GIBRALTAR

The book contains tidal charts and strategy for making the final passage through Straits into the Mediterranean. Information on fuel and marina prices as well as haul out facilities and places to winter your boat. Beside port information for all the above it provides places of interest and reasons for visiting them.

GIBRALTAR has gone from being a scruffy, dirty, underdeveloped dockyard/military town, into a smart, clean, well groomed tourist resort. Jet loads of holiday makers fly in by EASYJET & BA several times a day. Cruise ships disgorge thousands of passengers who wander Main Street with it’s smart shops and pubs and bars or visit the ‘apes’ up at the top of the Rock. It is the least expensive place on the Costa del Sol to keep your boat and the weather is some of the best in all the Mediterranean!

With the departure of Shepherds Marina & Boatyard from the sailing scene, there are now only two marinas in Gibraltar.

Queensway Quay Marina in the main harbour is the best protected and most comfortable with excellent facilities.

It closes at night, but is open from 08.30 - 22.00 1st March to 31st October and 8.30 - 21.00 1st November to 28th February.

As you approach the main harbour you need to call Queensway Quay Marina on VHF 71. They will then ask you to switch to a working channel to obtain details of your boat size and duration of stay. Normally, as you enter, you will be directed straight to your berth, which is mainly stern or bows to but there are a very few alongside places. Berthing is generally very easy because of the protection from the wind provide by the surrounding buildings.

Establish contact VHF Channel 71 then they will ask you to go to 68
+350 20044700
+350 20044699
info@queenswayquay.com

Queensway Quay staff are really helpful and friendly. I thoroughly recommend the place and like the ease of walking into the main town. New showers have been installed and the marina is the most secure in Gibraltar. There are several other quality restaurants café’s and bars including the Waterfront with free WiFi. There is a DIY or service wash laundry beside the Waterfront which has free wifi and Prodomestics for boat refrigeration and air-con is opposite the laundry.

You can safely leave your boat here for extended periods and of course there are several flights to the UK daily.

Which was there in the days of Sheppard's and is situated beside the runway. It has alongside berths for large super yachts as well as stern or bow to moorings for lesser boats. It is in the middle of a sophisticated development of flats, cafes, and restaurants, ladies hairdresser, estate agents etc on a long ‘boardwalk’. Most of the sailing schools and charter companies are situated here as well as Marine Maintenance who are the premier boat mechanics on the Rock.

You contact Marina Bay on VHF 71 and then switch to a working channel. The team is helpful and will of course take your lines. WiFi is available and you buy time in the Pier Office. Sadly a lot of space and indeed character has been removed by the permanent installation of a 'white elephant' hotel ship.

You can get your life raft serviced at Marine Safety (Gibraltar) Ltd
Unit 31
New Harbours
Gibraltar
Telephone:(+350) 200 40402
E-Mail: service@marinesafetygibraltar.com

Authorised to service:- Youlong RFD Beaufort Deutsche Schlauchboot Plastimo Zodiac Avon Nautic Service Sauvetage Ocean Safety Crewsaver

SAIL LOFTS are a real problem in all this part of Spain and indeed Gibraltar. I have used several Spanish companies but not been very happy with the results.

A&C (Angela and Colin Cuberos) Services

Tel:669 277171

Angela does Interior upholstery and canvas work.

AnC Sails

C/Mar de Alboran 32 , 04711 Almerimar

Contact Colin Dixon for Sails, rigging, canvas work

Tel:+33 606 84 04

comercial@anc-sails.com

Courier service in Spain is remarkably inexpensive, fast and efficient. It is easy to send Colin or Angela your items by courier and have them returned in the same way.

BOAT YARDS With the replacement of Sheppards Marina and boat yard with Marina Village, you must now find travel lifts and boatyard facilities elsewhere. (It is still possible for Sheppard's to arrange a commercial mobile crane to lift you out and put you on the hard near the ferry terminal. They can also haul up to 9m or 5 ton

Just across the bay in Algeciras, there is a family run boat yard with a big 100 ton travel lift and 3 slips for really big boats. Super Yachts haul here because of the excellent facilities and VAT free prices.:-Certainly the best and least expensive boat yard in the Gibraltar - Costa del Sol area.

Miguel - Michael, speaks perfect English and many of the guys doing the work speak enough to get the job done. There are good new showers and toilet facilities. I hauled there for spring anti-foul, polish and sea cock checks etc and found their workmanship excellent, friendly and helpful. It is one of the very few haul out places on the Costa del Sol area where you can live on board whilst on the hard. They handle every sort of craft from super super yachts to really small boats. They have experts in every department and are efficient, helpful and really nice people. Huge travel lift

Situated at 36° 07’.28”N 5° 26’ 08”W it is in the ‘Freeport’ area of Algeciras and as such, does not have to add 21% Spanish VAT to it’s charges. The prices are very competitive compared to the La Linea marina travel lift facility. They have a chandlers and can obtain most items within 24 hours if not in stock. They have excellent workshops and professional shipwrights, electricians and osmosis treatments. Main dealers for International and Jotun.

May 2014 - I have just finished the annual refit - antifouling, greasing Maxi-prop, renewing anodes and polishing topsides at the Green Island Yacht Centre and it was a very very good experience. They speak excellent English, the travel lift is huge making lifting and splashing easy. The yard did my antifouling and topsides polish for me to a very high standard, quickly and efficiently. I came away with a bill lower than I expected! I cannot recommend this yard highly enough - nice people. We could have lived onboard but instead chose to taxi 4-8€ to a hotel in Algeciras each day. A very nice town centre with the excellent cafe 'Monte' near the centre plus very inexpensive meals in the evenings at The Magic Flute.

Medgate across the Strait on the Morocco side is another duty free (no VAT) haul out facility. You can live on board, or there are crew quarters ashore or nearby hotel. Ceuta is a very pleasant town to be in with excellent shops, tapas bars, restaurants and beaches.. Travel lift up to 325 tons. They are not very keen on DIY and are really only interested in big boats. a

Sheppards have an excellent and extensive chandlers shop at Marina Bay behind the car park. They are service agents for Raymarine, Volvo Penta & Mercury - MerCruiser. Their shop is contains a full range of chandlery items and anything not in stock can be ordered. They also have a full yacht repair and installation service with qualified marine electricians, mechanics, and riggers. 350 200 75148 or 350 200 77183 admin@sheppard.gi & yachtrep@gibraltar.gi. They can haul boats of up to 9 metres or 5 tons. Sheppards can arrange tax free importation under Yacht in Transit. They are friendly and helpful.

The ‘Hire-U-Shop’ in Waterport Road www.hire-u-shop.com/ has an extensive chandlery stock. In addition to tool and equipment hire it has a full chandlery service and supplies everything from anti-fouling to pilot books. Mark, the owner, is very knowledgeable, helpful and will deliver to your boat. Tel (00350)200 73017 They will import larger, more expensive items.

There is an excellent marine engines dealer and service company, MARINE MAINTENANCE www.MMgib.com for Yanma, Perkins, Thornycroft and Lauzas etc at 6, The Square, Marina Bay run by Kevin and Philippa. The work is thoroughly professional and reasonably priced by this experienced UK engineer who takes care of all the pilot and police launches engines in Gib.

For electrical, air conditioning, refrigeration, electrical and plumbing problems I recommend PRODOMESTICS http://www.prodomestics.com/ Unit 2 Ragged Staff Wharf, Queensway Quay, in the passage between the two halves of Waterfront café/restaurant (with good WiFi) just opposite the excellent service wash launderette.

Today 20th May 2014 there is nowhere in Gib to get 'Camping Gaz'. Hopefully that will change and I would ask in Sheppards or call them for the latest update. The only alternative to this is going into La Linea where in the pedestrian precinct there is a 'gas shop' but you are faced with the problem that you may well have a problem with either Spanish or Gib customs over taking gas bottles across the frontier - if you use this solution 'stealth' is required.

Fuel is duty free and there are two suppliers opposite Marina Bay next door to each other. As far as I am aware they both charge the same for diesel and petrol and both have excellent fendering on the dockside.

Fuel is around 5-10 cents a litre cheaper in Ceuta, so if you need a lot its worth the trip across the Strait. It is on the left as you enter the marina area.

There are many free WiFi ‘hotspots’ throughout Gibraltar, particularly in the cafés and bars. There is new management at Gibtel and the service is now excellent. You can sign in and for £2 per day or or £10 per week £30 per month receive a very fast and stable connection. Under previous management it was a disgrace and a rip-off, this new service is first rate.

There are various items in Gibraltar Chandlers which are now duty & Vat free. You have to bear in mind that transport costs to the Rock are sometimes higher than to Spain

You should be aware that the much vaunted 'duty free' signs everywhere in Gibraltar are a little disingenuous. It is true there is no VAT, but that tax is replaced by an import duty of 12%. This tax is applied to virtually everything that is brought into Gib irrespective of the fact the item may have had VAT paid on it in Europe. You can get UK companies to send stuff to Gib VAT free but on delivery you will have to pay 12% tax on the item. Shipping is more expensive to Gibraltar than to Spain so it is sometimes the more expensive option. If you walk or drive across the Frontier you are liable to be stopped and searched by Gibraltar Customs Officials and made to pay the 12% duty. If you have already paid 20% VAT on the item it can be irritating! A part of Gibraltar's economy is base on the 12% import tax on every item entering the country,

The international system that allows travelling yachts, when NOT in EU countries, to import goods duty and VAT free. Gibraltar is outside the EU and therefore 'Yacht in Transit' rights apply. It works like this.

You order goods from a chandler/supplier in the USA, UK or EU and require them to send them to you not VAT paid which, if it is to Gibraltar, is your right.- for most of us this means an immediate saving of around 20%. The goods should be sent addressed to your boat, your name c/o one of the two marina's. It is very important the order is marked 'Yacht in Transit'.. DHL appear to be the most efficient and have a good working relationship with Gibraltar customs and excise.

Normally, from the UK, your goods arrive by courier in Gibraltar 24/48 hours later and go into the DHL bonded store. DHL then deliver to you a 'notice/customs note' at the relevant marina.

You pick up the DHL 'notice/customs note' from the marina office and with your 'ships papers' and passport you take the note to the customs office behind the new arrival building at Gibraltar airport. This is under the bridge, beside where the cars queue to cross the frontier into Spain. It is the same office that incoming lorries use to clear Gibraltar customs. You go up the exterior staircase to the customs office and hand in the 'notice/customs note'. Gib customs then check and photocopy everything and make sure you are not a Gibraltar Resident.. They then stamp the papers.

Be aware this ' duty free' importation is a courtesy, not a right - you can be obliged to pay 12% import tax if the 'customs officer' so decides.

With the stamped papers you go to the DHL office. To find them. you go down Queensway passing Queensway Quay Marina on your right to the roundabout. Do not go straight ahead, rather come out of the roundabout to the left, under the bridge. Go up to the next roundabout and take the first exit right to the next and again take the first exit on the right and follow this road for about a mile until you see the entrance to a trading estate on the right with the DHL sign. Go in turn right and follow the road round to the right and DHL is on the right. Hand them your custom stamped papers and receive your goods.

Alcaidesa Marina

For some smaller boats it is less expensive than Gibraltar, but at the exchange rate of 1.20€ to the £, it appears to be more expensive for boats above 10.00m. than The Gibraltar marinas, particularly Queensway Quay.

Spanish VAT is 21%, against no VAT in Gib, plus the standing charges for water and electricity, on top of the amount you consume, all raise the apparent annual or daily charge.

It is a considerable walking distance from La Linea town but it now has a small cafe in a sort of Portacabin by the main berthing area. The only shower block is new and clean and security appears to be good. They have lots of deals but be aware that there are standing charges for both electricity and water over and above what is consumed. Berth holders are charged 2€ a day to bring a car into the marina area.

There is a problem with the haul out facility at La Linea Alcaidesa Marina. In 2013 high winds a couple of boats fell off their supports also the Volvo Penta/Cummings service agents, 'Elias Blanco', have the sole and exclusive right to work on your boat if it is powered by Volvo or Cummings.

If it is not Volvo or Cummings powered then you may use another engineer, who is on the list of approved workers for the yard. (correct insurance, qualifications, tax registered etc is required) The problem in la Linea is that the marina office will not give you a list of 'approved' engineers, so you can get stuck with Elias Blanco.

Some UK boat owners have apparently had quite serious problems with Elias Blanco. Volvo Penta themselves, in a report, have criticized Elias Blanco for commencing repairs that they have not been asked or authorised to do, then charging for them using 'no cash, no splash' to insist on payment.

A better solution, only a mile away, is to use the duty free boat yard at Algeciras Free Port

The yard manager Miguel - Michael, speaks perfect English and many of the guys doing the work speak enough to get the job done. There are good new showers and toilet facilities. I hauled there for spring anti-foul, polish and sea cock checks etc and found their workmanship excellent, friendly and helpful. It is one of the very few haul out places on the Costa del Sol area where you can live on board whilst on the hard. They handle every sort of craft from super super yachts to really small boats. They have experts in every department and are efficient, helpful and really nice people. Huge travel lift

I have used this facility for Paw Paw every year from 2014 - 2017. You can stay in the boat on the hard and use the boatyard shower/toilet facilities, but we normally book into the very inexpensive Hotel Victoria Marina and enjoy the town.

It is better to buy your antifouling in Gib and bring it with you but most other items like anodes are available from the yard chandlers. They do excellent glass fibre repairs and colour matching.

There is an excellent anchorage with good holding behind the big breakwater in front of the entrance to La Linea Marina and opposite the Gibraltar runway where you are no longer allowed to anchor. Sadly every so often the La Linea Marina management complain to the Spanish harbour authorities about boats anchoring, rather than using the marina facilities. The harbour authority then moves the anchored boats on, but most as a form of protest go to a Gibraltar marina rather than use the La Lineal marina, who instigated the clearing of the anchorage.