national day

on september 10 the people in gibraltar celebrate their national day. it is the anniversary of the vote to reject spanish sovereignty or association.

life in gibraltar

for the most part this place was not so much a vacation place for us. i had to be back in the US and estaban stayed there working on the boat; but we made the best of it. gibraltar is an interesting place. everyone that goes there stays for only a few days, but for esteban and puerto seguro, it was home for almost three months. people are constantly moving, and most speak a combination of english and spanish similar to that of the cubans in miami. we were very happy with the marina end esteban was even happier when he discovered a very nice movie theater.  even though he worked most of the time, he also enjoyed the days there, he walked around, crossed several times to spain and enjoyed one of the best supermarkets we have seen on our trip. in all a very pretty and convenient place where, because of its strategic location, he saw many of the sailors and friends we have met along our travels. seems this is a common stop before heading back to america. a little pricy, but a very well-situated place...

work on board

while i was in florida working esteban stayed busy on the boat in the marina in gibraltar. he fixed the radar, water maker, windlass and all the sails, changed hoses, filters, clamps, cables and in general everything that was just about to break; fixed the lifelines, traveler, replaced the chain plates that hold the backstays!! if he had not noticed the crack on one of them, he could have later lost the mast in the crossing;






he also varnished and repaired all the wood interior (this was actually never done before so we had the original wood floors from over 30 years… still today we have the same floors but looking much nicer!);





finally he did a major tune up and maintenance of our beloved diesel engine, replaced the speakers, painted the cockpit, and in general kept himself really busy for the few months before the crossing. at the end puerto seguro is as solid and reliable and looks just like the day we left florida a couple of years ago.