Strait of Gibraltar

Windmills on the coast of Spain

So sorry that I have not kept up with blogging.  Sadly, work has gotten in the way now that we are back in the US!  I will try to catch up from where I left off.  After Rota we sailed to Barbate (pronounced BAR-BOT-AY) to stage our transit thru the Strait of Gibraltar.  The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean.  Two continents are separated by only a little over 7 nautical miles at the narrowest point.  You can actually see the European continent on one side and the African continent on the other as you pass through which I found to be absolutely amazing!  Of course, you cannot just sail through there without doing a little requisite planning.  There is a significant current flowing through the Strait making it imperative that you time your passage with the tide.  You also must take care to cross with a favorable west wind.  A wind against current situation leads to very big waves and rough water.  Waiting for the wind from the west insures the wind is with rather than against the current. 

Tarifa, Spain

 One of the trickier areas of the passage is going around Tarifa, Spain.  Tarifa sits right at the entrance to the Strait.  The Strait of Gibraltar is the only place in the world where the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters mix and it is notoriously windy - particularly at Tarifa.  It is no surprise then that Tarifa is known as the kite surfing capital of Europe! 

Tarifa

Of course, the wind and current are not the only elements to consider when transiting the Strait.  On any given day there are approximately 300 very large ships that transit the Strait, about one every 5 minutes!  There is a station monitoring all the traffic coming thru the Strait in Tarifa called aptly - Tarifa Traffic.  It is wise to check with Tarifa Traffic regarding the conditions in the Strait before attempting the transit.  Since, we try to be wise (occasionally) we did check with Tarifa Traffic and felt that is was a go.  The wind was about 15 to 20 knots and out of the west which is perfect with the east going current.  We went around Tarifa without issue and then we kept to the west side and out of the shipping lanes!

Ships all lined up in the shipping lane

We had attempted to time the entire transit but it did not quite work out.  For the most part we were moving faster than we had planned.  With the help of the current and the wind we were flying! 

Two continents!!

We made it thru the Strait without incident but as we got near Gibraltar the wind really picked up and there were very, very big ships everywhere!!  

The Rock of Gibraltar

And then there was the Rock looming ahead.  We felt such an amazing sense of accomplishment having finally reached the Mediterranean.  And on our own boat (anyone can get on a plane - right?) no less.  Such a perfect day!  We made it thru the maze of ships at anchor in the Gibraltar harbor to La Linea, Spain where we intended to stay.  Spain and Gibraltar are literally right across the road from each other.  And our friends were staying in La Linea.  Once we got to our slip we made it down to see Steve and Laura.  They had been watching on the AIS (automated information system) for us all day and were not seeing us.  So... that was when we discovered that our AIS had not been transmitting our position all day long.  We were stunned to discover that we transited one of the busiest ship traffic areas in the world blind to the ships the whole time.  We saw them (on the AIS) but they were not seeing us.  Thank goodness there were no issues with low visibility (fog) during the passage.  Time to relax for a bit, enjoy our achievement and spend some time with friends :)!

All the ships around Gibraltar (white triangles)