Safi to Essaouira
29/09/07 19:16 Filed in: Morocco
At around 08:00 were were woken and told we had to move to allow a pilot boat to berth inside of us. We motored in a circle till the pilot boat was secure, much to the consternation of the police who thought we were leaving, before mooring alongside her.
A typcal Moroccan fishing boat, Safi.
We had been told to visit the harbour office at 10:00 to pay our harbour dues and collect our SSR certificate which had been retained. A polite lady on the top floor started the process. She typed out something which was approved in another office. Then she took the document downstairs where an invoice would be typed. I was asked to return later.
In the interim I went to the Surete National to collect out passports. These were stored in a drawer the keys to which were held by a senior officer who woud not be available for two hours.
I returned to the harbour office. The typed invoice was taken to another office where it was approved and my 30 Drm in fees collected. By now it was 12:00 and I returned to the Surete National. Twenty minutes later the officer arrived and stamped our passports. We could now leave.
We left our berth at 12:45 and cleared Safi harbour at 13:10. We were able to sail for about an hour and a half but by 15:10 the wind had died and we motored at around 3 knots for the rest of the day and throughout the night.
A typcal Moroccan fishing boat, Safi.
We had been told to visit the harbour office at 10:00 to pay our harbour dues and collect our SSR certificate which had been retained. A polite lady on the top floor started the process. She typed out something which was approved in another office. Then she took the document downstairs where an invoice would be typed. I was asked to return later.
In the interim I went to the Surete National to collect out passports. These were stored in a drawer the keys to which were held by a senior officer who woud not be available for two hours.
I returned to the harbour office. The typed invoice was taken to another office where it was approved and my 30 Drm in fees collected. By now it was 12:00 and I returned to the Surete National. Twenty minutes later the officer arrived and stamped our passports. We could now leave.
We left our berth at 12:45 and cleared Safi harbour at 13:10. We were able to sail for about an hour and a half but by 15:10 the wind had died and we motored at around 3 knots for the rest of the day and throughout the night.