| Late Sunday afternoon we left the marina for the anchorage in La Linea, Spain, about a mile from Marina Bay. Winds were strange at times around the Rock, and that night we were awakened suddenly to 37 knot winds. For a half hour the gale force winds blew and a few boats dragged; then as quickly as the winds came, they left and all was calm again.
Monday morning we departed the anchorage and motored 35 nautical miles to Smir Marina in Morocco. While traversing the Strait, we saw lots of dolphins. Unfortunately for half the passage, we incurred a countercurrent of 1� - 2 knots. With our arrival, we set our clocks back 2 hours as Morocco was on Portugal Standard Time. |
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| We had an amazing stay in Morocco, especially as the Moroccan culture was so different from ours. The Moroccan people were genuinely friendly and gracious and at no time did we feel unsafe. We experienced Morocco with Uli and Imke, a German cruising couple whom we had met in Lagos. They spoke French, and with their love of new foods they introduced us to a Morocco that we would never have experienced on our own.
On Tuesday, we all took the taxi into M�diq, a short distance from Smir. Here we visited the local market and enjoyed a Moroccan meal at a local caf�. The next day the four of us rented a car. On Wednesday we made a quick visit to Tetouan before driving east along the back roads of the Rif Mountains to Ketama and then south to Fes for the night. Thursday morning we visited the Medina of Fes, and then in the afternoon we drove to Chefchaouen before returning to Smir. |
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