SAILING IN THE MED, AND LOVING IT...

It's not a statement I would have predicted that I would ever have made. I'm no sailor and couldn't imagine how living on the water could compare with the conven ience of living on dry land? But in fact I found sailing, marina life and living on board to be absolutely mar vellous. Maybe we were just lucky but myself and six friends(average age 60-plus) from Portugal's Algarve went sailing in the waters around Gibraltar and had such a great time that we can't wait to do it again.

The boat in question is the Ocean Viking a beautiful 60-foot schooner owned by Andre De Barr of the Tun nel Restaurantand Bar in Casemates Square. The deal was — we char tered the boat for a week to sail around the Med and Andre would provide the food and a skipper. Both turned out to be superb.

We drove down from the Algarve on a Sunday and spent the firstrught on board in order to get used to the feel of the boat. Only Allan, men tioned above,had considerable sail ing experience. Big John, an exRoyal Marine, certainly was famil iar with life at sea and many things nautical but myself and Maggie were both novices, John's wife Shirley and their friends Alfie and Linda had never been sailing before. Shirley was convinced she would spend the whole trip wrapped up in her bunk being sea-sick!

Well none of us suffered even the slightest from the dreaded 'mal de mer' and amazingly there were no squabbles,no whining and no tears. There were, however,lots of laugh ter and lively discussions and fan tastic meals. Everyone took a turn at the helm, the women tended to make the sandwiches when we were at sea but the men helped with the cooking and the washing up.By the end of the week we were all becom ing dab hands at 'raising the main sail','getting the fenders out','tack ing with the Jenny (Genoa jib)' and making the'OXO'knot. Alfie even went up in the bo'sun's chair.

I believe things went so well be cause both the boat and the skipper inspired confidence. The Ocean Vi king is superbly fitted out with two double-guest cabins and two cabins with bunks in the central part of the yacht. There are two toilets with

Ginger at the heam of the Ocea.t Viking

There is plenty of room and every night there were eight of us seated around the dinner table hand-held shower facilities. The crews quarters are in the bow where there is a separate toilet and shower. The galley has a combined fridgefreezer, a gas stove and oven, elec tric kettle, double sink, and plenty of storage space. There is plenty of room and every night there were eight of us seated around the din ner table.

Initially we were supposed to have the first two dinners on board and the remaining mealsin the vari ous Spanish marinas where there are dozens of good restaurants. But we enjoyed dining together on board so much and Andre's chef provided such fine food and so much of it giant steaks, chicken in pepper sauce, prawns and salmon — ^at we had all of our dirmers on board except the final one when Andre treated us to dinner at The Tunnel.

Then there was the skipper. Gin ger Sergeant. Sounds like a name from an Haling Comedy.But Ginger was no laughing matter. He was 'The Skipper' and he made us tow the line. With the help of the experi enced Allan, who we dubbed 'The First Mate', he whipped us into some semblance of shape.

With his wiry build, red beard, captain's hat and hand-rolled ciga rette Ginger looked the part and played it. When we set out on the Monday morning we had gone only five feet when the engine conked out.

Without hesitation. Ginger, a former Royal Navy CPO, donned hisswimming trunks and went over the side to check that nothing had got wrapped around the propeller. I think that gesture reassured us all that we were in competent hands. The problem turned out to be elec trical and was soon solved.

We motored out into Gibraltar Bay and Ginger started giving or ders.He didn't bark them butspoke calmly.

He let us rookies fumble about and only intervened when it was obvious that we had got ourselves into fixes we couldn't get out of. It was a good way to force us to learn.

Sailing out into the Strait we ex perienced winds of 20-25 knots and the occasional wave that sprayed the cockpit that gave us a good soaking. There was a lot of traffic and once we had to come about to avoid a fast-moving freighter. But everyone was smiling and joking and relish ing the breeze, the sun and the salt air.

One thing we learned was that it is very difficult to get a berth in the Mediterranean, especially a yacht the size of the Ocean Viking. It had taken four hours to reach Ceuta,the Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast opposite Gibraltar, but there we were turned away even though we had phoned ahead. Ginger de cided we should motor down to Smir, a modern marina near Tetouan,Morocco,where there was plenty of room.

AtSmir we took advantage of the good shower facilities and had a walk about before dinner. Although Smir is an excellent marina there isn't much to do there, particularly outside of July and August.

The next morning we did some chores and gawked at the rich peo ple's yachts(mostly motor)moored around us.

We hoisted Alfie up the bos'un's chair to free the halyard so we could raise the Moroccan 'courtesy flag'. Then we were bussed off tofetouan to visit the souk. We had the usual guided tour that anyone who has been to Tangier will be familiar with. Including the high-pressure carpet sale — but we didn't buy.

That day's sailing was the best of the trip as we experienced different conditions on our way back to Ceuta. First we had 20-25 knot winds, then we were virtually be calmed and finally we had 30-35 knot winds and reached speeds of between 9 and 10 knots. TTiis was when the Oceatt Viking was really 'healing'(at least as far as we begin ners were concerned). When the braltar was the friendly and experi enced Steve and he was accompa nied by a young backpacker and family friend, Kelly, who would be sailing for the first time. Now,feel ing quite confident, we 'the motley crew'soaked up the sun,enjoyed the sites and did our duties as Ginger had taught us.

As we sailed along the coast of Spain in a fresh breeze, I remember looking over at all the high rises and developments and thinking of all those poor schmucks driving along the dusty,fume-ridden highway.

Steve took us around the bay un til we caught up with the dolphins (we had also seen some in the Strait) and then we moored at Sheppard's

O/rC'SV/y/cM 200S at f/ie Shaft fTTote/

We invWe you to join usfor a traditionalfestive holiday, where the emphasis is on quality combined zvith a relaxed andfriendly atmosphere.

- Christmas Eve ~

(Wednesday 24th December)

7.30pm

Champagne reception in our Terrace Bar

Christmas Carols

8.30pm

Christmas Eve Gala Dinner

~ Christmas Day ~

(Thursday 25th December)

Breakfast at leisure

12.00pm

Pre-lunch drinks, highlighted by a visit from Father Christmas

Christmas Lunch

~ Boxing Day ~

(Friday 26th December) starboard rail seemed to be about a foot above the water Shirley asked Ginger,'How much further does it have to go before we turn over.'

"About half an inch," was the Skipper's laconic reply.

That night there was room at Ceuta but only after a friendly fel low yachtsmen agreed to move his boat and after some nifty helmsmanship and use of the bowthrusters by Ginger. Ceuta turned out,to my surprise, to be quite nice town and a pleasant surprise was the duty-free liquor.

Our next two ports of call were Duquesa and Estepona.

We were refused a berth at the lat ter until Maggie, who was bom in Argentina, impressed the 'marineiro' with her fluent Spanish.

Sadly Ginger had to leave us to go to a wedding and even though we had only been together for a few days it was a sad parting. We had a little party for him and gave him some books and bottles of Portu guese wine. He said we were the most'relaxed'crew he had ever had. We took it as a complement.

Our skipper for the return to Gi-

Marina tor our last night.

To emphasise that 1 am not exag gerating when 1 write that for all of us it was a 'wonderful experience' I will relate what Alfie had to say on the last day. He was standing at the helm looking out over the Ocean Vi king and the Marina.

"It's kind of sad isn't it," he said to me in his Liverpool accent.

"What is?" 1 replied.

"It's all over."

The Ocean Viking is available for charier to individuals, clubs or youth groups seeking the opportunity to un dertake sail training under theguidance of an experienced instructor. Anyone seeking to gain an RYA sailing qualifi cation or build experience is welcome.

Breakfast at leisure

11.00 am

Polar Bear Swim at Catalan Bay, with rrunce pies and brandy to follow 1.15pm

Buffet lunch

8.00pm

Boxing Day dinner with live Jazz Band

- New Year's Eve

(Wednesday 31sl December)

8.00pm

Pool Bar 8th floor

Welcome cocktail, dinner dance with live band, and wonderful novelties

Champagne at midnight

Governor's Parade, Gibraltar Tbl:(350)70500 Fax:(350)70243

E-mail: eliott@gibnet.gi HTTP://w'V/W.GIBRALTAR.Gl/EL10TntOTEL