SEA BEAR

According to the book and people I spoke to, the upper reaches of the Rio Guardiana are not to be missed. Accordingly next afternoon I took the flood tide up the river. Indeed once under the suspension bridge the river side is pretty much unspoilt and sparsely populated. The weather was a little unsettled and at one point I was hit by a 35 knot squall which came out of nowhere. I thought I might end up in the bank but managed to avoid that with a struggle. The squall was of course accompaigned by heavy rain so I was drenched in no time, most unpleasant but it was all over in about 20 minutes. Strangely enough a boat about 2 or 300 metres further up the river than me missed this squall completely.

Reaching the tiny village of Foz de Odeitte I anchored and spent a tranquil late afternoon and evening just sitting in the cockpit.

In the morning I had to clear  a raft of canes, reeds and small branches that had accumulated around the anchor chain before I could weigh anchor. I then motored and drifted slowly back down the river on the ebb. The sky looked threatening with rain but by dint of getting waterproofs all ready to don I seemed to ward it off.

I entered the marina at Ayamonte, on the Spanish side of the river by a ferry glide manouvere as the tide runs strongly past the entrance, but once inside you are completely sheltered. The almost obligatory wander around the town revealed it to be quite charming with tiled plazas.

Later the bad weather did arrive, it blew strongly and bucketed it down with rain.

City of scooters, narrow streets, parraquetes nesting in palm trees, fishing from the city walls, a fantastic fish market. Surrounded on almost all sides by the Atlantic ocean. Its a nice city.

Provisions for the boat, the boat all checked over, it is time to leave mainland Europe and head further south. We will see if the swell will let us into any of the Moroccan ports.

After topping up with diesel at the fuelling berth we headed out off the harbour and out to the clearwater water at the end of the Canal Norte. Here we could turn southwards and after passing the west cardinal buoy marking the rocks and shoals to the west of the Cadiz peninsular set a course for Rabat some 170 miles away. I had crew now, a Dutch girl, Merel, so it would help with these longer passages to come. There was a nasty cross swell so the boats movement was a trifle lively but with little wind, so progress was slow and eventually resort was made to the engine for an hour. Then the wind picked up , great at first but later after dark it further strengthened leading to to put in first one reef and then later a second reef in the main and furling the yankee. There were quite some waves, one even decided to join me in the cockpit, a fortunately unusual occurrence for Sea Bear.

Later the wind and seas calmed down but then it became foggy, very foggy. I knew there were some fishing boats about as I had seen their lights before the fog and I could hear their engines in the distance. The AIS told me they were 2 miles off so not too worrying but I slowed the boat down  but loosing all the sheets and proceeded cautiously.  The fog cleared later to return briefly after daylight.  Then we had a nice day sailing, light winds, only 8 to 10 knots but progress on the desired course was being made. Just before sunset we saw a large pod of dolphins. Another night passed by . There were the lights of numerous fishing boats but none came very close and none for which we had to alter course for. In the early hours we could see the loom of lights on the Moroccan coast, the lights of Mehdiya and further on Rabat.

Dawn and were about 8 miles off Rabat however then the wind headed us so we had to go on the other tack and then it died completely. In a way this calm did us a favour as instead of slowly tacking our way in we had the perfect excuse to switch on the engine and motor the remaining miles. Of the harbour entrance we radioed  the marina for the pilot and although we got no reply the pilot boat appeared  and said to wait 1 hour and they would be back when there was enough water to cross the bar. So in due course the pilot boat led us in through the harbour entrance and up the river to the police and customs pontoon. I was glad for the pilot as the entrance was tricky and even what little swell was running made it a little exciting. But oh what an entrance, sailing up the river between two medieval walled towns, you knew you was arriving somewhere very different, was it even this century. There was a hug wow factor.

There was a little snag over our entrance formalities. You see the skipper had overlooked that the boat insurance had expired 2 days ago and we could not proceed into the marina until this had been sorted. They were pleasant enough about it and directed me around to the marina office  who again were more than helpful and I could email the insurance company  and I later phoned them  and they emailed me a new insurance document which the police then printed out for me so it was all sorted in the end , it just took a bit of time, and we could moor up in the marina.

Eh it were a bit warm – 35 degrees in the shade  thats in the nineties for us us oldies, but I love it.

In the evening we strolled into the walled city of Sale, we found a hole in the wall which accept my card and gave me some dirhams and then we wandered through the medina and after a glass of mint tea from a tea shop we bought some fresh cooked warm maize cakes from one stall and some fried fish with sauce in bread from  another stall so dinner was sorted.

21st Oct – Rabat

Sea Bear, when I bought her, came with a roll of canvas fabric labelled sunshade. Time to dig it out of the locker and figure out how to rig it. It provided shade in the cockpit and also kept the rest of the boat a little cooler. The marina is on the Sale side of the river, part of a big new development of apartments so later we walked down to the river and took a ferry boat across to the Rabat side. These are wooden rowing boats which they row facing forwards and standing up and ferry glide across the current in the river. In Rabat we went into the Medina and found a little place with tagines on a hot plate outside. Tagines are a traditional Moroccan shallow earthen ware dish with a pointy lid in which are cooked vegetables, onions, tomatoes, olives and potatoes eaten with bread. Very filling, very simple very tasty. Medinas all round are a bit of a sensory overload , so much going on, so much to hear and see. Clothes stalls, stalls of olives, stalls of spices, colours and smells . Emerging much later we were by the grave yard which lies between the city and the sea -its vast. We then found our way to the Kasbah des Oudayas a truly delightful walled community and the part that so impressed on our entrance yesterday. Lots of narrow winding street or alleys painted blue lower down and white higher with pots of plants. Descending to sea level we were at the beach, there seemed quite a lively surf scene. More mint tea was taken looking out over the beach. We passed back through the Kasbah, exploring a little more and then eventually took a ferry boat back to the the Sale side and so back to the boat. A fascinating day with the promise of yet more to explore and see tomorrow. 22nd Oct – Rabat Another day of exploring and sightseeing which was also good but once again it is time to move on. I had always had it in mind to arrive in the Canaries by the end of October. We plan to set off tomorrow for the Canary Islands all being well. It is 450 or so miles to the tip of the nearest northern most island , La Graciosa, so it should take from 5 to 8 days depending on the winds