This part is the least interesting of the trip so far. The south part of Spain has been completely invaded by massive tourism and there are only few places to moor a boat…. the east coast of Morocco is basically a desert without bays to stop, so not the best part of Morocco either being on a sailboat. We still did enjoy it of course.
We left Portugal for Cadiz in Spain. Nice place to wait before crossing the strait of Gibraltar which has a really bad reputation and should preferably be passed with good weather conditions.
When we arrived to Cadiz by night, the nearly full moon was raising just over the bridge, it was a beautiful welcome.
Kata Lind moored safely in the bay of Cadiz, we can make trips on land.
We are definitively in Spain. One of the first things we see, a Corrida. Unfortunately for us, no bull was sacrificed during our presence. I have never seen it in real and to have a complete opinion of this #game#, I need to see it once. Is it completely cruel or does the bull have a chance to take vengeance for all the animals that we kill every day? I read last week that a Spanish torrero died in France killed by the bull…
The same bridge, day light, without the moon
Marina close to Cadiz
Cadiz :
Then a good weather with fair wind came and we sailed away to cross Gibraltar. All around Gibraltar we could see wind generators, never seen that much at once,
They were everywhere. About 2/3 of the time, winds are at least 8 Beaufort scale in the straight, that’s almost a storm, too much to sail safely, but it’s the strong sea current, not winds the main problem in this place! When you get current against wind, the waves get huge in height and short in wavelength and that’s really really bad.
Bad conditions in the middle of many big vessels going really fast, can really be a nightmare. Don’t underestimate Gibraltar.
this one is sailing more than 30kn. Really fast.
30 seconds later, it’s already there.
but with a good weather, it’s ok, no problem. You turn your head to the left and here is Europe, no zoom.
And your head to the right and you see Africa. So close. Here is the town of Tangier and there is a writing on the mountain, I imagine, « welcome to Morocco » or something like that. Leave a comment if you know the meaning.
I got the answer by a comment. It is « God, Country, King ».
After crossing we went south to Morocco for few days. You can see our sailing trace in red on the map below.
We arrived in Morocco and were woken up at 6 o’clock by the mosque… For sure they seem to like Allah better than Christians like their God, you would have a hard time getting people to church that early and many times each day…
The souk of Tetouan
the town of Tetouan
That’s one of the King’s palaces. When we cycled in front of it, the guards asked us gently and politely to use the other side of the road and the king wasn’t event present. Later by sail, we didn’t come close to avoid problems.
Then we arrived at the marina of M’Diq. Don’t go there. It’s apparently the King private marina.
Well, after some heavy duty talking, we were allowed to stay for few days, the king wasn’t expected any time soon. But we had to do all paperwork over again, meeting with national police, maritime police, royal gendarmerie, customs… at least they are very friendly.
Below you can see Kata Lind at the entrance of the harbor and 4 big motor yachts behind belonging to the king.
M’Diq
Then it’s already time to leave passing by Ceuta, Spanish territory in Africa
After Morocco we went quite rapidly to Ibiza, making few stops on places that where not so bad.
always daulphins with us
few mooring places in the south coast of Spain :
Cartagena :
There were many demolished buildings with only the front side left… strange…
Look well the next picture, I am not taking a cargo-ship but a submarine on dry dock. First time I see a submarine for real.
Then we sailed in front of Cartagena and we saw that, SY A, it’s the biggest sailboat on earth :
but sailboat? It’s running on engine, with a fair wind in her back (perfect for sails)….
and by the way, that’s Cartagena from the sea.
And we arrived in Ibiza in middle of tiny boats like my dinghy =) …
And that will be the next post, the Baleares islands.