Following a three day struggle against adverse winds we make our final approaches into Gib accompanied by dolphins, who, at night, leave an amazing trail of phosphorescence in the sea looking like torpedoes approaching in an old war movie.

The harbour is cluttered with very large gas tankers and a nasty smell of industry. Even at 5:40am pilot boats and tugs are working the ships to turn them around as quickly as possible.

An hour motoring to the northern extremity of the harbour finds us approaching Marina Bay marina. A rather run down and well worn yacht harbour with poor facilities, a night attendant who would rather be asleep and a large diesel spillage to surround the boat on it’s mooring. Welcome back to the UK.

After a well earned sleep I set about preparing the boat to leave on the next favourable tide. The famous rock is rapidly being enveloped in a sea of high rise buildings which are partly complete and swarming with the noisiest development workers they were able to find. The airport runway runs alongside the marina and the roar of jets coming and going provides a welcome change from the clatter of jack hammers and angle grinders.

We are unable to buy much needed diesel due to a Spanish delivery driver blockade and the nearest supermarket is too far to walk to. The beer is typically Mediterranean resort variety and every bar has at least ten large TV screens all showing football and run by well worn ex-pats who, judging by their collective appearance, drink more than they serve..

At this point we loose a crew member to the delights of shore life and depart without him.

Bleary eyed and cursing the passage time wasted on this backwater we set off on a westerly heading through the straights of Gibraltar at 00:30 (am!). A favourable wind, for a change, helps us westward towards our next adventure:

At about 8am I receive a welcome phone call from home. As I catch up on the latest events in sunny Devon my conversation is rudely interrupted by an Orca. Surfacing just meters from the boat and heading at a considerable speed directly towards me. I now know what a rabbit trapped in car headlights feels like. The animal lunged forward and dived beneath the hull directly below my feet. As it went under it turned on it’s side to display the very distinctive white patterning on it’s under belly. I was standing in the cockpit at the time and the dorsal fin tip was at eye level. How the rudder remained intact is probably due to the animals sheer grace despite it’s size.

For the next 15 minutes we were joined by the whole family, all with their white markings and intimidating dorsal fins. This morning the game seems to be.. ’lets see if we can barrel roll under the boat for a few laughs’. The boat has a beam of 4.1m and each whale was visible both sides at the same time. Flappy tails one side.. cheeky grin the other.

 The telephone conversation changed somewhat with the addition of some classic expletives. Were the fish about to have Mr Chips for tea?

Orcas are fascinating creatures and very entertaining when viewed on the TV screen. But, just feet from your bed and separated by just 20mm of fibreglass is another matter entirely, and I was glad when they deemed that they had spooked me enough for one day and continued their hunt for breakfast!

My underwear is now soaking in a bowl on deck.

Our search for fuel is now heading us to Cadiz, were we anticipate arriving at around midnight 11^th June.