MOROCCO / SOTOGRANDE

After 40 torturous hours through the storm and not seeing land for five days we finally saw the night lights from Casablanca on the west coast of Morocco, Africa. Halleluja.

We called the harbour in Casablanca to go there for a layover and a rest but they gave us no permission to do so. So Tanger it was.

When everything was settled and we were en route to Tanger Heidi asked if Harald had been afraid during those action-packed days? Yes! We agreed we had both been terrified but talking about it during the drama would have made it all too real. Had he heard people talking throughout the storm and what about the beautiful music? It was like the loveliest symphonies playing. She thought she was going mad during those horrendous hours but it was the feeling of not being alone that kept her sane. The Captain answered yes, he had also heard it. What a lovely feeling, the feeling of not being alone through those rough days. Who the people were or where the music came from, we will never know. Tealie is an acronym for our four parents, our step-mother and our puppy. Four of these souls are unfortunately not amongst the living anymore but maybe they were the ones keeping us company, keeping us safe?

Sailing through the night, north along the Moroccan coast, we finally saw the lights of Tanger at around 2 am, on our 6th day after leaving Puerto Calero, Lanzarote. We were anchored at Tanja Marina Bay at a little past 4 am. We set the anchor alarm but we didn´t trust the anchor so Heidi made her bed in the cockpit and stayed awake till morning to make double sure we didn´t drift ashore. The Captain deserved the rest so he went to bed. A full moon, peeping through the drifting clouds kept her entertained while waiting for the first signs of a new day. It was all very exotic and mysterious, being in Morocco and Africa.

The sun finally appeared and we waited for Station Olivia, the filling station at the marina, to open so we could refuel before heading home to Sotogrande. We thought it would be happy sailing crossing the Gibraltar Strait, an estimated 8 hour trip. We were wrong!

Though the crossing wasn´t anything like the storm we had just survived, the sea did challenge us with it´s high swells and messy waves. However, we were rewarded with dolphins and a couple of pilot whales surrounding us.

Crushing through the waves we sailed into Sotogrande marina 8 hrs later and were moored at exactly 17.00 hrs. Our 44 day journey was over and what a trip! We got to know each other, ourselves and last, but not least we got to know Tealie as the robust and steady boat she is.

Tomorrow is the Captain´s birthday so we begged Eva, our finca/dog-sitter to fetch us so the day could be celebrated at home with the dogs.

A special THANKS to Eva for taking care of the finca and dogs and given us the freedom to take this trip. We could not have done it without her 🙏

AFTERNOTE;
After this adventure we invested in a new anchor, ref. the experience with Tealie drifting in La Gomera and we didn´t have adequate clothing for a storm like this. We only had wind jackets, nothing that could stand this kind of pouring rain, and no rain boots. We were lucky to have friends knit us lots of wool socks and we had bought wool jumpers in Norway but they were still not enough. First on our list was to buy proper gear to stand all kinds of weather, though we hope we never have to experience a storm ever again.

During this adventure Heidi was writing the story "Fem dager til havs" (Five days at sea) which was published twice in "The Norske Magasinet". To read the articles, please visit our PRESS page.

To read about the acrynom and about Tealie, please visit ABOUT TEALIE.

Thank you for following us on this adventure, creating memories for life. 🙏