Ship’s Log Week Two
Location: Gibraltar, 36.135745, -5.355837
By degrees… crossing borders.
Walrus has moved about a mile further around the world... at this rate the planned adventure could span a decade. We’re hopeful this won’t be the case and this week’s progress (as much as it can be called progress) will stand her in good stead for the coming months.
On Tuesday Walrus, skipper and crew motored a few miles south, crossing between Spain and Gibraltar, having negotiated a berth at Queensway Marina, and to be closer to the delivery point for the all-important pulpit (more of which to follow), the foresail and bimini.
The previous day Dicky, Gerald and I crossed the border on foot - Gerald speeds through customs with his Irish passport, while Dicky and I wait for British passports to be scrutinised and stamped, Europe having become foreign territory in recent times. Our destination, Eastgate freight handling company, is situated at the end of an industrial estate at the foot of the rock and backing onto the Med. Outside the offices boxes are piled higgledy piggedly from floor to ceiling in worryingly chaotic fashion. A small wooden staircase leads to the office and the unwelcome revelation that none of the items have passed customs clearance and there is much to do to ensure all documentation meets the unwritten, unclear but all-important expectations. An Alice in Wonderland - “down the rabbit hole” moment, if ever there was one.
We withdraw for a moment of shared despondency and an emergency ‘O Group’ in the tradesmen's cafe, 200yds up the road, fittingly and to add to the tension an electric saw is being used at regular intervals to reconstruct or deconstruct the part of the cafe that we’re sitting in. Tactics come into play and the task of retrieving items in transit is split. Dicky tackles DHL and delivery of the watermaker to Alcaidesa Marina in Spain, while I tackle getting customs documentation cleared to release the pulpit (TNT) and foresail (FedEx).
At 4.00pm on Wednesday afternoon, I spot the Hallberg Rassy pulpit (shaped like a giant wishbone) on the forecourt of Eastgate Freight - a promising sign. Two minutes later hopes are dashed - yes, the paperwork has been cleared by the office, yes, the items are on site... no, I may not take the items until Thursday morning, when the final customs officer will release the items.
On Thursday morning Gerald and I are triumphant as we wheel the Halberg Rassy pulpit and accompanying package the half mile back to Walrus. A wager of £10 is on the table - Dicky‘s despondency having led him to bet that the items would be whisked back to Seville or Madrid, rather than released at the appointed time. A rare occurrence, I’ve won the bet.
Meanwhile Dicky has crossed back into Spain in search for the water maker, in vain. Successful retrieval of the watermaker is denied until Friday.
Both the pulpit and watermaker present considerable opportunity for team problem-solving and require technical knowledge and skill. The pulpit is made of formed steel and acts as a solid guardrail around the bow of the boat. Electrical cables for Walrus’ nav lights (red on the port side and green on the starboard) are threaded through the pulpit - an intricate task, and it is fitted onto pins, all with precision and sufficiently robustly to withstand the roughest of seas. The previous pulpit was twisted out of shape on one side after an incident alongside in Oostend, in bad weather conditions. Walrus looks much improved and considerably more seaworthy once the task, which takes the best part of a day, is complete.
Gerald has spent a significant part of the past week folded up in the impossibly small space in the cockpit locker, fitting the repaired watermaker, to good effect. On Saturday there was a whirring and the regular reassuring clunk of the watermaker in action. Seawater is passed through a series of filters and reverse osmosis process to make it clean and drinkable.
The best hopes for delivery of the foresail (Friday 2.00pm) were dashed... new delivery time to the Gibraltar FedEx offices and, hopefully our overdue departure from Gibraltar are scheduled for Monday midday.
Onwards and upwards...
PS If you’re wondering about the addition to Walrus crew pictured at the end of the first weekly update – Gerald's five daughters, Jennifer, Kate, Vivian, Aiofe and Veronica, two partners, Louie and Mikko and three grandchildren, Leo, Hannah and Annabella joined us for a joyful afternoon, to wish Gerald well on his journey. They’ve promised a revisit - we’ve yet to find out where.