Preparing for the Off

After Caitlin and Pat returned to Australia we planned to stay at Alcaidesa Marina, near Gibraltar, to prepare for the big Atlantic Crossing and wait for our Canadian crew friends to arrive.  We had a few small jobs to do to finish off boat preparation but waiting seemed to be the major activity.  Sadly pontoon lassitude has well and truly taken root.

 

One of the major activities is getting our sail inventory all sorted.  There were several sails that we just have not needed in the sailing conditions of the Mediterranean.  We dug out the spinnaker sail (the big colourful balloon sail), the mizzen stay sail and the No 3 genoa that have been sitting in the bottom of the sail locker unused for years.  They are all in good shape and we refreshed our memories on how to rig them up.  

The No 3 genoa will need modification to fit our new furler but fortunately someone on the pontoon does sail repairs and can do the job for us.  We hope to use this second genoa as a twin headsail.

This is what we are aiming for with twin headsails.  Easy to furl in and out.

In light winds a colourful spinnaker can go up

We also bought a second hand storm jib that you use in really bad weather when the other sails may rip.  Storm jibs are definitely one of those sails you hope you will never have to use.

 

I am really looking forward to having consistent trade winds to sail. I have had enough of the Motorterranean.  It is a big unknown for us.  Many say that the trip of 2-3 weeks can get quite boring.  Boring is okay.  I just don't want stressful with bad weather.

We did have a bit of excitement a few weeks ago.  A boat came into the marina and tried to back into their mooring spot.  There as a bit of a cross wind and the boat ended up smashing across three other moored boats.  Sadly one of them was ours.  It bent the davits for the dinghy (the metal crane like structure to lift the rubber rib/dinghy up out of the water).  The skipper, a French man, was leaving the next day so gave us his insurance details and some cash in the hope that it would cover the repairs and the insurance people would not have to be involved.  We got the repair work done fairly quickly for a reasonable price with no need for insurance paperwork.  

Meanwhile when Bob was dismantling the davits he dropped one of the knobs holding the davit arms into the water.  Of course our model of davits is no longer being made. The original manufacturing company in England said it would look around in case there are spares in a dusty corner but we had no result there.  I doubt they were interested in spending much time looking for a 30+ year old knob.

The twin of the offending lost knob

I decided to bite the bullet and get out the diving hookah to have a look on the sea bed under the boat.  We are in about 5 metres of water.  I do not have a weight belt and just do not sink at all, especially with a wet suit on.  I needed a weighted line to pull myself down.  We got out our old propeller (the only use for it now a day), tied a rope on it, attached it to the boat and lowered it down onto the sea bed.  As much as I tried to equalise the pressure, going just a few metres down really hurt my ears.  I was able to see the bottom quite clearly but there was no sign of the knob.  I did three dives in different locations looking for it.  I really had to hang on to the rope or I would have shot up like a cork.  My ears hurt for a good 24 hours after the dives, not good.  I am definitely going to look into taking a proper diving course when we get to the Caribbean.  

Then in further desperation, Bob thought he would have a go looking for the knob but had even less luck and more trouble with his ears after only one quick dive.  The frustration is that the davits are not useable without this knob.  

We went to all the chandlers looking for something we could use to replace the knob. Also Bob spent hours searching the internet for a knob/bolt replacement.  The problem is that the nut/bolt combination is a weird English thread - a half inch Whitworth, which of course also has to be in stainless steel as everything rusts on a boat.  Bob curses the lack of uniformity in measurements and wishes Napoleon had won so that all of Europe would now be metric. 

Who would think finding this bolt would be such a hassle!

We finally found a supplier of these bolts in England who makes them primarily for restorers of old English motorcycles (Triumphs, BSA, Nortons etc).  We ordered several bolts, just in case as they were only £2 each.  So all this long story is just an example of how, for the lack of a presumably simple bolt, we can be stymied for weeks.  The joys of boat repair.  Moral of the story:  “Don’t drop parts overboard”!

The other major activity is planning the provisioning.  How to feed 4 people for 3+ weeks with interesting and nutritious meals and where to store all that food with limited space and refrigeration?  There will be no popping out to the local shop for bread and milk while in the middle of the Atlantic.

This will be us in a few weeks

We have popped over to Gibraltar several times to do some shopping.  (We have alread done the sightseeing spots when we were here a few years ago.)  It is funny that people call that area 'the frontier' which evokes, to my mind, images of wild country and gun totting bandits.  Instead, although a 'hard' border, one just walks through a few buildings while flashing your passport, which is rarely given even a cursory glance, then you have to cross the airport runway before entering Gibraltar proper. It is all very civilised and routine, if a bit bizarre crossing an international airport runway to enter a city.  When planes come in (about 8 - 10 times a day) the barriers come down and you have to wait until the plane lands before you can walk across into Gibraltar.  

Crossing the runway into Gibraltar

Many people cross the border every day for work.  The weird thing about Gibraltar is that it tends to be more British than Britain which is so often the case in colonial outposts.

Glories of the Empire

The red phone booth

and post box

All the familiar shops

Such is our life waiting for ‘The Off’.  Our crew friends arrive in a week and we will then take the first weather window to have a short sail to Tangiers then a 5-6 day sail to the Canary Islands where we will join the ARC+ rally to cross the Atlantic in mid November.

 

Hopping down to the Rock

 

After the wedding, we returned to Almerimar to get Songster ready for launching and to await the arrival of Pat and Caitlin who were joining us for some sailing down the Costa del Sol along the Spanish coast.

Pat and Caitlin arrived in Almerimar full of tales of their travels from London through France and Spain.  After catching up and introducing them to the boat we headed out bright and early the next day. This was Caitlin’s first sailing experience and Pat’s first time on Songster so we were hoping for good conditions.  Well the conditions were certainly benign – no wind, surprise, surprise!  But it was a lovely 46 nm motor to Herrudura Bay and we saw dolphins.  We anchored and had a quick evening swim before the traditional sundowners and a relatively early night.

The next day we had another no wind motor to Benalmadena and more dolphins en route.  A huge pod passed by us and a few came to swim in our bow wave.  I had never seen so many dolphins all at once.  Dolphins two days in a row – amazing.  

 https://youtu.be/AqfUKhC86vY  

The next day we motored again (no wind, sigh) to the lovely town of Estepona.  About 15 minutes out of the marina we hit a heavy fog bank.  This was our first encounter with fog in Songster.  Pat and I took turns at the bow to watch for other boats.  We turned on the radar and sounded our fog horn.  At worst, our visibility was only about 100m.  The fog lasted for about an hour and fortunately there was only one other boat nearby, a yacht who we contacted on the radio.  It was an interesting, if eerie, experience

Pat and Caitlin enjoying the calm seas

Caitlin at the helm

We arrived in Estepona early afternoon which gave us plenty of time to explore this charming town.  There was a beautiful esplanade along the waterfront.  The old town with its narrow streets was decorated everywhere with flower pots along the walls of the buildings.  Delightful!

 

 

 

Fish drying along the waterfront

On the final day of sailing with Pat and Caitlin we had wind.  The genoa went out and Pat and Caitlin sat up the front, tethered, enjoying getting their feet wet.  But as we neared Gibraltar the wind increased and we were bashing into the waves.  We had to turn on the motor to struggle through the waves and current and still were making only about 3 knots.  Caitlin loved the waves splashing over the deck and even wanted to go out on the deck so she could get wet.  We convinced her that even tethered it was much too dangerous.  I am glad though that she enjoyed the rough weather and was not scared.

The Rock of Gilbraltar and Jebel Musa - The two pillars of Hercules considered the limit of the known world in ancient Greek and Roman times

Rounding the Rock

Happy Pat

We saw dolphins again on our last day of sailing.  In our 5 years in the Med we have probably seen dolphins only a dozen times.  Caitlin and Pat were lucky enough to see them three times in 4 days of sailing.  So although we sailed for only 4 days, Pat and Caitlin got the full taste of sailing – no wind, wind, too much wind, fog and lots of dolphins.

Our view for the next 5 weeks - on a clear day....

...and with the Levanter east wind forming clouds over the Rock