Saidia, Morocco to Gelves, Spain (14 June - 4 July 2014)

Saidia Last September Paul's mom Cendrine joined us for ten days in Corsica. This year she sailed with us for two weeks from Saidia, Morocco to Gelves, Spain. After a few days of climbing in the Atlas mountains we drove back to Saidia marina to meet Cendrine. We stayed there for another three days and waited for favourable conditions. The night before our departure I discovered a leak!!! The most horrific leak one can imagine. I was in the washroom and I heard a dripping noise. I located the source and it was coming from one of the hoses of the holding tank...the black water tank...the tank that holds our poo and pee!!!! Nooooooooooo!!!!! Paul installed the tank when we were on the hard at Leros, Greece. We use the holding tank when we are anchored in front of a beach with swimmers. I think they would appreciate it if they didn't see our poo floating next to them while swimming. The holding tank is also mandatory in some countries and marinas. Before the incident the Y-valve that allows you to choose if the toilet waste is pumped into the holding tank or directly into the sea was blocked. It was permanently stuck to pump into the 40 litre holding tank and it could only repaired if Paul (yes Paul not me) dismounted the valve and all the hoses connected to it. Each time I was really worried the tank would overflow because there is no way to see how full the tank is...or we just haven't figured it out. I wanted to remove the Y-valve and give it a good clean so we could pump directly into the sea, but the captain wanted to leave it as is and his decision trumps all. The holding tank sits in a large cupboard behind the bathroom mirror. The cupboard is located above the foot of our bed. When the tanks started to leak the spillage made its way into our cabin, dripped down the wall and onto my mattress. Thank god it only leaked a little. When we got to Gelves, Spain I had to do the dirty work and dismount and clean the Y-valve.

Melilla Our first sail with Cendrine was a short 33 nm from Saidia, Morocco to Melilla, Spain a Spanish-administrated city, bordering Morocco in Northern Africa.

As we were leaving Saidia Marina, Cendrine and I were both barefoot in the cockpit when Paul asked us to put our shoes on. Cendrine went inside to her cabin and I went to the washroom. At that moment Arbutus passed the protection of the breakwater and was exposed to the waves and the boat started to dance and I was seasick. It hit me so quickly and caught me off guard...but I had a friend. Cendrine was sick as well. Thankfully the sail was a short one and we arrived in Melilla before dinner time. The marina was dirt cheap at 6 Euros/night. We ate dinner in town and it was a huge culture shock to go from Morocco to a very Spanish city in a few hours.

Gibraltar Paul checked the weather that night and we decided to leave the next morning for Gibraltar because in the coming days the westerly wind would become stronger. It was Cendrine's first overnight sail and she did great. We arrived in Gibraltar in the evening after sunset, but because it was our second time in Gibraltar we weren't worried about arriving at night. In August 2013 the anchorage at La Linea de la Concepcion was full this time there was one lone boat and us. Our friend Larry was anchored there in August 2013 and planned to stay there until October, but shortly after we left the authorities told everyone they had two hours to leave the anchorage.

In the morning we went on shore and left our dinghy at the club nautico...this time we paid the 5 Euro to keep someone from stealing it like the last time. At the club nautico we asked if we were still allowed two anchor and the receptionist said yes...but it depends on how the Guardia Civil feel that day. They may or may not tell you to leave. We stayed for two night and didn't get a visit from them.

We left Gibraltar and headed for the straight I was prepared for the worst because of your previous experience, but this time everything went smoothly. There was 20 – 25 knots of wind against us so we used the engine until the Cape of Trafalgar. We hoisted the sails but we were crawling towards Barbate, Spain. Down came the sails and we started up the engine again. For the last two hours just before sunset we were able to use the sails.

When we arrived in the marina a security guard was on the dock to greet us and tell us we needed to pay in the morning before leaving. Our plan was to leave at 6 AM the next day so we didn't want to pay for just a few hours. So we left the marina and anchored in front of the beach and it wasn't so bad. From Barbate we sailed to Cadiz, Chipiron, then up the the Guadalquivir river to Gelves, Spain. We spent over a week in the marina working on the boat...yet again.