Update:
25th September, 2000
Location: Safi, Morocco
Position: 32 deg 19' N, 9 deg 15' W |
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We
originally planned to leave Gib on Monday 18th September, but
had to wait a few days for favourable winds.
By
keeping close to the Spanish coast, we gained the advantage of favourable
currents and made good progress through the Strait of Gibraltar and
past Tarifa point. Then crossing the Strait we found the wind increasing
up to 35 knots, which together with the swell and the outfalls of the
northwestern tip of Morocco, made for a pretty bouncy ride. Welcome
to the Atlantic Ocean!
With
only the two of us onboard, we take 4 hour watches, but we do have some
'virtual' crewmembers to help out with the steering - our Monitor
windvane and CPT autopilot.
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Lesley and Adam and Negra (seen here boarding Oasis by our new passarelle)
came to Gib see us off on the Monday morning, but had to content themselves
with waving goodbye to us in the marina, as there was no way we were
heading out into the teeth of a westerly.
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As you can see, along with the Easterly wind came the Levante cloud. On
Thursday morning David Lyon from Te Quiero came to the fuel dock to take
this photo of us, and could be seen cycling toward the cruise terminal
to wave us off as we left the dominating skyline of the Rock behind us
and headed out through the bay |
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We
arrived at Safi harbour early on Sunday morning. Safi is Morocco's largest
fishing port, and a commercial freighter terminal for the despatch of
phosphates and other bulk goods - not really an ideal place for a cruising
yacht to take a mooring. As you can see here, Oasis is dwarfed by the
wall and cranes. This was a quiet corner that we were able to stay in
overnight so we were able to go ashore and visit the medina and souk,
where we bought a lovely hand woven rug for the saloon. |
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Safi is also renowned for ceramics and boat building. The walled town
looks very interesting, and dates back to the 16th century. Given more
time, it would have been good to explore further, and particularly to
see the potters at work. We did see the boatbuilding and fishing
port - it was interesting to see close up some of the craft that are responsible
for the lights we see at night off the coast! |
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