Our stay at the Alcaidesa Marina (in Spain) just about 400 yards north of Gibraltar lasted longer than anticipated due to unsettled weather in the Atlantic Ocean that prevented our departure westward. Many boats were stacked up waiting for the unusually high number of low-pressure systems to move through the area and open a weather window to the west and south.  During our 2 weeks there we continued to prepare Wally Walou for our crossing.

Prior to researching our visit to “Gibraltar” Dave had wrongly assumed that the British controlled area was the whole bay including the “Rock”. He was quite surprised to learn that the British controlled territory is only “The Rock” plus a few hundred yards that they have been diligently expanding with tailings from various digging projects.

On a sunny Sunday we decided to hike up the Rock of Gibraltar. After flashing our passports at the border officials we entered the country by walking across the airport runway, a border crossing unique in the world to our knowledge. We twisted our way up and around narrow streets to the top of the Rock. There we enjoyed spectacular views and the unique Barbary Macaque monkeys that live there.  Later we took the Mediterranean Steps down, a steep and ancient stone stairway.  Near the bottom was a British pub so, after quaffing the requisite pints of Guinness Stout, we made our way back to the marina. We totally scored with the weather, after this day there was not another clear calm day while we were there.

We started talking with other sailors about weather forecasts and routing options.  Some were leaving in the next day or so to head south and hug the west African coast where the weather was forecast to be favorable.  We considered that option but heard from another couple about running into unlit fishing boats and nets up to 30 miles offshore, so we decided to stay a few more days and wait for the weather to facilitate our original plan of sailing directly to the Canary Islands.

A project we needed to accomplish soon was to extract the fishing line wrapped around our port sail drive and replace the compromised oil seal.  The boat lift at the Alcaidesa Marina was not big enough to lift Wally Walou safely but the harbormaster recommended a boatyard at the Spanish city of Ceuta, on the North African coast just south of Gibraltar.  Who knew Spain owns land on the Moroccan coast? So on the morning of November 15 we motored a couple hours south across the Straits of Gibraltar to Ceuta. The boatyard there lifted Wally, pulled out the fishing line and changed both oil seals, and was done by 5 pm.  The next morning we went into the office to pay and they informed us they only take cash! But they would be happy to give us a ride to an ATM. So after successfully accomplishing that feat we splashed back in the water and moved to the adjacent Hercules Marina.  There are numerous statues of Hercules around Ceuta and we learned he is a local hero because he personally carved out the Straits of Gibraltar with his bare hands – bravo!  That day we took a long walk around Ceuta, a city of mixed Spanish and Moroccan culture, and enjoyed a delicious traditional Moroccan meal at a hilltop restaurant.

The next day we sailed back toward Gibraltar through rainy and gusty weather, dodging cargo ships and tankers.  The Rock has a big influence on the local weather, causing rapidly changing wind speeds and directions, which makes it challenging to maneuver among the numerous large ships there.  We were observing the “Rule of Tonnage” so even though we were sailing we gave way to the MUCH larger vessels. Seemed prudent😊.

On November 21^st we rented a car and drove a couple hours to the Malaga airport to pick up our crew member Jim Beekman.  The weather outlook had improved so the next day, the 22nd, we fueled up and left for the Canary Islands.  Hard to believe we were finally leaving the Mediterranean! It took almost exactly 5 days to arrive at the city of Arrecife on the east coast of the island of Lanzerote.  The crossing was relatively uneventful except for a night of rain and winds in the 30s when we purposefully motor sailed directly into a cold front to move towards more favorable winds. Except for that one detour we found the Atlantic sea states, with long wave periods of 9 to 11 seconds, to be much more relaxing than those in the Mediterranean with 2 to 3 seconds.

We anchored off Arrecife and took the dinghy in for an afternoon of grocery shopping and stretching our legs.  The next day we sailed down the east coast of Lanzerote then headed west. The weather was nice enough we were able to sit out on the bows in shorts and Tshirts – finally!  We sailed overnight to the island of Tenerife where we checked in at Marina Santa Cruz.  We stayed 4 nights in this city, eating good food and provisioning with groceries, boat parts, and fuel.  The marina is connected to the city by a relatively new elevated walkway with walls lined with AstroTurf. During our walks we admired numerous street sculptures and vegetated roofs.

Before we could leave the Spanish-owned Canary Islands we had to visit the immigration police to officially check out of the country. We waited through the weekend until the office opened Monday morning December 3. We checked out and received an official piece of paper to present at our next port of call and to prove we had not overstayed our visas that allowed us to stay in the Shengen Area. This was just 2 days before our temporary French residence cards expired. (For those who have been following our saga of applying for French residency, we still haven’t received anything back from the French government! Good thing we left.)

Along the way we decided to stop in the Cape Verdes Islands to refresh our fuel and groceries.  We arrived in Mindelo Marina on the island of Sao Vicente Monday morning December 10, a week after leaving the Canaries.  After checking in and out of immigration, washing the salt and Sahara sand off Wally, and stocking up on groceries, we set off for Barbados at 5:30 pm, staying only 9 ½ hours on the island.  But we wanted to arrive in the Caribbean to meet our upcoming guests.  The passage from the Canaries to Cape Verdes was relatively pleasant and uneventful except for the numerous flying fish that landed on our decks.  The highlight was catching a mahi mahi/dorado on a hand line!  A beautiful fish that Dave cut into several large filets.  That same day we saw a large (maybe 100) pod of dolphins next to us and swimming under our bows, and a group of unidentified whales swimming at the surface.  The weather was mostly warm, sunny and dry, and the sea state not too rough.

Our journey from Cape Verdes to Barbados, about 2010 nautical miles, took 13 days.  Barbados was our goal because it is the easternmost island in the Caribbean and upwind of the other islands.  The sea state was rougher than expected and the trade winds were regularly 20 knots and above, so it made for a rambunctious ride.  We learned to react to occasional squalls by furling the jib until the higher winds passed.  We sailed conservatively, decreasing sails at night to slow Wally down; he can go faster than we are comfortable with in the dark.

One of our “tasks” for the crossing was to toss over a “Message in a Bottle” that we and some of our dock mates in France created just before our departure. We decided to launch it at the point when we had traveled “Half of the distance West” from our Gibraltar start. We tossed it over and toasted its journey with a bottle of Champagne that Sylvie and Jean-Marie (Galopin) had given us for the occasion.

About 600 miles from Barbados we started seeing small patches of seaweed, then large rafts of it, then it was just about everywhere.  It was present all the way to Barbados. We weren’t able to fish because the seaweed kept getting caught on the lure. Jim, who has done this crossing several times before, said he’s never seen this.  Climate change?  Other than the seaweed our only company was an occasional solo Tropic bird, a white tern-like bird with a long skinny tail that would circle us a few times then fly away.

We arrived in Barbados Sunday December 23 having sailed across the Atlantic! About 3700 nm in 3 legs in a month or so. Still doesn’t seem quite real….