Crossing the straight of Gibraltar

Crossing the straight of Gibraltar

From Cascais, in Portugal, our plan was to move through the straight of Gibraltar, and find a nice spot on the costa Blanca. I have crossed shipping channels many times, even in dense fog, using the radar, so how hard could it be?

Our first leg, from Cascais to Cabo Sao Vicente went at a brisk pace of 7 knots, running on just the genoa. Hint, if the mainsail is not up, you don't have the risk of it accidentally gibing, and we were happy with our seven knots. On our way to Cabo de São Vicente, we didn't see that many ships, and this is generally how we like it. We did expect this situation to change, however, in the near future.

The leg from Cabo de São Vicente to the straigt of Gibraltar, was quite pleasant, the weather turned into very sunny and very warm, and the wave height reduced from nearly 3 meters,to less than a meter. We though we were already in the Med. Elizabeth made a wonderfull vegetarian meat loaf (I know, it sounds a bit like a contradiction, but wait until you had the first bite!) and a salad.

Also, on several occasions, we were greeted by a large groups of curious dolphins. Although we could see many ships on the AIS display, all heading towards or from the straight, we did actually see surprisingly very few vessels, mainly due to the fact we were staying out of the way of the main shipping channel. We used all our sails, including a first reef, on this section of the trip, as the wind slowly reduced on out way to Gibraltar, no next to nothing (we had to use the iron mainsail), picked up again to 20 knots, and just before Tarifa, dropped again to nothing, and finally settled into a refreshing 30 knots... In the wrong direction. The kite surfers at Tarifa must have been happy. We on the other hand were battling the 30 knots over the deck, wind against current and the lovely effect this has on the waves, and reduced visibility.

We did not get to see the kitesurfers, unfortunately, do to the heavy fog, which descended upon us throughout the night. We had actually planned our trip, so we would cross the Gibraltar straight in daylight, to make the crossing easier. However, this was not meant to be... Using the radar, and AIS, it was very easy to establish the viability range. In the worst part, the visibility was just a few hundred meters, causing me to see a Moroccan vessel, only at the last moment, as it did not have AIS or radar reflector. Presumably the vessel was engaged in nefarious activities, either smuggling or possbily worse,  illegally fishing in Spanish waters, because we saw it in the Spanish waters, and it was crossing the shipping channel towards morocco.

When we passed in front of the tower of Tarifa, we could barely see it, at a range of less than 2 nautical miles. At this distance, suddenly a high speed catamaran appeared on our AIS display. It was heading right for us at 22 knots! Evasive maneuvers... We did see a second high speed catamaran, coming out of Gibraltar.

When we crossed Gibraltar, we could barely make out the rock, on account of the viability being much better at higher altitudes. However, as soon as we made out way into the Med, the wind dropped to nearly nothing, the fog lifted and the sun came out. All good things come togather, as by this time, Elizabeth's samosas came hot out of the oven.

We decided to set sail to Estepone for a thorough decrustification.

Tux and Luna on Watch

Luna on the Navigation Console

Leaving Cascais at a brisk pace

Tux and Luna on the bridge

Vegetarian meat loaf and salad

Dolphins  between the bows

Time for a vitamin booster

Last sunset in the Atlantic for a while

Radar and AIS display, just before entering the straight. Note, we are in the middle of each of the displays.

Luna helping out with the navigation

Luna on watch for incoming heavys

Tux, not even lifting a single paw...

Wait, he IS lifting his paw

Tower of Tarifa

Elizabeth making Samosas in front of Gibraltar

Vegetarian Indian Samosas