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Days of sparkling waters and nights of falling stars

OK all you Eileen Quinn fans, it's not original - but it does describe the better days and nights spent at sea! Not that Kit entirely agrees with this sentiment- he prefers his nights to be spent with a soft pillow under a warm duvet!

So!! Finally we got a good forecast for a couple of days, not enough time for a passage straight down to the Canaries but a chance to visit Morocco and move another day closer to our goal!

It was a fine day on 13th November with the sun sparkling on the water as we left Barbate and headed out across the western end of the Gibraltar Strait. The AIS worked well, predicting which way the large ships were heading and how close we'd pass - however did we manage without it?? We encountered a group of Moroccan fishing boats off the NW corner of Africa, probably out from Tangier and definitely not equipped with AIS. They are fairly distinctive as they have a high prow and what looks like a shed on the aft deck! We kept a good lookout in case they'd dropped nets but saw none, in fact they did appear to drop something (nets?) attached to groups of buoys that they circled to protect if we strayed too close - which is fine by us - the possibility of getting fishing nets caught around the prop is a yachtie's nightmare!!

When night fell there was no moon at all and we were treated to a wonderful display of stars; every time I looked up the sight took my breath away. We took 4-hour watches and mine passed quickly as I was engrossed in trying to identify the stars and constellations, and spot shooting stars - a new hobby! We stayed 10-12 miles offshore and saw a few boats fishing farther out to sea and the lights of cargo ships and highly illuminated cruise liners passing up and down in the distance, presumably en route to and from the Canaries.

We'd decided to go into Mohammedia rather than Rabat, as the Atlantic swell is often too high to allow passage over the sandbar at Rabat, and we didn't want to get stuck in there for weeks. Mohammedia is a commercial port with a fishing harbour, but has two pontoons for yachts. We called the 'marina' up on VHF radio and were told to enter slowly, which we did. The finger pontoons are really short but with a small group of people helping we were soon safely tied up. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and a small chap named Noujoumy, who introduced himself as 'Marina Captain', told us to wait on board for the Police, Customs and Immigration to visit and check our papers, which they duly did. Forms were filled in, papers stamped and we were warmly welcomed into Morocco.

...and it was sunny and WARM after the wet and cold weather in Gibraltar and Barbate.

Mohammedia is a pleasant town with wide tree-lined boulevards and elegant buildings, not at all like Tangier, although there are some less salubrious areas. We wandered around exploring and even found a Carrefour supermarket - not that we needed much in the way of stores, Quilcene is full to the gunnels!! There is a Kasbah too, a central area of old walled city. It was full of colourful shops and market stalls where we bought Arab bread off an old man tending a big stack of it; he looked wizened enough to be 100!

We took an early train for a day out in Casablanca, only 13 miles south of Mohammedia. Not really knowing where to start we took the advice of the 'Lonely Planet' and first headed for breakfast at 'Pauls' - a glitzy upmarket bakery and patisserie in the wonderful, Art Deco,Villa Zevaco. We sat in the garden under shady palm trees and enjoyed the delicious pastries, rolls and preserves.

Next on the LP agenda was the King Hassan II Mosque with its 210m tall minaret, the tallest building in the country and the third largest mosque in the world. It is vast with elaborate decoration and can accommodate 25,000 people inside the prayer hall and 80,000 in the outside courtyards and squares. It's built on the shore out over rocks and has a centrally heated floor with glass panels where the devout at prayer can see the sea washing the rocks underneath.

Sadly we couldn't enter the prayer hall and see these wonders as it was Friday - Holy Day - and we had to be content with looking from the outside.

How could we go to Casablanca and not seek out Ricks Café? It took a bit of finding too, but well worth the effort! Inspired by the classic film 'Casablanca' this beautiful café/bar/restaurant is fitted out to replicate the famous bar, with white archways, marble floor, cocktail bar, beaded table lamps, roulette table and even 'Sams' piano. All that is missing is 'Bogey' and he can be seen upstairs as the film is run over and over on a continuous loop! We ordered Margaritas and soaked up the atmosphere, making a mental note to watch the film again soon!

Sadly we couldn't linger too long in Ricks as we'd arranged to meet the crew of another yacht for lunch in Café Maure, another delightful café with a flower filled garden set in the ramparts of the Medina wall. From there we wandered about the Medina; quite small and rather poor and dilapidated it is in distinct contrast to the glitzy area around 'Pauls' and highlights the huge disparity of wealth in the City.

Back on board we'd planned to set off for the Canaries on Sunday 18th, but guess what? Yep, another spell of rough weather set in! We were by now beginning to think the bad weather was following us, as we huddled in the boat on Saturday night whilst the wind howled and rain hammered down outside!

Luckily it was short-lived...

Monday 19th dawned bright and calmer and with a good forecast we set a course for Graciosa, a small island at the north end of Lanzarote - a passage of 451 nautical miles. It was quite a bash initially as we had to head out into the wind and swell to get out clear of the shallow ground along that stretch of coast. Things became more comfortable when we could turn south and run downwind with the swell behind us. This was just as well as I'd picked up a nasty Moroccan tummy bug and despite medication from a pharmacist in Mohammedia was feeling decidedly under par.

The weather was mostly fine and clear with moonlit nights although we hit a cloudy misty, patch on the second night out. We also encountered a 'field' of flashing lights that seem to mark the ends of lines of nets. We'd heard a report on the VHF radio of a yacht getting caught up in a 1km long net, so we made a very big detour around the area to keep well away.

With only light winds we had to motorsail for long periods, and were quite concerned to find we have an electrical/alternator problem. It was a relief when the wind strengthened and we could continue under sail alone. Because of this problem we changed course to Arrecife on Lanzarote, where there are more facilities and hopefully, spares available. It felt great to finally arrive and drop anchor on the evening of 22nd Nov, 4 days and 3 nights after we left Morocco.