this pretty much covers it! though i would reccomend making an advance reservation
Gibraltar Information for Cruisers — Noonsite
Our thanks to Amanda and Mark of SY Balvenie for this comprehensive update for
Gibraltar.
SY Balvenie was in Gib from 18 Jun to 02 Aug 2011.
Ocean Village and Marina Bay
Marinas - Gibraltar: 36 08.99N 05 21.95W
Entrance to the marina is the south side of the
airport runway. Follow the runway along, the office is straight ahead - white two storey building. Entrance into Marina Bay is on the left (keep following runway), Ocean Village berths are either straight ahead or slightly to the right. The
fuel docks are on the right wall. There is ample room in here for dropping
sails in sheltered waters (for a few yachts).
VHF 71,
phone 00350 20073300,
email pieroffice@marinabay.gi
Contact marina when coming down the runway and they will allocate a berth and assist with tie up. The marina also handles customs/immigration. Gibraltar has its own flag and they prefer you to fly it and not the British flag.
Summer rates are £22.50 a day 12-15m.
Power is 15p KWH and
water 1p per litre. Others on our
dock have been charged excessively for what they should have been for
water. The water metres are not on the
dock so you can’t check on arrival, but it may be an idea to ask the office to have them both recorded.
Ocean Village is floating docks with one finger, (but with
med moor bow/stern lines) the fingers are very flimsy and do not have
cleats on them. Difficult to keep the
boat close for boarding, and very low for getting off at the bow!
Marina Bay (slightly cheaper about a pound a day), it is all med
mooring with very high concrete piers.
Free
wifi but basically it hardly ever works, they were upgrading the entire time we were there, but it never improved. There are several bars/cafes along the marina front with free
wifi. "Charlies" and "The Ship" have unlocked signals, they seem to be where the yachties hang out and have non stop sport/news with
English commentary on.
Repairs and
Maintenance
Sheppards and
Marine Maintenance are the two chandlers and are just in behind the row of cafes. Both also perform most
boat jobs. The chandleries are disappointing considering the amount of through traffic there is. We have several friends trying to have packages sent in and this seems time consuming, possibly because Gibraltar is non EU. As it is non EU is qualifies for taking the boat out of the EU for those non EU
boats that need to get out every 18 months. (IMPORTANT NOTE: This is not correct. Even though Gibraltar is not a normal
member of the EU, time spent here is included in the 18 month
rule. Ed.)
Phones
In the marina you pick up a Spanish signal but if you take the
phone onto Main street or to Morrisons it goes onto Gibraltar signal, which is non EU. So on Vodafone
Spain it changes to Gibtel and onto roaming for making calls and are also charged for incoming calls at over €1.50 a minute. Then to top up you need to walk to La Linea Vodafone shop. On Gymsim Worldwide moblie (
GYMSIM - International mobile phone sim cards) Gibraltar is on a higher rate than the rest of
Europe and you are charged for incoming, best make sure you are on a Spanish signal!
Fuel
There is a very long fuel dock on the right as you come down the “runway” to the marina. It has lots of very clean white fenders. Plenty of turning room, even room to drop
sails.
Diesel was 97p, Petrol £1.07.
Shopping
Main Street is full of Duty Free Alcohol stores.
Electronics (computers with English keyboards at good prices), souvenir stores and most UK High Street Fashion retailers.
Food Shopping - Marks and Spencers (on Main Street right along the other end) has a small food outlet, I spotted Canadian Maple Syrup. And then there is Morrisons Supermarket - come out of southern end of Marina to the road, turn right cross at 2nd pedestrian lights then take first on the left past church and
school. Keep walking, its a one way esidential street through low rise blocks and looks like a dead end, but carry on and you will eventually see McDonalds and Morrisons. Less than 10 minutes.
Laundry
On the lane behind all the cafes, self
service is £5 a load, also do service washes.
Money
Prices here are in Gibraltar Pounds, with no VAT. Note that if you have a UK Bank Account and take
money from an ATM machine it is not charged £ for £, it was processed at around 96.5p. The NatWest ATM gives out Gib Pounds but the Barclays gives British Pounds (but still charges lower rate). You can not get out euros. Gib Pounds are not valid anywhere outside Gib we are told!
Sightseeing
Local Buses (except No 5 to the
airport which is easy to walk) are free and leave from just across from the Marina. Bus to Europa Point worth the trip for a look but not much there, they go every 15 minutes, think it was No 2.
Balvenie
Received From: N BARTON
Date: 4 October, 2011
Message:
Gibraltar is part of the EU. However it is outside both the
customs union and VAT system. The authors of the above article apparently didn't walk down Main Street. Which clearly states the projects funded by the EU. By virtue of being a British crown colony, we were included in the EU when Britian joined.