28th July; Tangier, Morocco, to La Linea, Spain:
We were up and having breakfast at 9am, which was quickly followed by showers. We had planned on leaving here at around midday, but John, from Patriot, has just radioed Rob to say that he is with Customs now and he has been told that they are expecting 35(!) boats to clear this morning! Gulp! So we had better get there quick if we don’t want to be caught up with all of them! So Rob popped to the marina office and settled our bill. We’ve only been here 9 days, but it feels so much longer because we did so much! At 10.45, we slipped our lines and made our way to the Customs pontoon. We moored up alongside and Rob was in their office at 11am. He returned at 11.20, accompanied with three customs officers for their boat inspection. She passed (of course). Now, we are just waiting for our passports. These were returned at 11.50 – with a final Hoopla inspection. We finally slipped our lines at 11.50, and, on our way out of the marina, we passed the first of the 35 yachts coming in! Great timing (and thank you to John for the heads up!) Rob let out our sails out at 12.10. Happy Days! We also managed to catch the tide. Yay! At 1pm, our sails are still out and we are about to enter a tide race. There are lots of white horses everywhere! Speed: 5.9kn, wind: 7.3kn and depth: 13m. We swapped our courtesy flags around but, unfortunately, I’m not feeling too well. So I’ve taken myself to bed hahaha! It is a shame though. Rob reported later that we had up to 8knots of speed and had a cracking, fantastic sail ! It was at 18.50 that we arrived and dropped our anchor in La Linea Bay. We only dropped 10m of chain as we will be moving shortly (and because we don’t have a windlass to help lift said chain). We plan to move further in when the motorboats leave, we guess, in about an hour or so. But, we have arrived! It is so peaceful here 🙂 Rob has put up our anchor ball and now it’s time for dinner. We’re all hungry hahha!
29th to 31st July; La Linea Bay:
My life! It was 10.30am when we all finally opened our eyes – to see more lovely blue skies and sunshine! Another lazy day for us today. Rob is still suffering with his ear, following the cold he had 🙁 Maybe some steam inhalation with a dollop of Vicks later will help. Pete has booked his return flight for the 7th Aug, from GIB and Rob has booked Estepona Marina from the 1st to the 3rd of Aug. Later in the afternoon, Jack rowed Rob and Pete to the shore, so that they can pop to the shops, via a cafe for a beer of course 🙂 At 5.30pm, John, from Patriot, picked us up in his dingy for sundowners – which incl shrimps (and which Jack loved too) What a lovely evening we had. They said that they might be wintering in Cartagena, so we may see them again there. We were back aboard Hoopla at around 8.30pm but we’re not really hungry for tea 😀
We had another 10.30 rise and shine next morning! We could get used to this hahaha! I’m having a Hoopla day today, bless her! This includes putting the laundry away and having a general tidy and hoover. She looks so much better now! Peter and Rob had a very quick swim earlier. And I mean very quick, hahah, as its really cold apparently. I checked and the sea temp is 18.5°. Yeah, I’m not getting in that! Hahha! Brrr! Jack rowed Rob and Pete to the shore again and they had a nice lunch and Jack collected them again at around 5.30pm. A lovely evening followed.
The next day was a Monday, which means a Boats-chool Day, as we are not travelling. We went to start Maths at 11.30(!) Only to find that his computer was flat 🙁 So it was charging while Jack dropped Rob and Peter off to the shore. It was still too flat to work on when he returned, so we’re going to do an hour of revision while it charges. Jack collected Rob and Pete late afternoon and they had had an interesting walk to the fishing port, but it was a long way. They were soon in the sea, to cool down. Are they mad? Both were still shocked at how cold the water is! Jack and I decided NOT to join them 😀
1st Aug; La Linea to Estepona:
No alarm for us this morning but we were up and about at 8.30am, for at breakfast at 9. It was very windy last night but our anchor held fast! Well, she is a Rocna! The wind has eased up a bit, thankfully. Rob says that if we have passed Europa Point by 10am, that would be good. It’s 9.10 now! Gulp! We quickly made Hoopla ship-shape and Jack did the honours with the anchor at 9.30. We motored past Europa Point at 10.15, so not so bad. It is 10.45 and we have our sails out in 26m depth, a speed 4.6knts and a wind speed of 16knts. Very pleasant At 1.45, we saw large plumes of smoke on the shore! It looks serious! We suspect that a field has caught light in this really dry heat! There are a few other sailing vessels going our way – but one of them looks very much like a Southerly! And it looks like they are heading for Estepona too! How exciting! They pipped us to the post and arrived at the waiting pontoon just before us. Rob slowly motored us in but we have quite strong winds blowing us on to the pontoon! All the Hoopla crew are on deck. The first attempt failed, as the Southerly was right in the middle of the pontoon. It is a Southerly 115 (how exciting!) and they moved back, so Rob could berth in front – but our dinghy on our stern (back) davits caught the cover of their navigation lights. Ping! Uh oh! And it sank straight down into the sea! Crap! We secured our lines and Rob went to the office to check us in. Roughly twenty minutes later, the skipper of the 115 wanders back. He told me that Rob had given him €50 cash, and that he thinks that this will more than cover the cost of the reflectors. Pete and I helped out with their lines when they were ready to leave the waiting pontoon. By 5pm, we were also berthed and slimed up – right alongside Osira, the Southerly 115! Her crew was in the cockpit and we all decided that it was beer o’clock! A lovely convo re passages, destinations and plans was had. We insisted that they let us know if the replacement cover comes to more than the €50 and they said that they would. Unfortunately, they are leaving tomorrow, heading for Benalmádena. Rob, Pete and I walked to the beach after. I had a quick paddle in the sea (very cold!) while those two went for a swim. Nutters 😀 We decided to eat out tonight as neither of us are in the mood for cooking. We were at a restaurant at 9.30pm and we had a really, really lovely meal!
2nd Aug to 5th Aug; Estepona:
I woke up at just after 9am and had a cuppa in the cockpit, chatting to Roland from the Southerly 115 next door, whilst waiting for Rob, Pete and Jack to surface. It is such a shame that they have to leave today, as we all get on so well. Maybe our paths will cross again some day. We wished each other fair winds as they slipped their lines. Rob and Pete explored the town for most of the day, while Jack and I focused on Boat School. Later, we realised that we will need to be in Gib for Petes return flight (doh!) so Rob has just emailed the Gib office, asking for a reservation. If none are available, we will stay in La Linea, no problem. Boy it’s hot – and very windy at 25knots! We are very glad we are in a marina! Earlier, two yachts berthed beside us, one either side. In this wind! The first to arrive was on our starboard side. The first I knew about it was when a marinero jumped aboard Hoopla to stop him crashing into us! All was OK, though, thanks to his quick action. Soon after, on our port side, a Swiss family arrived. They had to fender off against the speedboat on their other side! Luckily, again, all was fine and they have moored up OK now, and have gone into town. It is challenging to berth in strong winds! I met Rob and Peter at the beach at around 5.30pm and I was sand-blasted by the sand in this strong wind! The sea is still very cold hahha! It’s still so hot, though, even at 7pm! Of course, it was beer o’clock after their swim.
The next morning, I helped the Swiss Family Robinson leave. They very nearly got caught our dinghy but we just managed to avoid it. Phew! They are off to Benalmádena and we wished them a good journey. Now it’s time for our breakfast (at 9.30am). We have another sunny day! Apparently, Spain is on an orange alert re the heat! Rob bought some new sandals whilst in the Old Town with Pete today. His current ones have literally worn out and were given a bin ceremony! I met them later for chips and a coffee, before we headed back to Hoopla. Half an hour sit down for us, before Rob and I left for Lidl. It is SO hot! We are melting even in the shade! When Rob and I returned, we just dropped the shopping off and headed for the beach. It is 33° at 7.30pm! Nope, that sea has not warmed up hahaha!
We woke up at around 9am the next morning and breakfast soon followed. The wind seems to have eased and it seems a little cooler this morning 🙂 Maths again for Jack and I, at 11am. Rob has received an email from Pat from Gib, confirming our reservation from the 7th to the 9th of August. That’s brilliant! We plan on staying at La Linea on the 6th. Rob & Pete have gone to Carrefours as we are a little low on cereal and some GF items. It was to the beach again for the three of us, but that sea is still c-c-cold ! Jack says he will wait until the sea is warm. I know exactly where he is coming from!
We woke up the following day at 9.30, with breakfast at 10.30. It’s another sunny day.. Rob popped to the office at just before 10am, to ask for one more night here, as the sea is still kicking up from the previous days of strong winds. It was another day of not doing much (nice!) and later, Rob and Pete went to the beach on the other side. They reported back that it wasn’t as far or as crowded as the first one. Whilst they were there, I popped to the local Carrefours for a supply top up. When I returned to our pontoon, I saw a chap struggling with his pasarrelle. His name is Joe and he is a single handied sailor. He joined us for dinner that evening and told us that he had sailed non-stop to here from La Rochelle! Wow! Rob had made an exceptional curry for tea. Joe was very interested in our thoughts of Cartagena, as that is on the top of his winter stop-over list. When he left, I lent him our Cartagena book to read. We return to La Linea Bay tomorrow, so it was a quick tidy up above and below decks, before turning in. Night all Zzzz.
6th Aug; Estepona to La Linea:
After (another) good night’s sleep, we are all having breakfast and it’s 9am. At 10.30am, Rob popped to the marina office to check us out, pay our dues and return the key cards (and receive our deposits back). When back onboard, Rob decided to do a quick repair to the internal access hatch to the anchor locker, in Jack’s cabin. This gives time for the wind to die down We were all ready and we slipped our lines at 11am – and the main sail was let out immediately, shortly followed by the spinnaker Nice. We had just over an hour before we had to put the spinnaker away. The engine was on also, for an hour or so, before the Genoa was let free. We had a very nice sail which made for a very happy skipper! We put the engine back on as we approached Europa Point. It was a bit lumpy but the sea flattened out soon after. We’re getting to know this passage quite well(!) and we enjoyed the views of The Rock; it’s caves, waterfalls and hotels We arrived at the anchorage and dropped the hook in our normal spot, at 4pm. Both Rob and Pete went for a rest while I read my book in the cockpit. Happy Days. At 6pm, I saw a huge Gardia Civil motor boat patrolling the anchorage. We waved to each other as they motored slowly past. All in all, a very nice passage!
7th Aug; La Linea to Gibraltar (again):
After a very peaceful night in the bay that is La Linea, breakfast was served at 10am. Would you believe that our blue sky has been replaced with a cloudy one? No! We almost made a grab for our fleeces hahha! It’s quite windy too! Do you think it could be because it’s Pete’s last day with us and the weather is preparing him for the Scottish temperatures? It’s a thought! As this will be our final stay in Gibraltar, before we start making our way back to Cartagena, via Motril, we decided to take full advantage of the cheaper fuel and fill up our tank! We moored up alongside the fuel berth (my word, it was a high pontoon!) at 12.30, and Rob started to fill her up. She needed 135L and the bill came to £129, so just over £1 per litre! We’ll have some of that! By 1pm, we were all berthed and slimed up in Queensway Quay Marina, on the same berth as last time! So we helped ourselves to next doors steps again (cheeky, I know). Rob went to check us all in at the office, while Pete and I tidied up Hoopla’s lines and Jack plugged her in. This didn’t take long and I suggested having lunch quayside. Jack said he would prefer to have his lunch aboard Hoopla, so Pete and I made our way to the restaurant that I had had a delicious soup from last time we were here. We hadn’t even made our drink orders when Rob joined us. Good timing! We had a lovely, lovely lunch. Both Rob and Pete had the chowder and I had their soup of the day. HmmHmm! At 3pm, we walked into the Main Square where Pete enjoyed his last slice of Gibraltarian cake. After which, I left the two boys chatting over another coffee, for a lovely bit of window shopping for me M&S, Next and Matalan to name but a few! Happy Days ! I wandered back to Hoopla and the boys arrived half hour or so later. Half an hour after that, all four of us were walking to Pizza Express in Ocean Village. We had a really good table over looking the fish swimming below. We just had to feed them my left over pizza crusts hahaha! It was a really lovely meal to wish Pete a safe and onward journey tomorrow. All feeling very stuffed, it was a slow walk back to Hoopla hahha!
8th and 9th Aug: Gibraltar, UK:
Today, we say goodbye to Peter. He has been onboard with us for just short of a calendar month – and what a month it has been!
Our alarm was set for 8am, as we had a 9.25 bus to catch. Rob, Peter and I arrived in good time at the airport and we dropped off his bag – then we went for a coffee in the cafe (no Gibraltarian cake unfortunately). Jack stayed behind to catch up on his schoolwork. Pete’s flight was delayed by half an hour to 12.30, which was fine. We stayed to watch him board his plane and we watched his plane be towed to the runway, 15 mins later. Both Rob and I were watching, with camera in hand, from the observation gallery. But, after 10/15 minutes, we saw the engines switch off? Huh? It’s now 1pm and the plane hasn’t moved. Uh oh! Do we wait or start heading back? We made our way to the bus, which was in its bus stop, and from the bus, we saw his plane return to its stand! What’s going on? The bus pulled away as Pete messaged us, saying that an engine wouldn’t start! Double uh oh! Rob & I were back aboard Hoopla half an hour later and Rob popped to the office as we have decided to extend our stay here by one day. We have just checked Pete’s flight status – and it’s cancelled!! Oh no! It has been rescheduled for 3pm and he has an ETA in Edinburgh for 9.30pm. This is quite a bit later than his original flight. BUT we then found out that even this flight was delayed Unbelievable! We have a date later with Barbie, The Movie at 5.30pm! Yesterday, I had found a cinema in Gibraltar and I booked us the tickets! For some reason Jack did not want to join us! Hahaha! The cinema was in a huge leisure centre with a bowling alley and climbing walls! I wish we had known that this was here ages ago! We both enjoyed the film and we wandered back to Hoopla, after a beer of course Pete just about made his connection to Edinburgh at LHR and he finally walked through his front door at 11.30pm! A little later than the original 7pm, that’s for sure!
Next morning at breakfast, I made a pot of tea for four! It’s going to be difficult getting used to being back to three people, when we have had four aboard for just under a month Rob has lent a pontoon neighbour his climbing harness this morning, as theirs was too small. They are working on their radar, half way up their mast. Jack on is on geography today and Rob is moving the router for our AIS, to aid a better signal. I watched them both no, I did boatwork (like housework, but on a boat!). After Boatschool, Rob and I walked to Morrisons to stock up on UK supplies, as we are leaving here tomorrow. We caught the bus back as its so hot and we had full shopping bags and rucksacks! We also bought minted lamb for dinner! This you cannot get for love nor money in Spain We’ve returned from the shops to discover that our neighbours have gone out for the evening – without returning Robs harness! Hopefully we will catch them in the morning before we leave! Rob prepared the minted lamb for dinner and it was really, really goooood !
10th Aug; Gibraltar to Estepona - again 🙂
I heard the sound of fog horns during the wee hours, which was a bit of a worry, but when I woke up in the morning: no fog. Phew! At 9.15am, there was knock on our bows. I thought that it was our neighbour returning our harness but no, it was two members of the marina staff. Apparently there is a Customs query and they would like us to pop to the office with our passports! How exciting! It’s VERY humid here, because of the earlier fog (70%) so I made use of heavy dew on our decks and I quickly went over them with our (new) mop and I rubbed out all of our footprints! Rob popped next door for our harness and then we wandered up to the office, at 10.30am. We were back on board by 11am! Apparently, Customs haven’t checked us out correctly – AND they didn’t last time either! But the marinero has said that we are all good to go now. Phew! Rob is just adding some dollop to our diesel, to help prevent diesel-bug, before we leave. I began preparing below decks, Rob above decks, while Jack studied his computer hahaha! We were all ready by 12pm and we finally slipped our lines. I am a little sad to be leaving, as Gibraltar will always be special to me, I think. It is a lovely, unique place to visit. If you get the chance, please do.
Soon after leaving, we saw lots of flying fish ! They are amazing to see. It is now 1pm and the sails are out 🙂 We had a nice, peaceful couple of hours following the coastline, before the wind changed direction and the engine had to be switched back on. We have an ETA of 5pm, so just a few more hours to go. Oh wow, we have just seen a leaping swordfish! What a fantastic creature! Rob went to check on the engine and he has just discovered a very small diesel weep and a water leak. There isn’t any oil in the water, which is good. Phew. Rob thinks that it’s the water pump, for which we have spares. He said that he will spend tomorrow looking at it. It was 5.20 when we berthed alongside the waiting pontoon, and Joe (who we met last time we were here) came over and helped us with our lines. How kind of him. By 6pm, we were all slimed up and Jack has sorted out our electrics. Guess what? It’s now beer o’clock No surprise there then – and Joe joined us too, to toast in our arrival / return 🙂
11th to 14th Aug: Estepona:
Apologies in advance for this super long post! We had a lot going on during our short stay here!
Shortly after breakfast, Rob popped up to the marina office to extend our stay here until Sun 13th, because of the water pump issue. He then went to the chandlery to finally collect the solenoid for the engine fan (this was ordered during our last stay here, but we couldn’t collect it as the chandlery was/is not open on Saturdays). While Jack and I studied history, Rob began removing the water pump. It is quite warm still. He has replaced the water seal and will re-fit the water pump back tomorrow – and tidy up the cockpit. The pump had been painted and Rob wants to remove this paint before refitting it. We walked to the beach after and Rob had a quick swim and I had a paddle. It might be my imagination but the sea did seem a bit warmer. After which, we were invited aboard My Jane by Joe, for a fantastic roast chicken dinner – all cooked in his Cobb cooker. Rob now has accessory envy! So that’s Christmas for him sorted 😀
The following morning, Rob started painting the engine mounts. Joe popped by to say that he was leaving today, and that his destination is Almeria (about 100 nautical miles!) We thanked him again for a really lovely meal last night, and we wished him well. We said that we might meet up in Cartagena. Shortly after, we caught a taxi to the large Carrefours. After the shopping, we walked back through the very pretty Old Town, stopping for a beer and a coffee en-route. Rob went out for a swim while I put a wash load on and had a shower. It’s so hot that after five minutes, I felt just as hot and sweaty as before! 🙁
I hung out our washing early the next morning, while Rob refitted the water pump. This was no mean feat. Gosh, it’s still so hot! 33° but it feels so much hotter. Rob found some water at the bottom of the engine! So its not the water pump after all! Sigh. He can’t seem to find where the damn water is coming from! Rob removed the rubber coupler from the oil cooler and found a few tiny slits, which COULD be causing the leak. Here’s hoping our spare fits! Rob is really thankful that he has the tools and the spares that are needed! The spare fitted but when it was all reassembled and the engine switched on to test, we still had a leak!! Wwhhaaattt? Rob switched the water inlet valve off (or sea cock) that goes through the hull and below the waterline and we’ve decided to call it a day at that and go to the beach for a swim – but we are not going anywhere tomorrow! The swim was just what we needed and, yes, even I went in! The temperature was OK once in, but there was a lot of seaweed in the water, which wasn’t great!
We woke the next morning to the sound of water dripping in through the engine! Uh oh! The boat bilge had a fair bit of sea water in. Double uh oh! Rob switched on the bilge pump to clear it and then tried to find the leak. Half an hour or so later, he thinks it is the impeller plate. He is going to have breakfast before the next step. Rob popped to office to extend our stay (again) to Mon 14th, but it was no problem. He then went to the chandlery. They couldn’t help re spares but Rob bought a bigger bilge pump that reaches to the bottom of our bilges. He removed the water pump (again), as he needs the actual name of it – a F5B905 impeller pump, for your information! He has re-sealed the water pump, refitted it and now he is just about to test it! It seems to work! Yay! It also turns out that the sea cock (the tap that turns off the seawater to the engine) is not working properly and is slightly on all the time! Once the oil cooler and water pump was fixed, the sea water stopped coming in (phew!) He will change the tap when we are lifted out next week. Rob is SO pleased that he found out that the tap was faulty when he did! He will have a tidy up and then retest it, by running the engine for half an hour. I’ve just checked Vessel Finder to see how Joe is getting on – and he has just arrived in Cartagena! He must have changed his mind re Almeria? I have a light red, slightly itchy, rash on my belly. I suspect it’s from the murky sea water yesterday? We have a six hour journey tomorrow, to Benalmádena, so we want to be leaving here by 10am. This is so that we arrive around 4pm – or late afternoon anyway. We have made a reservation at the marina earlier today, via the Navily app, but we are still waiting for a confirmation. Rob and I headed for the beach for a swim, followed by a beer. Neither of us could be bothered to cook and, as it’s our last day in Estepona, we decided to eat out. Jack is just making his way to our table. Happy Days!
