El Jedida to Safi
27/09/07 18:27 Filed in: Morocco
Throughout the early hours we continued to sail slowly down the coast. It was a welcome change to be at sea without the engine running.
That was soon to change. At 08:00 I came on watch and the wind had dropped to virtually nothing and we had fog with about 1/2 mile visibility. The the fog started to clear. As we began to take in the downwind rig we were very suddenly struck by strong winds from the south. In a matter of minutes we went from no wind to S F6 (27 knots max).
This made for a hectic 15 minutes as we put 2 reefs in the main, stowed the pole and furled the yankee. After about half an hour the winds moderated to around 10 knots with occassional gusts to 15-18 knots but always from the south. Our sailing for this trip was over.
We motored the rest of the way into Safi arriving at 15:30 and were directed to moor alongside an old workboat "Al-Manal" where our fender board was needed. Not the best of moorings but OK. Some mountaineering skills were required to get ashore from "Al-Manal".
Officials began to arrive before we had finished mooring. First the police then a different police and immigration. Here our passports were retained and shore passes issued. As in Mohammedia the shore pass specified a curfew from 00:00 until 07:00.
Later the harbour master arrived. He wanted the boat registration document and some goodies.
There was a good deal of surge from passing fishing boats and we had to put protectors on the moorings. A character called Bu-Shaid approached saying he was a ship chandler and could arrange anything we wanted including showers. Tomas took him up on this returning after an hour. The "shower" was a taxi ride away from the port and comprised a public area where Tomas was able to pour saucepans of water, laddled from buckets of hat and cold water, over himself while wearing swimming trunks.
It being Ramadan nothing was open. We ended up in a Golden Tulip hotel where there was at least a working restaurant. I took a risk on a meat dish. Wrong move. I am now vegetarian, at least for the remainder of our stay in Morocco.
Back on board we had a visit from the harbour master. He wanted a form completed with the same information we had given everyone else. Quite why our marital status and occupation are requried to calculate port charges was not clear. He lingered making small talk. We made small talk. Then he got to the point. He had 11 children. Could we give him some goodies. We gave him a bar of chocolate bought in the supermarket in El-Jedida.
By now I had realised it is not a good idea to leave things like torches, mobile phones and sunglasses where they can be seen by officials. They pick things up, have a look and ask the price. They do not say so but the desired outcome is that they be given the object in question. Chocolates and cigarettes OK but that is as far as we will go.
That was soon to change. At 08:00 I came on watch and the wind had dropped to virtually nothing and we had fog with about 1/2 mile visibility. The the fog started to clear. As we began to take in the downwind rig we were very suddenly struck by strong winds from the south. In a matter of minutes we went from no wind to S F6 (27 knots max).
This made for a hectic 15 minutes as we put 2 reefs in the main, stowed the pole and furled the yankee. After about half an hour the winds moderated to around 10 knots with occassional gusts to 15-18 knots but always from the south. Our sailing for this trip was over.
We motored the rest of the way into Safi arriving at 15:30 and were directed to moor alongside an old workboat "Al-Manal" where our fender board was needed. Not the best of moorings but OK. Some mountaineering skills were required to get ashore from "Al-Manal".
Officials began to arrive before we had finished mooring. First the police then a different police and immigration. Here our passports were retained and shore passes issued. As in Mohammedia the shore pass specified a curfew from 00:00 until 07:00.
Later the harbour master arrived. He wanted the boat registration document and some goodies.
There was a good deal of surge from passing fishing boats and we had to put protectors on the moorings. A character called Bu-Shaid approached saying he was a ship chandler and could arrange anything we wanted including showers. Tomas took him up on this returning after an hour. The "shower" was a taxi ride away from the port and comprised a public area where Tomas was able to pour saucepans of water, laddled from buckets of hat and cold water, over himself while wearing swimming trunks.
It being Ramadan nothing was open. We ended up in a Golden Tulip hotel where there was at least a working restaurant. I took a risk on a meat dish. Wrong move. I am now vegetarian, at least for the remainder of our stay in Morocco.
Back on board we had a visit from the harbour master. He wanted a form completed with the same information we had given everyone else. Quite why our marital status and occupation are requried to calculate port charges was not clear. He lingered making small talk. We made small talk. Then he got to the point. He had 11 children. Could we give him some goodies. We gave him a bar of chocolate bought in the supermarket in El-Jedida.
By now I had realised it is not a good idea to leave things like torches, mobile phones and sunglasses where they can be seen by officials. They pick things up, have a look and ask the price. They do not say so but the desired outcome is that they be given the object in question. Chocolates and cigarettes OK but that is as far as we will go.