On sunday afternoon January 2nd we were back in gibraltar . We were going to spend the week on Bombay Sapphire with Scott , our skipper Sean and Ita who booked for a week Day-Skipper and Competent Crew course .
Monday the weather was very nice but no wind, and we spent the day practicing our yachtmaster talks. Paul did his down below talk and Elaine took care of all above deck briefings.
After this we took bombay out in the bay some hours so Sean and Ita could get aquainted with the surroundings and the boat. Tuesday we set off early and crossed the Straits for Ceuta. The weather was beautiful again but no wind so we had to motor all the way .
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Sean, Ita, Paul ane Elaine crossing the Straits for Ceuta,
Northern Africa |
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| Captain/Chef, Scott |
Wednesday we set off for Smir, a newly constructed town in Morocco with nice marina and ideal for doing mooring and berthing exercises with the boat. Again the weather was warm and sunny and we even had enough wind to set the sails and do proper sailing. We arrived in the marina at 17.00 hours, but had one hour extra due to the time difference applied in morocco. We jumped in a Taxi ( rusty 1967 mercedes 200 )
and visited the nearby city of Tetouan. this was a fantastic experience, and I for the first time had the feeling to be in another world. We wandered around the market and the labyrinth of streets around the Kings Castle and managed to not buy anything despite the constant manipulative efforts of the voluntary guides that decided to walk with us wherever we went.
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Bombay Sapphire moored at quay in Smir marina |
On Thursday we started the day with practicing techniques for mooring using prop wash prop walk and springing off stern and bow under various conditions. After that we set sail for another crossing of the straits. this time we headed for Estepona, a sea town located on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain. it was again a day with no wind but we made our way on the engine accompanied by hundreds of delphins and we even saw the water jet produced by a whale from a distance. We arrived on the day of 3 kings, which is the biggest holiday in Spain of the year , but we were so tired that we went to bed after a few drinks on a local terrace
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| Dolphins |
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| Dolphins |
Friday was our last day and we had to make our way back into mour marina in gibraltar,
a passage of 24 NM. The nice weather had abandoned us and the rain was pouring down so after a while all our gear was wet and our clothes were soaking. We made the best out of the day and arived in marina bay, Gibraltar at 16.00 hrs . Sean and Ita had decided to spend their last night in a hotel and Elaine and I went home for the weekend to wash and dry and recharge for the next 2 weeks of milebuilding ahead of us.
