Yesterday, however, was our day to deal with all the officialdom of clearing out of Spain and, particularly, the European Union. Of course, as expected, after walking the kilometre to the Policia Nacional office, we didn’t have the one piece of paper they wanted, although our Customs and Immigration folder was full of every other piece of official paper you could think of, collated, as each port of call requested something additional during our transit through the European Union, including receipts from every marina we stopped at, which we understand, indicated the Light Dues we’ve paid along the way.
That meant, while Elaine sat at the police station, Roy returned to the marina office to get this particular piece of paper needed, a 4 Km round walk for him. It was long past midday by the time he returned, while Elaine had seen hundreds of police officers come and go, mostly arriving, though.
While it’s well documented that the process associated with clearing in to the European Union for the first time via Spain, is a fiasco, the clearing out process was as well. After Roy returned with the extra piece of paper, the officer entered it into their computer system and handed the paper back to us; no stamp, no Zarpe, nothing, and questioning this didn’t make an ounce of difference; we left without any documentation indicating that we had cleared out! Let’s hope that extra piece of paper does the trick when we clear in to Gibraltar!
From there we walked to Aqa Restaurant and Lounge Bar, close to the waterfront on the Atlantic Ocean side, which we’d visited once before, and enjoyed a coffee and baked delight. It’s a good thing we’re only eating two meals a day, though, with the months of baked delights we’ve consumed daily.
Back onboard Elaine brought the catalogue of our latest blogs up to date, following which we enjoyed a nice long chat to Keenan, who was back home, but had the house more or less to himself, since Brooke was napping and all the grandchildren were at school. That gave him plenty of time to show us the progress of all the building work being undertaken in their backyard; can’t wait to see it finished. Afterwards we completed the few preparations needed to move Paw Paw to Gibraltar today.
With sunrise around 0730, we set the alarm for 0800, had breakfast and cast off just in time for the fuel dock on the Gibraltar side to open.
By 1030, we’d filled up on diesel and petrol and Elaine had manoeuvred Paw Paw successfully into the most awkward berth ever at Queensway Marina, but we couldn’t have gotten closer to the Waterfront Restaurant and Bar if we’d tried. We were literally able to chat to folks on the pier, who were having a bite to eat at the restaurant, while we stood on deck.
Once settled and cleared in, we lowered our quarantine flag and walked the very short distance to the Waterfront Restaurant and Bar for a coffee and baked delight. Turns out that the obscure piece of paper the Spanish authorities wanted, was, in fact, not needed at all to clear in to Gibraltar; everything Elaine had completed online was sufficient. We were also delighted to discover that Queensway Marina was a quiet, peaceful and clean oasis away from the madding crowd.
Feeling like we both needed a nap by this stage, however, we crawled into our beds, but sleep eluded us. Giving up, Elaine relaxed onboard, while Roy went for a walk, although we both felt a sense of relief that we were eventually berthed in Queensway Marina, a reservation we’d made a year ago and that our next stop was Ireland, before commencing our Atlantic Ocean crossing. We were definitely looking forward to time with the family. It was hard to believe that fourteen months had slipped away, since last seeing everyone in Ireland.
Roy returned with a shopping bag full of goodies again, much to Elaine’s delight. Fortunately dinner was a light affair to try keep the calories under control. Definitely going to have to pace ourselves moving forward!
Elaine, however, spent her morning reviewing and updating all the For Sale material in readiness for putting Paw Paw on the market, as well as completed another sales transaction; this time for some of our Cruising Guides, Pilots and Flags. This was in addition to delivering the rope we sold yesterday, after receiving payment. Our “For Sale” kitty had started.
By evening the strong wind that was forecast, arrived and howled most of the night, giving us both a rather interrupted night’s sleep. Although we’d added additional docklines, as 30 Kts of wind howled through the marina, the fetch of which had all the yachts bouncing up and down, it was the constant clanging of halyards, squeaks of docklines and water slapping against the hulls, that provided a cacophony all night. Regardless, though, we still managed to enjoy another barbecue for dinner. It was nice to have the propane to do this again and, fortunately, the wind didn’t blow the flame out.
The sporting event continued today, as did the howling wind and the incessant talking by the compere, the latter starting before we even had breakfast, complements of Roy; bacon and croissants. As the wind blew stronger, he’s voice grew louder; he was screaming in the end. Regardless, we had chores to complete today; washing the decks, cockpit and helmstation and Paw Paw’s interior, as well as getting the laundry washed and dried. Given the wind, the washing was dried in no time at all, including the sheets and pillowcases. It was the Starbrite that became the miracle solution for the day, removing the weird yellow marks we had in spots over the deck. Thankfully we were able to find this spray again at the chandlery in Gibraltar.
It was dinnertime by the time we finished everything, both a little tired and weary after a busy day. Having a headache after listening to the commentary and thumping music that was still going on by the time we sat down to dinner, only added to our weariness. Even Roy could count in Spanish now!
Our thoughts, however, go out to the cruisers in the Balearic Islands, who are currently experiencing hurricane strength winds, causing extensive damage and groundings. The unpredictable weather and marginal anchorages were our main reasons for leaving the Balearic Islands when we did, choosing to cross to the Spanish mainland earlier than intended, where there was more chance of getting protection in a berth of a marina, a problem many cruisers are now facing in the Balearic Islands, forced to stay at anchor in these hazardous conditions.
Of course, having purchased the various items we needed from the chandlery and the Car Care Centre in Gibraltar, that meant the associated work had to be completed on Paw Paw yesterday and today.
So, while Elaine sorted out all our flares and updated the expiry dates on our Emergency Equipment List, as well as checked the grab bag, then updated her medical notes, after getting her latest blood test results and having a chat to the doctor, Roy got busy with replacing the starboard engine coolant after flushing the engine. Since he hadn’t completed a few other items on that engine, like adjusting the v-belt, lubricating the water pump and cleaning the engine, he completed those tasks too, as well as replaced the head (aka toilet) in the port forward head (aka bathroom), after fixing the leak yesterday. Since he was busy with heads, he decided to take another look at the port aft head to, at least, slow the leak to a drip, so that Elaine could use her head until we return from Ireland with the spares needed. Doing this precluded her from having to trundle over to one of the heads on the starboard side in the middle of the night, when she needed the loo.
Besides getting close to the end of this particular To Do List ie tasks to be completed before we move Paw Paw to Gibraltar, Roy also met the cruisers on the dock opposite us, learning that they had recently splashed after getting their rudder repaired, following an orca attack here in the Bay of Gibraltar; the first and only attack inside the bay thus far. What are the chances and what bad luck! More enlightening, though, was the fact that the boatyard here has at least five other yachts currently on the hard getting their rudders replaced / repaired after orca attacks and it is believed that the number of incidents is being significantly underreported. Definitely not the kind of news we wanted to hear!
It took Roy all day to complete his tasks on the starboard engine, but we still enjoyed a barbecue dinner onboard; pork riblets. Delicious!
This morning was spent flushing the port engine and replacing the coolant; a simpler task, given his previous efforts on this engine. We, however, woke to the sound of numerous foghorns this morning and the temperature was definitely cooler, with a dense fog hanging over the Rock of Gibraltar. Bizarrely enough, though, we had clear skies to the west.
A chat to Elaine’s sister, then her folks, was enjoyed either side of a walk to town, enjoying some sightseeing along the way, particularly the lovely parks and the town square, then stopped in at the Okay Café again for a coffee and baked delight. On our walk back from town, we stopped at the beach to collect sand; supposedly a deterrent when scattered around the rudders in the event of an orca attack. Let’s hope we don’t have to find out either way!
Roy’s last tasks of the day, which completed the To Do List for La Linea de la Concepción, was to fill the one water tank and flush the watermaker with the other and to touch up the black paint around one of the portholes on the starboard side, before we packed everything away. It was lovely to see that the cockpit table was no longer a workbench and we were able to enjoy a meal outside again.
While enjoying dinner, we had a bird’s eye view of the fun run / walk starting line, which involved hundreds of people of all ages and sizes and included people being pushed in wheelchairs, babies pushed in prams and dogs on leashes; it was very festive.
We also had a stroke of luck in selling a rope we’d purchased for Med mooring and never used; it was sold within an hour of advertising it on one of the sailing Facebook groups. The cruisers who bought it happened to be a few docks down in the same marina as ourselves! Hopefully that luck continues when we advertise Paw Paw for sale next week.
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.
That meant Saturday was spent fixing a leak in the starboard hot water tank. This was a brand new tank, delivered to Australia, and a small hole had developed; how is this even possible in an aluminium tank! Anyway, once the hole was sealed, the tank was re-installed yesterday morning and then heated. Voila, no leak and there was hot water again on that side. We figured Justine and Paul wouldn’t appreciate cold showers when they join us in Gran Canaria for the ARC 2023 rally.
Then, while Roy wondered off to purchase a Spanish propane tank, Elaine cleaned and polished the stove top, with strict instructions not to progress her next task, washing the starboard topside from the dinghy, until he was back onboard. Clearly his imagination was running away with him and he definitely didn’t want Elaine attempting to get in the dinghy without him present. Probably sensible though! So, once Roy had returned with our new propane tank, Elaine washed the starboard topside, from the dinghy, without incident, and gave the dinghy a good wash while she was at it.
Afterwards it was a joint effort to connect yet another propane tank; of course, requiring different connectors / fittings to our onboard configuration. Oh surprise, surprise!
With numerous spares onboard, do you think we could find a single connector / fitting that would work! Nope, until we eventually found the original connector, previously removed to accommodate the Malaysian version of a propane tank. Needless to say, we were absolutely delighted at solving what was becoming a major issue and an issue that has repeated itself time and time again, starting in New Zealand, then Australia, then Malaysia and Thailand, all requiring different connectors / fittings. Arriving in Türkiye, although expensive, we could, at least, get our original tanks filled and, thankfully, these have lasted until now because Greece, Italy and Spain presented the same issue. This was never a problem we expected to have after transited through the Caribbean, Panama and the South Pacific without encountering a single problem. You’d think something as basic as this would have a standard, but it obviously falls into the same category as electric plugs and light switches, which differ all over the world!
Given that it was a very windy day, however, it was the perfect day to be fiddling around with propane fittings.
Other menial activities included reading through the ARC 2023 Handbook, making notes and communicating what actions were required by Justine and Paul before their arrival, as well as what actions are required after their arrival, the latter primarily relating to safety. Stencilling “Paw Paw” to some of the safety equipment onboard was also completed.
Although it was supposed to be a day of rest, being a Sunday, yesterday was no exception, completing the oil checks on both engines and saildrives, replacing the water filters on the watermaker, ensuring our high volume portable bilge pump was still operating as expected and we reassembled our drogue, given that we had taken the line out to Med moor in Türkiye and Greece, something we ended up not doing; neither of us had the stomach for getting up close and personal with rocks, choosing to anchor off instead.
To take a break from it all, Roy took a walk in the opposite direction to where we’ve walked thus far and found another beach area with cafés and restaurants; something Elaine is yet to see.
Today, the To Do List activities started with the inspection and lubrication of the steering system. It’s fair to say, we were extremely surprised to find one of the nuts had completely cracked through from metal fatigue. Of course, once again, with all our spares onboard, do you think we could find a replacement; nope! That meant another trip to the local chandlery to purchase one, but, we had to buy four in a pack at €2 per nut. Ridiculous! Once that was all back together, he calibrated the autopilot.
Then, since the galley cupboards were all out to get to the steering cable, Roy replaced some of the panel bulbs that had blown on the engine instrument panel cluster and, once that was all put back together again, he lubricated all the winches and hot-knifed a few ropes that were fraying. One thing you come to realise when living on a yacht, is that, any “instrument”, be it a galley utensil or Elaine’s handheld mirror and tweezers, these all become a tool; the latter used today to replace the bulbs.
Besides being gofer to Roy, Elaine finished up a few administrative tasks of completing the Customs and Immigration documentation required for entry into Gibraltar, compiling and sending a Skipper’s Letter to Justine and Paul, which they will require to clear Immigration when arriving in Gran Canaria, since they’ll be on a one-way ticket. In essence, the letter confirms that they’ll be departing the country via yacht.
Her final administration task for the day was reviewing her latest blood test results and forwarding those to the specialist in Türkiye, who previously agreed to continue to consult for Elaine via video conferencing.
Our day ended with a cold beverage enjoyed at the West Restaurant, close to the marina, after the dense fog that has been around for days lifted slightly, and a lovely long chat to Keenan, who was on a stopover in Charlotte. It was nice to have the time to catch up after months of being on the move.
Having such an extensive To Do List, though, making us a tad busier than planned, has been very frustrating and definitely unexpected, given the amount of work that was done on Paw Paw over the winter in Türkiye, never mind the associated cost of completing all that work. We can’t help but wonder if the extreme temperatures we’ve found ourselves in this summer, after a freezing cold winter, hasn’t contributed to the various issues we’re experiencing. We’ll never know, but it would be an explanation at least. Regardless, onwards we go!
This will include the EPIRB, after getting confirmation that the battery can be replaced in England, and in turn meant another trip across the border to Gibraltar today, to post it.
However, deciding he’d had enough of yacht maintenance for one day yesterday, we then took a walk to the beachfront on the Mediterranean side of La Linea de la Concepción. Unfortunately, this proved to be our least favourite promenade in Spain, although there was clearly a lot of construction work underway, which will probably improve the area significantly.
From there we walked into the centre of the town and found lovely pedestrianised walkways, lined with cafés, restaurants, bars and shops.
Stopping at Okay Café, we enjoyed a coffee and baked delight, selected from the “panaderia”, before purchasing a nice freshly baked baguette to take with us.
Our return walk got us back to the marina much faster, putting the town centre, and all its amenities, within easy reach. From what we saw, it looks like the nightlife could be quite festive too.
Back onboard, Elaine continued her efforts on cataloguing photographs and videos, in the hope of getting some of the latter completed during our downtime, although downtime is proving to be much less than we originally envisaged, given our growing new To Do List.
Case in point, it was Elaine’s Friday morning alarm to take one of her medications that woke her this morning. That was our cue to get up, have breakfast and cross the frontier once again.
Having found the stationery shop, purchased the box and filling we needed to wrap the EPIRB, repeated the Post Office drill, we were in and out in no time at all. Then, deciding to enjoy a coffee away from the madding crowd this time, we made a beeline for the waterfront, surprised to find a much quieter, less crowded, cleaner area with gardens and numerous cafés and restaurants. Choosing to sit outside at the Boardwalk Café proved to be a much nicer setting and far more relaxing than the previous venues we’d chosen and we were delighted to realise there were, in fact, areas of Gibraltar we could enjoy once we move Paw Paw there towards the end of this month.
Back onboard, Roy refitted the head (aka toilet) in the port aft head (aka bathroom), knowing, though, that it still required further maintenance once we returned with the necessary parts in September.
Then, while Elaine napped, Roy took a walk to try and sort out our propane issue, which has plagued us through the entire Mediterranean since leaving Türkiye; we can’t get our tanks filled. With a possible solution in mind, he then stopped at a grocery store to purchased a few top up provisions on his way back to Paw Paw, before enjoying a nap himself.
A final perusal of all the ARC Handbook material and our newly collated To Do List, overlaid with our planned departure date to Morocco and onwards to the Canary Islands, revealed the fact that we’ll continue to be a tad busy for the next few weeks. Such is life on a yacht!
What we definitely weren’t expecting to deal with, though, after all the work that was done on Paw Paw over the winter and, particularly because we had replaced all the sewerage system piping, was to deal with blocked pipes again. We’ve never had blockages occur so quickly before and we can only surmise that the high salinity of the Mediterranean Sea may have caused the rapid calcification in the pipes. Regardless, Roy completed the work on both port side heads (aka toilets), which was the bulk of the effort.
Before an afternoon nap, Elaine did muster up the energy to cut Roy’s hair and tidy him up a bit, since he was definitely looking rather bedraggled and then enjoyed a chat to her sister, Dianne.
A documentary on the History of the Moors, wrapped up our day and, besides a fascinating historical account, it certainly peeked our interest for our visit to Morocco.
Today, however, Elaine had no choice, but to be a little more energetic. We were both up with the alarm to head back across the border to Gibraltar; this time for Elaine’s doctor’s appointment, as well as to get her blood tests done and collect a top up of her medications, all arranged a number of weeks ago prior to our arrival and since she was unable to get medical care in Italy or Spain. This included a prior arrangement with a pharmacy too, as some of the medications had to be specifically ordered.
While Elaine visited the doctor’s office, Roy completed a few more To Dos in walking to the chandlery to pick up supplies, an establishment he had been communicating with prior to our arrival as well.
With the doctor and blood work completed, we then walked to the pharmacy, stopping for a coffee and baked delight at one of the cafés off the high street, Royal Calpe, although we had to sit inside due to the myriad of smokers enjoying the best seats outside; something wrong with that picture!
Unfortunately, this visit turned out to be another: “oh my word, we can’t be doing with these crowds, noise and close quarters - get us out of here” moment. We’d hoped that today’s experience would have been better than the first visit, since we were somewhat forearmed, but, sadly, it was just as overwhelming. We, however, had to persevere a wee while longer, since Elaine needed new slippers, which we found at Marks & Spencers and we both wanted to visit Morrisons, one of our favourite British grocery stores, and load up on our favourite British goodies, which included Ribena, Lucozade, Galaxy Caramel chocolate, sausage rolls for lunch, a decent steak and some lamb chops. Delighted that we found everything we wanted, we caught the next bus and crossed back to the Spanish side, with its colourful houseboats, relieved to be out of the mayhem.
There were a few more aspects of life on land in this part of the world that resonated today and that we’re going to have to embrace in returning to a western culture. First was the fact that Elaine has to wait almost a week for the results of her blood tests, whereas, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Türkiye turned these around within two hours; can’t help but wonder which countries are really more advanced. Secondly, the pharmacist took forever to dispense the medications, even though he had everything waiting for Elaine, per our previous correspondence; all he needed was the prescription. It took so long, Roy had to help Elaine sit down on a footstool because there wasn’t anywhere else to sit. Additionally, all the medications were generics, since brand medications are not dispensed here, unlike all the other countries Elaine has been treated in. Definitely not ideal for Elaine’s conditions!
On the plus side, the private clinic was very efficient overall and somewhat cheaper than we had expected, although just being in the clinic exposed Elaine to numerous coughing and spluttering individuals, which is always a risk! It didn’t help matters either that the bus also had numerous coughing, spluttering and sneezing individuals, so much so that Roy actually put on his mask. With the new variant of COVID-19 on the increase around Europe, the UK and the US, this definitely is a cause for concern, but we were surprised to learn from the phlebotomist, though, that there is also a major drug problem in Gibraltar and not just amongst the youth.
Back onboard, we enjoyed our sausage rolls for lunch, then a nap. Afterwards, we got a few more chores completed, including getting the laundry done and backwashing the watermaker, before enjoying our steak dinner.
