am sure that it is out there somewhere…
Pandora has a distinctive hum when she reaches 7kts and I am hearing that welcome sound a lot now and the weather files from this morning predict that we will have fair winds for the remainder of the run.
Sails setting nicely in 15kts.
It is hard to believe that with 400nm more to go it seems like we are “almost there” but after more than 4,000nm under Pandora’s keel since departing Trinidad more than two months ago I do feel like we are getting close.
Of course, “arriving” assumes that we do not run into any delays (orcas). I checked www.orcas.pt again today and no new attacks have been logged. I am not particularly superstitious but I am unwilling to predict that we will make it through without incident. Although, I am counting on it.
Originally, I had anticipated arriving in Gibraltar late on Tuesday afternoon but now it looks like making landfall late on Wednesday or very early on Thursday morning is more realistic. With some luck we will be able to make it to the entrance of the harbor during daylight but it is more likely that we will be picking our way into the harbor in the dark.
I contacted the marina to ask if there might be a place in the marina to tie up after dark but was told that they close off the marina and that I would have to anchor nearby, north of the marina and come in the next day.
He said something about “putting up the boom” as a reason that I was unable to enter after hours. I guess that is some sort of barrier in the marina but who knows.
I have heard that with the north coast of Africa so close; a fair amount of smuggling goes on with small craft making the run into the harbor at night and unloading on the beach. Perhaps the boom is about deterring small craft from entering the marina.
I am looking forward to being in Gibraltar for a few days and am really interested in making a trek up to the top of the rock, an image that has been with me since I was a kid watching “Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom” with the famous Rock of Gibraltar predominantly featured at the beginning of the show.
I understand that there are resident monkeys on the mountain and that they are quite adept at snagging items, especially food, from unaware visitors.
Based on the wind predications that are forecasting strong easterly winds between Gibraltar and Almeria, I expect that we will spend three days or so in Gibraltar before being able to move east.
Down below, a bit of a mess, in cruising mode.
Of course, Peter and Steve playing cards.
Peter
Steve
Our wake streaming to the west and it’s all downhill, in a good way I hope, to Gibraltar.
