2/28/23 Detroit
We spent 4 days in Detroit visiting family with the side benefit of being 3 hours closer to the Gibraltar time zone. We saw snow, rain, freezing temps and warm sunshine in Detroit, a good primer for the cool rainy weather we were headed for in Gibraltar. It was good to spend time with Suzette’s siblings as we continue to work through the details of settling her dad’s estate.
Snow north of Dtroit
We do not travel lite
First siting of the Rock from La Linea
3/2/23 Gibraltar
The plan was to get a cab from the Frontier to the boat, but
there were none to be found, so we started walking…it is only about 2 km. The
nicest lady stopped us on the street as we were rolling through town and
offered to call us a cab, we did not hesitate to accept and soon the cab pulled
up and we were on our way!
Arriving at the boat we were so happy to see her looking
just like we left her. The boat cleaning service had done a wonderful job of
maintaining Raffaellesco. Below we found the boat was equally clean and still
had that new boat smell! We wasted no time unpacking and stowing our gear. The
first chore was to fix the shore power cord. Fortunately, it waited until a couple
days before our arrival to short out and trip the breaker. Turns out the
connector was full of water from all of the rain they had been receiving. A
thorough cleaning and drying had us powered up with now apparent damage to the
battery banks.
Suzette working on stowing and checking all of the lockers
for mold that might be hiding. She did find a few items that needed to be
addressed, but very little mold. I worked on reinstalling the dodger canvas
that we had stowed for the winter. Next on the list was a repair of the
self-tacking jib. It had snagged in the track and exposed a few inches of the
luff bolt rope. A little sail repair cloth, needle and Tenara thread and it was
as good as new. Last job for the day was to uncover and rerun the lines that
had been stowed away from the sun and dirt. Everything was looking well
preserved.
We broke out our bikes and headed to the groceries store to
start stocking the boat with food. I made panniers for the bikes so we had what
amounted to four grocery bags of capacity. By the time we returned and stowed
the groceries it was time for a well-earned sun downer. The weather was sunny
and warmed up to about 65 F, but it was cooling quickly so we were happy to
nestle in and eat a hot meal. We made to about 2000 before succumbing to the
jet lag and crawling into bed. We were so happy to be back on the boat.
3/3/23 Gibraltar
It was a slow start in the morning waiting for the sun to peak over the Rock. In the calm of the morning, we hoisted the Self-tacking jib and stowed it on the furler. The big job today was to get the recut bimini up. I took the bimini canvas home with us and reconfigured it by cutting about 4 feet off of the leading edge. Now was the moment of truth, will it fit up properly.
Before...
After...Recut Bimini, I can see the sails now!
The fit was looking promising by the end of the day, but
before I cut the stainless steel poles (you cannot uncut them!) we decided to
sleep on it and revisit the configuration in the morning. It was another
beautiful warm sunny day and time to enjoy it with a sun downer. This was the
first nice weather Gibraltar had seen in a while so the restaurants and bars on
the quay were teaming with people on the patio and boat owners were out working
on spring boat projects.
We enjoyed dinner below and managed to stay awake until
about 2200. I rallied after dinner and installed the dividers I had made for
the galley cabinets. I made the dividers at home so it was another “hope it
fits” exercise that worked out well. The glasses are better protected and there
is more useful space.
3/4/23 Gibraltar
It was a bit of a cloudy day making it a bit tougher to get
motivated in the cool morning. Having slept on the bimini project I did some
tweaking to get to a great configuration for the steel support structure and
conjured up the confidence to cut the main support tubes. The final product looks
good, though there is still talk from the admiral of having all the canvas
redone. From day one the canvas has not been perfect, but we could not get a
custom canvas maker, we had to settle for an off the shelf bimini and dodger.
About 1030 the Raymarine tech stopped by to walk me through
the upgrades he did while we were away. With new systems and software, I have
an excuse for forgetting how it all works over the winter break. It is pretty intuitive;
I am sure we will relearn it quickly.
With the bimini done I set about reinstalling the solar panels
on the bimini. I was starting from scratch as I cut off the area where they
were previously attached. This went well and looks like a better install with
less shadow on the panels from the boom.
It was Saturday so we needed to get to the store before they
closed. This was a wine and spirits run so we broke out the collapsible wagon
and went shopping. Spirits are so cheap here we felt compelled to stock up.
Hopefully we will not get nailed by customs when we reenter the EU. Not much
sun today, but we had our sundowner anyway!
3/5/23 Gibraltar
Another cloudy day, but calm enough that I could work on the
main sail furler. It has never rolled in properly from a fully unfurled
position. It seemed that the luff was maybe ½” to long and left a pucker at the
foot of the sail that would hang up on the slot into the mast. We changed
around the way it was connected in the mast and it seems to have solved the
problem, but we will see when we get out and really use the sail. The second
main sail issue was that the goose neck connection did not have proper washers
on the goose neck bolt. As a result, it would squeak incessantly at anchor.
Again, we will see if we fixed the issue next time we anchor.
It was Sunday and I had promised we would go to breakfast,
but between chatting with one neighbor and being invited for tea with another
neighbor we were well beyond the breakfast hour. The one neighbor had been
cruising with his wife for 20 plus years on a Benataeu 47 that they bought new.
He was doing some really nice woodwork that peaked my interest. He was a
craftsman as he used all hand tools to make his pieces. On the other side of us
the British couple decided to take time off of work after their kids were out
of the house and go cruising. Their boat is an older Moody 54 center cockpit.
It looks like a very sea worthy boat and they are working hard to get it ready
to go.
We did finally go to lunch at the Lounge, our favorite place on the quay. The food there has been incredible. After lunch we gathered up our wagon and shopping bags and headed to the market for more groceries to stock the boat. With rain in the forecast, we figured we better make this run on a dry day. This was probably the biggest haul yet, but you never know what you will find after we leave Gibraltar.
Yes, I cut my hair!
Suzette made a fabulous potato leak soup for dinner and we
enjoyed fresh bread with some Amsterdam cheese. Our routine in the evening
after dinner is to play games; Mexican Train, Backgammon or Dominoes.
3/6/23 Gibraltar
The day started drizzly and gray so we lingered over coffee
and read. It was Monday so it was an opportunity to hit a few shops as the rain
cleared. First stop was the marina office to let them know that we planned to
depart on the 8th. Next stop was Pritchard’s, they did some work on
the boat and received some equipment for us while we were away. I had hoped to
pick up the equipment and settle my bill, but, as usual here, no one keeps
regular hours. There was guy there who looked for our delivery, but finally
said come back later.
A monument from the USA for collaboration in the World War
Next stop was the hardware store; batteries, a good pop rivet gun and butane to recharge my hot knife. He had batteries, and suggestions for where to get the other items. As we made our way through town looking for supplies Suzette managed to find a couple food stores to buy more food for the larder. Suzette wanted an insulated tea pot so we combed the kitchen stores as well. Finally, we were directed to BIA in Irish town. I can not believe I forgot about this place from before, they have everything! Suzette got her tea pot and I found my butane.
The rain had held off, but it was looking ominous. There on the sandwich board “All Day Breakfast” at the Clipper. All day breakfast was sausage, ham, eggs, tomato, mushroom, toast and beans for 7.95! As the rain poured down, we lingered over this sumptuous English meal. Once the rain stopped, we continued the odyssey. Suzette had seen a “Cozy pink pajama set” in the window at Marks and Spencer that she just had to have, off we went. She ended up with a cozy black sort of robe to keep her warm in the evening. The rain was looking ominous so we headed back to the boat, stopping at Pritchard’s where we did pick up our delivery; 2 battery chargers and a new VHF Radio that were warranty items from Jeanneau.
Back on the boat the rest of the day was spent on electrical. I finished connecting the solar panels and installed the battery chargers. These were items that Jeanneau did not have when they delivered the boat due to “Supply chain issues”. One of the chargers was dedicated to the Generator battery and the other supplemented the existing charger for the house batteries to give us 100 amps of charge at the dock. With this chore done I could button up all the open panels in the guest cabin so Suzette could get that cabin cleaned up and made up. With most of the projects now done I began organizing my work room back to what it should be so we could get under way in a couple days.
Believe it or not I witnessed grown educated adults running outside last week to experience the snow fall at El Camino College. (I was one of them by the way!) Be safe and we hope to see you soon. Rob n Natalie
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