With a 4 metre swell in the entrance, Rabat harbour has been
closed, so we’re unable to leave today. After our rollercoaster ride into
the harbour, with the pilot in his little dinghy (whose job it is to guide us
through the ever changing sandbanks) urging us to go ever faster, and poor
Talulahs engines straining away at full throttle, we caught the waves, and had some
exhilarating surfing down the other side, almost landing on top of the pilot. However
we wouldn’t want to risk it again, and going out against the swell doesn’t
bear thinking about, even if they allowed us to … The forecast for tomorrow
is still not looking too good, but fingers crossed. It’s all a bit
bizarre because the weather is calm and sunny with almost no wind at all, so
the swell must be the aftermath of a storm out in the North
Atlantic some time ago… Jon’s flight home is on
7th from Fuerteventura so with a 4
day/night sail ahead of us, we’re hoping to get there in time to do some
diving with him before he departs. (He was a diving instructor in Australia for 5
years, and worked offshore as a saturation diver before that, so would be fun
to go underwater with someone a little more experienced than ourselves!)
We’re loving Rabat, the marina is very cheap, secure, and we
can think of many worse places to be stuck. We’ve had a wonderful
few days exploring the city, eating tagine, enjoying getting lost in the bustly
medina, and experiencing a weird, sticky, damp fog (smog?) every afternoon and evening.
Talulah is gathering a gluey layer of dust on her decks. It feels quite
different to our previous experiences of Morocco, with very little hassle,
and so far nothing but helpful, very friendly and welcoming locals …..