Greetings from Agadir

Nowornot Web Diary
Robert (Bob) Parry and Ann Parry
Tue 1 Feb 2011 08:21
Greetings from Agadir,

We came to Agadir expecting to spend a couple of weeks. Instead, we have
been here for two and a half months. Initially, our time was spent
fluctuating between fears that either we would pull the marina apart or
the marina would pull the boat apart (more of that saga later) and
frustrations at the length of time and bureaucracy involved with importing
goods into Morocco.

When we first arrived, Bob commented that the marina could get a little
animated. Little did we know what an understatement that was! The wall has
been finished at least twenty metres shorter than it needs to be to stop
swell from entering. Once inside, it is reflected from the walls and turns
the marina into something resembling a washing machine. There does not
have to be any wind here for a constant surge to be set up, just a storm
off shore that produces a swell that comes here. If there is wind,
especially from the S/SW, watch out!

Our first mooring put us in a pen with fingers that were far too short for
the boat. The marina was really built to accommodate boats up to ten to
twelve metres. Ours is sixteen metres and weighs about sixteen tones
empty. No matter how we tied our ropes or how many we tied, and with our
anchor out, the boat spent most of its time surging back and forth and
often rolling at the same time. We actually broke three heavy duty mooring
springs that were on our stern lines. These springs have survived the
winter gales in the marina in Turkey for five years without a problem.
Most people have broken their mooring lines and, at one point, new lines
were almost a black market item as people rushed to buy replacements.

During one blow, we were adjusting our lines for the umpteenth time when
there was a bang and a whoosh and the main supporting post near us
disappeared under the water. The bang was the top coming off and it flew
up into the air and landed beside us. These posts are sections of hollow
steel welded together and it seems as though one of the welds broke. About
an hour later, the boat behind us started to pull one of the fingers off.
They tied it back with rope. We spent a rather sleepless night, wondering
whether the last post would hold or set half a dozen of us adrift and
heading for the wall. The next morning, we shifted to the main walkway,
where we anchored off on about seventy metres of chain and tied back to
the walkway. We pull ourselves well away from the pontoon during the night
or during bad weather and let ourselves back during the daytime. It works
well and we now have the best and safest spot in the marina. Having said
all of that, the staff could not be more helpful and obliging.

There was another gale here last week and most boats suffered some damage
from rolling so much that they were hitting the pontoon or pulling out
cleats and fairleads. Most had broken lines. We suffered no damage at all.
One local power boat sank at its mooring and the next morning, we woke to
a very strong smell of diesel. After a quick check of the engine room, we
discovered that we were floating in a pool of diesel. The tanks on the
sunken boat were leaking. Apparently, the tanks held about 1400 litres.

We decided that a satellite phone would be a good option for safety and
communications during our ocean passages. Bob finally settled on a unit
and provider in London and ordered the phone to be sent here. The London
people were not keen on sending it to Morocco, preferring to send it to
the Canaries. We did not see a problem. We paid two hundred and fifty
pounds for freight and watched its progress on the tracking site. It was
in Casablanca within two days and there it stayed. Fedex was the carrier
and the Fedex truck arrived at the marina office with the paper work and
told the marina manager that his parcel was in Casablanca, come and get it
(it was addressed to the marina manager). The stalemate lasted for about
two weeks before a local carrier bailed it out of customs and brought it
with a delivery to the Zara shop in the marina complex. An extra two
hundred euro, thank you very much!

Our seventy-five amp battery charger was put out of action by a power
spike at the marina in Almerimar in Spain. A local electronics man found
that it needed to be reprogrammed but Mastervolt would not deal with him
because he is not a registered agent. We opted not to send it back to
Amsterdam but to reinstall our old twenty amp charger. Bob thought that a
good plan would be to put in a wind generator. To cut a very long story
short, we ordered one from Paris on 8th December. It eventually arrived in
Agadir in mid-January after taking over two weeks to come from Paris. We
joked that our freight payment had given us a donkey and cart for
transport. Once in Agadir, it sat for ten days waiting for customs
clearance.

Finally, our wind generator and the aerial for the satellite phone are
resplendent on a stainless steel arch on the back of the boat. The
fabrication and fitting of the arch was not without its dramas. Let’s just
say that dealing with somebody who has never made one before and who
speaks several languages, none of which are English, makes for an
interesting experience.

The end of our sojourn in Morocco is in sight. We have met some wonderful
people and eaten far too much because food is so cheap here. The cheap
food will soon be a fond memory. We are hoping that we will be able to put
our daily position on our new sail blog as we do our ocean passages and
future reports should be there as well.

Cheers,

Bob and Ann