We have now been in Gibraltar for a week and plan to have one more week here. We still have a few things to fit onto Octopus before we start the Atlantic crossing and I hope to fill the freezer with dishes we can microwave if we hit bad weather. The trip to Gibraltar we a bit bumpy, the winds didn’t go over 28 knots but the sea was a pig! The wind was against tide most of the time and the waves were coming from all directions, Octopus slammed most of the way which was very noisy in the fore-cabins. It was impossible to sleep in 
them so Chris and I took turns to sleep in with the children in the stern cabin. We changed direction a few times but it only solved the slamming for a while. Everyone was sick apart from Chris and Tom who didn’t think it was that bad?? Susie and Katy (crew) spent a lot of time seeping out in the cockpit as they felt too ill to go below. How we love sailing!!
Sadly Katy and Justin decided to get off here as Katy, who has been feeling sea sick since we left the UK, just can’t cope with the thought going to sea again. I think our last leg made her feel so ill that she couldn’t wait to get of the boat.
We are now looking for more crew, hopefully a couple….must love children and be impervious to sea-sickness, I don’t think it will be to difficult here. Chris’s brother Mike may join us for a little while which will be nice.
Gibraltar seems to be a building site at the moment, lots of work going on around the marina. It’s not the prettiest of places. The houses, which seem to be mainly high-rise flats, surround us on one side with the airport on the other. We won’t be sorry to move on to somewhere a bit greener and the children are missing the nice beaches. Of coarse Gibraltar is a great place to get provisions and equipment. We have discovered the tinned butter that stows so well, once opened you treat it like normal butter, but until then it will keep for ages.
The children have made some new boat friends. First we met a couple from New Zealand with two little girls aged about two and three, Susie loved looking after them and even did a bit of boat baby-sitting!! Tom also found a friend from Estonia who parents have a beautiful wooden boat.
Susie met a lady who lives on her boat with four cats and a kitten within about two hours of arriving here. So we now have two kittens! A boy called Bosun who is eight weeks old and tabby and a girl called Jenny who is black and white and is only four weeks old.
School work is going better now we are in one place for a bit. When we are sailing long distances it has been difficult working around watches and sea sickness. When the sea is calm we like working outside on the bow in the fresh air as leaning over the table at sea seems to make them all feel sick.
them so Chris and I took turns to sleep in with the children in the stern cabin. We changed direction a few times but it only solved the slamming for a while. Everyone was sick apart from Chris and Tom who didn’t think it was that bad?? Susie and Katy (crew) spent a lot of time seeping out in the cockpit as they felt too ill to go below. How we love sailing!!Sadly Katy and Justin decided to get off here as Katy, who has been feeling sea sick since we left the UK, just can’t cope with the thought going to sea again. I think our last leg made her feel so ill that she couldn’t wait to get of the boat.
We are now looking for more crew, hopefully a couple….must love children and be impervious to sea-sickness, I don’t think it will be to difficult here. Chris’s brother Mike may join us for a little while which will be nice.
Gibraltar seems to be a building site at the moment, lots of work going on around the marina. It’s not the prettiest of places. The houses, which seem to be mainly high-rise flats, surround us on one side with the airport on the other. We won’t be sorry to move on to somewhere a bit greener and the children are missing the nice beaches. Of coarse Gibraltar is a great place to get provisions and equipment. We have discovered the tinned butter that stows so well, once opened you treat it like normal butter, but until then it will keep for ages.
The children have made some new boat friends. First we met a couple from New Zealand with two little girls aged about two and three, Susie loved looking after them and even did a bit of boat baby-sitting!! Tom also found a friend from Estonia who parents have a beautiful wooden boat.
Susie met a lady who lives on her boat with four cats and a kitten within about two hours of arriving here. So we now have two kittens! A boy called Bosun who is eight weeks old and tabby and a girl called Jenny who is black and white and is only four weeks old.
School work is going better now we are in one place for a bit. When we are sailing long distances it has been difficult working around watches and sea sickness. When the sea is calm we like working outside on the bow in the fresh air as leaning over the table at sea seems to make them all feel sick.
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| Click Here for more photos Octopus November |
2 comments:
Ahoy there!
What are you like! I'm on Arran looking at your blog. Look like you're having fun. Love the idea of the class room on the deck. And the champagne!
Cheers
Sx
Be very wary of picking up a crew in Gibralter - a sailing friend of ours nearly lost his boat to a "very nice couple" he met there!!
(and he only needed a hand to get up to La Rochelle)
Try contacting Crewseekers International www.crewseekers.net who will find you someone trustworthy and with experience (hopefully).
Alternatively, turn left and spend some time in the Med. its fairly tolerable in the winter (no nasty land generated winds) and some great places (Sicilly, Italy, Sardinia etc). Hope you sort crew soon but if not then you'll soon get into a routine crossing the pond with just the 2 of you (my wife and I did 4000 miles in our yacht in 2006 with just the 2 of us and no autopilot!!!
regards
Jon Hollingworth Machrie, Arran
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