Morocco to Canary Islands

The 290 miles from Safi to the Canary Islands would take us approximately 3 days, so we made sure we had sufficient food and water before departing. It was exciting to be on our way, as neither of us had been to the Canary Islands.
With light winds on the first day we had to use the motor for a few hours to make good progress. Despite this, the following morning we could still see the Moroccan coastline!

Then the winds picked up and we could sail at a good speed in the right direction. The winds continued to increase, peaking at gale force 8 or 9 with large waves just as it got dark on the second day. Fortunately the winds eased overnight and the sea state improved, luckily we were still making good progress towards the Canary Islands.

Around lunchtime on the third day we could just about make out the faint outline of islands on the horizon. We had decided to head for Isla Graciosa, as it had been recommended by several people. As we approached the sun was setting behind the islands, and we continued under full sail. We anchored between the islands of Graciosa and Lanzarote under a bright moon and were very glad to have arrived in the Canaries.

The following morning we moved to an anchorage off Isla Graciosa, a tiny island north of Lanzarote. We spent a few days exploring the island, looking at the lava rocks, walking up the hills and exploring the village of Caleta del Sebo. We swam and snorkelled in the warm seas off the boat, we'd been waiting a long time for the opportunity to swim from our boat without freezing!

Morocco

Weather conditions prolonged our stay in Mohammedia to nearly a week, so we decided to take the train down the coast to visit Casablanca. It was wet and windy when we arrived, but we enjoyed walking through the ancient Medina and visited the giant mosque. Despite some impressive French style architecture, we didn't like Casablanca, maybe the weather conditions affected our judgement! With limited attractions in Mohammedia we visited the local yacht club one afternoon, where in contrast to the surrounding area, we found a tranquil clubhouse and garden.

With a favourable weather forecast we decided upon an overnight sail to the small fishing port of El Jadida. Arriving in the morning, we went ashore to complete formalities with the harbour master, police, customs and immigration. There was an interesting Portuguese fort with ramparts overlooking the harbour and another ancient Medina. We stayed for a few days, sheltering from large waves before continuing down the coast to the large commercial port of Safi.

We spent a few days exploring Safi, visiting the pottery quarter which was interesting but very touristy. There was a large Medina surrounded by ancient city walls, it was quite easy to loose sense of direction wandering around the narrow streets and under archways that supported the tightly packed buildings. Our friend Matt had to leave us in Safi to fly back to Bristol, we had enjoyed his company and sailing expertise.

A large French catamaran was moored alongside us for a couple of nights, but when the waves increased we both had to move due to likely damage. We motored round the harbour for a few hours avoiding tankers, tugs and finishing boats. Then we tried to re-moor alongside the wall, but picked up some fishing net around our propeller and very nearly drifted onto the inside of the stone breakwater. We had just enough power to reach one of the basins and anchored, where the following day a diver cut the nets to free the prop. We completed formalities in numerous offices and were very glad to be on our way to the Canary Islands.