Rabat the Passage

We left the anchorage in Portimao harbour for Rabat around lunchtime, after coffee with the Follies. Winds no greater than 10-15 knots were forecast for the first day and, with quite light breezes in the harbour, we sailed out with just 1 reef and full headsails. There was soon 15-20 knots from just aft of the beam and we were flying along, sometimes reaching 8.5 knots. We kept waiting for the wind to drop back again, thinking it was a coastal effect but it didn’t—if anything it was still increasing.  Finally, after more than 3 hours of  averaging 7-8 knots, we decided to put in the other 2 reefs and furl the yankee. This was a timely decision, as the wind was soon 20-25 knots and we were still doing 7 knots. We wanted to arrive off Rabat near high tide in the early afternoon of the third day but, at this rate of progress, we were likely to be far too early. We were rolling quite a bit in the big seas and neither of us felt like eating a proper dinner that evening, even though it had been pre-prepared. By the early hours, conditions had moderated quite a bit and I (Malcolm) finally ate the meal at  0400!! By mid-morning the winds had become light and rather variable and that remained so for much of the day. Occasionally we had to motor sail, when progress became too slow but generally it was a pleasant  relaxing day in the sunshine. It remained quiet throughout the second night  but the next morning we found we had been boarded during the darkness—by a flying fish, which was now baking on deck! We should have fried it for breakfast but somehow didn’t get around to it. The winds became ever lighter as we approached the coast - again we adjusted our arrival time by intermittent use of the engine when the going became too slow.
  Finally, at around 3 p.m .we arrived off the entrance to the Bou Regreg river and called up the marina to ask for a pilot to guide us in.  As luck would  have it they were just guiding another English yacht out, so were with us in a matter of minutes. The harbour bar is often very treacherous but we had picked the perfect day and time for our entrance and there were no waves breaking on it at all. Once in the river, we were warmly welcomed by all the fishermen in their brightly coloured wooden boats that we passed. Our first attempt at  mooring to the reception pontoon was less than brilliant but after a second approach we were soon safely tied up, to be greeted by a large group of assorted officials. They were all incredibly friendly and after less than an hour all the formalities had been completed, mainly in French but with a little English. The dog that they were using to check for drugs was a huge Alsatian called Wolf but  our companionway steps were just too steep for him, so they contented themselves with a quick tour around the deck. After all this was completed we moved into the perfectly sheltered marina and were soon tied up between 2 unoccupied German yachts. Our other neighbours were an Australian couple and another couple from the West Coast of the US, both of whom had been cruising for quite a few years.  While our pontoon was quite full, the next one had just 6 yachts on it—5 of them belonging to the King. Because of that, security is very good, yet not at all oppressive and the marina, part of an waterside village development which is in its early stages, is the best kept  one we have ever been in.