Lisbon to Gibraltar

Lisbon to Gibraltar

Rio Tejo, Lisbon

A 54ft yacht pulled in on the dock behind us - in between tiny speed boats, piles and us, he had very little room to move but managed to squeeze his way in with a very impressive bow thruster - puts ours to shame.  The crew, mum, dad and 3 daughters maybe early 20's were all in a uniform consisting of matching shorts and t-shirts printed with the boat name and picture then immediately upon docking began cleaning their pristine boat - then stripped down to bikinis - I should mention here that I was in fleecy pants, long sleeves and a jumper - these ladies were lily white, obviously hailed from somewhere colder than here.  They are German so say no more :-)  The young fellows are now lining the public boardwalk enjoying viewing the inhabitants of the boat with everyone is taking photos of their boat rather than ours - we have been the local entertainment for months now but apparently bikinis supersede our working clothes.
Customs and Immigration arrived at our boat at 10.30pm – we battled to stay awake for their visit.   We needed to leave as early as possible the following morning to take advantage of the high tide to get us over the shallow spots and an out going tide to assist us down the river to the entrance near Cascais.  At first light they open the sluice gates – and we were off.

Sagres

Our destination was Faro on the Algarve coast.   We stopped in tiny fishing villages overnight and arrived at the anchorage near Faro in 3 days.  The anchorage is protected by Ilha Da Culatra.

Upon arrival we mosied around looking for our special anchoring spot – which was very limited due to our keel depth.   We lowered the trusty anchor only to have it drag and I mean literally move through the water with the tide - soft mud did not deter it at all.  When raising it we brought up a long line of little sachets filled with pippies or tiny clams - trying to untangle that from our anchor and chain whilst drifting towards other boats was fun- we never did work out what the purpose of the line was.  We tried anchoring again allowing the anchor  to sit for some time before pulling back - we were there for 4 days so it eventually dug in.  Then we were invaded by tiny flying bugs - they crawled all over us during the night so all you could hear was slapping, they covered the roof of the dodger during the day - then there was the aromatic delights of the lagoon at anything other than high tide, not to mention the bright flashing light of the light house in our eyes all night ...... eventually we looked beyond all that and loved the place – we were sad to leave as there doesn't appear to be many protected anchorages in this area.
We took the local ferry to Olhao then a bus to Faro and explored the area.  We were reluctant to leave the beautiful calm anchorage but with our expired visa status it was best to keep moving.

Our next  stop was Tavira where we remained on the boat, our draft prevented us from anchoring anywhere but just inside the breakwater with rocks very close by.

The calm large anchorage at Sancti-Petri (we are now in Spanish waters) was our next stop.  The aerial views of the entrances to these anchorages always look easy – it sure doesn’t appear that way when the boat is rocking and rolling over swell, with a depth becoming increasingly shallower and a sand bank ahead.   We took great pains to review all aspects of the weather – wind, waves, current, tide for our next leg to Gibraltar – coming up with a plan that was perfect – we leave in 2 days and are guaranteed to have downwind sailing with the perfect strength, stopping overnight in a bay in Tarifa means a comfortable 6 hours or so sailing and a good sleep before heading around the corner to Gibraltar.  The following day to Gibraltar we aimed for little wind as it tends to be easterly at this time of year which equates to  “on the nose” and an incoming tide to help push us speedily to the Bay of Gibraltar.

With high expectations we waited for high tide to allow our deep keel to skim over the sandbar at the entrance to the anchorage.  Unfortunately high tide was not until midday so being impatient to be on our way we crept forward at mid tide, held  our breath while White Rose skimmed  across the sandbar and set on our course to Tarifa – the weather had performed a complete turnaround with winds on the nose and lumpy seas – so much for all our planning.  We put the motor on and ploughed ahead.  Upon reaching Tarifa we decided to keep going to Gibraltar arriving early evening.  It was a wonderful sight to see the “Rock” in the distance.

We stopped for 2 nights at Marina Bay marina in Gibraltar.  Our expectations of the marina were high due to the cost but we were disappointed.  No security to speak of, nor help for those trying to squeeze into a berth which was tight then taking death defying leaps onto wet slippery white painted strips on the dock because we had to go in bow first (there was no way we could have steered her in backwards) and no plank for a walkway.  Apart from that it was what I imagine being docked in the middle of a casino would be like - all flashing coloured lights and noise, a bit of a culture shock for us.  We spent our one day climbing all over the Rock.  The Rock is amazing – we took the cable car to the top then began our 9 klm walk to see all the different sites.


Oh the pleasures of being in a place where you can get things done – albeit at a price !  We wanted to have  White Rose’s rigging inspected and were able to arrange the inspection for the following morning, receive an excellent report and leave the port by lunch time – something that would never happen in Portugal or Spain where they are a little more relaxed.


Great Seige Tunnels
The Governor of Gibraltar General Elliott announced a competition offering a large sum of money to anyone who could get a cannon on the north face of the Rock called the “Notch”.  Tunnels were dug using black powder charges, hammers, chisels, crowbars and shovels.  It took 13 men 5 weeks to dig a tunnel the width of 8 square feet x 82 feet.  Total construction length of the tunnels by the end of 1783 was approximately 908 feet (277 m) and completed mid 1783 about 3 months after the Great Siege ended.
The mine was loaded with an unusual quantity of powder, and the explosion was so amazingly loud, that almost the whole of the Enemy's camp turned out at the report : but what must their surprise be, when they observed where the smoke issued! – The original intention of this opening, was to communicate air to the workmen, who before were almost suffocated with the smoke which remained after blowing the different mines ; but, on examining the aperture more closely, an idea was conceived of mounting a gun to bear on all the Enemy's batteries, excepting Fort Barbara : accordingly orders were given to enlarge the inner part [of the tunnel] for the recoil ; and when finished, a twenty-four-pounder was mounted.

By the end of the initial phase of tunnelling, five galleries had been excavated: Windsor Gallery, King's And Queen's Lines, St. George's Hall, and Cornwallis Chamber.

Originally the embrasures were fitted with mantlets or curtains of woven ropes; the rails on which they were supported can still be seen. These protected the guns and gunners from enemy fire and prevented sparks and smoke blowing back into the embrasures.  As an additional safety measure, each cannon was isolated with a wet cloth hanging above it from a rope, to prevent the sparks from igniting the remaining gunpowder.

During the Second World War the Royal Engineers added some 33 miles (52km) of tunnels to enable The Rock to house a garrison of 16,000 men with water, food, ammunition and fuel supplies sufficient to last a year under siege.


St Michaels Cave
We wandered in, out and around the cave – I was appalled by how tacky it was – why would anyone take an amazing natural feature and place coloured lights throughout – ones that flashed and changed colours similar to a discotheque – it was terrible.  The music did not help the general ambience and then there was the area made flat by tonnes of concrete and many layers of plastic chairs – concerts are a regular highlight in the cave.
“The Cathedral Cave was long thought to be bottomless, making St. Michael's Cave the subject of one of Gibraltar's most famous legends. It was believed that the cave is one end of a subterranean Ley tunnel over 15 miles (24 km) long which passes under the Strait of Gibraltar. Legend has it that the Barbary Macaques entered The Rock from Morocco this way.
As the Rock of Gibraltar was thought to be one of the legendary Pillars of Hercules, the Ancient Greeks also believed the cave be the Gates of Hades, an entrance to the underworld.

Two Neanderthal skulls have been discovered in Gibraltar, it is possible that they were among the first to set foot in the cave around 40,000 BC.

During the Victorian era the cave was used as a venue for picnics, parties, concerts, weddings and even duels. The caves would be decorated for many of these events and even illuminated for distinguished visitors by soldiers who would perch on stalagmites with torches.
The first official archaeological excavation of the cave was carried out in 1867 by the Governor of the military prison, Captain Brome. He discovered numerous prehistoric artefacts such as stone axes and arrow heads, shell jewellery, bone needles as well as a large collection of pottery.  Officers looking for adventure during quiet times of service, would pass their time exploring the many passages within the cave system. Sometime before 1840, Colonel Mitchell accompanied by a second officer got lost in the caves and were never seen again. Their disappearance led to extensive explorations of the cave system in 1840, 1857 and 1865, but no evidence of the officers' whereabouts was found. Further exploration was carried out between 1936 and 1938, when a scientific expedition was mounted and every known part of the cave system was explored but again no human remains were found.