Morocco

Well a really pleasant two day sail, the wind in the right place, and other than a winch falling off the mast, no hiccups at all. We covered 192 miles in just under 48 hours. The night watches were bright there was a full moon which really lit up the water. The moon was huge (why is that) and so bright that the stars were not that clear. Tan with the help of Chontel helped with the watches which is great as it gives dawn and i an extra 3 hours kip.

When Chontel said she had not been sailing before, i thought she meant that she had not done this cruising type of sailing before, but obviously she had been out on the water before. What she actually meant was that she had not been sailing before. I was a bit concerned as we were venturing straight out into the atlantic a 200 mile journey between Portugal and Morocco. We would not be hugging a coastline, which meant that once we left other than turning back the closest port of call was our destination. Not ideal for someone out on the water for the first time. On top of this she was very nicely dressed for London/St Andrews, but not grunge enough for our type of boat. However she was great, she helped round the boat and even doused and flaked the mizzen, mid atlantic like a professional. Well done Chontel.

Tan like always is the consummate professional and is great on the helm. It is great to have her here on the boat.

Anyhow we have now been in Morocco for two days and it is so different. We have a list of sightseeing things to do in Rabat, but up till now we have just hung around the Kasbah and medina which is great. They sell everything here, we are considering buying a tortoise and were looking around the stall trying to make up our minds, and the vendor offered us some scorpions or snakes instead. It is mega crowded, the food is great and we are just sucking it all in. We plan to be here a month and at some point go on a road tour.

Two days later

Well not surprisingly i gave in. We have purchased two African tortoises, they are very small and at present are being well looked after. We have given them two authentic African names  OJ and Leroy. Every time you walk out of the marina it is like being in a scene from “raiders of the last ark” the casbah which dominates the city is huge maybe 50 football pitches in size and is a maze of tiny streets maybe 10 ft wide with 3-4 storey buildings either side, and everything from cows heads to socks to parrots to pirated dvds are being sold here. The food is great in the market and for a couple of quid you can eat loads. A speciality is a thick pita filled with fish and Israeli salad (ssh). You do  not get hassled (surprisingly) and as rabat is not touristy you get  left alone.

Dawn has got her way we have visited the tomb of the kings father which is very grandiose (see pictures and a walled castle called i think oudanys where we could see the channel the boat came up. 

On Saturday we are getting the train to Fez. Will update you. Oh and there are some Lisbon photos which we have not blogged yet