Backtracking

 

Chefchaouen

Allow me to backtrack a little.  Before we set off to cross the Atlantic again we decided to spend some time in Morocco, after all it is just across the strait from where we were in La Linea, Spain.  Morocco had been on my bucket list for a long time, so it seemed a shame to be so close and not take the time to visit.  However, this trip would be different from how we typically do things.  We are not "tour" type people. Usually, as we are sailing and visiting different countries I do all the planning for "sight seeing", lodging, transportation etc...  I did not do that in Morocco.  There was just no time for all the research involved in planning where to go, where to stay and how to get there.  Morocco is not like Europe with its extensive rail system, so driving would be required and we did not want to drive.  So for the first time ever we signed on with a tour company but it was perfect, as it was just Michael, myself and a driver.  Hicaim, our driver, was amazing and stayed with us the entire time we were in Morocco.

Chefchaouen

 We learned quite a lot about the country just from conversing with Hicaim as we traveled around Morocco.  There were plenty of scheduled "tours" with guides as well, which were very informative.  I would highly recommend a tour company should you ever decide to visit Morocco.  It seemed to us the best way to visit.  We did a whirlwind trip traveling from the port in Tanger all the way to the High Atlas Mountains and then back down.  First stop was Chefchaouen or the "Blue City".  All the buildings are blue and white.  Just so pretty!  

 .

Gate to the Medina in Fes

From Chefchaouen we traveled to Fes.  Michael had drunk a bit of the tap water - never a good idea, so he was quite ill.  I left him at the hotel to sleep it off and went on the tour of the Medina with a guide by myself.  I was not going to miss seeing the city, although it made the guide uncomfortable to be with a woman that was not accompanied by her husband.  A cultural thing.

Riad Yacout

We stayed at the most amazing "hotel". It was actually a palace at one time.  Some enterprising person bought it and turned it into a hotel.  Incredibly beautiful!  The interior was covered in fabulous mosaic tiles.  Pictures just do not do the hotel justice, but alas thats all I have.  After an afternoon of visiting the Medina and the mosaic factory I returned to the hotel and Michael was sufficiently recovered.  Our friends were also visiting Morocco so we met them in the dining hall for dinner, which was fabulous.  Next day we set off for the Sahara desert.  A highlight of the trip for me.  

Riad Yacout

Playing "Dress Up like Beduoins"

In preparation, we had to stop at shop and play dress up. Dressing up like Bedouins is part and parcel of the tour thing so we played along.  We did not purchase Bedouin outfits, but did buy the scarves to keep the sand out of our ears and noses.  And as a bonus we got to see some camels! 

The Mighty Sahara Desert

 They don't have the huge dunes in Morocco like the dunes that exist in Algeria or Tunisia, but impressive nonetheless.  As with everything in this modern world of ours the Moroccans have found a way to turn the Sahara into a commercial enterprise.  It was a bit disappointing to me to see how commercial it was but tourism is a huge industry for Morocco.  So... the Sahara is dotted with "tent compounds" so tourists can get a small taste of the desert.  We spent the night in a pretty luxurious tent.

Sahara Tent

Once inside you barely know that you are in a tent.  Michael had decided to ride a camel out to the tents while I opted for a ride in a 4 wheel drive jeep.  Driving on the edge of the dunes at a high rate of speed was quite an adventure - at times I just had to close my eyes!  But the camel ride was even more adventurous and uncomfortable.

Tent Camp in the Sahara

We were pretty excited to do some star gazing as the desert is the best place for that.  But as it turned out it was a full moon that night which made it not such a good night for viewing the constellations.

 Camels taking a break

Regardless, it was such a fun night.  The young fellows working at the tent camp entertained us with music and dancing.  And the dinner was fantastic.  Moroccans like to eat.  We could not keep up...  they kept bringing more and more courses.  In an attempt to not be rude or wasteful we tried everything but just could not consume that much food.  

Ait Benhaddou

From the Sahara we drove to see the Ksar of Ait Benhaddou.  It is an community of earthen houses that were built together and protected by a defensive wall.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it looks absolutely biblical.  They have filmed many movies here including "Jesus of Nazareth" and "Gladiator".  So currently it is an important site for the film industry, but in ancient times is was an important trading post on the caravan route from Sudan to Marrakesh.  Our guide around the Ksar was actually born in one of the old dwellings.  Only a handful of folks live there now, as most have moved to the more modern village.  But the Ksar is still preserved in the old architectural manner with clay.  Talk about being transported back in time... you truly feel as though you are viewing something biblical.  To top it off the hotel we stayed at in the town of Ouarzazate was stunning.  By now we were really feeling pampered.

Riad Ksar Ighnda

  I don't know that I would have found all these wonderful places on my own, which is another great reason to use a tour company.  Tourism is big business in Morocco but don't let that deter you - come and visit!

This blog was never intended to be a "travel blog", lord knows there are so many of those out there. Nor was it intended to be a "sailing blog" as the blogosphere is saturated with those as well. Rather, I started writing some things and sharing some photos as a way to keep our family and friends informed as to our current whereabouts.  And that is still what I do ... but I have to say I loved Morocco.  And so I want to share more of Morocco but in another post.

 

Another successful Transatlantic Passage

 

 

 

The sight of birds always tell you that land is close

 Every since Christopher Columbus first sailed to the Caribbean, the route he sailed has been the route to sail.  Known as a trade wind route, it takes advantage of the trade winds that blow in a steady east to west direction.  Closer to the equator these are the prevailing winds, but in the winter they blow a bit stronger, carrying sailboats across the Atlantic to enjoy the winter in the warm Caribbean.

 

Martinique - Landfall December 18, 2023

As it turned out this year you had to go all the way to Cape Verde latitude in order to pick up the trades.  And even down that low, where you should be solidly within the trade wind belt, the winds were light.  We fiddled for days trying to get the best sail configuration for downwind sailing, but with 15 kts or less of wind it was slow going.  As if contending with light wind were not enough we were beset with problem after problem.  First, came the battery issues which we figured out and took the dead battery out of the series.  But then the Balmar battery monitor never worked right - so we had no way to know for certain how low the charge on the batteries were getting.  So we took to running the engine for about 30 minutes every 3 hours through the night.  And then the engine died again.  Turns out the pre-filter went bad again!!  We spent the entire night trying to deal with that issue.  The next day I contacted the Yanmar fellow in Gran Canary and he told us how to bypass the pre-filter.  We had switched to charging the batteries at night via the generator.  But then after we filled the gas tank on the generator, it quit working... bad fuel.  Thank goodness, we were able to bypass the pre-filter and use the engine to charge the batteries once again.  

The piece of fiberglass that pulled away and the pulley

 

After days of light winds, we hit a completely windless patch.  PredictWind was routing us around the "no wind" patch but we decided to not stray from our course and just motor through that area.  We had not used the engine except to charge the batteries, so we felt we had enough fuel to get through that area.  Turns out we did have enough fuel and once through we picked up some 20 plus knot winds.  Perfect!  Only problem was the cross swell.  We were headed west, but the swell came from the north.  That made for a very rolly ride.  We were within150 nm of Martinique when we lost our steering.  The swell had been rough.  We were actually trying to track down a noise that we were not familiar with when we looked in the "kids room" and found that the pulley for the starboard steering cable had pulled completely from the hull!!  My goodness, we never expected that to happen.  So now we had another project - we had to fiberglass the pulley back to the hull.  We had no way to steer manually, but were able to steer with the autopilot.  This was no easy project!  It took an entire day to repair.  By then we were seeing land... thank goodness.  We had been at sea for 18 days and were ready to stop.  

At anchor - repairing the cable

It was mid-morning when we reached Martinique.  We had the pulley re-attached to the hull, but still could not steer manually until we had the cable connected to the steering wheel.  And we had to be stationary to complete that job.  Fortunately, there is a huge anchorage at the southern end of the island.  We were able to anchor there away from other boats and fix the cable.  Due to our many difficulties we tried to get into the marina at Le Marin, but that did not work.  We had no option but to go on to Fort de France where we had reservations.  By this time we were excited about a good dinner and shower.  As it was, by the time we reached the marina it was dark and we were told to pick up a mooring ball outside the marina and wait till morning.  So disappointing... we were low on food and hungry.  We somehow managed to scrounge around and find something to eat. We all retired early, hoping to get into the marina early. 

Martinique coastline

That whole process was slow, but we were happy that Bill was going to make his flight.  He needed to be home for Christmas and everything was working out well for that to happen.  Michael and I ate a big lunch and then went to catch up on sleep.  Welcome to the Caribbean!