All at Sea - the final leg

Gibraltar to Falmouth

It is always a pleasure to arrive in Gibraltar and just as pleasing to leave it again! As a delivery skipper I have to keep moving if I am to keep earning and time lost in harbour costs money. Gibraltar is an ideal place to get yacht repairs done, but I quickly get claustrophobia there and I want to head out to sea again. A new circuit board was needed for the radar set and we were assured that this could be obtained from the UK at very short notice.

Perhaps it could, but it wasn't! Gibraltar airport was closed for a while due to downdraft from high winds and all flights were diverted to nearby Malaga. It seems 'our' circuit board was twice flown to Malaga and twice returned to the UK before finally reaching us. The radar technician fitted it and tuned the set in an hour, but the delay cost us a week in harbour.

While we were waiting, Leo & I did all the routine maintenance. He stripped the entire fuel system and cleaned it. We changed the oil and oil filters again, had the alternator re-built, cleaned the hull, polished the stainless steel, spent hours at the local Internet café (I am critical of Gibraltar but the Cyber Café there is the smartest cocktail bar and computer café I have found anywhere). And generally, we tried to use the time to good advantage. One highlight was the discovery of the 'Quarterdeck Tavern' where Happy Hour is three hours long and pints of San Miguel larger or spirit doubles were on offer at One Pound! Even better value - if that is possible - was the English food. Bubble & Squeek with roast beef. Bangers & Mash and a really excellent Toad in the Hole, all at £1.95. Try beating that! But for the cigarette smoke which is endemic to most bars, I think Leo & I might have moved in there permanently.....

Still, the attractions of the Quarterdeck Tavern apart, the moment the radar technician had finished, we were away, with a forecast of light headwinds through the Straight of Gibraltar, gradually increasing through the night. After all the trouble we had experienced getting to Gibraltar, we were really expecting more bad weather. I had thought that we would push on as far as Lagos in Portugal and wait for the next weather window, but the expected headwinds didn't materialise. Great. We pushed on around the dramatic Cabo de Sao Vincente (Cape St. Vincent) and planned to try and make Lisbon.

Still no wind so we re-fueled at sea from our spare containers and motored on to try and reach Bayona, just south of Finisterre. Despite adverse weather forecasts (from France, from Spain, even the UK ones relayed from Bill - G4FRN's - Amateur Maritime Mobile Net, all of which threatened stronger head winds, it just didn't happen. Instead, we got the occasional couple of hours of favourable wind, allowing us to conserve our fuel stocks. The opportunity to - perhaps - make a quick passage, was just too tempting. Off Finisterre, I did my sums and calculated that we probably had enough fuel left to get us across the Bay of Biscay if there was no wind. If the predicted winds did head us, then we would have to take our chances.

Almost as if to mock us - or the forecasters - the wind picked up from the South East, a perfect direction for us, and we had about eighteen glorious hours of sailing in smooth water. Of course, nothing good lasts for long, although on this occasion it wasn't followed by anything bad! The wind failed and it was back to using 'The Iron Topsail' in other words, our Perkins diesel. Those few hours of sailing were just what we needed. They extended our range just sufficiently for us to motor the rest of the way across Biscay. A few more hours of favourable wind, followed by more calms and just eight days out of Gibraltar and in glorious sunshine, we motored into Falmouth at the end of our 10,500 mile journey from Darwin.

When we entered British territorial waters we had hoisted our yellow code 'Q' flag, which strictly means 'my vessel is healthy and I require free pratique' but which is now more generally read to mean 'I have come from foreign parts'. In other words, from outside the European Community. This usually results in the gentlemen (and now the ladies as well) from Her Majesties Customs & Excise, meeting the yacht and carrying out an inspection of ship's papers etc. It seems they were busy because it was only after a 'phone call and a wait of several hours that they came to the boat.

These days, Customs take a fairly relaxed view of personal imports and you can normally bring in as much alcohol (from the EC) as you can reasonably claim is for personal consumption. Of course, Gibraltar, despite receiving substantial financial aid from the EC is not a part of it! The four customs officers - yes, two men & two women - were very friendly, but nevertheless read us our rights, searched the yacht and all our personal effects, and then calculated the amount of duty due on the two cases of spirits we had, over and above our allowable one litre bottle each. Spanish gin which cost us £3.30 attracted additional duty of £10.00 a bottle and it would have cost over £200 in excess duty to clear the lot! It just wasn't economic so I told them to take it all to the Queen's Warehouse. Welcome Home Bob!

What now? Well, Leo has spent a few days with us at our home near Plymouth. He has seen his first frost and his first snow and he didn't like either! We took him along to the Emigration Office where he was granted a six months visitors visa, so he is free to have a look at England before going back to the sunshine - probably to Palma de Mallorca where most of the really big 'Super Yachts' are based. He sees his future as a professional yachtsman and we will do everything we can to help him with that ambition. Me? Being away for the last four months on this delivery has resulted in my coming home to a mountain of paperwork. Everything from a failure to submit my tax returns in time, to Christmas cards from old friends. It does look as though the only bad weather I will be seeing for the next week or so is through my office window! I do want to make some changes to Age-Net to give it more 'immediacy' and I am very keen to get input from our site visitors about what they really want so that we can re-shape it into the UK's best. We also need some financial or commercial support so that's another problem which will need facing.

More sailing? The 'phone keeps ringing and already I have put out quotations for deliveries from the West Indies to Europe, from Northern Europe to Turkey and one to Israel. Beryl (my wife) says it's nice to have me home for a while, but I doubt if it will be for long. So, my thanks for sharing our journey. If there was anything you didn't understand or you would like more information about, please don't hesitate to write in. While the anchor is down the keyboard is easy to use!

Thanks for joining us on our voyage. If you have questions about any aspect of it, please don't hesitate to email us or post your questions in the forum.