“The Love Boat” is the wager of a young couple, Sarah and Sébastien, who left everything behind for a transatlantic crossing aboard a Sun Légende 41.... Here is an update on their adventures in Morocco.
“After a fifteen-day stopover in Gibraltar, we were back at sea, headed for Rabat in Morocco. We crossed the straits before dawn, and the AIS once again proved its worth as we crossed the shipping channels. The rest of the navigation was very tiring, due to the numerous fishing boats in the area. None of them have AIS and the quality of their lighting is not always good. In the evening, we took down the spinnaker after passing very (too) close to a fishing boat that we believed to still be further away, confused by all the lights on the horizon. We spent our watches trying to guess the course of the boats fishing for tuna and to slalom between the boats and the pots that we saw. After thirty hours at sea, we finally arrived into the port of Rabat, the Marina Bouregreg.
The entrance is difficult due to the high swell that is often present. We were advised to call the harbour master so that a pilot boat could come and guide us through the sandbanks of the river to reach the marina. We received a warm welcome, and our administrative formalities were quickly finished. A tram allowed us to reach the centre of Rabat very easily. What a shock to arrive in Medina after two days at sea! Everyone was hurrying about, and with the sound of the motor scooters, the call to prayer, the aroma of the foods, it was a complete change of scenery!
We thought we would stay for three days before leaving for the Canaries, but a strong swell was predicted, and it would be impossible to leave the river for a week. With our friends from Quebec, who we met in Gibraltar, we decided to offer ourselves a two-day escape to Marrakech! We ran all over the city, amazed, once gain. I could not have imagined we would see all this on our sailing voyage! We have no regrets; Morocco was a good option. The window for the Canaries opened. We left Bouregreg with five boats, all headed for Lanzarote. We would begin the first long passage of our voyage.”
