35 53.8 N 005 18.8 W Ceuta
Monday 7th June 2010-06-07

Spent far too long in Gibraltar, not by choice. Once the surface is scratched, there is not a lot! Except traffic and noise and dust and roadworks and demolition, building and cranes! But result, we have depth! A workable temp solution is squidging the transducer onto the bilge and letting is work through the hull. Means we can keep the boat log as well until the next lift out. Boat owners will understand!

Have nipped across the Straits to North African coast to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. A really nice place, with an ancient history going back to Carthaginians and Phoenicians, and a variety of invasions over the centuries. The result is a harmonious bringing together of the four main groups here - Muslim, Christian, Hindu and Jew. They each play an important part in the town and the whole place is characterised by mutual respect and tolerance and enjoyment of and participation in each others' festivals and customs. Refreshing.

Old bastions and forts, new galleries, wide open spaces and beautifully landscaped gardens, all mixed together with the workaday shambles that is back-street life and markets. We explored the Ceuta hill (Monte Hache) and all round the perimeter which is national park. It has that dry smell of pine and heat. We were going to get the bus to the Morrocon frontier but there is a weather system coming in by Wednesday and we want to be some way up the Spanish mainland coast by then. So we watched a procession of boys and girls, the priesthood and the local dignitaries, military and band go up the main avenue that had been covered in flowers, all laid out in intricate heraldic designs. It was a Corpus Christi festival and it seemed the whole town was involved.

A mixture of languages too, mainly Spanish, but also Arabic and Hebrew - and probably a patois of all three! A short stay, just to put our feet on the continent's soil. We'll try and see more on the return trip whenever.