Sunriser

After the boatworks in Cartagena we sailed to La Linea, on the border of Gibraltar. Underway we stopped at the beautiful anchorage of La Azohia (and about the only protected anchorage on the south of Spain) and the fishing harbour of Caleta de Velez-Torre de Mar. On this trip we checked all the repairs we had done in Cartagena and fortunately almost all was working fine. We stayed a few days in Gibraltar visiting family and ( the grottos of) Gibraltar.

We will be leaving Europe now, so we stocked the boat with food items of which we think will be not available, or for a very high price further on the trip. We broke our own record with 3 full shopping carts at the checkout. This meant also rearranging the storage on the boat.

From La Linea we tanked (tax-free) in Gibraltar and sailed to Tangier in Morocco. It is a day sailing and quite stressful with very heavy traffic in the strait of Gibraltar, strong winds, strong currents and of course the risk of orca’s checking the strength of the rudders and, at the end, the notorious difficult check-in process in Morocco. But we arrived safely and even the check-in was done in a very short 45 minutes.

We heard good stories about Tangier and they have proven right. The harbour is very modern and city is an interesting crossroad of Arab, African and Western culture. In the medina you imagine yourself in a story of 1001 nights, with all the small colourful shops, the different smells and noises.

We met the Dutch couple Harry and Karin, who live already for 11 years in a house in the medina. On their terrace you can look over the strait of Gibraltar to Spain and to the other side of the old city, very beautiful. Tangier (and Morocco in general) is modernizing fast and it is a pity that so little European people know it and visit it. It is very safe and the roads are good (the driving itself is a bit challenging).

We rented a car and did a daytrip to Asilah on the coast, passing Cap Spartel, the north western tip of Africa. On this route we passed by the beautiful coast, the house of the king of Morocco and other houses/palaces from kings of other countries.

We visited Tetouan (with a very big medina) and Chefchaouen, which is a tourist hotspot. It is called the blue city (just like Jaipur in India) and it is very beautiful, or very ‘Instagrammable’ as some say.

In Chefchouan it is the season for pommegranates, which is easy to see.

Another reason to stay in Tangiers is that we had to let some (sand) storms pass.

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The last week our crew arrived who will sail with us to the Canary islands. While waiting for a good weather window we visited the Ibn Batouta (the Maroccan Marco Polo) museum and the American legation museum.

During our stay in the marina there was the Laser sailing championship and the Ironman triathlon.

We had a grand finale in Tangiers with a BBQ with the crew of 7 boats, of which some will sail together with us to the Canary Islands.