Gibraltar

[DaveWalsh]

Deep Blue have an interesting package for a week in March, hidden away on the \"Buy and Sell\" bulletin board, worth looking at.
Does anyone out there know about the local paddling? Is the Straits straightforward, that sort of thing. Also the European side, is it sheltered. I am thinking of bringing an \"improver\" with me and need to judge (and I don\'t mean Fred before the wags get going).
DWalsh

[Dave]

I read somewhere recently that a group who were doing the crossing took 24 hrs due to the tides. I think it was a group from the states. All in all it looks a relatively easy trip if the planning is right. With Nigel Denis and Des there I reckon the planning will be perfect. However I think it would be wise to talk directly to Des about the improver (DW is it). If I can find the article that I read I will pass it on to you.

[Dave]

Carina Bruwer today became the fastest female to swim across the Gibraltar Straits, from Tarifa Point in Spain to Morocco in Africa . She finished the 16km swim in 3h35, taking just 2 minutes off the previous record set by Indian swimmer MS Bula Chowdhury in 2000.

Carina did the swim last summer. Can\'t be too difficult

[DaveWalsh]

24 hrs for a 3 hour crossing would be nothing to me, seeing as once I took 4 hrs 45 mins to cross from Kilmore Quay to Little Saltee, roughly 4 hrs 20 mins more than it should have taken. About an hour and a half out, in a pea-soup mist, we dug out of deep inside a hatch a new fangled yoke Fred had bought called a GPS. We switched it on and didn\'t even have to calculate the grid reference numbers, the letter was wrong. We were in the wrong 100km by 100km box, somewhere up near Carnsore Point we calculated afterwards. Which proves my navigational skills are spectacular, so there.
DWalsh

[Manuel]

Dave,

I don\'t know any nice place to paddle around Gibraltar. The Malaga\'s coast is too tourist so you\'d find a lot of ugly flat buildings along the coastline. Anyway, the roads are very good down there so long distances can be driven in a short time. My favourites without question, two natural reserves in the Mediterranean:
a) Cabo de Gata in Almeria (370 Kms/4 h. from Gibraltar) It deserves a couple of days. You can hire boat and gear in Almeria (Eolo Windsurfing Phone (0034) 950 261735)
b) Maro-Cerro Gordo in Granada (190 Kms/2 h. from Gibraltar)

Hope that helps, Have a nice sunny trip!!!!
Manuel