Of all the gin joints…

Oh please, you must know the quote!

I know, it was not Tangiers but it is pretty close. It has been quite an adventure getting here. Arriving in Cadiz was our roughest trip so far. Blowing more than 30 knots and right on the nose, it was rough trip. We were sent offshore by a Spanish coastguard boat who told us that a live firing exercise was about to begin. Unfortunately that was the wrong direction for Cadiz so I cut the corner a bit. An hour later the coastguard boat was back saying “steer 228 right now!”. Well, settle down guys. I did what I was told and a short time later an American warship came on the radio and said it was about to start live firing, and then it did! Well ok, you weren’t kidding.

When we got to the Cadiz marina it was, as we say down under, blowing its tits off. The marina entrance is tiny, it was gusting to 35 knots, and my testicles disappeared on the spot. My left one has slowly come back, the right one, well who knows. Scariest docking of our trip so far.

In Cadiz it blew for days so we hid in the marina and searched for my lost testicle. When it calmed down a bit we took off for Barbate. Nice sail and no further loss of balls.

From Barbate we headed to Tangiers in Morocco. Scary trip crossing one of the busiest seaways in the world. Some of those ships were moving at 20 knots and keeping out of the way was a big challenge!

We arrived with great relief, were boarded by Morocco customs and searched, and had our drone confiscated as it turns out they are illegal here. I had not even opened the box it came in! Anyway they say we will get in back when we leave.

Tangiers is fantastic. This is the best marina we have stayed in, by far. Incredibly helpful staff, great location and amazing history to explore.

One benefit of coming here is that we get out of the EU and the days stop counting against our 90 day Schengen visa. Well, if you exit Spain properly. Which I did not. Bugger.

Turns out I should have got exit stamps in our passports before leaving Barbate. But I just sailed away. Oops.

Then I noticed that right next to our marina is a ferry terminal that has a ferry to Spain every two hours. So having sailed from Spain to Africa, we then boarded a ferry back to Spain, had lunch, and boarded another ferry back to have dinner in Africa. Crazy, but exit stamp problem solved. I think.

We are now relaxing and enjoying this lovely city. We found Ali, a great guide, who is showing us around. Next week we take a trip inland to the “blue city”. Looks wonderful.

So, great food, great history, friendly people, excellent marina and good stuff to see! We will stay here another week and then think about heading for Gibraltar.