Nani and Noelani joined the crew Azure II for the voyage from Lagos to Gibraltar. We divided the 200 mile cruise into 3 sailing days - and three countries. The journey began in the tourist town of Lagos, Portugal (Nani's sister Paula was with us for the first night too.) We anchored out and explored the orange cliffs and grottos of Lagos waterfront by kayak and zipped around on the knee board (the moms even did it!) The next day we sailed to Vilamoura for one night then on to Cadiz, Spain. The 100 mile passage to Cadiz was at first a bit lumpy, but by the end of the day we had dolphins darting in and out around our boat. Cadiz is a classic and elegant Spanish city that is thought to be the oldest European town, possibly the Phoenician trading base in around 1100 BC. We spent two nights and were able to stroll the town most of which was built in the 18th and 19th century. We had a relaxing lunch in one of the many historical squares, while listening to fabulous street musicians.
The most anticipated leg of the trip was the last 65 miles to Gibraltar. Noe almost got her sea legs and she was a sport enduring one more passage. We had to time our trip so that we were entering the straight of Gibraltar 3 hours before high-tide. This way we have the benefit the tide taking us in at 2-3 knots (as opposed to against us.) However, we did have 25 knot head winds which didn't help us. Seeing the high hills of Morocco, Africa, then rounding the corner to see the Rock of Gibraltar was excellent. Rodney fired up both engines to speed us up and eventually jumping dolphins greeted us as we entered Gibraltar harbor just before night fall. Gibraltar is a bustling British city with high rises to fit the population. More on Gibraltar in the next entry.
Photos here