Gibraltar

Fog again!!! All morning we waited in anticipation of seeing the Rock of Gibraltar. The rock is close to the entrance to the Atlantic Ocean from the Mediterranean Sea. As we got closer, we couldn’t decide whether what we were seeing was the Rock of Gibraltar or a heavy cloud formation. It was another site we would be seeing through fog.

The Royal Marines and Dutch Marines captured the rock in 1772, during war with Spain, and the British have maintained a military base and Royal Navy dockyard there ever since. John visited Gibraltar in 1965 while serving on HMS Tiger and again in 1972 while on HMS Antrim. Bright sunshine greeted him both times.

On the opposite coast we could see the faint outline of the coast of Morocco in North Africa. Ferries cross the Straits of Gibraltar back and forth between Gibraltar and North Africa. Before reaching Gibraltar, we sailed through the Mediterranean past the coasts of Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria.

Fortunately, the mist and rain cleared a little so that we could get some grainy photos of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar from the East Side

Gibraltar from the West Side

Once we entered the Atlantic Ocean, we had completely circled the continent of Africa.

Be Careful What You Wish For

When we entered the Mediterranean Sea, I wrote about how nice it was to have movement on the seas after traveling through such placid waters. The change was enjoyable—that is until we got more movement that we wanted. Once on the Atlantic, huge swells started tossing the ship about, and walking through the corridors became a bit challenging. Maybe those placid waters weren’t so bad after all.

In the afternoon, we went to see the latest Star Wars movie in the Royal Court Theater. Since the theater is at the front of the ship, it is subject to more movement in the rolling seas. It was as though special effects had been built into our seats so we could feel what it was like being on one of the fighter aircrafts in the movie.

Two days out of Southampton we saw the Queen Mary gaining on us on our port side. The QM2 is a much fast ship and it didn’t take long for her to pass us. When we looked out later, we saw that she had left us in her wake. She would be arriving in Southampton the day before we arrived there.

Queen Mary 2

Next, the Bay of Biscay.