10 April 1993 Vila Real de San Antonio to Cadiz (Day 2)
We were sailing too fast and would have arrived at Cadiz in the dark – I was not very happy about that because the lights on the chart are different from the lights in the pilot and I didn’t know which was correct! We dropped the main and tried to run slowly downwind with mizzen and jib. This didn’t work too well because the mizzen kept gybing, so we dropped it and ran at 3.5 knots under jib alone. That worked out quite well because we arrived at entrance buoys at dawn.
We went into Puerto Sherry where we met Anne Carlson on “Sandpiper”, an American lady who has been living in the Mediterranean for 7 years. We slobbed about for the rest of the day.
11 April 1993 Cadiz
Cleaned the boat and did some jobs.
12 April 1993 Cadiz
There is a very strong westerly wind so we are trapped here.
I wrote a load of letters to sort out our affairs back in the UK. There are some fun and games going on about the final “earnout” payment from the sale of my company. I rang Mark Neal (one of my business partners) and found out that we will probably getting an earnout of £42K each. However, we have an outside chance of using a legal loop hole to force Feedback (the Purchaser) to pay us £150K! I almost wish I was back in the UK to take part in the haggling. I said that I’ll ring Mark on Friday 16th.
Anne will be in Puerto Caleta, Lanzarote, probably all winter, so we should bump into her again there.
13 April 1993 Cadiz to Barbate
We were a bit worried about the weather, so we waited until half past nine this morning before we decided to go. We correctly deduced that a cold front had gone through – cloud formations, showers, cross winds rule (top winds from right when standing with your back to the lower winds).
A beam swell once more made sailing a bit unpleasant. The wind dropped at lunchtime, so we motored for a while. We were very excited to finally see Africa in the distance.
We had to be careful on the approaches to Barbate because there is a tunny net which starts just 200 metres from the port entrance and stretches out about 5 MILES. This is the first time that we have seen a tunny net and I think that when we go tomorrow, we should be able to pass round the inshore end. Once in the port, we picked up a fishing boat buoy thanks to the kind gesturing of some fishermen who could see that we were confused about where to go!
14 April 1993 Barbate to Gibraltar
We left Barbate in the pouring rain. I wasn’t brave enough to try to go on the inside of the Tunny net, so we went all the way around. We motored all the way to Gibraltar.
It was a very interesting passage. The coast of Africa is really hilly and looks so close. The Spanish coast is very hilly too. It started to rain again as we approached Gibraltar. The “Rock” looks impressive.
We went to Sheppard’s Marina and picked up our mail. The marina didn’t have much space and looked chaotic – so we went to Marina Bay. We filled up with fuel before going to our berth. Gibraltar seems to be like a little England – we’ve already had a pint, bought bacon and sausages and, best of all, we’ve found out where the best Indian restaurant is!
15 April 1993 Gibraltar
We walked into town and looked at the shops – all the same, electronics, more electronics and duty free goods – yawn!
16 April 1993 Gibraltar
Some engineers came to look at the engine and coupling. I’m worried about the amount of “blue-ish” smoke that comes out of the exhaust, so they’ve taken the injectors to check them. I think that it might be valve guide oil seals, but at £25/hr, I don’t think I’ll get them to do them. It’s very calm, hot weather.
17 April 1993 Gibraltar
The “Levanter” started overnight and we got to see the classic levanter cloud on the west of the “Rock”. This weather phenomenon is caused when the east wind blows over the steep sided mountain and forms a cloud over Gibraltar even when the rest of the surrounding area has blue skies.
We went up the cable car to the top of the Rock - St. Michael’s cave is very impressive. The Barbary apes are pretty agressive and one of them jumped on Craig and knocked him over - a bit of a shock for the little lad!
18 April 1993 Gibraltar
The levanter continues. We’re just hanging around until the engine and coupling have been fixed.
19 April 1993 Gibraltar
The levanter continues, nothing to do but wait. Went for a drink on “Maid of Zenor” with Martin, Kay and James (11).
20 April 1993 Gibraltar
The levanter continues - I’ve decided that I don’t particularly like Gibraltar. On a good note, Neville and Margaret of “Bonnie Day” arrived and came to us for a drink or two.