I was called out of bed at 01.30 in the morning due to a developing traffic situation while the ship was passing the South West corner of Spain. As mentioned yesterday, the traffic flows from East and West meet here and diverge or converge.  50 ships on the radar screen and 49 were behaving themselves and one was not.  So the navigator slowed the ship down and called me out to witness further developments. After our troublesome friend was explained that we expected that he would follow the Rules of the Road, he changed course and passed us at a safe distance.  I always like it when I get called for these things. I fully trust my navigators, otherwise they would not be standing a watch, but it does make sense when there is an unusual development, to get the captain out. It brings more authority into the equation and a very valuable witness in case something would happen. So while we were watching our errant friend safely pass us by on the portside, I had a good look at the weather and it was not good. The wind was still blowing with us, while the weather forecast had planned that it would turn to the West around 10 pm last night.  That meant that the whole weather system was delayed and that meant trouble.  Still nothing we could do but wait and see how it really looked when we approached Motril.

Thus I was back on the bridge by 05.30 and the wind was still picking up in intensity. It had finally shifted direction by 03.45 and it looked that we were now nearing the centre of the depression.  Wind meter and waves indicated that there was at least 50 knots blowing and that was 20 knots more than predicted. So we were going to have a challenge on our hands, one that might not be solvable.  It was time to call the pilot and ask a situation report for inside the harbour. Motril is sheltered from Westerly and Northwesterly winds. We were having South westerly winds , so it would all depend on the wind angle near the shore to see if there was shelter or not.  The pilot came on the VHF and he was not a happy person.  Too much wind; 30 knots gusting to 50 knots, same at the pilot station.  The Prinsendam was drifting on the wind with very very choppy seas all around and I was not planning to get closer with this weather. Still the pilot insisted in coming out to talk to me in person. Unfortunately his pilot boat was a sort of plastic affair that you only want to be in, in perfect weather and he was bouncing all over the place. Even when I brought the wind full on the beam and the boat could approach in the full shelter of the Prinsendam, he was still going 4 to 5 feet up and down and could not come safely alongside. No other option then but for him to return to the port with again a very bouncy ride. 

The pilot had high hopes for improvement after sunrise and thus I decided to wait. Sunrise was at 07.19 and then “things might change”. Nothing changed; it only started to blow even harder. The peak came in at 55 knots and at 0800 hrs. I called it a day. The pilot concurred as his weather forecast was not predicting any improvement until late in the afternoon. Ports nearby, had the same weather so a deviation was not going to work either.  The best plan was to proceed directly to Cadiz our next port. Have a scenic sail by of the Gib during daytime and arrive by 20.00 hrs. in Cadiz. Then for those who wanted to could go ashore and enjoy a Spanish evening out.  

                       web gib                                                                                                                                                                 Although we did not see Motril, we did see the Rock of Gibraltar this time. When we entered the Med. the rock was mostly obscured by sand dust hanging in the air. Now the windy weather offered us a very clear view. Photo by roving reporter Lesley Schoonderbeek.  

Missing Motril is a big disappointment for all, due to the extensive sightseeing options here but there is nothing that you can do with this amount of wind. I am totally puzzled about these short weather systems we have at the moment that are popping up out of nowhere and have been bothering us all over the Med.  Short but very intense and as a result you have a beautiful wind still day in port, or it is blowing so hard that you cannot even get near.  All this was announced accordingly and by 13.00 hrs. we sailed past the rock of Gibraltar. A sail by which otherwise would have happened at 11 pm. in the evening and in the dark.  As soon as we cleared the Straits the wind died down and by the time that we docked in Cadiz there was only a gentle breeze blowing.  We took the berth of the P&O liner Ventura who sailed out of the port, while we were going in.  We will stay overnight, and then sail at 23.00 tomorrow evening.