Portugal to Gibraltar

20th July - Still in GibraltarAnother day under the cloud from the rock. We can see blue sky all around but the cloud forming over the rock keeps us in the shade. Not complaining – it is 23 degrees here – over 30 degrees about 300metres away!!

We were up early to try and break the habit of still being in bed after 9am. John set off into the industrial part of Gibraltar to try and sort out some sort of boarding ladder to make it easier to get on at the bow. At the moment getting on is a feat of strength, balance and timing as the bow is at chest level. Both Chris and I find it hard and there is the distinct possibility that one or the other of us will mis-time the manoever and end up in the water!

I ventured into the main street in Gibraltar to get some money and some stamps. Also to buy a purse – one of the things we forgot, along with our International Certificates of Competancy!!, was my purse so we have been existing with our cash in an upmarket blue freezer bag so far. Then back to Shepperds to buy a new Spanish courtesy flag and a yellow Q flag and finally to Morrisons for bread, cokes and mosquito coils.

In the meantime Chris had been carrying out the engine checks. The oil was low so he topped it up then found that water was slowly dripping from the water pump. Discussions over lunch concluded that this was something that should be looked at now rather than later as water if it got worse we could be in trouble and we should be able to fix it here more easily than anywhere else. So this afternoon has been spent with Chris yet again upside down under the engine, followed by him and John scraping the old water pump until it looked like new. It is slowly being re-constructed and they are both very cheerful so I have great hopes that we will be off tomorrow.

17th, 18th and 19th July - Queensway Quay Marina, Gibraltar
Nice to wake up safely attached to the pontoon!! We all 3 got up late and decided that a cooked breakfast had been well earned so we took ourselves off to the waterside Café for a full English. Then off into a steamingly hot Gibraltar for parts for the engine and food. Sheppards marina, that world renowned mecca for yachtties, is a shadow of its former self, tucked away at the back of a new underground car park. Nothing is priced and the staff don’t know what they have in stock – making for a frustrating shopping experience when everything we needed was apparently somewhere in the shop but couldn’t be found!! Ended up with a few bits and pieces then went to Morrisons and bought as much stuff as the 3 of us could carry – mainly pickles, mayo and condiments to make lunches more exciting. Back on board the boat we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling with a beer or two. Had intended to go out for a meal that evening but John suddenly developed a pressing need to use the marina loos - as he says he had a Gibby tummy – ugh! so we abandoned the attempt and I made a meal on the boat instead.

The easterly wind kicked in during Friday night and we awoke to clouds and a wind gusting up to force 5 in the marina. We did various jobs then Chris decided to go to the internet café and read a book for the afternoon whilst John and I climbed the rock. We had intended to take the cable car up to the top and walk down but it wasn’t running due to the strong winds so we walked up the Mediterranean steps to the top of the rock. It took an hour – spectacular views over the Straits and the Spanish coast to the east. We climbed up through the southern fortifications and saw the caves and old gun emplacements on the side of the rock. Stopped for a cider on the way down and saw the apes terrorising any children foolish enough to be holding lollies anywhere near them. Then we joined Chris who was still very happy sitting in the café and we all decided to go out for a meal that evening. Had a good Thai meal in a modern Thai restaurant – great food only spoiled by the huge flat screen TV blasting out pop videos throughout the meal – decided we were rather older than the normal clientel and we are turning into grumpy old people!

Yesterday was spent getting the washing done at the launderette and cleaning and tidying the boat – in particular trying to get our nightmare of filing under control. John sorted out the rope for the kedge anchor and Chris re-wired the bow thrusters so that when you press the port button it now turns to port rather than starboard. A small detail but one that could have been a disaster if whoever was on the tiller forgot to press the opposite button!! Then at 4pm we got ourselves cleaned up and walked into Gibraltar to catch a bus to the frontier with Spain to investigate a fiesta that was apparently taking place. Walked across the border then we realised that, even though we had all remembered our passports we’d forgotten to bring Euros so had to go into La Linea to find a cashpoint!

The fiesta was just amazing. Half the women had glorious colourful Spanish dresses on – looks like spots are this season’s must haves – and there was a fun party atmosphere everywhere with children, grannies, teenagers and adults all determined to enjoy themselves. We had a fish tapas at a bar then discovered a whole line of tents called penas, which were jam packed with people dancing, eating and drinking. The noise of the music was just deafening – it hurt your chest to stand in front of the speakers. The combination of the packed colourfully dressed crowd, lights and bunting and horses which were all overlooked by the rock dominating the background was just fantastic.

The funfair was just getting going as we left and returned to the boat. Great evening.

15th and 16th July - Faro to Gibraltar
Woke up at 6am to flat calm. John had intended to fit the self steering vane the day before but it was too windy so before we set off he got into the dingy and started to fit small pins into even smaller pins. A curse from the stern showed that he had dropped the larger of the small pins into 7 metres of water, never to be seen again! Luckily we had a spare pin and with a bit more care and a bucket suspended under the working area he and Chris managed to fit the vane onto the end of the self steering bracket. Then we were off –again at high tide so flat calm in the entrance. Motored for 3 hours as there was no wind. Saw about 30 dolphins which crossed our path for about 1 hour and an odd black fin thing – a sailfish?

We started taking it in turns to have rest periods and get into the routine of passage making. The wind blew up quickly, and we had an increasingly wild ride across the waves, which built up to about 2 metres high hand steering one hour on and 2 hours off. Unfortunately John had not managed to get the self steering to work properly. As the afternoon turned into evening the wind veered until our course went across the waves and we were being slewed from side to side – not easy steering but good fun! Had a very acceptable spaghetti and tomato sauce for supper then got ourselves ready for the night. The sun dropped quickly down in a blaze of light then suddenly it was dark. And it all went pearshaped! I was helming and asked for the light to be switched on on the compass! Er…. No light on the compass!!! Couldn’t believe it - didn’t think they made compasses without lights and if they did couldn’t believe anyone would buy one! By this time I’d completely lost the course and we were rolling all over the place. Even by steering with the stars it was just impossible to keep a course – the waves just rolled us off and we were all over the place. So we dropped the main which made it much easier and John set up a red light from a head torch over the compass and order was restored!! Half way through the night we decided to put the engine on as the course was again dead down wind but apart from that it was pretty uneventful and quite exciting – our first night passage, each person quietly waking the next at the end of an hour, making them a cup of tea or hot chocolate and letting them know about the ships in the vicinity and the course to steer. I was on watch for the sunrise – how incredible to be alone on deck on a ship on a rushing sea with no other boats in sight with the sun coming up through the mist over Cape Trafalgar.

We motored for the morning as there was no wind – just a swell left over from the wind of the day before and by lunch time we were in the strait of Gibraltar. A beautiful blue stretch of water – Africa in the background, big ships in the shipping lane a couple of miles to the south, and snakes of calm water intertwined around rough patches where the east and west bound currents mix and shear against each other. John on the plotter keeping us on the best course to maximise the eastern current. Chris at the helm steering to keep out of the shipping lanes to the south, out of the rough water to the north, on a magic carpet taking us at 8 knots towards Gibraltar, me making teas and checking the pilotage calcs to make sure we don’t lose this lift. A fantastic passage. Then up ahead the rock of Gibraltar and more big ships than we would have cared to see in several days let alone all together. John took us across the bay, now buffeted by strong westerly winds, dodging fast ferries, anchoring tankers and pilot boats, rocking and ploughing into the waves then finally through the gap in the harbour breakwater into flat water – aahh! We radioed Queensway Quay marina – yes they had one space – that’s all we need, and motored slowly into our allotted spot. We’ve done it! Great exhilaration – what a great crew. Many beers, a much needed shower and a potato fritata a le John later we collapsed into bed – a great first passage successfully achieved.

13th July – We’re Off
An early morning call had the Bluewater mechanic out to check the engine over generally and our repair in particular. Other than a dirty diesel filter he gave us a clean bill of health. Gill was relieved.

We checked out and motored out of the mouth of the River Arade. We had escaped from Portimao –thought at one time that it would never happen!!!! We motored for an hour or so – Petronella sounded her usual sweet self and the occasional surreptitious glances under our bed at the bilges showed that the engineer was indeed right and she was not leaking any water! Phew! John and Chris tried to get the autopilot to work but it was not very successful so we hand steered her. Then the wind got up and we put all 4 sails up and off she cantered – lovely to be sailing again and so glad to be on the way east. We needed to be at the entrance to Faro before the tide started to ebb and the wind slowly veered and strengthened until our course became dead downwind. So when we were a couple of miles out we put the engine on and motored through the entrance, Chris taking bearings on the western mole and John on the lighthouse to keep us on course. All went to plan and we dropped the anchor in the Culatra anchorage at 7 pm. Many beers followed. A good day.

Next morning was windy which was a shame as we had decided to have a chilled day and go and explore the Isla de Culatra. John got up early to try and catch us some fish for supper but really struggled to catch any when the water was ruffled. We took Chirs ashore and had a coffee whilst waiting for the boat to take him to Olhao for an hour or so. Whilst he was away the wind really blew up – gusting force 6 in the anchorage – so we stayed on the boat and did jobs! When his ferry arrived back John set off in the dingy to pick him up but the outboard packed in half way across and he ended up miles downwind, having rowed like mad just to get to land. A very pleasant German saw what was happening and used his tender to tow the two of them back to the boat – they had just decided to sit the wind out in the café and as it only died after sunset goodness knows what state they would have been in!!!

Broken Propshaft!

12th July – Repairs and Ready to Go

Next morning was a bit of a post mortem. We all agreed we had coped pretty well but confidence was low because what else could go wrong? We seemed to be going backwards rather than forwards.

Chris and I spent the next couple of days with our heads in the bilges, dismantling, finding parts and rebuilding. Chris was just great – full of engineering common sense and practical ideas – without him we would have had a much harder time. He and I took the dingy up the river back to Bluewater marine again to ask them to make us some new studs and within 15 minutes Geoff had made the parts and we had the makings of a solution to the problem. Chris was still full of enthusiasm despite all the problems - considering he had come out for a holiday and he still seemed to have confidence in the whole escapade.

Finally it was finished and we started up the engine again. A bit of a rattle but not too bad. One of the engine mount bolts kept coming loose though and Gill was not happy about leaving until Bluewater had taken a look. But we took Petronella for a test motor round the anchorage then anchored and had a swim before going back into the marina for the last night.

9th July – Oops, there goes a Universal Joint
An early start saw me to the top of the mast for the first time. A combined bosun’s chair main halyard plus foot loop topping lift worked well and I managed to find the problem and effect a temporary repair though the radio may be impaired as the aerial now touches the radar reflector.

Sea trials today. Motored out into the Atlantic and tried out the new bowthruster. It’s great except that when you press the port button we move to starboard and vice versa – still never mind. Practiced picking up man overboard buoys and then put up the sails and had a couple of hours of increasingly good sailing as the wind got up. But as we put the engine on at the mouth of the river ….. CLONK, CLONK, CLONK. What the hell is that? A quick look in the engine proved the worst. The studs joining the gearbox to the forward prop shaft universal joint had worked loose and we had no drive. Instead the prop shaft was being turned by the prop itself and bouncing loose all over the place. Not good.

Chris and I then spent two or three hours upside down in the bilges trying to determine whether we could bodge things up sufficiently to return to the anchorage whilst Gill kept the boat sailing well away from the shore. But the wind blew up to force 6/7 and as evening approached we decided that the most sensible thing was to call the marina and ask for a tow in. They sent 2 macho men in a powerful rib to tow us in and we ended up on the visitors’ pontoon for the night. All together not a very auspicious start.

Absolutely knackered but not too downhearted we went for a rip off Pizza before crashing out.

8th July – Launch Day
We turned the workshop of a boat into a vessel reasonably set up for sailing this morning before the tractor arrived to pull us out. All went smoothly and as we were rechocked to wait for the travel lift we said goodbye to Fernanda, Claudia, Mario and little Bruno grinning whilst his tracheostomy kept him breathing. Even the usually dour Senor managed a smile for Gill.

The big travel lift arrived, lifted us up and moved down the road towards the river, plastic protectors in place to protect Petronella’s hull. We were chased down by the small lift also with a boat slung below it. As we were turned one of the unused slings got caught in the wheel of the lift and 14 tons of Petronella swung and vibrated. All seemed well though and we got back on board and were swung into the water. Petronella was back in her element.

We motored gently down to the anchorage and the anchor held at the second attempt. Who should be there but Peter on Stella Marais.

Unfortunately we discovered the VHF aerial had come adrift from the main mast at some stage during the day so that was another thing to fix.

7th July – Holding Tank Installed and Liferaft Serviced

Two days of graft and the holding tank is installed. Amazingly by measuring up about 26 times when we were last out I managed to get the dimensions and fitting locations correct. Chris and I deliberated a lot on the best fixing mechanism then went and bought wood etc from Bluewater for the job. Some parts though needed a trip into Portimao. The ratchet straps were a special challenge so we got a taxi out to MaxMat where we were indeed successful. We needed petrol too so walked and found a filling station and then struggled back to the boat via the exhibition stadium, Portimao station and back over the bridge.

Finally too NaveDiesel got round to servicing the liferaft. Gill watched as they did it and although it is a good raft it does not have many provisions with it – so the grab bag contents are about to swell further with food and medical supplies. Let’s just hope we never need them.

At the same time Gill was provisioning with daily visits to E LeClerc and Lidl. We intend to eat well but on the boat most days as eating out and marinas are the most expensive avoidable expenses. Gill also finished the paint work, both green and white.

Launch Preparations

4th July - Begin Launch Preparations

Audrey took Chris, Gill and me to Liverpool and an easy flight.

The new holding tank has arrived from the UK and Bluewater have completed their work. Petronella now sports a smart new windscreen and a working bowthruster. The gas line is legal and the steering lines replaced. Not surprisingly though NaveDiesel have still not serviced the life raft. Plenty of work still to do for us as well though we’re making good progress. The sails are bent on, we’ve almost finished boxing in the bowthruster motor, nearly replaced the impellor (we’ve now found the gasket making compound), painted the white stripe, planned the holding tank installation and fixed the VHF radio.

Still time for beers and cane with cokes in the 35 degree heat.

The travel lift is booked for next Wednesday so we’d better be finished by then. OK, time for bed. It is now 11pm and we’ve all been working solidly for 15 hours.


1st July - No More Work

So that’s it. No more work. Two days of ‘how to be a good retired person’ with Gilly at GSK Head Office followed by a final BBQ at their Stately Home at North Mimms just off the M25. Much banter, a couple of bottles of very nice whisky and messages of good luck and envy followed by a last night’s accommodation at the 4* Sopwell House Hotel.

A mad dash back to Cumbria, close up the house, hand over the keys and say goodbye to the chickens. Everything done – just.