We arrived here a few days ago after motoring most of the way from Malaga.

Point Europa

We are anchored just North of Gibraltar on the Spanish side - a place called La Linea. It takes 20 minutes on foot to get to the border. We bring the dinghy into a small sailing club where we can leave it for a daily fee of Euro 6.05 - yes, they increased the price recently from Euro 6 to 6.05! I much prefer to be here at anchor rather than in a marina - for one, we have a phantastic view of The Rock and second, we can go swimming off the boat. Yes, hard to believe but the water is crystal clear inspite of the large number of large tankers anchored in the bay waiting to offload their wares at the refinery in the Northeast corner of the Bay.

Few anchorages don't have an Amel ....

This is Kincsem's second time in Gibraltar. In 2016, we arrived here after sailing 1,000 miles from La Rochelle in just over a week, enduring some pretty bad weather along the way. We had to leave the next day to make it to Almerimar in time for our flights back to the US, leaving little time for sightseeing. That's what happens if you're working for a living! So this time, I promised myself to take sufficient time to explore the place and most importantly, see the apes which I missed last time. So that's what we did! We bought a one way ticket on the tram to explore the top and see the apes, but walked back down. It was quite a walk back down with some pretty nice vistas on the way.

On the Tram

The "famous" Skywalk

Africa on the other side in the haze

They are not friendly

Gibraltar is a fascinating place but not high end, surprisingly, given its reputation as a tax shelter. Most of the entertainment seems to be of the cheap, English kind. Food is beans and bangers. Much of it looks like out of the 60s.

Walking across the runway of the Gibraltar airport to the Spanish side where Kincsem is at anchor

Well, check, been there, done that.

On the way to Gibraltar from Almerimar we stopped only twice: once at a nice anchorage and then in Malaga.

The problem with the Costa del Sol is that much of it should be called the Costa de Concrete - built up, without charm and no natural harbors. Only expensive marinas full of motorboats. Malaga, on the other hand, is a charming Spanish town with a few sights to see.

The Cathedral was the highlight.

Leaving Malaga