Through the Gibraltar Strait

What can I say! We finally did it. After 2 failed attempts, we are through and berthed (very snugly, mediterranean style, i.e. no pontoon), in the port of Estepona! The Strait is an absolute bitch, but a very interesting exercise. There are 2 things, one is wind, the other - general and, more to the point, specific movements of the water. Not just tides, hence ‘movements’!

The ‘levanter’, which is the easterly wind blowing through the strait, is generally very strong and kicks up quite a sea. And it blows forever, weeks on end, apparently. The ‘poniente’ is a westerly wind, which produces even rougher water. I’ve never seen this wind, I don’t think it exists. It was forecast a number of times, only it was not to be, for whatever reason it always blew the levanter. And we needed poniente, or anything other than levanter, as we were going into the med. Twice the forecast was the exact opposite of what we experienced, and even when we actually did go through on the 15th of June, it also was nothing like what was expected! On the failed attempts, we confirmed to ourselves that it’s pretty much impossible to punch your way through 30 knots of wind and a steep sea on a heavy boat. Generally the Spanish and Algerian forecasts are very good, it’s just that the Gibraltar strait is very difficult to forecast for, according to a sailor friend of mine. I gree. That’s the trouble with the strait, particularly around Tarifa, it doesn’t really blow in a predictable fashion. For example, when we went for the 3rd time, the forecast was westerly force 4. Which is quite a lot of westerly wind. Perfect! And it was easterly F3 all the way. Go figure. But it kicked off just after we rounded Tarifa and were well into the strait, so we were OK.

Tarifa, btw, is one enormous surfing place. Every shop is a surfing shop, pretty much. One of the best places in the world for surfing, they say. Guess why When all the areas around, like Cadiz bay, for example, or Gibraltar, are experiencing nice light winds, it’s blowing 25 knots around Tarifa. And so on. 300 days of the year, it says so on their promotional literature, which I reckon is true.

So then, in addition to the wind, you also have the currents. The usual tidal stuff, goes back and forth, sort of, but that’s not all of it. Because you also have a constant surface current going east, and a deep sea current going west. The result, in strong winds, is a nightmare. While the center of the strait is flowing east, the coastal areas, i.e. to the north and south, can (and obviously do twice a day), flow in the exact opposite direction. So you can have 2 knots flowing east in the middle, and 3 knots flowing west by the shore. It’s insane! We were trying to keep to the middle, as the tide was not all that good for our ‘wind window’ (which didn’t materialise anyway), which brings me onto the last exciting component of the equation…

Add about a million massive ships passing through every day (well, 200, on average) and lots of ferries. Have a look at the photo of our AIS radar, each dot is a ship. And they are all trying to run you over, of course, with Tarifa Traffic (they are the chaps that coordinate the strait) telling them every 2 seconds to get back in the shipping lane and stop harassing the small inshore boats. Well, they don’t actually, but I think they should. What’s the point of a shipping lane, if ships treat it as more of a guideline! Most stick to it, but a couple were just whale watching or something. Which brings me onto the bit that made is all worth while!

There was a note in the pilot book, that says: To minimise the risk of collision with the whales, (Apr-Aug) speed should be kept <13kn and a good lookout kept

So we kept a good look out and we spotted two whales. And they are fantastic creatures, it’s the first time I’ve seen a whale in the wild, so it was really exciting. And then I started worrying about it potentially deciding to mate with Tingara, and normal state of play was resumed, i.e. a nervous sailor just trying to get from A to B and there is a bloody whale in the way in addition to the wind and the currents. None of this ‘Oooh, look at that, how cute!’ business, chop chop, let’s get the hell out of here, before Tarifa surfers get excited that the crazy wind is back!

Tags: Gibraltar, Spain