1st to 25th June 2023; Cartagena:
UK
1st of June, our last day here in the UK. Rob returned the hire car to Feltham and caught trains & busses back to us on Hayling Island (which all went like clockwork) while Jack and I stayed with the Birthday Boy (my Dad!). By 6am the next morning we were in a taxi heading for Gatwick. Our visit had come to an end. We have had such a lovely visit (really enjoyed the sunshine!) and we take with us some lovely memories!
Spain
All aboard Hoopla (finally) and the kettle is on! It’s not raining, thank goodness and its warmer here than in the UK, but it is cloudy. Rob had an inspired idea of going out for a curry! Yay! This was very well received all round! We woke the next morning to rain (hmmf) but which had eased off, but by 11.30 we had some thunder and lightning! Welcome home hahhaha! At 2pm its still raining but it has eased up and, by 4pm, it had stopped. Phew, as at 7.15pm Sarah and I (collecting a friend en-route) have a date in Murcia! We are on our way to our first ever night run! Also our first 5k in ages! It was a 9.30pm start and it was dry. We did very well AND our friend came second in her category! Awesome! We are so proud of her!
The 12th June saw our 19th wedding anniversary! I had a driving licence appointment in town at 9am but when I got there, there was no appointment for me! Huh? Luckily Sarah was with me and we FINALLY managed to book another for tomorrow, at 10.10. All of the staff were very friendly and helpful. Back onboard Hoopla at around 10am, Rob & I left immediately to collect our new cabin cushions, made by Casa Angel. We had to be quick as the hire car had to be returned by 11am. It wasn’t great to find that their road was closed! Uh oh! We managed to gain access in the end and the cushions were ready and waiting! They looked amazing! We had to double back because of the closed roads and Rob & I put the cushions in our dinghy while he high tailed it to Europe Car! Jack and I cleaned the seating area and fitted the first cushion. Jack was the first to test it ! Brilliant he said! We did the same for the other two cushions and they are a VERY tight fit! Access to the lockers underneath will be a mission from now on, but, oh my life, they are fan-tas-tic! So comfy! Now for a well deserved coffee with friends! Rob spent the afternoon and early evening helping John aboard Giriz II. He returned at 7.30pm and we had a lovely anniversary dinner, with delicious wine from Sarah and Nigel! How kind! We would have eaten out but the restaurant wanted to go to is closed on Mondays hahaha – so we will go tomorrow instead 🙂
We are due to leave Cartagena for our 2023 season in a few days but, would you believe it, our domestic battery has just started playing up! Doh! So we have decided not to risk it and Rob searched (and eventually found) its replacement (but two batteries are needed) These are to be delivered from this Friday to Monday. Sigh. We had planned on leaving here on Saturday morning! Literally, the next day, though, the domestic battery decided to behave itself! Typical! Rob tried to cancel the order but they “had been dispatched ” already. Ah well!
The 16th saw sundowners with friends (so not all bad hahaha) when an air-sea rescue practice took place at the other end of the pontoon! Very impressive skills by the pilot and helicopter crew! They went forwards and backwards very slowly while a “body” was airlifted up. Well done!
The batteries were delayed by an extra day but, after a tense half hour or so, Rob confirmed that they will fit! Phew! Rob connected them up and he is very happy with them. We have since noticed an improvement in the charge, so maybe it was time to replace them anyway.
Cartagena is preparing for a huge rock festival this weekend, the 23rd to the 25th, headlined by Kiss and Purple. 20k people per day! Apparently the hotels are at 90% capacity, which is really good. The concert wasn’t as loud as we expected too hahaha! Thank goodness! Jack popped up there every evening with friends, and just managed to see them from a fort high above. During the weekend, Rob and I started preparing Hoopla (again) for her next season, which included more Sundowners with friends on the 23rd – and a small heart attack moment on the 24th! The key got jammed in the lock of our safe! This has all of our passports and ships papers in! Gulp! But good old Google to the rescue! Rob eventually managed to bust the lock and retrieve our documents! Phew! Now it’s time for a coffee! On the Sunday afternoon we had coffees and beers aboard Hoopla, including our pontoon neighbours from Jemini J; Sarah & Nigel. We are truly blessed to have such lovely friends.
Tomorrow (26th) we say au revoir to Cartagena as we leave for our 5th season. Finally! The icing on the cake is that Jemini J are also heading to La Azohia! Yay! We will see them there 🙂
26th June; Cartagena to La Azohia:
The 7am alarm did its job and I had my last shower here while Rob prepared our breakfasts. Jemini J slipped her lines at 10am while we were still finalising Hoopla’s Last Minute Prep. We’ll see you later 🙂
Rob went and settled our final bill at the marina, until Sept anyway!
Finally, Hoopla was all ready and we slipped our lines from our pontoon at 12pm on the dot! We had a gentle motor following the coast, passing the anchored containers on the way. It was a nice and easy first passage of the season and we arrived at La Azohia bay at 3pm. We saw Jemini J and we set out our anchor nicely nearby! The new 10m markers worked a treat! It wasn’t long before we were all in the water – yes, even me! I was shocked at how warm and pleasant the sea temperature was! I was also very pleased to see the fishes again!
It was deck showers all round after and Sarah picked us up just after 6pm, in their dinghy, for sundowners aboard Jemini J. They have an electric outboard and it is so quiet! Sarah made it look easy steering the dinghy too! It was so lovely to see these guys at the anchorage and a very pleasant evening followed (as always). Jack swam over too, a little later. We were back onboard at around 8.30pm and I started dinner prep. As soon as it was dark, at around 9.30pm, Rob let off the rope launcher that we were given. Oh. My. Life! Loud doesn’t even cover it! We realised quite quickly how far 500m actually is! But Rob pulled the rope back onboard without any problems and now we have all this spare rope. One can never have too much apparently 😀 We have just received a booking confirmation from Motril Marina (and also from Gibraltar), which is excellent news!
We can see lightning and hear rumbles of thunder over the mountains. Uh oh! Nothing is forecasted but we cleared the decks after dinner and we turned in at around 1am. We have had a wonderful start to the season! Now we have a loooonngg passage tomorrow, of 27 hours! Gulp!
27th to 28th June; La Azohia bay to Motril Marina:
La Azohia has been beautiful – but I won’t miss this roll. Not a brilliant night for us all but we did get some sleep. I checked the decks again in the early hours, as there was thunder and lightning over the mountains behind us, but not here in this bay. Weird.
Our alarm did its job at 8am and best get started as we have a 27 hour journey in front of us! During breakfast at 8.30am, Sarah came over on her SUP to wish us a safe onward journey and season. So kind! And right back at them too! We plan to leave here between 10 and 11am and its 10.45 as we lift up the anchor. We waved goodbye to Sarah & Nigel – who gave us a grand send off as we motored past ! We will meet up again in Cartagena, mid September ! We’re not quite feeling it this morning, to be honest, and we have the wind bang on the nose. I thought that we had quite big rollers when we left the anchorage and the wind gradually moved from the bows to stern, on the portside. It also gradually increased and when it reached 9knts, her sails came out! But only for half hour or so before it started to ease up while I was on pot-bouy lookout, Rob changed the pipe on the leaking injector back to the old one, as we have a diesel leak. Fingers and toes crossed that this works. Later, we noticed that we were getting slower and slower and slower, but the engine was on 2k revs?! We should be doing 6knts instead of 2.5! Has something got caught on the prop? Has something serious happened to the engine? Rob turned Hoopla around and she was still doing same speed, so it looks as we have, indeed, caught something on the prop! Uh oh! Rob put her hard in reverse and our rope cutter on the prop did its job! Phew! We think it was carrier bag but we didn’t actually see anything – but now we’re back at 5knots and all is well! Yay!
A huge tanker went past us and then in front, but we kept a wide berth of it.Later, we saw two largish barrels near the shore – lobster pot markers? But we’re not sure. The wind is now coming from the stern and we are getting whiffs of engine fumes every so often. Nice hahaha! The winds picked up at about 8.30pm so the sails are out! We are just sitting here in the cockpit, watching the sun go to bed. It’s my watch now, 8pm to midnight, but Rob is here in the cockpit too – enjoying the sailing! The sun went to bed at 9.20 and at 10pm, Rob has gone for a lie down. We are still sailing at 5knts, goose-winging, which is lovely, but the sea is quite rolly at times. We are following a moonlight highway and it is beautiful – but difficult to photograph. Our ETA is 3pm tomorrow, so we still have quite a way to go! At 11pm, I have one more hour of watch, thank goodness. At 11.30, I was allowed to finish my shift early and I turned in, Zzzz, leaving Rob & Jack on watch.
Rob reported later that at 2.30am, he had switched on the engine because we had gone around Cap de Gata, which meant a change of direction for us – and a loss of wind. I woke up at 6.30am to a flat, calm sea. Nice. The sun is waking up and I put the kettle on before joining Rob in the cockpit. Jack had turned in at around 2am. We’re doing 5knts still and our ETA is still 3pm in Motril. Nine more hours so we are getting there! We are just passing Almeria and the coast is covered with plastic greenhouses as far as the eye can see. At 8am, I have the lovely warm sun on my back 🙂 Rob had turned in at 7.30am leaving me on pot bouy watch duty.
9am drama! We had a yacht coming straight at us! I went to go down below to alter course but I lost my balance and fell on the throttle, pushing it to neutral! I pushed it back up to 5 knts – but not before a sleepy Rob stumbled into the cabin! The change of engine revs had woken him up! Whoops! He adjusted the course for me and went straight back to bed hahahha! I put us back on course when we had passed each other. I put up a cover over the back of the bimini (using our new big pegs) for more shade in the cockpit. This worked well. I also had to alter course again about half an hour later, because of two pot bouys – well, milk containers really! Shocking! We have a current speed of 5.3knts, wind 5.8k, depth 50mtrs. The last hour, I adjusted our course a couple of times for more milk cartons(!)
I noticed early on in the previous hour (10am to 11am) that we have a slight wind chop on the sea. I checked the wind speed and it was 8k! It wasn’t much that much longer before it had crept up to 9k and then 9.5 (we can get our sails out from 10kn) and, for the first time on my own, I released the foresail! I knew it needed tightening, but I couldn’t remember how to do that. Damn! I reduced our engine speed to keep us on 5knts. It is a shame that we have a slightly unhappy sail. Rob woke up shortly after (at about 10.30) and he was pleased to see the sail out. He tightened it up via the winch (which I then remembered!) and our speed shot up! We switched the engine off and we got up to 5.5knts speed in 9knts wind. Yay! The foresail was put away at 11.20 and the engine was back on, but at least she had had an hour or so of sailing! Two yachts that are coming the other way are under spinnaker and they look lovely. Rob reports that his pipe replacement has done the deed but we still have a small oil weep from the rockerbox gasket. Hmm. He says it will be fine until we reach Motril. At 2pm, we have a speed of 5.2knts, wind 5.8, ETA 3.30pm and, finally, a depth reading of 82m.
We arrived at Motril Marina as scheduled at 3.30! There was a communication problem over the radios, but we saw the marinero waving to us from the pontoon. Rob took us in very nicely, bows-to, and we fitted the pasarrelle – which went perfectly (it’s a new passerelle, so we was a little concerned). Rob & I checked us all in at the office (showing our passports and boat papers) and we found a very nice bar next to the office! Well, it would be rude not to toast our safe arrival wouldn’t it! Rob & I had a little explore and there is a fabulous swimming pool, the facilities (showers & toilets) are clean and look good. When we returned to Hoopla, Jack had plugged us in, which was great. The showers are lovely but the light is on a very quick timer which isn’t so good when it’s dark…. Jack found a gym too
I think that we will have a good stay here 🙂
29th June; Motril:
No alarm for us this morning and we woke up naturally at around 7.30, but we have a busy day ahead. After breakfast it was Boat School for Jack & I, while Rob popped to the boat yard next door – and he liked it. Rob booked Hoopla in for the first two weeks of Sept for a lift out, complete hull polish and to replace her blue stripe. Rob plans on repairing a patch on her keel box, a possible stern tube change and some gel coat repairs. We have also booked a lovely AirBnB, for the duration, in the mountains. While he was away, I took a bucket and mopped our decks. They had become filthy with our footprints! We now have sparkling decks. Back on board, Rob removed the leaking injector and has tried to repair it. He has also removed the rockerbox cover and realigned its gasket. Fingers crossed that both leaks have now been stopped.
After, we had a pint in the yard pub. This was well earned and very nice too 😀
We have a ten hour journey tomorrow so, after dinner, Rob, Jack & I prepared Hoopla before turning in, our alarm set for 6.30am. Ouch hahaha. We all hope that the engine will be OK. It has been SO very hot today and we all enjoyed the cool showers before bed.
30th June; Motril Marina to Benelmedina Marina:
The 6.30 alarm woke Rob & I up and we finished of the Hoopla prep that was started last night; Rob working above decks and me below decks We left Jack in bed hahaha! We were soon ready and at 7.15am, we slipped our lines. We have a misty start to the day but the sun will soon burn it off! Uh oh! Fifteen minutes into our ten hour journey, at 7.30am, Rob checked to see if the engine was OK – and discovered that she now had TWO leaks! I popped Hoopla in neutral and we drifted around for a bit while Rob tried to find (and fix) the faults. At 7.45, I was asked to switch the engine back on – and it’s looking good 🙂 Rob said that the engine oil leak has stopped but she is still leaking a tiny amount of diesel 🙁 She will be fine to get us to Gibraltar though, thank goodness. Now it is definitely time for breakfast, which we had underway. At 8.30am, Rob reported that the engine is still looking good (yay!) I have noticed that we have a calm sea, but it does has a bit of a swell, maybe a one metre roll. Over time this got worse and worse This eventually built up to a two metre, rolly swell. Yuck! As I was not feeling too brilliant, I went to lie down and I ended up staying there for the rest of the journey.
I was feeling much better by 17.45, as we approached the marina. Rob tried contacting them on the VHF, but we didn’t receive a response. I quickly checked Navily (an app that provides marina and anchorage information) and found a review that said that we should moor up on the fuel berth first, and report to the office! So we turned around in the Marina and headed for the fuel berth. One hour later, we had our berth for the night and it is right in the town centre! It was a bit of a tight spot and Jack & I had to push away our new neighbours so we could queeze in! Without further ado, we were in a cafe overlooking Hoopla, having a beer and a piña colada – you can probably guess who had what ! Rob did so well today, getting us here by himself! I had spent most of the journey in bed, and Jack wasn’t much better either, unfortunately, so no one will need any rocking tonight!!
We really hope for better sea conditions tomorrow, as we have a five hour journey to Estepona.
1st July: Benalmádena to Estepona:
No alarm this morning, so we woke up naturally at around 7.30am – to birdsong. How lovely is that? I prepared breakfast for 8.30am and both Jack and I took a Sturgeon (a travel sickness tablet) with our cuppa, just in case the sea is rolly polly again. Rob returned our shower key-card to the marina office (and received back our €10 deposit) and I decided to give the decks a quick clean, using the morning dew. That’s when I found out that we’ve lost our mop! Damnit! I guess it never got put back after it was used in Motril. Sigh. Soon we were ready and we slipped our lines at 9.45, and we met a nice, calm and flat sea! Hurrah! At just after 11am, we saw a pod of dolphins swim past us, having their lunch. Yay! We all hope that Matt and Lizz (who are arriving tomorrow, so excited!) get to see them too Also, a paraglider was towed over our mast? Just a tad too close for comfort! We exchanged waves hahaha! We currently have 5.8knts speed, a depth of 15m and an ETA of 15.45.
At just before 2pm, the sails came out! Whoop whoop! It’s so peaceful under sail Unfortunately, we quickly dropped to 3.4knts of speed, so we had to switch the engine back on to bring her back up to 5knts.
We approached Estepona Marina at around 3.30pm but (again) no answer on the VHF radio. We moored up alongside the waiting pontoon, as instructed (along with a French yacht that was behind us) only to discover that the office is closed?? No marinero in sight?? Rob walked to the other end of the quay, with the French skipper, to check. He found the main office and they walked back with a marinero. He gave us a mooring quite close by and also helped us with our mooring and slime lines. Thank you very much! Rob then went and “checked us in” at €38 per night, which was closely followed by us finding a bar!
We see Matt & Lizz tomorrow!! We are all so very excited!
Oh. My. Life! I’ve just gone to have a shower and THERE ARE SODDING COCKROACHES!!!!! 4 of em!!!! Aaggghhhh!!! I used the disabled shower in the end, but I kept looking for them coming out the drain! Nightmare! And nightmares for me tonight!!
2nd July; Estepona:
We all woke up at around 8am, after a good nights sleep. Shortly after breakfast, Rob popped to the local supermarket and a cashpoint, while I hand washed a few t-shirts. I also had a bit of a tidy up after the last few days and I aired the spare bedding for our guests. So excited! Matt & Lizz landed at Malaga Airport and joined the massive customs queue(!) before jumping in a taxi. They finally arrived here at 2pm!! We are beyond happy to see these two!! We all went aboard Hoopla to drop off their cases and have a cuppa, before heading out for lunch. This was followed by a walk around the town. Unfortunately it was siesta time and the shops were closed (but this was better for wallets!) It was a nice to explore – even if it was so really, really hot It was showers all round before turning in, and Lizz and I were very pleased to see no cockroaches, thank goodness! Rob saw a one on the pontoon earlier in the day, and so removed our large ball fender from the bows (so that they can’t crawl aboard. Ugh!) They are really difficult to get rid of on boats apparently. Ugh again!
3rd July: Estepona Marina to Gibraltar - but ending up in the La Línea anchorage!
We all woke up naturally at around 8am, and had our breakfast at around am in the cockpit. Matt and Lizz slept well Our boaty neighbour opposite us started testing his engine – and smoked us out He switched it off soon after though. After another round of teas, we started to prepare Hoopla for onward travel, as we have to be out by midday. It didn’t take long and we slipped our lines at 11.30am – and we met a calm, flat sea 🙂 Within the hour we saw pod after pod of dolphins 😀 How damn fantastic for Matt & Lizz! One pod was of mums & babies… so cute! At around 1pm, we saw a helicopter hovering over a yacht in the distance. It was there for quite a while and we saw it pick someone up from the yacht below. There was another yacht and a speedboat standing by. We hope that the passenger is OK. We motored past lots (and I mean lots) of anchored tankers en-route. We soon arrived at our next stop; Queensway Quay Marina in Gibraltar. But when we radioed in, at around 3.30pm, we were told that we were not expected until tomorrow – and that they are full!! Uh oh! Rob managed to make a U turn and we headed out of the marina for the anchorage in La Linea. It was only a further ten minutes and we soon dropped the hook in 5m – then we all went for a swim. Damn, that water was cold!
It was a case of “larder dips” for tea tonight, as we had banked on eating out! It was beans, sweetcorn and roast potatoes for Matt and Lizz and roast potatoes with tinned casserole for us! So funny! And a tin of mixed fruit for pudding! But at least none of us went to bed hungry! How fantastic that they saw dolphins today, on the only 4 hour sail that they are having during their stay! I’m so pleased that they did!
4th July; La Línea to Gibraltar:
We all slept well. It didn’t feel that rolly but we all woke with a start when the grill pan fell out of the cooker! BANG!!! It was breakfast again in the cockpit and not just because it is a tad warm already, but the views are perfect! Rob went for a swim but the sea was too cold for the rest of us! Shortly after, it was tea & toast all round and more boat watching from the cockpit! Lizz has discovered the wonders of binoculars! At around 1.30, we upped anchor and made our way (again) to Gibraltar. Our windlass (that lifts the anchor up) is making a dodgy grinding sound! Not good! Rob says he will have to look at that ASAP. En-route, down came our Spanish courtesy flag and up goes our Gibraltar one. Hoopla is looking forward to a rest, bless her. She knows that we will be here until the 17th. Rob took us in nicely but he decided to enter the nearest empty berth, as we couldn’t see the marinero. Just as we entered it, we saw him waving at about 5 berths down! So Rob put her into reverse, exited the berth and made our way towards him.The marinero helped us with our shore and slime lines. Thank you very much! The pontoon is too low for our passerelle. Uh oh! So, after much deliberation, we have borrowed next-doors step. We hope that they don’t visit their boat while we are here – or that they don’t mind if they do! We went and found a McDonald’s for lunch but it didn’t have any vegetarian options! GF but no vegetarian? Wow! Matt & Lizz managed to find something to eat, but it’s not such brilliant start to our stay here! We then went and explored Main Street and found a restaurant for tonights dinner. It’s. So. Very. Hot! We headed back to Hoopla for some downtime and quick showers (which are very nice!)
At 9.30pm, we headed back into town for dinner. It suddenly dawned on us that we are not in Spain and going out to eat at 9.30pm might be a problem! It was close, but we were OK! It was very nice too. It’s more than fabulous to be all together We’re now walking back to Hoopla at around 11.30pm and its weird that it’s still warm!
5th and 6th July; Gibraltar (part one):
Our first full day here in Gibraltar! We had our breakfast in the cockpit at around 9am, after waking up naturally at around 8am. It’s currently 10.30am and it’s already very hot!! We packed up our rucksacks and headed to the cable car and its up up up and away! It was expensive, though, at £180 for all of us, for a 6 minute ride! We saw a few monkeys on our way to the cafe for lunch. The service was quite poor, but at least we ate! After, we explored The Rock and we saw lots of monkeys before following the signs to St Michael’s Cave. We saw more monkeys on the way and the cave was spectacular – and quite wet inside! We had to watch where we walked for puddles and I even saw some people with umbrellas! We sat and watched a fantastic light display before walking down The Rock the rest of the way. We came across, and loved, the Union Jack steps! We popped into an Eroski supermarket on our way back to Hoopla for tonights dinner. We are all shattered after the long walk in this heat – and it was a late night last night too. We all turned in at around 11pm.
We all woke up naturally the next morning, the 6th July, at around 8am, and had our breakfast at around 9am, in the cockpit as usual. Matt and Lizz slept well. Over a coffee in the quayside cafe, we decided to walk to the Botanical Gardens. We had to keep in shade as much as possible as it’s so hot! Another day, another lunch in a cafe followed by a cake on way back to Hoopla We enjoyed the gardens, especially the large lakes and chickens in the shade. We were back onboard at 5pm, as our guests have packing to do We were all on the 6.30pm bus to the airport. It is a little airport with a cafe and a small gift shop. 8.30pm arrived too quickly and big body squishy hugs all round before they left and went through Security. It was sad to wave them off, but we had had a wonderful visit! Sailing, dolphins, anchoring out, monkeys, brothers and plenty of sunshine! Lovely 🙂
7th to 11th July; Gibraltar (part two):
No alarm needed this morning (lovely!) and it was breakfast at 9am. We were ready for school at 10am for Maths, a little History and Biology and we finished up at around 2pm. Its still damn hot! Rob had work work (not boat work) to do so set himself up in our cabin, where it is a little cooler. At 7.30pm, we all walked into town for Jack’s long awaited savaloy and chip supper. Very nice too apparently We’re still getting used to the shops closing at 7pm and restaurants closing at 9.30pm hahha! No alarm, again next morning, and we had breakfast at 9.30. Rob & I walked to the nearest chandlery after. Its a little store and well stocked, but quite expensive. Rob bought what was needed (he also asked for, and was given, an empty rope wheel for the line that Rob removed from the line launcher a while back) and we then walked to Main Street for a coffee and a cake Next, we caught a bus to Morrisons for supplies for the next two days (as we have to pop to Cartagena on Monday) – and I left my sunnies on the bus! Damn it! Luckily Rob had a spare set. How good is that! The following day, the 9th, was a lazy Sunday for us all! Rob is currently on his guitar, Jack is on his computer and me with my nose in a book Though next door arrived earlier and he took his step back! Hahaha! We spoke and he was fine about us borrowing it, thankfully. He has taken his family out in his/their small motor boat, so we’ve borrowed back it and returned it a few times today. We’re leaving early tomorrow, Monday, by car, back to Cartagena, as Jack has his monthly dental appointment on Tuesday morning, for his braces. We then will drive straight back to here. We plan to stay aboard Giraz II tomorrow night and the yard, Ascar, has been informed and are expecting us. The office closes at 8pm but we should be there well before then. Our alarm was set for 7.30 next morning. It was a quick breakfast before we packed a rucksack each, plus a couple of bags for our food and bedding. We dropped off our Hoopla keys with the marina reception, before heading for the 9.45 bus to the border. We then walked to Spain! It was quite odd We collected the hire car without any problems and started our 5/6 hour journey at 9.45. To toll or not to toll? That is the question! We tolled 😀 We stopped of at a McDonald’s at 1pm (where does Jack put it all??) and stopped again at 4pm, for a coffee and a comfort break. We stepped out the car and it was like walking into a fan oven!! 38° Thank goodness for the car aircon! The total of tolls was €20, so not too bad considering the mileage. We pulled up outside Ascars at 6pm and Rob walked in. He came back 5 minutes later saying its all locked up and deserted ! Why are we not surprised 🙁 Luckily, we were given a plan B by our good friends, offering their catamaran, Katerina, while they are away. Thank goodness for these guys! We stepped aboard and, oh my, it was really, really hot! We opened up all the hatches but, as there was no wind, it didn’t help much! Just as we settled, a damn mozzy made its presence known. So not much sleep was had by any of us. Rob gave up and moved to the cockpit in the early hours. Our alarm went off at 7.30am next morning but we were all awake anyway. It was bowls of cereals all round for breakfast. We arrived in plenty of time for his 9am dental appointment – which went well. Was it worth a 12 hour round trip and the cost of car hire? Of course it was! Our son is worth it! On the way back to the marina, I popped into the Spanish version of the local DVLA office, but my driving licence exchange has not been processed yet. Robs was completed fairly quickly so I hope that there is not a problem Apparently there is quite a large back log and it can take 6 weeks. Ah well. Back on Katerina, we all packed, cleaned and tided and was ready to leave at 11am. We decided to “toll” again. At the second lot, we saw two fire engines tackling a car fire! Everyone was out of the car, thank goodness.
The tolls total came to £17.20, so not too bad. We returned the hire car without any problems and we said that we would most definitely use Goldcar in La Linea again! We caught the 7pm bus in Gib back to Queensway Quay Marina. Gosh it’s so hot! We are missing the cars aircon already hahha! By 7.30pm, we were all back on Hoopla and it’s definitely beer o’clock!
12th to 17th July; Gibraltar (part three)
It is SO much cooler in Gib than Cartagena! We all slept so well and, as I forgot to put my alarm on, we woke up at 8.30! Nice – but not on a Boat School day! We started at 10.30am! Whoops! Robs office was a cafe this morning and he went on a “windlass mission” this afternoon. Rob showed me its gear mechanism that had been stripped! Not good. He unloaded his bike from Hoopla and he rode it to the two chandleries to see if a new windlass was available – one that would fit in the bracket that we have AND one that would be suitable for our anchor. A big ask and, no surprise, it’s a big fat no It looks like a completely new model is needed, which would include a refit. This would be a winter job really so if we anchor out this season, we will have to pull up the anchor by hand. This will be a job for Jack, hahaha! The heat seems to ramp up in the afternoon and it’s melting again! Uh oh! We have received an email from Tangier Marina, letting us know that they don’t have any room for us for our dates! We are now waiting to hear what dates they DO have available for little ole Hoopla. Hopefully Gib can extend our stay here, if needed, and our booked Moroccan tour is not affected We are currently looking at ferries from La Linea to Tangier and Airbnb’s….
Today, Thursday 13th, Pete is on his way! He is due to land at 8.30pm and we will meet him by bus. We have a plan re Tangier! We will ask if we can extend our stay here in Gib until the 29th, or stay in Algeciras if not. We can then catch a ferry over to Tangier a day or so before our tour and stay in an airbnb. This is not what we had planned for, and it is more than a little disappointing, but at least we can still go. The plus side is that we won’t have to go through the rumoured whole day for customs clearance…. I finally got around to going to the laundrette! A wash load here is £10 or €13, so not too bad. We have just heard from the marina here that we can extend our stay until the 29th AND we have just received an email from Tangier, saying that they now have a space for us! €17 per night. Rob has sent over our boat documents, as requested, and now we are just waiting for confirmation of our booking. When received, we’ll let the marina here know of our plans. This will save us lots on Airbnb’ and ferry costs. I’ve just gone on deck to take our washing in, and I’ve noticed A LOT of white paint in the water! It’s sitting on top of the sea, lingering around the boats! It looks like someone has knocked a whole tin overboard! I’ve reported it to the office but there isn’t much they can do about it It slowly broke down and disappeared over the next couple of hours. Pete has just messaged us, saying he has a delay at Gatwick and his ETA is 10pm. The last bus is 9pm, so we will catch that and wait the hour for him – but we will have to grab a taxi back to Hoopla. We caught the 9pm bus to Gib airport and we are currently sitting in its cafe with a beer and a Baileys (£5 for a tiny, tiny shot!) while we wait for Pete Pete arrived at 10pm as forecasted. Unfortunately, there were no taxis waiting at the taxi rank. Eventually, we shared a taxi with two other groups! We stopped for a pint quayside (obvs) before climbing aboard Hoopla at around 11.30pm. Welcome back Peter, it’s very nice to have him aboard
Even though the next day is a Boat School day, we decided on no alarms for this morning, as Pete had had an extremely early start yesterday and needed the rest! We woke up at around 9am, breakfast at around 10am, school around 11! Pete filled up our water tank and Rob went up the mast to retrieve the bulbs from our steaming and mast lights. He hopes to replace them today. We are still waiting for confirmation from Tangier, so Rob sent them another email. Hopefully we will receive an answer soon, so we can confirm with our marina what we need! We don’t want to muck them about! Rob and Pete went into town earlier and Pete needed a local dentist, as he has an abscess. Ouch. A local pharmacy recommended a dentist and he did a good job, apparently, and Pete was given some antibiotics. All is worth it, though, as it could have flared up in Tangier! We’re really low on food, so I HAD to have lunch quayside It was delicious! We have finally received confirmation from Tangier! Whoop whoop! The dates they have for us are from the 18th to the 25th. Rob has informed the office here that we need just one extra night and that we would be leaving here on the 18th. They were very happy with that. I went to the local Eroski supermarket in the afternoon, a 10 minute walk. Its not far but it is very hot! I quickly spent £70! But I have two evening meals for four people, breakfast AND lunch items.
Today is a Saturday so no alarm or school. Nice We were up at 8.30 and had breakfast soon after – Jack is still in bed! It was 10.30am before we knew it and now it’s a race to have a shower, as the shower blocks are closed for cleaning between 11 and 12pm. Such awkward times hahha! Rob and Pete left for the chandlery at around 11.30, while I put away our laundry. We had a nice lunch in town, which was followed by a walk around the Botanical Gardens. Rob managed to feed the chickens They were quite cute! A little later, we watched his sunglasses fall into a closed-off garden below. Uh oh! No warden in sight to ask for help, so Rob quickly climbed over the fence and got them back. Yay! Rob cooked a lovely dinner later and then we walked to the Main Square for a pint. I had a Tia Maria for the first time in ages – and it was a good choice. Would you believe that rain woke us up the next morning?? It was only a passing shower but even so…. After breakfast, Rob replaced the steaming and deck lights up the mast, with Pete on his safety line. I was busy with a nose in my book 😀 Soon after, we donned our trainers, packed our rucksacks and headed for The Rock (via a cafe for lunch of course!) We took the cable car up and met a mama monkey and her baby. So cute. Then we saw a monkey help himself to the contents of a lady’s bag – took some tablets and tried eating them! Not so cute. I found a warden and he didn’t seem too worried, but I hope it was ok!! It’s so damn hot! I’m very grateful for the water we have brought with us! Rob and Pete went via the Skywalk and we met up at again at St. Michael’s Cave. It was really good. We had a quick coffee before going back out into the heat and make our way to the Seige Tunnels. These were fascinating (and nice and cool!) Back onboard Hoopla at around midnight, the fish in the marina were swimming like rockets and jumping out of the water! We think that they were being chased by possibly tuna! It was unbelievable. Some landed on the boats and pontoons before being pushed back in the water by the captains! Amazing!
Today, the 17th, is our last day in Gib. It’s sad but exciting at the same time! It’s quite cloudy this morning and we can’t see the top of the Rock! Where has our blue sky gone? It is quite windy too! Rob and Pete walked into town just after midday to visit the museum (which they both thought was very good!) John, from a yacht further along our pontoon, came aboard for a cuppa. Him and his partner, Jody, are also going to Tangier tomorrow. We were discussing routes and Orca tactics (gulp) when Rob and Pete returned. We all agreed that around 10.30/11am would be the time to leave. We have tides to take into account now! After he left, we took the bus to Morrisons for a few days supplies. Tomorrow we go to bed in Africa! How exciting!
