From Cadiz we made our way to Barbate, not a huge amount to say about this place other than it’s a good place to stop before making your way around Tarifa, notorious for strong winds, and then through the Straits to Gibraltar
Cape Trafalgar. Doesn’t look much does it? However I’m sure I saw the red duster smarten itself up of its own accord.
We caught up with a nice Irishman Jim that we had originally met in Ayamonte and then again in Rota. He sails his Sadler 29 on his own and is from the Dublin area. Quite a character.
We had an amazing sail from Barbate to La Linea which is on the Spanish side of Gibraltar. One of our best sails yet, aided by the tides which run up to 3 knots and easterly currents of 1-2 knots on top of that that help push you through the Straits of Gibraltar.
Sails away and 1st sighting of the rock
With Spain on one side of you and North Africa on the other, a mere 7.7 nautical miles at its narrowest it’s believed that Tarifa was the 1st point of invasion from the Moors on their conquest of Andalucía.
Between 5 and 6 million years ago the African continent pushed into Europe and caused the Strait of Gibraltar to close up. The newly enclosed Mediterranean almost completely evaporated. Around 5 million years ago, more earthquakes caused the Strait to reopen dramatically and for several decades the early Rock of Gibraltar bore witness to the largest waterfall the world has ever known, as the waters of the Atlantic cascaded into the dried up sea bed of the Mediterranean.
The view from our marina Alcaidesa
