Passage to Rabat, Morocco

Depart Gibraltar 20 Sept for anchorage Algeciras close to Gibraltar

Depart Algeciras 21 Sept for Rabat

 

We now have our third crew member on board, Amanda Wilson from Hawkes Bay.  Amanda is an experienced sailor and skipper of her own 12m yacht and is sailing with us to get some off shore experience as it is something she has always wanted to do. We are thrilled to have Amanda on board and on our best behaviour - for a while anyway.

Soon after Amanda's arrival we move the boat over to La Linea Marina, now called Alcaidesa, and enjoy some music on board Hob Nob with Doug and Shanna.

We arrive in Rabat just after midday 22 Sept after an amazing overnight sail, but very intense at times.

After a forecast of no wind, we pick up an easterly wind at Tarifa at the western end of the Gib Straights just as daylight is filling in.  We slice across to the north western tip of Africa and past it to see the coastline stretching out to the south off to port.

Now for a while we have to motor - 3 hours in total - before a fresh south west fills in and pulls us on long tacks southwards. 

We organise ourselves into 3 hourly overnight watches, eat a dinner of roast chicken and vegetables then the night moves on.   We have to tack more frequently to keep the sails filled in the light south westerly, sometimes slipping along nicely sometimes struggling and engine assisted.   At some stage we sight a large purple weather cell behind us on the radar and think we might be getting a wind change.  Sure enough within half an hour wind fills in from the north-west and we are able to ease the sails, step up the speed and touch more than 7 knots at times.

 

It is a very dark night and we are two on deck at all times, revolving according to our watch pattern.  Fishing nets and other navigational hazards make for an intense concentrated time regardless of how close or far we are from the shore, sometimes 6 NM, sometimes 20.  Lights – tiny blinking ones in lines (they are fishing nets on the surface) and larger ones, sometimes stationary and sometimes moving, keep us fully occupied. The massive and ugly shrimp boat which tries to run us down is the worst.  Around 0415H Amanda and Pippy spot it from 12 miles away on our bow and track it on radar coming towards us.  Several times we change course to port to avoid it, and several times it changes course too to that it is always there, right in our path.  Cap’n Buck is dragged out of bed, having only just gone off watch at 0400H.  The shrimper is approx a mile away and has now been on our starboard side for a little time, when we spot a port light and realise it has this time changed to a cross-bows course towards us.  We know it is probably dragging nets – or something – so we must pass it's bow.  Soon it is half a mile away – our engine is on and we are accelerating at high revs.  All our deck lights are on too so that we are lit up like a Christmas tree.  Pippy is calling on the VHF repeatedly for them to advise their intentions.  No reply.  No AIS signal either.  By the time we pass under their bows they are a quarter of a mile away and coming fast.  We see the whole structure bearing down on our starboard side – massive steel gantries out each side which look like a Meccano construction, the bow crouching over the water like a giant mantis from a sci-fi movie, quite scary as we don’t actually know what it's purpose is and have never seen anything like it before.  Once we are past and away the shrimper changes course again away from us and continues on its way.

Moroccan Flag goes up on arrival.

We cannot believe that the manoeuvres this boat has made is to protect nets since it has literally hunted us down.  Two more sailing boats report similar incidents in this region over the next few days.  It is not until we see these reports that we realise what the offending boat was.

This wind carries us until around 0700H when the engine has to go on.  It has been an exhilarating and at times scary passage. 

We are a ragged little bunch on arrival into Rabat, having had very little sleep overnight. 

The Port Pilot meets us promptly despite us not being able to make out their transmission on VHF.  We follow the pilot on a very picturesque journey upstream to the marina on the Sale side.  

Once over the bar and past the rocky headland, we see massive ancient Kasbah walls on each side of the river towering over the foreground of a lovely sandy beach and many brightly painted small wooden fishing boats and their dark skinned inhabitants, which might have come from a Biblical scene. 

Customs give us a good look over on arrival and we are soon in our berth, where rather than dashing out and exploring, we fade quickly into blissful dreamless sleeps, fully clothed and asleep wherever it finds us, spread-eagled and relaxed.

Where did August go?

Last minute happy times are enjoyed in Culatra with friends Clare and Tony and John and Janine.  We have had many happy evenings on board Orca Joss (NZ) and Hai Mei Gui, playing guitars and singing along...sort of!

We all take a fast water taxi one evening ...to Faro.

Its a real thrill speeding across the flat waters of Culatra, hitting a sand bank on the way .... not planned - but after coming to a sudden stop we are soon on our way again.

Its the Faro Food and Music Festival is on and we are having a night out... yeah!

After one lovely last evening on board Matelot we check the weather forecast and decide we are departing in the morning for Gibraltar.

Tuesday 12 August

Culatra to Cadiz

82.6 NM

Late out of bed … again!  Our 6am departure from Culatra turns into 0700H as we hurtle out through the heads with the outgoing spring tide, bumping our way over the whirlpools and random waves thrown up by the current.  No wind at all, despite having lain awake most of the night listening to the whine of the wind coming from the north and assuming it would still be there in the morning.

We are sad to leave but not too badly so, as the smell of the bare mudflats or whatever it is on the outgoing tide is nothing to be happy about and has wafted into our for’ard berth for some time through the partially open hatch, particularly smelly.  This place is a place of teaming life – fish, shellfish, birds everywhere (plenty of food for them), some of them quite rare.  I guess the smell is the price you pay for ‘life’ or is it what comes out of the pipe by the ferry wharf at Olhao?  We will never know and it will not worry us either. 

Never mind, the current seems to help us along rather well and so does the engine, until with 30 miles still to go the wind comes in and the sailing is just lovely – on the beam around 12-15 knots all afternoon until our arrival Cadiz 1900H, dropping anchor at 1945H.

There is nothing quite like coming back into a familiar anchorage of a town you have loved, in gorgeous weather, the noise of the wind, then the engine and then …. silence… just the lapping of the water against the hull, a cold beer and the distant sounds of the bridge construction which has made considerable progress since we were last here – ages ago…no wait – two months ago.

Our watches are put forward one hour and oh no – it is already 2130H and we have not had dinner.  Back to the galley Pippy.

Wed 13 August

Cadiz to Gibraltar

82 NM

We depart our peaceful anchorage under the bridge construction at 0700H on a strong ebb tide.  Not far around the corner we find ourselves in a 20 knot NW breeze and strong short swell as the wind pushes against the outgoing tide.  Conditions are challenging for the first hour as we clear the harbour under engine and reefed genoa.  Pippy is busy on the helm slightly anxious that we got going so quickly she did not check the hatches properly….just a niggling worry but Richard has a quick glance down below and sees no problem there.  Matelot buries her nose a few times and we have waves over the bow – a nice clean-up for the muddy anchor and chain.

Unfortunately some time later we discover that our for’ard hatch is closed, but on the first setting – slightly cracked open.  Our bedding - including mattresses - is saturated in salt water.  We get the watermaker going and do the washing on the way, mattress covers as well and its soon all dry and clean in the sunshine.  We also have a nice shower ourselves in the cockpit after clearing Trafalgar Reef.

The sea state from now on is confused to say the least by the pressure of massive current from the Straights.  To use Cap’n Buck’s words from the log:  There are some pretty fearsome stand-ups near the Trafalgar and Tarifa shoals and at times we are doing over 8 knots over the ground feeling like we are sailing down rapids.

Our intended destination today is Barbate, but we are going so well we forge on into the Straights of Gibraltar around 1830H, carried onwards by a strong current under us and light breezes until we round the corner into Gib Harbour and suddenly we are sailing in 40 Knots under reefed genoa making 10 knots easily towards Ocean Village and our berth in Marina Bay.  Unlike last November when we visited here, the Cruise ship hotel is well in place now and the marina area is very interesting as we berth right beside it, a day ahead of schedule.

  

Soon we are in full work mode as the parcelled up Hydrovane arrives and so doesTed to install it, - now christened HydroKeith by Greg Cook.  The boat is a hive of activity - and mess for the next few days.

Then after a bit of a struggle getting it off Spanish Customs, our new dinghy (Matelittle) arrives from the UK and Richard writes up his list of about 30 jobs to be done (by him) before we depart here. Matelot gets a new galley tap, the lights up the mast are rewired with the help of our lovely neighbours on both sides, Arthur and Jackie and Jo and Stefan – assisted of course by Bowline the Dog.  

 What a cute boy he is – Bowline that is!  

The new arrival is pumped up and tried out - bewdy - and the old Lodestar goes off to the trash, not without a thank you from us both as she has done us great service, apart from nearly tipping Emily and Faye into the sea.

Pippy volunteers to make dinghy chaps to keep our new ‘motor transport’ in good nick while we cross the Atlantic and Pacific in the year or so ahead.  She wishes she hadn’t, but is deeply into it now with the sewing machine smokin’ in the cockpit.

The template is made - 2 days work, the cutting out is done - another 2 days and now the sewing has begun.

Gibraltar is in full party mode and we are treated to the sounds of the Gibraltar Music Festival http://gibraltarmusicfestival.eu/ with an unbelievable lineup of artists, playing right beside the marina last night 6 Sept.

Pippy is working on Matelittle and hears a ‘big voice’ coming from the ship hotel, glances up and sees the whole lineup of ‘Script’ on the balcony mucking around exercising their vocal chords and laughing. 

That is a bit of a thrill - not to mention the atmosphere here last night.  Pretty special with an almost full moon appearing over the Rock.

Now we are expecting Amanda Wilson, our additional crew member to arrive on board on Wednesday and sail on down to Rabat with us.  That will be fun – and we hope for a weather window soon!  Not looking great for a few days yet.

Okay family and friends. That’s all from Matelot for now.  Sending you all hugs and kisses.

xxxCap’n Buck and Pippy