We were ready to check out by the time the Smir marina office opened at 8 o clock, and glided out onto a still, calm sea to head back towards Gibraltar. This time, the Straits were calmer although there was still, inevitably, a bit of a swell. A little after half way across we suddenly sighted dolphins on the bow, and on the stern, and all around us. As the sea calmed, we watched with delight as they performed acrobatic displays through the water and dived up from the depths to twist in the air before disappearing back into the waves. It was a magical display and we all felt privileged to have seen it.
Once in Gib we refuelled at a wonderful 53p per litre - compared to almost 1 euro in Spain - then Frank and I rushed up to replenish the larder in Morrisons whilst Adrian, Dominic and Chantelle took the cable car up the Rock to see the apes, although Chantelle wasn't too happy when one jumped out at her! We had lunch whilst we were tied up (difficult...) and then headed back out to sea, a little worried because we knew the wind had risen whilst we were in port.
Things weren't too bad and in fact they just got better and better, so we dropped the anchor near Sotogrande and dived off the back of Zaffina and swam around the boat. Before we left, Adrian and I took the dinghy out whilst Frank took Zaffina up to 30 knots and almost mowed us down whilst I took photographs. It was a pretty scary experience, looking up at a massive motorboat bearing down on you at full speed, but the photos were worth it.
We tried to get into Marbella Marina but it was full so we had to head along the coast to Benalmadena. By now the sea was flat calm which was fortunate as it was dotted with pot markers and we had a slalom trip trying to avoid them all. The evening finished with a late barbeque on board as we reflected on visiting 3 countries and two continents all in one day! Not bad going!!
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