Dave was determined not to get hit with the Straits adverse current again. So he spent quite a bit of time studying the tables and charts. He and Stuart conferred on their analysis and we determined to buddy boat down to Morocco.
The magic hour to leave Gibraltar was 5 am (Yawn again!) on Monday, September 22. Gibraltar Bay was quite intimidating with over 100 huge ships, cargo vessels, tankers and pilot boats all showing up on AIS. The calculations on tide and current worked pretty well to exit the Straits into the Atlantic. But once again headwinds not forecast impeded our progress south We had identified the harbor of Rabat Morocco for our first stop in that country . But with over 125 miles to go, it was clear that we were not going to reach Rabat anytime soon.
The only option was Tangier, Morocco on the southwest corner of the Straits. After communicating on the radio with Time Bandit, we both turned and sailed the 12 miles back east to the commercial port of Tangier. The pilot book warned us that the new marina in Tangier is still not completed, so we didn't know where we might tie up for the night. Luckily, Stuart and Anne had visited Tangier by ferry a week earlier and they had spotted a sailboat tied up behind a huge cargo ship.
When we entered the harbor, Stuart found that sailboat and saw 4 other small sailboats were also rafted up there. With calm conditions in the harbor, both our boats were able to carefully raft up next to the 4 others, making us 6 deep. We were all sandwiched between the huge cargo ship and a pilot boat. A deck hand from the pilot boat ran around and helped us tie long lines - and promptly demanded "a tip". We gave him 10 euros and a carton of cigarettes. (None of us smoke; however, we had read from other cruisers that cigarettes are a welcome tip. We had bought 5 packs duty free in Gibraltar for this purpose.)
Next came the tedious process of checking into Moroccan customs and immigration. Dave and Stuart set off with boat documents and passports to the office on the other side of the harbor. A "nice guy" who was a tour guide gave them a ride to the office. One and a half hours later the guys were back and had agreed to hire the guide for an evening tour of Tangier. Stuart and Anne would have gone too even though they had seen Tangier the prior week, except that the pilot boat to which we were all tied had to leave for 30 minutes to pilot out a ferry. So Stuart stayed behind to "man the lines".
Our tour of Tangier Kasbah (old fortress) and medina (old town) was interesting. The tour guide had good English and was informative. But we had been awake since 4:30 am and had fought the seas all day. So we were eager to get back to the boat where we were carefully rafted up. Sleep came quickly.