Gibraltar - Whew!

We got into Gibraltar day before yesterday - we've had the mandatory piss-up which we need after being at sea for awhile (we don't drink alcohol on passages)before really good fish'n chips in the local pub and when we started to feel better yesterday we got on with our chores. Coming into Gibraltar from Estepona was a delightful trip. We hugged the coast anticipating that as the tide came through the strait it would cause a back-eddy along the coast. We were right, so with the sun shining almost all of the way we snuck up on Gibraltar - whose way too high and mighty to see a little thing like us creeping in.

Coming into a 'way station' like Gibraltar is exciting. There is an expectant mood as many of the boats here are moving on to a long journey. So we share information with each other and compare our equipment and knowledge. Gibraltar is also a very nice place to live and many people like us come in expecting to transit but they stay and find a way to make a living here.
So now we need a 'weather window' to head south where we'll stop in the Canary Islands for another break and provisioning before heading across the Atlantic. We'll aim at Antigua.
We're still trying to work out problems with our SSB radio - we really want that to work for our crossing so that we can post our position on a regular basis as we did before. Its very reassuring for us to know that you all know where we are.
While we're here we'll take a cable car ride up to the top of the rock. Tony wants to see his monkey relatives. Must find out how they got here.