Tasks included starting the process to get our Yacht Registration renewed, although we could only complete the first part of this activity because we can only renew when the registration is within three months of expiring. However, at least, we’d “claimed our vessel” and “opened our accounts” through the new online system, all of which was approved. Doing the actual renewal will have to be done while we’re in Ireland, something we had hoped to avoid. Having to do the renewal, though, was discovered by accident when Elaine was completing the Customs and Immigration documentation for entry into Gibraltar, realising our registration was expiring just around the time we would be arriving in St Lucia, Caribbean, after our Atlantic Ocean crossing; a rather inappropriate time to arrive with an unregistered yacht.
Next task was to replace our 1st-reef line, after Roy recently discovered it had almost chafed through on one of the very few sails we had along the Spanish mainland coast. Thank goodness he noticed it; not the kind of thing you want breaking while underway. Afterwards, he completed a long overdue task; replacing the shore power LED on the AC panel.
His next task of the day was to walk to the Gibraltar airport, in the hopes of changing one leg of our upcoming outbound flight to a day earlier. This turned out to be a complete waste of his time, since the outsourced staff working at the British Airways counter were already closing up for their siesta and told him to call Customer Services instead. Surprisingly, we didn’t have to wait long for our call to be answered, but the additional charges amounting to £280 to make the change, never mind the additional cost of a hotel to overnight in London, proved to be a complete ripoff in our opinion. Instead, although we were trying to be proactive, so as not to miss our connecting flight to Dublin from Heathrow, because we’ve yet to hear and see the noon British Airways flight out of Gibraltar depart on time - we can actually see the runway - we decided it can be the airlines problem to rebook a connection at their expense if we are delayed, the probability of which is extremely high. The irony, though, is that we’re still waiting on the £200 they owe us from our last excruciating experience with them; clearly we’re suckers for punishment!
To take a break from our To Dos, we enjoyed a late afternoon walk to the nearest beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean side and then enjoyed a cold beverage at one of the restaurants lining the promenade, before dinner onboard sealed another busy day.
Today we were up early, enjoyed a cooked breakfast, complements of Roy, then walked across the frontier one more time. After the bus dropped us off near the Queensway Quay marina, we visited the marina office to ensure everything was in order for our imminent arrival, then walked to Morrison’s, where we loaded up on all our favourite goodies, including Galaxy caramel chocolate, Lindt chocolate, Crunchies, custard doughnuts, Lucazades, Liquorice Allsorts, wine gums, fruit gums, fruit pastilles, jelly tots; well the list goes on. You’d swear we were expecting a famine on sweets!
From there, we walked to the Car Care Centre to purchase new coolant that will be required once the cooling systems are flushed on both engines; another unplanned task, accidentally discovered when Roy removed the starboard hot water tank and noticed the colour of the existing coolant, although this had all been replaced when the engines were serviced in Malaysia. Anyway, to be sure, to be sure, we decided it was best to replace the coolant regardless.
Then, while Elaine waited to be served at one of the cafés, Roy walked to the nearest chandlery to purchase our replacement flares and a few more cleaning products. By the time he’d returned, Elaine had still not been served, although the server has walked passed her numerous times to serve other tables. With that, we decided to vote with our feet and returned to the Broadwalk Café, where we’d enjoyed our previous cup of coffee in Gibraltar.
A short bus ride got us back to the frontier and by 1400 we were back onboard, a little wiser as to why we feel so overwhelmed when visiting Gibraltar. Firstly, the noise of the traffic was more apparent and overbearing actually. Coupled with the noise of construction and road work’s everywhere, particularly the sound of jackhammers, it was a cacophony that fried our brains. Throw in an endless supply of really rude individuals, who try to walk straight over you, step in front of you, push passed you, don’t move to let you pass, blow cigarette smoke or vape vapour in your face, blow “snot rockets” right at your feet, etc and, honestly, we want to run a mile in the opposite direction. This has all been an excellent “training ground” for us, though, and has given us a great insight into conditions we need to avoid at all cost when choosing a place to live; the outer islands off counties Galway, Mayo and Donegal are looking more promising by the day!
While Elaine recovered from our morning ordeal, Roy continued on our To Do List this afternoon, repairing a newly developed leak in the port forward head (aka toilet), one that has never given us an ounce of trouble until a few days ago. Again, we’re convinced the extreme temperatures we’ve endured are a possible cause. Regardless, it had to be fixed! For good measure, he then defrosted the freezer.
After Elaine’s rest, she tidied up Paw Paw inside and out, packing away tools, ropes and various other items that had been hauled out of bunks and lockers while tasks on the To Do List were progressed, while Roy took a walk to the hardware shop and grocery store, returning with all sorts of delicious fresh fruits, including strawberries and mangoes and some decent meat to restock the freezer, after finding a large supermarket that had a comprehensive selection.
A barbecued steak dinner wrapped up a very long day, but not before we enjoyed a chat to Roy’s brother, Len, in South Africa. It had been a while and was nice to catch up.
