So, in the end we couldn’t dock in Gibraltar – no space, or perhaps we were not Super-yachty enough! So we initially anchored outside La Linea’s Alcaidesa Marina, then decided that rowing the dinghy in each day would be a pain – so took a slip, which we stayed in for a little over a week!
Exploring Gibraltar from here was easy – a 30 minute easy bike ride – including getting stamped in and out of Spain each time. Interesting that one of the first things you do is cycle across the runway of Gibraltar airport!
Our first trip in, Laurie noticed everyone wearing red and white – turned out to be Gibraltar Day and the place was humming! It was very nice being in among it all – and we managed to find an Irish pub that offered excellent Guinness and great people watching!
Irish Pub
Gibraltar Day celebrations
The second day we went in, we went with a plan of getting to the top of the rock – and ended up pedaling and pushing our bikes up the bloody thing! We didn’t actually make to the tippity top – it was very hot and frankly not the most interesting ride – so figured we take the easy route at some point – a taxi or the cable car!
Irish Town
While up the rock we did stop to see the Siege Tunnels – built in the late 1700’s to defend against a Spanish invasion – the siege lasted over 3 years. The tunnels were dug into the rock and at various points they knocked holes through and pointed massive cannons down at the advancing armies. It was never taken.
Africa on the left, Europe on the right…
They stop the traffic when the planes are taking off!
(This photo from inside the Siege Tunnels)
We also saw a snippet of the WWII tunnels which apparently stretch over 30 miles in a massive network and house a hospital, a couple of breweries, a distillery and stuff like that – all important stuff to keep the forces happy!
We had a nice rendezvous with OCC boat Eliana – Ian and Lyn – who we’d previously seen almost exactly a year ago in the Spanish Rias, but due to Covid couldn’t socialize – so it was nice to catch up to them properly this time.
Ian and Lyn from Eliana
We’d originally come to Gibraltar to re-set our VAT clock – which we later determined we didn’t need to do since we have a VAT exemption in the UK which we obtained in 2013. Since we were in Portugal on Brexit day, that should translate to being VAT paid in Europe… It continues to be a source of discussion between us – as all the rules are so difficult to understand following the UK’s exit. We did manage to fill up with Diesel in Gibraltar – so can document that we were there should anyone challenge us – though we’re not sure that qualifies either! At least the Diesel was (reasonably) cheap (78 pence/litre) and we’re now full!
Gibraltar from the anchorage
We set off back towards Portugal following Eliana through the Straights. We were heading towards Cadiz, but planned an intermediate stop along the way at Barbate, but since the wind was holding, we went a little further to a small bay – Puerto do Conil which looked like it would be suitable. No it wasn’t! Even with very light winds and barely a foot of swell, we rocked and rolled all night long!
The following morning we headed towards Cadiz, expecting to motor the whole way but in fact we sailed all the way, at times going wing on wing with the spinnaker! First look at Cadiz is very favorable – looking forward to exploring it!