Time zone UTC + 0.00
Local hour (Portugal) + 1.00
Local hour (Gibraltar) + 2.00
08.40 - Departure from Vilamoura Marina
Coordinates 37.º04’660N 008.º07’207W
Wind speed: 8 knots
Wind direction: 80 degrees from starboard
Water temp: 14.7 C
Barometer: 1025
Cloud coverage: 20%
Visibility: 90%
Sea state: calm
SOG: 4.5 knots
Bowthruster still not powering up, requested assistance from the Marineros to be on standby to give us a push with their dinghy in case we couldn’t get enough propulsion to make the berth exiting manoeuvre but their assistance wasn’t needed.
Wind instruments are working again, must have been something caught up the mast where the instruments are.
09.00 - Hoisting Mainsail and Genoa
Coordinates 37.º02’174N 008.º04’946W
Heading: 122 degrees
Wind speed: 8 knots
Wind direction: 80 degrees from starboard
Waves height: 0.5 meters
Water temp: 14.7 C
Barometer: 1025 atm
Cloud coverage: 20%
Visibility: 90%
Sea state: calm
SOG: 4.5 knots
10.50 - Wind drop in the vicinity of aquaculture net, turn the engine on
Coordinates 36.º58’044N 007.º57’297W
Heading: 125 degrees
Wind speed: 6.5 knots
Wind direction: 160 degrees from starboard
Waves height: 0.5 meters
Water temp: 14.9 C
Barometer: 1025 atm
Cloud coverage: 20%
Visibility: 90%
Sea state: calm
SOG: 6.5 knots
The wind has dropped in the vicinity of the aquaculture net so we turned the engine on.
Since this time we are going to pass the aquaculture farm on the shore side, we don’t want to risk drifting towards it. The idea for this path was to avoid the fishing nets and pots we’ve encountered on the previous trips and is working so far, only here in the proximity of the net and the entrance to the Ilha de Faro we’ve found some fishing vessels.
Of course, there’s always a smart one that likes to disregard all COLREGS and decides to overtake us from starboard side at cruise speed and cross less than 3m from our bow. I got it on camera just in case, total disregard not only for the established “rules of the road” but also any common sense! We had our eyes on him even before he caught up with us so we were ready to tack to port and avoid a collision.
11.15 - Wind is back, turned off the engine, open Code 0C
Coordinates 36.º56’932N 007.º55’127W
Heading: 121 degrees
Wind speed: 7.8 knots
Wind direction: 95 degrees from starboard
Waves height: 0.5 meters
Water temp: 15 C
Barometer: 1026 atm
Cloud coverage: 20%
Visibility: 90%
Sea state: calm
SOG: 6.5 knots
14.00 - Hydrovane set up, no more autopilot
Coordinates 36.º54’815N 007.º50’522W
Heading: 125 degrees
Wind speed: 9 knots
Wind direction: 120 degrees from starboard
Waves height: 0.5 meters
Water temp: 15.3 C
Barometer: 1020 atm
Cloud coverage: 20%
Visibility: 90%
Sea state: calm
SOG: 5.8 knots
Hydrovane is so much quieter than the autopilot, plus the yacht seems to slide so much nicer on the water.
17.00 - Replace Code 0C for Genoa, winds are stronger now
Coordinates 36.º41’065N 007.º26’951W
Heading: 125 degrees
Wind speed: 12.5 knots
Wind direction: 135 degrees from starboard
Waves height: 1 meter
Water temp: 16 C
Barometer: 1018 atm
Cloud coverage: 20%
Visibility: 90%
Sea state: light chop
SOG: 5.4 knots
05.00 - Approaching Barbate (Spain)
Coordinates 36.º09’873N 006.º19’781W
Heading: 115 degrees
Wind speed: 8 knots
Wind direction: 160 degrees from port
Waves height: 1 meter
Water temp: 15.4 C
Barometer: 1028 atm
Cloud coverage: 10%
Visibility: 100%
Sea state: glassy
SOG: 6.2 knots
10.00 - Approaching Tarifa (Spain)
Coordinates 35.º59’990N 008.º42’025W
Heading: 095 degrees
Wind speed: 6 knots
Wind direction: 165 degrees from port
Waves height: 0.5 meter
Water temp: 15.3 C
Barometer: 1025 atm
Cloud coverage: 10%
Visibility: 90%
Sea state: calm
SOG: 6 knots
Third time is the lucky one! We managed to keep up the schedule and arrive on time to Tarifa, still on -1hours HW (high water) Gibraltar. The only thing is that we are not close enough to shore to be under the good influence of the tide and current, somehow we were close enough but our heading got us on the “second row” when approaching Tarifa. Not a big problem since for the next 5 hours both currents and tides will be in our favour until we get to Gibraltar, even with the wind dying we will keep doing 6 knots all the way there.
12.30 - Arrival to Gibraltar
Coordinates 36.º08’122N 005.º21’377W
After having to wait already inside the harbour because another yacht arrived without being announced on VHF we made our way in, a bit nervous on doing a med mooring style berthing without bow thruster but luckily there was no boat on the spot next to ours so it should have been easy. The marina staff, however, were both new so they weren’t sure on to which cleats to tie us in since the other yacht wasn’t there so we ended up in both slips. We had to re-tie The Dream in the proper space after jumping out.
And we found some familiar faces even before doing the check-in. Wendy and John our neighbours from last August were at the Esplanade by our dock.
Such a friendly arrival!
Total hours of the trip: 28h
Total hours sailing: 10h
Total hours motor-sailing: 15h
Total hours motoring: 3h
Distance: 164nm
***In the spirit of sharing our dreams and experiences we have shared this blog post in the NOFOREIGNLAND.COM website sailors community.