We are still in Spain, not far from the Strait of Gibraltar. The weather is holding us back a bit, but we head south tomorrow across the Med to Algeria and the port town of Ghazouet to fuel up for the crossing. We are heading over with a fellow sailor who has made the trip before. I've talked with other Med sailors who made the trip and said it was safe and enjoyable. The best part is Deisel fuel is 0.14 euro a liter versus 1.50 euro a liter here. That translates to $0.75 per gallon versus $8.00 per gallon. We need 550-600 gallons. You can do the rest of the math - big difference.
We will fuel up in Algeria , then sail a short distance west to Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Melilla. It's a town on Moroccan soil that operates under the Spanish flag. After Melilla, we sail through the Straits of Gibraltar, out into the Atlantic and south to the Canary Islands, about 600 miles, or 4 nights of sailing.
This marina and port, Almerimar, is a good place to wait out the weather as it has everything we need. We've met quite a few fellow sailors and all very pleasant and helpful. You tend to always learn something from discussions with fellow cruisers. As you can see, a beautiful sunset has come over Almerimar Marina. This shot is over our neighbor, Malcolm's ship Why Not, it is custom motor sailor on the lines of Jungle, only bigger (60 feet) a beautiful ship and a basket ball court inside! It's big.
The next morning I take a picture of John Webb's ketch - Freedonia. John is from the UK and built this boat in his back yard. It is a full wooden ship designed in 1932. John is a boat builder by trade and likes his designs to be well tested. It took John 4 years to build her from scratch. she is a beauty. John will be joining us for the sail south to Algeria.
Here is John in Freedonia in calm seas motor sailing south with Jungle and crew. Look at Freedonias lines - beautiful.
I got a kick out of watching John, hands clasped behind his back, captaining his ship through the water. Later he tells me "what a great day to be alive." I know the feeling.
Ok, we made our overnight sail to the Algerian port town of Ghazaouet. Many officials come on board to greet us and process the paperwork to sign us in. Unfortunately, it is the Muslim new year and they tell us no fuel until Sunday - 3 days away. This is Mohammad and Mohammad who are part of the Harbormaster office. Check out Mohammad on the left. I told him he should be in a James Bond movie. He dug that. That's John in front.
Looking across Freedonia into the port town, we are also told we need visas to get off the boat - yikes. We can't get those until Sunday either.
That's the fuel dock over there and we are told we can get a maximum of 300 liters. John takes 1000 liters, Jungle can take close to 2500 liters. I'm able to convince the customs to allow me 500 liters. It sounds bad, but everyone was very nice to us. They just don't get many visitors here - if at all.
Now we head over to the fuel dock and everyone and there brother show up to check us out. These fishing boats were waiting for fuel, but let us cut in front of them.
That is an Algerian fishing boat at the fuel dock. John and Freedonia are tied to them, we are tied to John. One of the fishermen are assisting John.
That is the fisherman Hammid giving us a wave, a very pleasant and helpful guy.
Some of Hammid's pals from his fishing boat.
Looking into town, we are glad to get at least some fuel before heading to Morocco. There goes Hammid's boat. Time to fuel up. The Algerian people we met couldn't have been nicer.
And we are on our way. We are following Freedonia this time. We are on our way to the Moroccan port town of Saidia. We will top off the fuel tanks there.
Nice backdrop for Freedonia. We received sad news in Saidia. A French catamaran with 5 crew attempted an approach to the harbor in heavy seas on the previous Monday and flipped, killing all five. The catamaran wreck was sitting on the beach outside the harbor. I took no pictures. We were originally planning to be here on Monday but I checked the weather and delayed two days back in Almerimar. The Med weather can be unforgiving.
From Saidia, we sailed to Melilla, which is a Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast. It is basically a fenced in city of about 3 square miles, with shops and a beautiful park we visited the night we arrived. Hey, who is that with my bride?!
And who is this?! Holy shi..... Nice stripes.
Nice park.
Nice fountain.
Nice architecture.
We continue to stroll through this park.
I've never seen so much tile work - beautiful. This has a cool optical illusion. You can even see it in this photo - it looks like a trench running down the walkway. It's not.
It goes on quite a ways.
I'm just glad we didn't walk it.
Jenée would have, she loved it.
Back at the marina, we go in this bar that has Barbie Doll artwork. Jenée loved her Barbie Dolls.
The next day we are finally on our way out of the Mediterranean Sea. We round the point at Melilla and sail overnight once again for the Straits of Gibraltar. It is important to arrive the Straits by 8 AM to take advantage of weather and tides. The current there is very strong - up to 6 knots against if timed poorly.
We are looking at the Rock of Gibraltar at 8 AM the next morning. A good sign.
We have made it through the Straits of Gibraltar and are looking into Morocco and the town of Tangers.
Now at the Northern point of Morocco, Africa and out into the Atlantic.
Gibraltar hasn't given up however. The seas become very large and bumpy on our exit.
The Med just doesn't want us to forget.
And we won't. A most beautiful place in the world. We enjoyed our 18 months here.
Once the Mediterranean released her hold on us, the Atlantic and west coast of Africa were beautiful.
We sail 600 miles south to the Canary Islands.
Good night from Jungle.
I'm happy to report a successful arrival to the Canary Islands. We sailed over 750 miles in 4.5 days - good time. My brother Mike comes in today to join Jenée and I for the Atlantic crossing to the Caribbean.
