May 2013
Off the Dock
15/05/13 14:15
In case you didn't catch the moment our AIS tracker beacon moved, with much regret we said goodbye to Queensway Quay Marina and Gibraltar. Not that we wanted to go, but we have to start moving North to make our next venue. We will be back soon, and look forward to catching up with everyone on the dock upon our return. Thanks for the wonderful stay!
It was a good 25 mile romp across The Straits of Gibraltar, part motor, part sail. It was an easy warm-up for the new engine, break in for crew, and non critical time to sort out where halyards, sheets, lines, and hardware have gone since the sails were last shaken out a year and a half ago.
For some reason Byron seemed to be the only one getting hit with wave slaps today. It didn't matter where he was standing. He would just about dry out and it would happen again. It was pretty funny (at least for everyone else on the boat).
We are now in Marina Smir, Morocco. Smir is a quiet little marina that is almost like a ghost town. Due to it being off season there are only a few of the shops open. There is a huge apartment complex on the other side of the strip of shops that seems to hardly have any cars in the lot and a really nice looking hotel just outside the grounds that looks occupied only by the ground keepers(but reports say it is fully booked). Even for it being off season the whole area is being kept up fairly well. There is a really nice beach that might need some footprints pressed into the sand later. The boat yard here seems to be the only thing quite busy. Did I mention it is quiet?
They put us out on the Presidential pier which makes us feel important. It is far enough out that Wifi here is spotty from the boat but we can occasionally sniff out a source and squeak out a signal before it fades. If we walk up to one of the cafe's on the walk we hear it works better.
One should always be careful of what you make friends with on a walk-about. They may just follow your crew home. This would NEVER happen back in Newport. No- we didn't keep him.
We are here waiting for the weather to turn around more to our favor. A friend said there was going to be a predicted nasty blow come through. We had one nice day and it showed up. It is 4am and blowing 20 with gusts to 50. The rigging is howling. We decided to quadruple the docklines. That was fun. It is unclear how long it will last, but first look might have us here till Sunday. Depending on how big the weather window is, we will either dive into Portamao or just keep going.
