We wanted to leave Tangier early, but the Tangier officials didn't open their office until 9 am so Dave and Stuart were there waiting when it opened. Passports were stamped, a fee paid at the Capitainerie office a distance away. 25 Euros - for what? We untangled our web of lines from the raft at 10 am, and found delightfully good wind outside the harbor. It would be the best wind we would have for two days!
The 7 miles from Tangier to the Cape on the northwest tip of Morocco flew by. And suddenly we realized that we had now left the Med after 3 years of cruising from Gibraltar to Turkey.
Once again the predicted west winds perversely stayed south, forcing us to tack back and forth into heavy waves and making very little progress toward the 125 miles to Rabat. At one point it was so rough that we even debated going back to Tangier to wait for a day. Then we remembered the harbor and the mess of the raft-up and kept going. Sometime during all this tacking, we lost contact, visually and on the radio with Time Bandit. We continued on alone.
Finally at 4 pm, the wind subsided and veered, so we could motor sail on the rhumb line. Over night we experienced squalls with light to heavy bursts of rain, and winds from 2 knots to 20 knots. We kept very busy raising, lowering and adjusting sails. But we were rewarded with a fluorescent rainbow just before sunset.
Most difficult of all were the many small and large fishing boats with various nets set all around us. Few had lights. Many only turned on lights as we approached. All in all we didn't get much rest that night.
Rabat harbor is up a river with an 8-9 foot tide and potential heavy swells at the river mouth. High tide was to be at 3:10 pm and amazingly our arrival was at 3 pm.
Stuart and Anne on Time Bandit appeared about the same time and together the marina pilot boat led us up the narrow river to the marina. Our track on Navionics showed the boat as going over ground so we were glad for the pilot boat's guidance.
Customs and immigration in Rabat required milling around to wait for space on the small dock and rafting 2 boats deep. Then Dave and Stuart went to the offices with the boat's documents and our passports while an official with a dog came aboard to sniff around the boat evidently looking for drugs. An hour later we were cleared and the pilot boat led us to our berths.
After showers and a short nap, we met for dinner at a nearby restaurant to plan an inland tour of Morocco. Stuart and Ann had friends from New Zealand who had sailed from Gibraltar to Rabat a few days earlier. They were already inland in Marrakesh and via email they invited us to join their tour, which we gladly accepted.