Gibraltar to UK, Weather & Orcas, what’s the best month?

blampied

blampied

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 Mar 2007
Messages
303
Location
Jersey Channel Islands
Visit site
Just bought a motorboat in Gibraltar which this summer I‘m intending to motor back towards the UK, up the Atlantic coast. (Portugal, Biscay) being retired I’m flexible about departure date, May, June or July?
Weather wise, Is there a best month for departure From Gib?

Are the pesky Orcas in the area just a sail boat problem and not so interested in motorboats, because we are moving faster?
While I have no doubt orcas are capable of very fast short bursts of speed, a few seconds at a time, I’m assuming an orca would burn too much energy to move at anything much above its displacement speed without very good reason, I’m assuming that would be about 7 knots? So any motor boat maintaining a speeds above 10 knots would be unbothered by them?
 
Last edited:
Personally I would make an extended holiday of it and leave early. Taking in the many sites without rushing back to only find everywhere full on the South Coast. There may be issues with the boat and being ‘new to you’ you may want some time to fix. If you leave in July you may find it difficult to resource what you need. You don’t say what the boat is. Is it a slow displacement boat or something more racy? With the latter you’ll have no problems with weather windows.
 
I am not a motor boater but I have sailed up and down this area on our way to and back from the Med. There is much to see, especially in Portugal. So, as Tallahassee says, make the most of it. Do some historical reading. You do not say what kind of boat. I assume a good, solid sea-worthy vessel. In summer, northerlies, “Portuguese Trades”, prevail and can be strong at times, F6/7 is common. This will be as the Spanish heat low deepens by day. You may find it difficult to maintain your nominal speeds. You might have to think about early starts getting into a port before afternoon.
 
I agree with the above.
We did the trip in the opposite direction, starting in May and taking five months. In retrospect, we wish we had gob=ne even slower and over wintered halfway down, so we could get the most out of all the wonderful places en route.
Talk to your insurers. They may insist you are clear of Biscay by end of September. Also may specify crew for Biscay, depending on experience and routing..
 
blampied said:
Just bought a motorboat in Gibraltar which this summer I‘m intending to motor back towards the UK, up the Atlantic coast. (Portugal, Biscay) being retired I’m flexible about departure date, May, June or July?
Weather wise, Is there a best month for departure From Gib?

Are the pesky Orcas in the area just a sail boat problem and not so interested in motorboats, because we are moving faster?
While I have no doubt orcas are capable of very fast short bursts of speed, a few seconds at a time, I’m assuming an orca would burn too much energy to move at anything much above its displacement speed without very good reason, I’m assuming that would be about 7 knots? So any motor boat maintaining a speeds above 10 knots would be unbothered by them?
Click to expand...

Yachts have much larger rudders than motor boats and extend well down below the prop so if the engine is running the boat is still vulnerable to attack. Motor boats have wee rudders not much deeper than a prop so even the Orcas might be aware of the danger of getting into the wrong place.
 
The OP is rightly worried about the Orcas
But I think a motorboat is less vulnerable.
The Orcas seem to be interested in the rudders - lots of mobos tend to have bronze rudders - right next to dangerous props.

A close friend of mine brought his sailboat back during October last year and didn't get any problems with Orcas.
However another friend took his new boat out to the Med last Spring.
This is what happened:-
Lots of damage to the rudders so they had to "pull in" at Gib
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top