So we have booked a berth here for 12 Months. We will make it a base to explore the Spanish & Portuguese coast and hopefully more of the Moroccan interior.
Meanwhile, we have been catching up on some long overdue boat jobs. There was a rust issue beneath the engine so we built a boom crutch, and used this to support an engine lift. We lifted it through the hatch in the cockpit sole and let it hang whilst we completed the work.

Kevin has been doing this while Philippa has been visiting family in the UK and attending the Charlie and Ellen wedding celebration.

Engine bay, rust treated and ready to receive its engine.

Tangier is a lively town, and we already feel welcomed, safe and comfortable here. Plenty of entertainment so far.

Wanda arrives on the visitors pontoon at the Tangier Marina. A great passage from Gibraltar. We intend to stay here a while. There is a beach just adjacent to the marina, security seems good and there are a few other cruising boats here.

Next to the boat is a club which plays loud music till the small hours at the weekend, but seems quiet in the week, there is also a regular call to prayer
The town starts at the marina entrance. We have not had a chance to explore yet but we have found a Carrefour and data sims, so we know we can survive! I am looking forward to getting to know this town, we will have to brush up our Arabic and French

Kevin

We are relieved to reach Marina Bay in Gibraltar; the day passage from Cadiz included a stressful motor inshore of some floating tuna nets (to avoid the Orca that feed in deeper water). In addition, we are now outside the Schengen area so we maintain our compliance with their 90 day rule.
Cape Trafalgar

Wanda Gibraltar approach

Wow the facilities in this marina are amongst the best we have found. Each little private bathroom actually has a bath! , we can enjoy a daily soak. I realise it has been 10 years since I last took a bath!

I keep forgetting this is an English speaking territory there are armies of Brits here (literally). I am still constantly surprised to hear the broken English and regional British accents! Excitedly, we look across the Straits to the mountains of north Africa!
Wanda in Gibraltar.


pip pip
Kevin

At noon today we dropped our hook in a Cadiz anchorage. Our overnight sail turned out to be a motor. There was little wind but clear skies, calm seas, full moon and good visibility. We alternated short watches of an hour and a half, instead of our normal 3 hour routine. This meant the watch passed very quickly. The oncoming watch will get dressed and ready; lifejackets, lifelines etc mabee exchange a few words and recieve any important information. They then familiarise themselves with the chartplotter AIS and radar screen. As their night vision allows, they can reconcile the screen with reality. Once all is sorted and comfortable, probably it is time for a hot drink and a snack, consumed slowly while contemplating the boat, sea and sky; ah excellent only half an hour till off watch. Of course there is a downside; the offwatch always feels like they have only just nodded off!
As always it is a compromise but we will probably try 2 hour watches next time, and perhaps stick with our well proven 3 hours if we do any passages of more than a few nights.
Kev

An uneventful but pleasant daysail and motor finds Faro.
We drop the hook in a charted anchorage just inside the port estuary.
A very pleasant stopover en route to Cadiz, good holding in sand.

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We sleep well and spend the day planning our overnight sail, or more likely motor, to Cadiz. We estimate a 16 hour passage, the weather favours the night and we should arrive in daylight the next morning.
However, we plan this with a little trepidation; it has been a while since we sailed through the night. We have learned from experience that it invariably brings an adventure!
Off we go!
Kevin

A short sail brings us to Lagos for a few days.
A night in the anchorage at lagos is choice. We may then use the marina. It sounds like a buzzy town music pumping out over the anchorage till the small hours. Best we check it out.


We have now entered the marina as we want to do some work on the engine water pump. Purchase a new fuel transfer pump and swap out 4 Aries windvane fixing bolts for stainless, as we stupidly and recently fitted non stainless steel and they are leaking rust already.
It is preferable to dismantle the engine in the marina otherwise there is always the worry of disabling the engine then finding ourselves unable to fix it, a loada problem at anchor.


Classic photo of a broken raw water impeller, it needs replacing! This is very common and we carry at least 3 spares at all times. The lip seal also needed changing as the pump was leaking water. I have yet to learn the knack of changing this out without removing and dissembling the whole pump. We always carry 5 spare seals for this pump as they are the same for the water side and the oil side of the assembly.
We also changed the oil filter, it was beginning rust due to the water leak. Past experience has taught us that it can rust through and spray the entire oil reservoir over the engine! Not fun at sea! We always carry a complete oil change.
Wanda has 2 diesel tanks holding 90l each, and we use a 12v transfer pump to top up the engine feed tank as required. The transfer pump has died so we needed a new one, success, the well stocked but expensive chandlery came up trumps.
After few technical jobs were complete and a taste of the local wares, we were ready to make passage to Faro.
Kevin