27) Gibraltar

Gibraltar 36° 09N 5°21’W

Very windy, cloudy, not too cold today.  The winds last night were howling and this morning they were up to 25kts from the East.  All the boats in this marina are swaying back and forth.  Lots of boats are tied sloppily and swinging wide.  The old powerboat next to us started hitting us this morning in the early hours.  All last night I had been waking up hearing the wind and creaking and bumping noises.  It turns out that John woke up regular to check things, also.  I was popping my head up thru the hatch to see what I could see as well as looking out my porthole.  This morning we trimmed the lines securing us and called the marina to come over and secure the boat next to us.   It’s noon and they are finally here to trim it.  All last night and several times this morning I heard an occasional load bang against us and we speculated that we were hitting the bottom since there is only 2 feet of clearance. 

Several boats to the left of us a jib has come loose and is blowing wildly in the wind.  Luckily, there are several guys over there furling it.  There are lots of people about and the noises are amazing.  These noises and the boat movement made it very difficult to sleep last night.  We swing left and right and when it surges forward the stern lines tug us aft.  We hear the wind thru the shrouds whistling, wind chimes, squeaking, creaking, voices, an occasional jet aircraft, wind generators, birds, etc. 

John has been working on the engine for quite a while now.  He’s doing an oil change and some other maintenance.  Alan has been going thru the food stores and we are preparing a grocery list.  We went to McDonalds for lunch today!  And then went grocery shopping at Safeway since they were in the same lot.  A busy day for us.