Gibraltar

Gibraltar, being a convenient stopping point for yachts entering or leaving the Mediterranean has all the facilities for maintenance and repairs available, along with access to all necessary ship's stores. This proved to be very useful when our toilet had to be replaced. We passed the QE2 being painted as we entered the harbour. We stayed in Marina Bay, which is the marina right next to the airport - literally, the runway is at the end of the pontoon! We joined Blue Water Rally in Gibraltar and met all the other yachts taking part. Kalle Eder, one of our Swedish crew also joined us here.

The two weeks of preparation for Blue Water Rally is a hectic round of briefings, preparing the boat, tourist visits to 'The Rock' and Spain, a two day cruise to Smir in Morroco, and of course the many parties organised to allow us to meet everyone. It will be a great two weeks - if our livers can take the abuse!

Blue Water Rally organised a guided tour of one of the many caves in the Rock. We spent over three hours exploring a cave which was discovered when the well known St Michael's cave was being used as a hospital during World War II. This is as close as we will get to caving, climbing up and down the many formations, helped by ropes and netting. We walked around a very narrow ledge of rim stone on an underground lake to reach an amazing chamber with very impressive stalagmites, stalactites and pillars.

We also did the normal tour of The Rock, taking in Europa Point (which will mark the start line for Blue Water Rally), the old water catchment areas, the Siege Tunnels, St. Michael's Cave, the Moorish Castle, and of course the apes. Don't you think that Gary Linniker is taking his disguises a bit far!

The start of the Blue Water Rally, on Sunday October 28th, was marred by a gale in the Straits of Gibraltar. 6 boats crossed the start line with cannon fire courtesy of the Territorial Army (blanks). The rest of the fleet, including Sulmar, decided to wait for the weather to abait. However, we did go up to Europa Point to see them off. We hope to leave for Tenerife on Wednesday or Thursday morning.

While we are at sea, we will not be able to update our website. You can check our progress during Rally Antigua by logging onto the Blue Water Rally website.