Spain to Morocco

Ayamonte Marina - fairly empty

We had some heavy rain and thunderstorms while we were upriver in the Rio Guadiana. After two nights, we paid our bill (7 euros per night on a pontoon at Sanlucar) and prepared to leave. More heavy rain fell and the next morning Jeremy and some other cruisers rescued a tender that had filled with rain water and sunk at the pontoon with its outboard engine attached. Two other small boats were going the same way so Jeremy did more baling out until our bucket broke.

San Francisco Ayamonte style

We left at lunchtime on 25^th October and motored downriver to Ayamonte Marina on the Spanish side. We tied up after reversing into an outer berth and called the marina on the VHF 09. It was good to hear a Scottish voice answering and we were soon directed to another berth for our size of boat. In Ayamonte you are charged according to the size of berth you use, so we didn’t mind moving. However, we were cross with ourselves for not noticing we were reversing into the wrong berth and had to move ourselves again! There was lots of space and the out of season rate for our boat was 15 euros per night. The showers were hot and there was a washing machine and tumble dryer available at a small extra charge. There was no Wi-Fi but a café close by had it and so did the library in town. We chose the free Wi-Fi in the library.

It really is San Francisco - it says so.

We had intended to stay for two nights but when we checked the weather there was a gale warning for the Casablanca sea area and a 3 metre swell in our area. We waited for 5 nights using the time to explore Ayamonte and prepare for our next voyage to Morocco. We began to have trouble with flies and mosquitos, so we put up insect nets on the hatches at night.

The night before we left Jeremy checked  the tricolour navigation light and discovered the colours were not right. His first job the next day was to go up the mast and alter the fitment. Our masthead sailing light had been incorrect since launching. Fortunately we have to show different lights while motoring and these were correct. Meanwhile, I made our signature sailing dish of a three day mince stew.

I motored gently out of our berth while Jeremy got ready to haul up the mainsail. Then the engine stuck in gear and would not disengage. I turned a circle as directed but had no power to turn against the current and we drifted towards the bank. In the nick of time, Jeremy disengaged the gear in the engine compartment and I was able to turn away. The next hazard was a flotilla of Optimist dinghies crossing the river from the Portugese side followed by several small fishing vessels anchored in the middle of the channel. 

Eco Museum of six wheeeled corn mill

Once out at sea we met an uncomfortable and bouncy sea. I took Stugeron. Otherwise, it was a lovely, sunny afternoon. After almost dying away, the wind came back more strongly; the engine was switched off and we sailed close hauled with a full main and genoa. By midnight 9 knots of wind had doubled to 18 knots. The sea continued short and bouncy and waves and spray broke over the decks. Both sails were reefed down.

The wind continued to rise and gusted to 30 knots. I reefed the genoa smaller. By dawn, the sea remained rough but the wind began to moderate. Sometimes, we wonder why we wait in port for better weather! There were many ships crossing both ways as they plied to and from the Straits of Gibraltar. The strong easterlies that we were experiencing were coming from the Med. It was now Halloween and our clocks had been put back two hours to UTC (GMT). Morocco is in the same time zone as the UK.

Marshland near Ayamonte

The wind died away as quickly as it had risen and by 1500 we were motoring again. Local fishing vessels started to appear as darkness fell, mostly brightly lit, but with no AIS. Rabat was 65 miles away and we were going to arrive in the dark. Night entry is not advised so we altered course for Mohammedia, 73 miles away, arriving on 1^st November.