Ceuta and Gibraltar

Islay Mist in the marina at Ceuta

So we went to explore Ceuta - and if we had found a laundry and a chandler we would have probably stayed another day but we were getting desperate on both these points and we knew the wind was only staying easterly for another couple of days for getting out of the Med into the Atlantic. 

Being technically in Africa we had expected to be blasted with the heat but the fog had made everything a little colder and we even had longish breeks on!

Ceuta seems just like any other Apanish town from the main street all full of designer shops but here there are a lot of gadget shops too as it is a tax free zone although we didn’t notice the prices being that much lower! 

Hercules

Ceuta is the Spanish enclave on the Northern coast of morocco which mirrors the Brit one in Gibraltar.  Greek mythology has it that the tow mountains – the rock of Gibraltar and the hill in Ceuta are the two pillars which Hercules pushed apart and let the ocean flood the area inside which is now the Med!  Thus the Hercules statue...

Ali thought it was the Klu Klux Clan but I reminded him of the religious festival we saw in France.  This is the girls best scared look.

There are a few different religions here and we heard our first call to prayer from the mosque since leaving Turkey.

The sea walkway - very pretty. 

After a look around and a fruitless supplies search we decided we had better have a meal out as it was turning out to be our only night in Africa on the boat.  This turned out to be another marathon search as all the restaurants seemed to be closed but maybe as it was Monday.  Alisha kept reminding us that there was a McDonalds near the boat but we were determined that would not be our meal out!  We finally found a fish restaurant next to the marina which was quite pricey but very good food.   

Yum!

The place was full of little lizards - thankfully too fast for the gilrs to catch or we may have had pets on board!

We would have liked to stay another day or so but hey ho when the wind blows!

Alistair manning the radar.

The crossing to Gibraltar was even foggier than the day before it seemed clear in the marina but as we left the harbour we could just see the bank of fog and ships appearing out of it to go into the harbour and so the next few hours were spent intently watching the radar and changing course loads of times, listening for fog horns and on the VHF.  The freakiest thing was that even though there were loads more ships to deal with in much closer proximity than the day before we didn’t see a single one as the visibility was down to about 50 metres - yikes!  Apparently whenever there are prolonged easterly winds in summer it is foggy here as the warm air hits the cold Atlantic waters.

At least the dolphins came out to see us again!

Europa point Gibratar comes into sight at last!

We berthed at Marina Bay instead this time right next to the runway this is a plane landing just as we were coming in.  what a noise they make especially the military planes the girls were afraid theey would go all night but they stopped at about tea time thankfully!

A picture to make all Shetlanders sick maybe we should apply to be a British duty free out post and cut our fuel bills by more than a third!

 We are ready almost to leave Gibraltar today we have refuelled visited the chandlery got our laundry done and looked at the weather it doesn't look too good for getting out into the Atlantic for a while but if we get out of the Med that is the first step!  So hopefully tonight we will be in Barbate if we have timed the wind and tides right to get ou the Gibraltar Straits oh and it's foggy again!