1984 (12) – Gibraltar

Ed, taking down the yellow quarantine flag, after clearing Customs.
The British flag is the courtesy flag that would fly from our spreaders.

To go to the beginning of this book, Tropic Moon: Memories, click HERE.

Our first day in Gibraltar was totally overwhelming.  For one thing, this was our first taste of a typical European marina.  Boats are tied either stern-to or bow-to to the dock, and lie right up against each other, with only fenders for separation.  As we approached the spot indicated by the man from the marina, he called out to ask our width.  I yelled back, 12 feet, 6 inches. He frowned a bit, and said we should fit in - the space was 12 feet wide!  It took us two tries to get in, which isn't unusual as the wind blows the boat around.  Ed was handling the wheel, I was using my hands to keep us going in straight between the other two boats, and we went in bow first.  I threw a line to the man on the dock and he passed up a thick rope.  I was glad Ed knew what to do with the rope, because I didn't.  The rope ran all the way back behind the boat to a mooring.  Ed fished the rope out of the water till he had it taut from the mooring, and then tied it off to a cleat on the stern of the boat.  That way we were tied both fore and aft, as well as being sandwiched between two other boats.  I still don't know where Ed picked up that useful bit of information.  I wasn't going to ask him either, because he would have told me it was obvious that there would have to be some sort of stern mooring. 

The Rock, as we approached Gibraltar, at the end of our passage from Portugal.

We walked into town to exchange some money, and then stopped at a restaurant for a quick lunch.  We looked over our new money.  It was the first time we'd had occasion to use British Sterling - the pounds and pence system.  After lunch, we checked in at the marina office and were asked to pay one week's dockage in advance.  I had changed $100 in traveler’s checks.  After paying for lunch, a week's dockage, a week of electricity, a daily levy for the government, and a deposit for an electrical plug so that we could use our expensive power, I had 20 pence left in my pocket.  Our money had gone a lot further in Portugal.  

Tropic Moon, at the Customs Dock

To add to the culture shock, the noise was almost alarming.  We had arrived in the middle of the NATO autumn training exercise.  The airport runway is right alongside the marina; fighter jets were continually landing and taking off.  We figured that one week of Gibraltar was going to be more than enough.  

Internet Photo.  You can see the airport runway, right next to the marina.

It was another ten days before the jets went away, but it only took a couple days for me to fall in love with Gibraltar.  I guess it was the town that did it.  Streets full of stores, Indian bazaars, Moroccan shops, and lots of restaurants, with people everywhere, and a cheerful, busy atmosphere.  That, combined with the beauty of the 1500-foot "Rock" towering above us, with so many places to hike and so many sights to see, had me enthralled.  Gibraltar is only two square miles in area, and was an enclosed little world which you could only reach by plane or boat.  At that time, the frontier between Spain and Gibraltar had been closed for many years.