Towards Morocco - day 32

We got escorted out from the Gibraltar strait by a big pod of dolphins this afternoon. Hello Atlantic! It is by the way the first day in a week that the sun decided to show up for real and give some heat so it was a good time to leave and get out on the sea again. Plus a wonderful day to try our new sexy sails. Beautiful that jib, isn't it?

Goodbye for now Gibraltar and Europe and hello Morocco! We will arrive in Rabat in around 40 hours from now, inshallah. Follow our journey here if you'd like. /T&A

Lullaby

So finally comes the day when we're able to leave also Gibraltar behind us. We both were thinking this day might never come - when looking at the weather and the list of things we had to finalize. It is never ending, isn't it. To live on a boat. Especially now in the beginning of this journey. And it is most definitely a full time job. A sometimes painful but oh so rewarding job. Because what else could we do, that could possibly give us more satisfaction in life than this? Nothing.

Tomorrow there is a good weather window which we'll take advantage of and hopefully we'll be safe over in Rabat, Morocco some 25-40 hours thereafter. Cannot wait to stroll around on African land and get the hell out of Europe.

Rounding off the day today with a glass of an aromatic Ripasso di Valpolicella and some beautiful Corsican classical tunes. Alex is reading for me from an Atlantic passage guide and life is just how it is supposed to be. Us two, on our boat - our home, sweet music in the background and some rustic wine. What else could I ever ask for? Not even the cold and the rain seem to bother me in this very moment.

By the way, we are so sorry if we have been late in responding emails or comments, but we've been so extremely busy over here and at the same time super dizzy and tired from all of the vaccinations.. Will catch up on it all very soon. Thanks for taking your time to write to us! /T

Portraits of the night

Stocking up the galley

The sun came back and... then it started to rain again. And what else can you do in miserable weather than wallow yourself in shopping. We have finally finalized our provisioning for the Atlantic passage and feeling content with the selections made (not the weight of it though but that's another story). Also we have had the chance to purchase the pressure cooker which so many people have been suggesting for us, I cannot wait to start using it - and a whole lot of other kitchen ware. One of my favorites for this week is this measuring cup in stainless, which indicates both Scandinavian measurements and American at the very same time. I am getting old apparently. Feeling almost as much excitement over a piece of baking equipment as I did with Chanel boots in lambskin leather for only a year ago. 

By the way, the maximum-spend-of-1000-Euros-per-month-budget we were planning to put into practice for this world tour, will have to wait even longer. At least until we get out of this place. We are way over that one for the moment and if we'll keep on like this we will most probably have to go Robinson Crusoe style very very soon. /Taru

Vaccinations

Oh I forgot to mention the vaccinations we've made. We now have 10 years of vaccine against yellow fever, hepatitis b-c, polio, tetanus and diphtheria. We also got medicine to take in case we would get  bitten by mosquitos carrying malaria (important for the Panama/Colombia region) and some more powerful adrenalin ampuls. Well done. /T

Tikka masala

There's a quite a few Indian restaurants in this small town. We're still in search for the best one..

भली भाँति नींद आना

/T

The medical department

We've been to the doctor today for general consulting and health check up. We seem to be in good condition both of us, thank you very much. Just waiting for some test results and the tooth repair kits and then we're set for now. These are some of the medications we could get prescription for. Here we have most antibiotics and treatments for things such as diarrhea, chest pain, wasp sting, ear and eye infections, urine infection, stomach pain and other aches, sun burns, skin cuts and wounds, allergic reactions, skin infections etc. Hoping to not have to use any other than these.

Unfortunately they couldn't prescript morphine or other stronger pain killers in this clinic, which we must try to find somewhere in the Canaries. All very important to have aboard for our journey as doctors will be rare to find in tiny islands and remote locations. Not to mention if we get a boom in the head, get bitten by a shark or whatever else serious that could happen in the middle of an ocean. Obviously we will avoid all those kinds of serious accidents, but you never know - better to be on the sure side. 

If anyone can recommend a hospital/doctor in the Canaries who can write prescriptions for stronger medications for a journey like ours, please let me know. /T

A good day of sailing

Here's how we approached Gibraltar yesterday. Good speed and great conditions all the way through. This is how we like it. Enjoy our (wet) little ride. /T

Sails arrived!

Finally we have the new sails with us! Looking good and we will try them out as soon as we have the chance. Can't wait! By the way, we will be staying here in Gibraltar now for the next 4-5 days to finalize some work on the boat before we head on to Morocco and later on the Canaries and as we are new to this town, we would like to have some suggestions on some things. Can anyone please tell us where to find:

- A good, english speaking doctor.

- A dentist.

- Some nice and cozy restaurants.

- Marine chandlery.

- A sail repair shop where we can get our lazy jack stitched.

I know that many of you guys been here, so please give us your best tips, thanks! /Taru

Approaching Gibraltar

After leaving Benalmádena on late afternoon, Saturday, the sky looked something like this. Black and heavy clouds were covering the mountains and great parts of the sea. We realized that the thunder clouds could create some problems and messed up winds, especially with the wind that already were building up, but we wanted to give it a try anyway. Went OK for the first hour, 15-20 knots of wind from the land giving us relatively good conditions, but shortly after we lost it and the winds kicked up enormously.  More to the point, right after we passed by Fuengirola, we noticed the strong effect of the tides (there are no tides to fight in the Mediterranean, they are supposed to start in the border between the med and the Atlantic).

We were hoping to find a current right by the coast which could go our way, but unfortunately we had both wind and currents against us, no matter how we changed direction. The winds were completely erratic, clocking from SW to SE in some seconds and then back to NW where we started. Irregular gusts to 45 knots kicked us back and forth and spray and 1,5 meter (5.7 foot) waves splashed us and the boat full of water from all possible sides - for hours - and then it all went back to completely dead and calm with 5 knots of wind for ten minutes only to recharge and then it all started again. Do I have to say that we did a minimal progress? Ha! You should see the track on our plotter. Back and forth, back and forth.. After fighting with the completely non sense conditions for almost nine hours and only making a progress on the actual route with 18nm, we decided that we have had enough of getting beat up and we called it a day. I suggested for us to go to Marbella to get wasted and forget about the battle for a while and so we did.

We tied up in the fuel dock in Puerto Banus around midnight and went out for dinner and wine. We didn't get wasted though because 1. Alex drinks alcohol only on very rare occasions so I had to be the only one taking on that project and 2. Because one glass of wine was perfectly enough to knock me and my tiredness out. Oh god were we tired. 48 hours of non stop sailing (with a 30 min stop in Benalmáden) totally hit us hard. Haven't done this much sailing in a row since our summer vacation in Corsica/Sardinia/France in August. 

The day after (yesterday) it all looked much better. The sun was back, the dark clouds were gone and we got a pleasant 25-30 knots of wind straight on the beam with occasional gusts to 40 kt. We flew straight towards Gibraltar and we are now safely docked up in Marina Bay. Will show you a video from the passage, later on. /T