The Rock of Gibraltar

We spent a couple of days mid-month exploring the infamous and fascinating Rock of Gibraltar. There are many interesting sights accessed by narrow roads, walkways, and trails.

First we rode the cable car close to the top where, eventually, standing on the spine at the top, we got some great views looking back into the Med from which we came, and across to Africa about 23 km away and north to mainland Spain. We walked for hours going from one end to the other, up and down trails from 1 sight to the next.

The Rock of Gibraltar

On our way up

One stop was at St. Michael's Cave, a large natural cavern where millennia of water seeps through the limestone produced stalactites and stalagmites which are now illuminated with colourful lights. St. Michael's was used as early as 40,000 BC by prehistoric man and is only 1 of more than 150 caves in the Rock.

1,000,000 visitors per year

Crossing the 71-m so called frightening suspension bridge over a 50-m gorge we found to be very non-frightening but great views looking down on the town.

Easy walk across for the brave-hearted

There are so many monkeys in the upper regions, mostly around the tourist sites. They seem to be an attraction for the tourists, many who can't wait to go to the Apes Den. These are Barbary Macaque monkeys (not apes) and not indigenous to the Rock.

Grooming buddies

As monkeys usually are, these are mischievous and opportunist when it comes to snatching anything edible. One we didn't see managed to very quickly grab half our lunch and run away. They will eat anything. Another very quietly snuck a package of strong cough drops hidden in our backpack pocket - which he persisted in eating while making a hilarious sour face with his mouth in a large O-shape - Oh my goodness, what did I grab this time?! Another we saw enjoying an ice cream that he obviously absconded from an unwary tourist.

These scoundrels are routinely fed fruit by staff to keep them up there on the upper slopes so that they don't invade the town below. They also have a sterilization program so that their numbers are limited to around 300. These unique Old World monkeys are tailless, just as apes are.

I wonder what's in here?

Much of the history of the Rock has to do with military control and occupation. In the most recent episodes of war, great huge guns were placed on the ridge during the 2nd World War. These guns could lob shells across the strait to Africa, just over 23 km.

Africa in the distance

On our second day visit to the Rock, we toured military battery tunnels dug during various war periods, most notable the Great Siege and World War II. We saw only a small fraction of tunnelling but apparently the mountain is a Swiss cheese of passageways and rooms carved out over time.

Looking down a long passageway

We were recently told that the Rock has more kilometres of tunnels than kilometres of roads in all of Gibraltar and that the not-so-secret underwater submarine caves that enable subs to sneak in undetected then surface within the protection of the Rock.

The Great Siege tunnels were dug by hand in the 1780s with crowbars, sledgehammers, and gunpowder blasts.

Hard at work

All along parts of the tunnel there would be openings for cannon firing. Original plans were to place a gun on top of an area called the Notch but upon reaching the area, it was decided to place 7 guns within the big rock outcropping where only the barrels would protrude out the Notch instead, giving a 180 degree view.

Top of the Notch with openings below

World War II tunnels, built with the help of machinery, were eventually joined to the Great Siege tunnels and in total there are now 55 km of tunnels. There are more than just tunnels. There are large rooms for hospital, supplies, and occupation for a virtual city where up to 16,000 soldiers could hold out for months. There are also tunnels for escape as the last option.

Jordan in World War II tunnels

From the tunnels, we could look down to the airport runway below. This scene will be different in the future as a new road is being constructed below the runway at the far eastern side of the peninsula. So soon there will be no more waiting for planes to land or take off by cars and pedestrians trying to cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar.

Busy runway crossing

After our second day of long trekking on the Rock, it was nice to be settled in for the evening on Sea Turtle.

GIBRALTAR - Gib-ahoy

We moved Sea Turtle about 2.5 NM from the Spanish town of La Linea to the Ocean Village Marina in Gibraltar (Gib) under very windy conditions on October 3rd, N36°08.972' W005°21.318'. (Unfortunately there is nowhere to anchor in Gib which normally is our preference.) The Marina is just on the other side of the Gib airport runway that virtually separates the 2 countries.

Runway in center crossing east and west

Sea Turtle moored as plane lands

We have now been meeting more passage-making sailors here compared to the hordes of vacationing sailors in the Med. It is the time of year for those of us who want to do the Atlantic crossing to start exiting the Med and head down to the Canary Islands as the jump-off point. We have met a few Canadian sailors too.

Throughout the Med, we have had very little tide differences, but with Gib so close to the Atlantic, we are now seeing about a 4-foot tide range.

Gibraltar is actually a UK territory. It is in the EU but outside of the Schengen Group of countries that control immigration. As a small peninsula (less than 7 sq km), the 'Rock' dominates not only the skyline but the land surface area. Available land for development is at a premium.

Gibraltar is short on hotel rooms so one enterprise's solution was to build a 7-deck cruiseship named Sunborn and dock it permanently here. In luxury, it offers 5-star rooms, restaurants, a Casino, conference rooms, spa, etc. Built in Malaysia, its only passage was from the deck of the world's largest transport ship to the dock at Ocean Village Marina here where it will stay. Website: https://www.sunborngibraltar.com.

Sunborn - floating hotel

Gibraltarians drive on the right side of the road, as do Canadians, but of course in Great Britain they drive on the left. As Gib is a territory of UK, they get a lot of visitors from there. Consequently they can easily get confused by looking in the wrong direction before crossing a road. So to keep the Brits safe, "Look Left" or "Look Right" is painted on the beginning of the proper crosswalks. Hmmm, wonder how many Brit casualties did it take to initiate that?

As a tourist, Gib offers a lot to see for the size of it. Because of its unique dominant geography and strategic land/sea location, many historical events have occurred here, We spent a couple of interesting hours at the Gibraltar Museum learning about it. Over many centuries, the Rock was occupied and fought over by a wide range of inhabitants: Moors, Spanish, and British to name a few.

Going back much further, evidence was found here of Neanderthal life. We saw such displays of medieval artifacts (tools, bone fragments, skulls) discovered in the shore caves. The Museum is actually built over a 14th century Moorish bathhouse where we descended down into.

Elaborate Moorish bathhouse (copied from internet)

We spent another couple of hours strolling through the Botanical Gardens where some very interesting plants and trees have been planted with some well over 200 years old and plants brought in from other parts of the world as well as indigenous species.

Scene with Moorish brick castle and key in grass

1 of many interesting plants

We needed to slow our pace of travel so knowing we would be in Gib for some time, we undertook some boat jobs and equipment updates including a new instant hot water heater, some new electronics and nav aids, a new Genoa and staysail, and watermaker parts and repair.

Some cold weather settled in so Jordan thought it was time to hook up the bus heater (cabin heat that comes from the engine). While doing that, he noticed a broken engine mount but fortunately was able to just barely get it off for repairs without having to lift the motor.

We also learned of a new-ish product by Garmin that we think is well worth mentioning for passages. It is the Garmin InReach Explorer+. It looks like a small handheld GPS but it is actually much more. It works like a satellite phone (in fact uses the Iridium satellites) but for texting. It has an SOS button essentially working as an EPIRB, giving a Mayday and GPS fix but with the additional feature of being able to text back and forth as you float in your life raft. For us, we simply want to text either land bases (or other boats) for weather checks or perhaps sign up for a weather package.

So we phoned Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) in Victoria and paid for one and our sailor friend Glen Wilson who was back there for a visit picked it up and will bring it back to the Canary Islands where we will meet up with him before we do the crossing. The unit costs much less than a satellite phone and you pay for a usage plan by the month which you can start and stop anytime. The cost of the variable plans are also very reasonable (check it out on their website).

Mainland Spain

With a disappointing exit from Ibiza Spain on September 27th at 15:00, we embarked on our 3-day passage to mainland Spain rather than the originally intended Gibraltar. Half an hour from Ibiza, spirits picked up when Jordan landed a tuna. Delicious fish again. So there is fish in the Med. It must be the new rod and reel.

This was an uneventful passage with little or no wind so it was motor-sailing. Dolphins were plentiful, especially around Gibraltar.

Nearing Gibraltar, the seas were flecked with so many freighters lying ahull in deep water (too deep to anchor) waiting for port clearance. We wanted to arrive after a rising sun so we had slowed down our speed to time our arrival.

Rock of Gibraltar

We arrived to the Bay of Gibraltar under cloudy skies and anchored behind a breakwater in Spanish waters in front of the town of La Linea de la Concepcion. We went ashore to the Policia, a 20-minute walk away over at the border, and got our passports stamped for exiting Spain.

Gibraltar is a peninsula which is predominantly the 'rock' mountain, the infamous Rock of Gibraltar. It is separated from Spain by a narrow flat portion of land where the Gibraltar airport is. In fact the airport extends to the shore line (and beyond) on both sides and the Spain/Gibraltar border runs along one side of the airport land. To get from mainland Spain to Gibraltar, one has to go through passport control at the border, then traffic and pedestrians cross the runway when the green light is on and there you are, in Gibraltar.

Looking south at the Rock

After being diligent about calculating the days allowed in the Schengen Group of countries, none of the officials anywhere have looked to see or inquired as to how many days we had been in those countries! But you never know when they will...

So after getting our passports stamped showing exit from Spain, we phoned for a marina spot over in Gibraltar and found out we had to wait for a spot for 3 days. Oops.

Normally when you check out of a country, you must leave right away, but in this case no one monitored our physical departure after we walked out of the Policia office. So we were not concerned that we were staying another 3 days before motoring over to Gibraltar.

The next day, we discreetly went ashore to check things out. We found the town to be fairly basic as far as architecture goes...

Basic but colourful architecture seen from Sea Turtle

...but passed by some unusual buildings that we found interesting.

Cool and colourful

We started searching for a lunch spot as we walked the very narrow, one-way streets, past many places selling excellent fresh produce. We then found the large and very clean indoor market full of fresh meats, cheeses, olives, clothing, shoes, and whatever else you could think of.

In the market, we came across Carlos and Eduardos Tapas Bar. With the help of the gregarious gent, we picked out several tapas and some wine. The meal and wine was spectacular, served with bread and the BEST green olives ever. He pointed us to where we could buy the olives in the market to take home with us. Now we just need the recipes for the extraordinaire tapas!

Passage from Ibiza Island to mainland Spain Sep 27 to 30
N36°09.692' W005°21.783' Sep 30 La Linea de la Conception