A week in Rabat

It's hard to believe we have been here a week already. We have taken
things slowly as we figured we will be here for 6 months so we can take
our time.

Three days were spent doing laundry, we had 2 weeks of dirty clothes,
sheets and a million salty towels including the new cockpit cushion
covers. There is a brand new laundry here with 1 washer and 1 dryer at
about $6 each, I had too many loads for one machine. So I have been
making good use of my own lovely washing machine. The water and
electricity are included in the dock fees so it is so much nicer to be
able to do it on board, rather than traipsing back and forth to the
laundry room and competing with all the other boats for the lone washer.
The weather has been glorious since we arrived, clear blue skies and
sunny days, perfect for walking around (and drying laundry) and chilly
nights, great for snuggling in bed.
We have heard horror stories about the weather just before we arrived,
the marina entrance was closed for 3 days, no one in or out, and at
Mohammedia, 30 miles south, which was our plan B if we arrived before
the bad weather had cleared, they had 70 knots blowing right into the
harbour and boats which were rafted together got damaged and docks came
adrift, so we are very glad we weren't in there!

Tucked in safe and sound

Well it looks like pausing in Madeira for 3 days was a good plan, as the entry in and out of Rabat was closed for 3 days due to bad weather, it only re-opened today!

WE had a lovely clear blue sky calm seas and a gentle breeze as we approached the African coastline. the marina sent out a 'pilot' boat to guide us in. The river has been dredged and bridges moved so our chart was a tad out of date, They haven't yet got around to installing channel markers, but although we came in at low tide we saw no less than 3 meters, and often much more.

Formalities were completed at a special dock, and customs and immigration came aboard followed by the police and a HUGE Alsation sniffer dog! I got off the boat while doggy was doing his thing, not being a dog person. He seemed very interested in out garbage bag at the back of the boat, he must have smelled all our dinner left overs!:)

Everyone was charming and welcomed us to Morocco, although the cockpit has a lingering whiff of eau d'Alsation!

Then we were guided around past the Kings dock,which is opposite the Royal palace, onto a more modest dock which will be home for the next 6 months. In the afternoon we ventured out to find an ATM. It was all quite civilized, this is not a touristy place, and once we had some Dirhams in our pocket we had ice cream at one of the marina cafes!

Tonight it's toasted sandwiches and an early night.

Zero miles to go, yeah!

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The end is in sight

Not yet 'Land Ho', but we are now less than 100 miles away and expect to arrive in Rabat tomorrow morning. After the big winds and seas we experienced a few days ago, everything eased off last night to the point where we turned the engine on at 6.45 am. What a joy it was to be able to do that! We have been motoring all day in light winds.

We could be sailing of we had to, but our arrival in Rabat has created a few logistical difficulties we have not encountered before. Usually our only issue is that we arrive on daylight. But in Rabat we need to not only arrive in daylight, but at high tide or slack water and with seas no bigger than 2 meters! Also high tide or slack water are not always during daylight hours! The tide times are better tomorrow than on Wednesday, so we have decided to burn some diesel and just get there!

We have seen a lot of commercial shipping, much more than the rest of our trip and our AIS system has more than paid for itself. We know when ships are approaching and all their details including ships name. We even had a tanker call us the other night as our CPA (closest point of approach) was less than a mile. It is very comforting to know the big ships can see us as well.

Tomorrows bog will hopefully be sent from the marina, all going well.

Only 89 miles to go!

Bumpy Ride

Last night was a rough ride, 25-30 knots constantly with 35 knots for sustained periods. Huge waves, many of which slapped into the side and over the top of the boat. However today is much calmer, the sun has been out, both wind and seas are down.
We are hoping for little or no wind when we arrive in Rabat.

Sorry the blogs have been sporadic, it's very hard to type when heeled over and hanging on with one hand! We are also having problems with both the email modem and radio tuner so some days can't send or receive at all. Bit of a nuisance as we get our weather that way. Thanks for all your emails though, keep them coming!

We are both fine, if a tad battered around the edges, and looking forward to this journeys end.

Only 218 miles to go!

Off again!

We survived the big storm intact. It was quite rolly at times, worse than being at sea, we lost a plate when it slid off the galley top and likewise a litre bottle of salad dressing also fell over and leaked all over the carpet. Lovely! The wind was all over the place and funnelled down between the cliffs in high speed 'bullets' which spun the boat around 360 degrees. Alan slept that night in the cockpit to keep an eye on things. (my hero!)But our new anchor held us beautifully.

This morning we left Madeira without having stepped ashore or meeting any officials. We have big seas, left over from the storm, and about 20 knots. Once again it is a race to make Morocco before the next low pressure system arrives from up north and before any residual effects from hurricane Otto, now heading for the Azores, gets close.

It will be such a relief to get settled and not have to worry about the weather for a while! So far we are making good speed, and we are hoping the seas will calm down over the next couple of days.

Only 448 miles to go to the African continent!

Enjoying the peace and tranquility

It really is very beautiful here, especially today with the sun out and a clear blue sky providing a spectacular backdrop to the ochre coloured peaks.

The 2 red sailboats left today so we are in splendid isolation, except for the many hikers who look like ants as they scurry along the ridge tops. The views must be spectacular as the island is very narrow at this end, so they would be able to see miles in all directions. We are wondering how many 'happy snaps' Sunflower will be in as I am sure we must look very picturesque!:)

We are still concerned about the storm due later tonight, although looking at the beautiful weather today it is hard to believe bad weather is on its way! We have started to roll a bit although the winds are light they are all over the place and we have swung 360 degrees several times. We hope our anchor chain isn't too tangled.

I have sent an email to the nearby marina to check on vacancies, as we have also seen 2 other sail boats head that way. It makes you wonder if they know something we don't! But we are reluctant to go into a marina unless we really have to, especially as we are enjoying it so much here.

I baked a cake today. It must be something about being on anchor that brings out the baker in me! It has been a long time since I did any baking though and I had to throw my open flour away as it had creatures in it. Luckily there was plenty more on board.

We are hoping by tomorrow the worst of the weather will be over. I'll let you know.

zero miles and still wrong country.

Anchored in Madeira

We arrived in Madeira at 9 am and discovered a lovely big and almost empty anchorage waiting for us. It is so great to be anchored out again, much nicer than squashed into a marina. The bay is big and beautiful, surrounded by bare volcanic cliffs and no buildings, there are only 2 other boats here, both French and both red! With our yellow hull we must make a colourful display for all the hikers that tramp along the ridges.

We hope to wait out the bad weather here and then carry on at or after the weekend. We have had a lovely lazy day, recovering from the passage and have a list of jobs to do tomorrow. I will write more then.

Zero miles to go! Still wrong country....

Land Ho

We are in sight of Madeira, having motored all night due to no wind, now we have 12-15 knots and are sailing at 4-5 knots, but will need to slow down so we arrive in daylight tomorrow morning. We are going to anchor initially, there seems to be a nice big open and deserted bay, but it's open to the south which is where this bad weather will come from. So we may manage a night or two there and then if the weather is really bad we will have to go to the expensive marina 2.5 miles away.

Alan dismantled our noisy winch today but couldn't find anything wrong, he will have another look when we are stationary. It is making such a terrible noise, something must be loose in there.

It looks like we may be here for a week or so before the weather is suitable to carry on to Morocco.

Only 55 miles to go (still wrong country!)

Change of plans!

We have spent the whole of today looking at weather info and charts and have decided that as the wind has now dropped to less than 10 knots there is no way we can make it to Morocco before the effects of the big storm system off the Irish coast arrives on Friday. This includes 8-9 meter seas! that's half way up our mast and really not the sort of conditions we want to be caught in given a choice. So Madeira here we come!

We will divert to Madeira which is now about 160 miles away and wait for the effects of the storm to pass, then maybe next week we will continue on to Morocco.

We had originally planned to stop at Madeira but the expensive marina costs changed our minds. We have now found an anchorage on the north east tip of the island which we will head for, and if weather conditions get really bad there is a marina a few miles away. It costs 50 euros a night with power and water being extra, but that's still cheaper than damaging Sunflower!

Meanwhile we seem to have gremlins in the boat. A very annoying and LOUD squeak has developed in out hard vang (the thingy that holds the boom up) and our electric winch which we use to raise and lower the main sail is also making complaining noises. We have also had problems with our email modem! Hopefully all of these can be sorted out in Madeira.

Now only 160 miles to go!(but wrong country:)

We're off!

We left the Azores at 4pm on Friday after a traumatic visit to the fuel dock where we broke a cleat, due to the swell.
We got off to a boisterous start with 25-30 knots which made typing a bit too difficult, now the wind is down to 18-20 knts. We have covered 280 miles since we left which is very good for us. We are trying to get into Rabat before the effects of a big storm cell off the Irish coast make it down that far. To get into the marina at Rabat which is up a river we have to get across a shallow bar which is quite dangerous if the seas are more than 2 meters. So we are in a race against the weather!
We both took a day to get our sea legs back but are now back in the routine; sleep,read and eat basically.
Only 655 miles to go!