Travel Chapter 7-- Hanging out off Gibraltar

Travel Chapter 7

Well, at sea everything can and does change. When we left last evening, Saturday January 31, we were headed for Gibraltar 100 nautical miles (115 normal miles) down the coast from Cadiz. The night was rough and things were falling off shelves as we are on the edge of a huge low pressure area just off the coast of southern Spain. We rocked and rolled but this morning we awoke to rough sees, rain and no visibility. We were in a holding pattern in the Med waiting for the weather to lift so we could get a fuel tender to come alongside and give us a load of bunker, or fuel. Around noon, the weather lifted and the sun came out but the winds were still howling. We steamed into the bay at the foot of Gibraltar and had a wonderful view of the great rock. At 5pm the fuel ship came alongside but 2 hours later it left as the seas were deemed too rough for refueling.

The whole idea of coming to Gibraltar was we need fuel to allow us to get to Dakar Senegal our next expected fueling point. Of course, the ship was in Cadiz for 4 days and surely it could have taken on fuel there. The reason we were given was that fuel in Gibraltar is cheaper.

But now we have been holding our position for almost 24 hours as we cannot anchor and I am sure any fuel savings have been consumed in just sitting here waiting. This evening it was announced that there will be another fueling attempt tomorrow if the seas quiet down but that is not expected to happen until later in the day. This means that will be arriving in Casablanca our next port at least 12 hours late and perhaps 24 hours. On a long voyage like this one can expect this kind of incident but it causes havoc with all the land arrangements the ship and the passengers have made. The original plan had been to arrive early tomorrow morning in Casa and most of the arranged trips were to leave by noon. We had booked onto a 3 night trip to Marrakesh and Essaouri. Now we are unsure what the arrangements will be but luckily that is a trip the ship organized and they will have to figure out what to do. Being on a ship, such an event is so much easier to deal with than a delay when flying. On the ship, it only means an extra day at sea, time to read, to chat, to nap and catch up with blogs all in the comfort of the great ship facilities. I would take a ship delay any time compared to sitting around an airport for hours on end with no place to relax.

This evening the ship is abuzz as there have been indications that the ship may get a signal allowing it to broadcast the super bowl. The students are all sitting around hoping to hear. Of course, as we are now 6 hours ahead of Florida, the game itself will not be played until 3 or 4 am. One kid I met at the purser’s office was seeing if he could purchase 300 minutes of internet time (at $ 250) so that he could watch it on his computer. He was fully garbed in a Pittsburg uniform which is a dead giveaway..

This evening the dean organized the second reception for the adults in the adult lounge, this time to welcome a new lecturer who lives in Morocco. The first time they held such a reception, we were not sure whether Emmett should also come but we brought him anyway as he is a full paying passenger. He loved it and spent his time chatting with various ladies in his usual suave manner. He has always been at ease with adults and being on the ship is no exception. No one minded and so he again came to the reception this evening. Up to now, he has not bonded with the college students and we hope he will eventually so that he can enjoy the student life. He does attend a 2 or 3 classes, interestingly these are science classes. Perhaps he will find his interest in the sciences later in his study life. This is one of the advantages for him to be on this trip as he can sit in on classes and get a sense of what is covered in various courses. He is also doing the reading assigned to him by his teachers back in Montreal.

Enough for today, I want to take a last look of Gibraltar all lit up at night.
We just left Casablanca. More on that later.
Cheers