Levante - "The levant (Catalan: Llevant, Italian: Levante, Croatian: Levant, Maltese: Lvant, Greek: Λεβάντες, Spanish: Levante) is an easterly wind that blows in the western Mediterranean Sea funnelling into the Gibraltar Strait." (source Wikipedia)
We've been looking for a rainy day in the boat for a while now, one of those where you just snuggle in a blankie with a hot a cup of tea and stay enjoying the subtle noises of nature. One of those days before Autumn starts and is still warm.
It's still summer and Gibraltar at the end of August is quite hot so the rain brings a sudden cooling feeling. Somehow the blankie and hot cup of tea match perfectly with this moment if we're up in the cockpit.
But the noises of nature are not so subtle as one may expect but intense. The wind howls and you can even hear it before you feel it or see its effects.
It's not a breeze it's a gale force wind that is funnelled from the Med into the Gibraltar Strait and could easily wreak havoc in the nearby boats in the marina. Mooring and spring lines are checked and adjusted to prevent crashing into the dock or the neighbouring vessels.
Lightning strikes 3 times and then you hear the thunder rolling down the Rock, you lift your eyes and you see the dark grey cloud encapsulating the top of the Rock while the surrounding skies are just like white cotton. The "storm" is here, for sure not really affecting Spain despite the very short distance.
Throughout the morning the skies even to a mid-grey all the way to where the eye can see, the winds settle, the rain stops.
The lazy day stays.
***In the spirit of sharing our dreams and experiences we have shared this blog post in the NOFOREIGNLAND.COM website sailors community.