GIBRALTAR

I know it has been a while since the last blog, but we have not been idle, tha is for sure. We had planned to come in to Gibraltar to have some steel work done so we can have a bimini (sunshade) so duly turned up on time. Dave first came here in 1964 when he was a young lad in the Navy, and after that on many more occasions. The two of us were last here 16 years ago when we were bringing Spirit home to the UK. So it was with a measure of anticipation, that Dave especially had, that we began the motor up the Bay, dodging all the ships at anchor as well as those on the move and the odd high speed ferry. In to the marina and finally alongside. This was a Saturday and so we went out to find the church for Mass the next day and then the supermarket. All I had been hearing from himself was that we could go to Morrisons. So of we trundled into the afternoon heat. Up the street, around the corner, under the archway, more up the street until we came to a wedding which found us the church. Next was further up the street and Marks and Spencers came into view. And then Mothercare, and then not a lot.
'I am sure it is over this way ' says Dave
'Shall we ask?' says I
'I know where I'm going' says Dave, 'It'll be just down this way'
Trudge, trudge, steps, street, steps
'Are you sure it's this way?'
'It used to be'.
'Oh'
Jen is now very hot. So next man passing gets accosted. Yup, the supermarket has moved and we are going the wrong way. Where is it? Back that way where the flats are - the blocks of flats almost on the horizon. (Bit of exaggeration, but you get the picture.)
Trudge trudge and finally Morrisons comes into view. Straight in to the coffee shop and sink into a chair. I'm sure everyone could hear the barking from our feet. We looked around and it was really weird - Morrisons in Gibraltar is the exact clone of the one we used to go to in Fort William. Even the coffee cups are the same.The only real difference was the small bar and fruit machines in the corner of the coffee shop for chaps waiting for the ladies to do the shopping. So we loaded up with just enough for the day and set off for the boat - except we were not sure of that way either. Made it back and flopped and decided to look at the map we had been given - we had actually gone miles out of our way but now knew the short cut.
Sunday we went to Mass at the cathedral which is really lovely and has electric fans down the aisles - guess where I sat, not quite on top of one, but almost! Then icecream and coffee on the way home. Tomorrow was going to be a big day as Metal Mickey was coming. And so it all began. We had organised for the mail to come here as well and went in hope to the office to collect it - nada (nothing). So now we had the eternal wait for the steel work to arrive and the post. Not to mention the lady for the canvas work. It has been so frustrating - the metal work was done reasonably quickly considering the chap was away for a week, the mail has taken over a month and we are still waiting for some, and the canvas work is not going to happen as there is no way we are waiting till mid September.
You might guess that this is not the best of places to be, and in that you would be right
Gibraltar is a rock with dense population around the base and the Gib we knew has vanished. When we were here before it was a thriving port with all the amenities for fixing boats you could think of, but now most of this has gone and has been replaced with modern high rise flats. The area where the docks were has been filled in and built on and the whole of the area around the marina is one big succession of bars and a casino and a few trendy shops. There is still one chandlery with some bits, but there was only one guy doing steel - hence our captivity - and one lady doing canvas who was not interested in us, hence no canvas. The bars are not the nice ones like in Spain, but the worst of British overseas pubs - loud, grubby and all selling full english greasies. In this heat that is the last thing you want. I give exception to the nice ice cream shop- Kate eat your heart out as the ice cream is to die for. The noise at night is awful and there is no getting away from it. Disco music comes out loud and clear, throbbing away until 6 am. It is too hot to shut the boat up, we just have to put up with it. And the drunken shouting as well. Why is it that the Brits are so awful overseas? even when they are living here. The shops further up town are all UK high street too, and fail to excite the interest, it is such a come down after Spain. It is also very hot, over 30 degrees each day and this week we have had 38.5 and 33+, and that means I can only keep the cabin at about 5 degrees cooler - and it is humid, over 70% every day. So Dave has been up town getting fans - we now have 4 in total and would be lost without them. We have finally got some of the mail we were expecting and have now only 2 parcels outstanding - then we are off!
All time has not been wasted however, and we have been productive in doing jobs about the boat, learning more Spanish and chilling out as best we can. We go out and about in the early mornings when it is a bit cooler to do the shopping - the way to Morrisons is only 10 minutes if you go the right way!
Internet access has been very fraught. There is only one provider here and the service is overloaded and not well run, so we go days at a time when we get no access then days when all is OK. Thank goodness for steam driven technology of the radio link. So I will blog as regularly as I can with daily snippets of what we are up to now that you have the over view. It is not all gloom and doom!
I leave you with a picture of our neighbour, the runway, which is only a couple of hundred yards away. This was taken from the boat. You could believe that you could reach out and touch the planes as they come in. There are about 4 planes in and out a day, so it is not bad at all. In fact give me a runway instead of a casino any day!

TARIFA

Sadly we had to leave Cadiz and make our way towards Gibraltar. The idea was to go to Tarifa as a day trip and then mosey into Gib the next day. So off we sailed and eventually got to where we were going to anchor up. And glad we were to get there too, as Terry decided he had had enough of steering the boat and left us to it. We tried and tried to coax him into life, but to no avail. Tarifa is on the point on the map pointing to Morocco, and is the closest you get to Africa. It was weird seeing land on the starboard (Right hand) side and realising it was another continent. And then there were the ships, an endless line of large freighters and tankers going along the shipping lanes. We turned around the point and headed up to the anchorage where we were confronted with what seemed like chaos in action. There were a couple of boats at anchor, but the harbour was full of boats ranging from canoes to dinghies, to fishing boats and speed boats, all careering around. All of them were full of people in bikinis and swimmers, packed in like sardines, laughing and calling out. There were a couple being towed around on bananaas and hamburgers, others on water skis, people swimming, others jumping in or getting out, picked up by whatever boat was passing. It was bedlam. Somehow in the middle of all this, along with the huge ferry going by, we managed to get an anchor down without coming into contact with anyone. The beach was chock a block full of people and sun umbrellas, and there was a floating bouncy castle thing as well. Welcome to Tarifa feria day! We watched the antics for hours - it was only towards sunset thet things quiestened down, and everyone obviously had loads of fun. The ambulance boat and the police boat came along to say hello and welcome - I can see why they needed to be there. Meanwhile the Tarifa -Tangier ferries came and went - they hooted loudly and then assumed boats would get out of their way. Below is the pictue we had of the ferry from our back door, which gives you an idea of the size and closeness. (Pictures are arranged back to front to keep you on your toes!)



A quiet night, brekkie and a leisurely start towards Gibraltar, saying goodbye to Tarifa as we went. We had the wind and tide with us and scooshed along at a great rate of knots, even reached 10 knots. We may return for a day trip to visit the town, which the guide book says is very old and historical. It is also very popular; a ferry goes to Tangier about every 45 minutes, and these are big ferries at that. I had no idea that the crossing would be popular enough to sustain this every day. I will have to learn more about the Moroccan connection in Gibraltar. will keep you posted.

CADIZ

Sailing across the bay to Cadiz made us very excited, for as we approached we could see it was going to be a very special place. The old town clustered on the headland near the castle and the dome of the cathedral shone gold in the sunlight. The marina is at the entrance to the main harbour, before you get to the town, and we pulled in and made ourselves at home. The marina is towards the top of the first picture - hidden behind the thin brown wall aticking out towards the passing ferry.

The trip onto town was by taxi, and it was worth every euro as we went around the town by ways we couldn't have walked, and fell in love with it all. The streets are all cobbled and narrow, no footpaths, and full of millions of little shops selling all sorts. My biggest regret is not havong had the time to spend days cruising around them - preferably without the foot tapping shadow! But we had made another deadline in Gibraltar for the steel work on the boat. However, we had a couple of good walkabouts and found treasures at every turn.
Our visit to the cathedral left us really thoughtful. The building is on the seafront is so vast - we walked all around looking for the entrance, which we found after we had found a number of huge boarded up doors. The place is far bigger than St Paul's, and is made out of some kind of whitish sand stone which is gradually crumbling away. (It is the building under the gold dome in the photos). Inside you had to pay - the first time for a church for us. It became apparent that it is not really used as a church much. There is a small area in the very centre where there are a few rows of seats and an altar with the Blessed Sacrament which is gilded and colourful and beautiful in its way, but the rest of the vast area is bare stone floors and pillars and all around the edge are about two dozen small chapels with large figures of saints, most of which are rather obscure to us, and all very dark and heavy. The ambience is like looking through a mist at everything as the entire building inside is covered with fine white netting stretching across the high ceilings and down the columns which catches the debris falling off the flaking sandstone. We went down into the crypt (included in the price of the ticket!) to an even more eccentric space of low vaulted ceilings and a network of side chapels, more saints on the walls and dark oil paintings of unknown chaps beside them. Numerous marble plaques to commemorate those buried there, most likely bishops and priests from ages past. I did not have the camera when we were there - sorry.
Our next adventure was back to see another of the churches in the town. I managed to get directions from the girl in reception and she pointed out on the map the 'most beautiful church in Cadiz'. So the taxi took us down even more narrow streets and then came to a stop and the cab driver pointed up a narrower street and there at the end we could see a church. So off we set.
You could see this pretty little church down the end, and on the walls between the restaurants and shops lining the street were tiled pictures concerning Jesus and Our Lady. These are common in Spain, and occur on lots of buildongs, and like here, all had fresh fowers on them. One example.

As we got even closer we could see that the little steeple and the roof was also covered in tiles withe the M for Mary picked out - the church was the church of Our Lady of the Palms
Inside the church was a jewel, and obviously much loved and very much visited - not by sightseers, but by the local people. The main altar with the tabernacle was surmounted by the famous stautue of the Virgin of the Palms - I was not able to find out what the full significance was. Underneath her feet and above the tabernacle were 2 cherubs playing - delightful.

To the side was the Blessed Saceament chapel, and on the floor of the sanctuary were baskets where people had put packets of food as offerings, and on the wall were glass cases with miniature hands and feet and babies and all sorts of everyday things which i presume had been left as a sign that a prayer had been answered or was being asked.

The station sof the Cross were all tiles - tiles and tile patterns are everywhere, and in the corridor leading to the rectory were more tile patterns. I feel a quilt coming upon me!
Back at the marina we were joined alongside by a humungous catamaran with a couple and two little girls on board aged 2 and 4. They were the cutest things out. We were truly dwarfed by the boat though, it loomed above and behind us. They were a lovely couple from Germany, spoke impeccable Engish, and were nice neighbours. The little girls had the run of the deck which was all netted in and the netting between the catamaran hulls at the front was a perfect trampoline for them. And there was room for a big paddle pool as well. The whole thing was like a house on floats. Looking out our back end we could see the docks and the ferries going back and forwards across the bay. The bay is so big the only sensible way for folk to get to Cadiz from the north was by ferry. The cranes were everywhere and the ones below took my fancy as they looked like huge birds, especially at night. Thought Sean might like these.
It was also time to do the washing. No machine on board, not like the next door neighbours, only machine is 2 paws in yellow gloves! You can also see the outside office, not that we had much luck with wifi here.