What would be a post without a Wiki Link? Go read about the Straits of Gibraltar – It is interesting, informative and explains sooo much as to why there is cultural connection between Spain & North Africa, a favorite place to attempt illegal immigration from Africa to Europe, and why the UK hangs on to their small bit of land…
Early in the cruise, there was a rumor that we would actually see the Straits during daylight hours. This turned out to be patently not true. Between some rolling waves and navigational choices the time slipped to about midnight. (BTW – you will notice that the publication time on this post is prior to midnight which has to do with the differential time zone between TigerTech’s servers and my current CET clock. Additionally, it seemed a bit stupid to be posting before midnight here and prior to entering the Straits.
My cabin is on the Port side – which means that I was looking at the Spanish coast as we approached right before midnight.
I had both the TV screen set to map (duh) as well as used Marine Tracker to follow our progress…
which I found to be much more interesting as it includes ALL the maritime traffic. Instead of an empty sea, there were more than 35 registered vessels within a 10 km distance from us. From my balcony, the running lights of ~ five ships ahead of us were easily visible as were several following vessels.
Stitching update: only one coffee bean left to finish and lettering… maybe by the end of the cruise?
I managed to stay awake through the Straits. The Rock was not alight. Someone mentioned earlier that lighting it up at this time of year disturbed the nesting birds. I am going to need a lot of coffee to function in the morning….
