Sailing training in Gibraltar...

Sunday August 21 2011

Sail training after my various trips?! Well I figured that if I wanted to continue with sailing I’d have to get some proper qualifications and best to start with the basics, hence my choice of a competent crew qualification endorsed by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA).

I went to an RYA registered school in Gibraltar, Hercules Sailing for my week’s sailing course. The competent crew course is designed for complete novices, for those stepping onto a yacht for the first time and is generally geared to ensure that an interest for sailing is further developed! Given how I felt at times on my most recent sailing trip – the ARC Transatlantic Rally and notably the four days of sea-sickness – it’s perhaps amazing that I ever got on a yacht again, but the positive sides far outweigh the pain of these inconveniencies!

Anyway, having made the rather long trip down from Brussels, flying into Malaga and taking the bus down to Gibraltar, I crossed the border and began my sail training in another little piece of Britain abroad. I must say the town and marina is not much to write home about in my view, but the Rock itself was pretty impressive, apes et al as I will describe below.

Arriving late on Sunday afternoon I got on board and met the week’s sailing instructor Graham and my two sailing classmates, Sharron and Ali. Sharron was already on her day skipper coastal practical course, having done her theory over the winter while Ali was a competent crew candidate like myself. We enjoyed an introductory meal and got used to the fact that the marina is right next to the runway, in fact you have to walk over the runway to get into Gibraltar!

A choppy rounding of the Rock...

Monday August 22 2011

Bright and early we were up and getting ready to set sail for destinations to be defined. Our boat, the Beautiful South was a 45 foot yacht and it felt considerably bigger than the 40.7 foot Lancelot I crossed the Atlantic on. The yacht was clearly a lot wider as well as longer and that, combined with the fact there were four as opposed to eight crew, made for a spacious experience.

After a late-ish breakfast and then additional cappuccinos on the quayside we set out. Leaving the berth, we spent some time getting used to the yacht’s handling in the safety of the harbor itself, taking turns on the helm as we motored around. Moving out into Gibraltar Bay I was struck by how many other vessels there were out there: cargo ships, oil tankers, refueling ships, tugs and the odd other yacht too. Heading out into the bay Graham spotted a British frigate moored further up the bay so we took some time to go and check it out.

After a spot of lunch, on the move and ably prepared by Ali we headed out further in the bay, hugging the Gibraltarian coast. All of a sudden the winds picked up and we were given an early initiation to how quickly conditions can change in the area, as the winds are funneled through the straits.

Instead of having practiced calmly in more tranquil conditions, we found ourselves helping Graham with the reefs in sail, taking in the sail and making the yacht just a little easier to handle. Coming round Gibraltar point the conditions were quite choppy, but within no time we had passed through and entered much calmer waters on the easterly side of the Rock.

Continuing along we had an enjoyable sail down along the coast to our first port of call, “La Duquesa”, a small Spanish village with quite an attractive harbor. The westerly wind provided perfect conditions for a series of broad reaches as we fairly zipped along and within no time we were preparing for our first mooring.

As our day skipper candidate, Sharron was tasked with mooring not once but twice: a first temporary mooring, a kind of parallel parking manoeuvre along the quayside while we enquired after our permanent mooring. Sounds easy enough, but a lot of things to do, particularly ropes wise and after a long first day at sea we were all happy when we were finally properly moored up. Back on dry land, there were a couple of English bars allowing me to catch an early season United victory against Spurs.

Pottering around the Spanish coast...

Tuesday August 23 2011

The plan initially today was to look at sailing across the straits to Ceuta, the Spanish colony in Morocco. However the winds were less than ideal, coming from a south-westerly direction, precisely where we needed to go.

As a result we decided to stay in the local area, east of Gibraltar on the Spanish coast. Before we left La Duquesa, we had more than enough time for Sharron to practice yacht parking in the harbor. It’s quite hard to do, with lots of factors to take into account: the wind, currents, traffic, speed… It’s definitely a case of practice makes perfect! And something I myself was to have a go at later on in the trip.

Finally leaving the safe harbor of La Duquesa, we made for a short hop westwards down the coast to anchor off the shore of a nice beach (name escaping my mind for the moment) for a lovely swim. There’s nothing like arriving at the beach at on a yacht, however pretentious and potentially arrogant that might sound!

Suitably refreshed and cooled we set sail for Estepoma, which wasn’t a million miles away in all fairness. Initially, we had intended to avoid being there on a Tuesday as this was the day a tapas bar of some considerable renown chooses to close every week. However, needs must, particularly the local winds, so we settled for some alternative gastronomic treats and a pleasant evening looking forward to a potential crossing of the Straits in the morning.

A hard slog up to Gibraltar...

Wednesday August 24 2011

A day of changing aims! One moment: destination Ceuta; the next destination Gibraltar, and then finally no destination whatsoever as we battled upwind westwards! Leaving Estepoma mid-morning we seemed set fair for making good speed towards Gibraltar, but as we sailed along the winds shifted to blowing pretty much from the direction in which we wanted to go.

Soldiering bravely on, we embarked on a series of long tacks out into the straits and back towards the coast. Though frustrating this was a useful exercise, demonstrating the importance of not ceding any ground we made up. At times, we didn’t quite manage this, ending up seeing the yacht actually lose ground vis-à-vis the coast…

It was at this point that we wondered whether we would actually reach Gibraltar, let alone cross the straits and after some considerable discussion we decided to cut our losses and settle for Gibraltar. Using the engines to make the final run up to the Rock, we rounded the point for a second time and caught a better breeze to take us across to our evening mooring on the western side of the bay.

Mooring not, however, for the last sailing of the day. After enjoying dinner and the sunset in the bay, another exercise awaited us, and in particular Sharron.

As part of her day skipper course, she had to do some night time sailing. Of course, I have done a lot of this in my various trips but nothing quite on this scale.

Instead of the deep starry nights of some of my other night sailing, Gibraltar bay was awash with a panorama of lights, a veritable kaleidoscope of colours from Gibraltar to Algerciras and the factories between them, to all the shipping lights on the bay itself. Sharron was given a series of landmarks to find and we set out across the bay; it was very difficult, akin to looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. The most interesting part was entering Algerciras harbor and following the various navigation lights along the channel. While initially a confusing scene, we eventually saw how it all came together.

Making the trip back to Gibraltar bay and our home harbor, we were all happy to finally get the yacht tied up to the pontoon – especially me as I had a struggle with the bowline on the quayside! Hitting the sack past midnight, we were all looking forward to crossing the Straits.

Off to North Africa...

Thursday August 25

Off to North Africa and the Spanish colony of Ceuta in Morocco! Around 15 miles crossing so we expected to take around 2 hours to do it. Sharron was busy plotting the route across, and I watched on taking some mental notes on all the processes. As ever, there were several factors to take into account, the current, tide wind direction and speed all having an impact on our calculations. Leaving Gibraltar at our usual mid-morning time (we were clearly not an early morning crew!) actually coincided well with the most optimal tidal conditions for making the crossing.

Heading out from the relatively well protected bay we were suddenly in choppy seas with winds up to 25-30 knots fairly powering us along. I took the helm for the first half of the crossing, which was a superb experience. As ever there was a considerable amount of shipping in the Straits and fortunately all of the container ships respected the law of the sea that sailing ships have priority, making the necessary course changes.

We had a westerly coming through the straits and with the current and tide pushing us eastwards it was important to maintain a pretty tight line close to the wind as we were always going to lose ground because of the tide/current. Essentially this meant setting a course for landmarks west along the course from Ceuta knowing that should take us into port.

I handed over at the half way stage to Sharron to take us onwards and used the opportunity to take some film and photos as we closed in on North Africa. Admittedly on a considerably smaller scale than last year, I was actually completing another transcontinental trip – in two hours as opposed to the three weeks the other one took! Coming in to Ceuta, the wind shifted slightly around to the south, though predominantly still westerly owing to the impact of the coastline and mountains. This made for probably the most challenging conditions of the crossing as we had the waves pretty much to stern and the wind pushing us forward. It brought back memories of some of the trades and I took over from Sharron from the run into Ceuta and the harbor.

And to a first experience of mooring a yacht! It was surprise to be asked, which was probably a good thing as I didn’t have chance to consider the potential damage a botched parking could entail! And it all went nice and smoothly, watching Sharron practice two days before had clearly paid dividends.

Having arrived in the early afternoon we had more than enough time to enjoy the wonderful outside pool in Ceuta – the complex was huge and we swam and relaxed there for a few hours.

In the evening, we explored Ceuta, checking out the fort and enjoying some tapas in a couple of Graham’s haunts.

And the return journey...

Friday August 26

24 hours later, after the shortest trip I have ever made to a new continent, we were preparing the yacht for the return journey to Europe! Again, we pored over the charts to consider the varied factors coming into play, the wind, currents and tides. Once more, we were faced with a westerly and this, in conjunction with the tides and current meant it was going to be a push to make Gibraltar bay in one go.

We departed Ceuta, with me at the helm, wondering what exactly the conditions would be like out in the Straits. It had felt windier in the harbor in the morning and this impression was soon borne out once we left the sanctuary of the port. The wind was pretty constant at around 25 knots, building to 30 with the odd gust inching up to 35. It certainly made for thrilling sailing conditions and I somehow ended up on the helm for the whole crossing, which was a superb experience.

Once again, we watched as enormous container ships gave way to us as we sought to steer a course taking us back into the bay. This was proving something of a challenge and as we passed the half way mark it wasn’t looking good. We were already discussing the options, putting on the engine closer in to finish off the trip, or doing a tack back out into the Straits to make up the necessary ground. I was all ready to take the secondary course of action but I sensed that the rest of the crew didn’t quite share my enthusiasm.

Anyway, we spoke too soon. Suddenly the wind started to shift ever so slightly around to a more favourable course, owing to the coastline funneling the wind around the land as we approached Gibraltar. From it seemingly being a lost hope, we were suddenly on target and looking good…

…until our smooth progress was threatened by someone breaking the rules, the famous rules of the sea stipulating the boats under sail always have right of way. Well, not for this particular rust bucket coming out of the Bay. On a nice little collision course, we waited for the bucket to make a course alteration, waited some more and then just a little bit more! When it became apparent that none would be forthcoming, we had another choice, turn or hang on to our hats. Throwing those hats to the wind, we continued our course and passed the bucket around 30 meters to starboard. Quite an impressive sight when seen at sea, the imposing sides of the ship towering above us. Once safely past, we signaled our disgust in the usual manner….

And then finally back in the bay, all in one go. It had been an exhilarating run and one which definitely settled in my mind the idea that I will take this onto a day skipper course.

One other thing I should mention, in all the tribulations of this passage, Ali managed – somehow – to cook bacon butties down in the galley! Incredible, a true gastronomic-sailing skill there – unfortunately one of her crew mates was unable to keep hold of part of it J

Back in Gibraltar we spent the rest of the afternoon perfecting our sailing skills in the bay, following a triangle of points around , making a series of turns, both upwind and downwind and alternating between sail handling and helming.

And then the week was over and we were back in the harbor, enjoying a drink and contemplating the next steps on the skippering ladder J

On the Rock of Gibraltar…

Saturday August 27 2011

A postscript to the story. Sharron, Ali and I all had an additional spare day in Gibraltar which we naturally used to explore the Rock itself. We ambled down through the town to the cable car station and took a ride up to the top.

It was a lovely hot day again and we enjoyed spectacular views out over the Bay, picking out the various places we had sailed to in the previous week, including Ceuta.

It was an interesting place to visit, listening to an evidently one-sided account of the Rock’s history via a very Anglo-Saxon multimedia presentation (including the James Bond theme from the start, it’s that British you know!) but we also visited some of the tunnels in the Rock, used for many a conflict down the years, most notably in the two World Wars.

And of course, one of the major attractions of the Rock are the Barbary Apes.

There were so many of them and we enjoyed watching them, kings of their own habitat. We walked down the Rock back into town and were all pretty shattered, but happy with the day’s sightseeing on the Rock.

Back on the yacht for one final night and meal out in the harbor and looking forward to the next stage of this sail training adventure J