Checking off the list

For us it was important and very good to stop here in Morocco for an extended time as we still had a lot of things to do before heading for the long Atlantic crossing. The boat must obviously be safe and ready would we get stuck in rough weather far from land and Morocco has been the perfect place for finalizing some of those boat projects. Rabat has been generous with perfect dry weather, it has been cheap to hang around here and mentally it has been a perfect break, rather than staying around more in the cold Gibraltar or the Canaries, which we feel is too similar to where we left from. Basically we needed to see something different and we got positively surprised by this place. Also we've done so much stuff on the boat this week that it's ridiculous. Now only these few things left before we're ready to hit the long passage (although we'll most probably make a super short stop in the Canaries as well):

- More teak (never-ending story that goddam teak) - almost done.
- Clean out more things. Would love to throw out around 100 kilos more so we at least can see the waterline again. 
- Install the Gps antenna for the MaxSea.
- Finalize the watermaker installation.
- Find a long range wifi receiver. Any ideas on which one to choose? Hopefully we'll be able to find one in the Canaries.

Done with work for today and we'll proceed with something similar to what this beautiful Moroccan man above is doing; we'll take a break, go to bed and read a book. Tomorrow is another day and we'll exchange our vehicle from boat to train for some hours. Let's see how far we get.

Hasta la vista and good night. T&A

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Inspiring architecture

In the Mausoleum of Mohammed V, like in many other places around here, you'll get stunned by the fantastic architecture and the wonderful attention to detail. The colors they use, the patterns in the carpets and fabrics, the amazingly detailed woodwork and the colorful mosaic that Moroccan design is built up with are such a joy for the eye. This Mausoleum from where the photos are taken, is by the way one of the most famous of Moroccan monuments, as it holds the tomb of the founder of modern and independent Morocco - the father of the nation - King Mohammed V and his son. 

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More world tour

If you wanna see more pics from our journey, add us as friends on Facebook - where we'll publish pics every once in a while when there's no time for the blog. This is also the best place to get in touch with us, if we're late in responding emails. See you there! xx

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Wine sampling

Just like an alert reader already commented on: It seems like the only thing we're doing is eating. And yes, that is almost truth. Not the entire truth but close to it. Because what would life be without delicious food, new interesting flavors, tasteful preparations and in my case: characteristic and flavorful wines. Not much, huh. 

Talking of wine: As I've understood; Morocco is supposed to have the best natural potential in West Africa for producing wine due to the high mountains surrounding the country in combination with the cooling influences of the Atlantic winds - and despite the paradox of having 98% of it's population forbidden to drink alcoholic beverages, Morocco does produce and export an massive amount* of wine each year. So naturally I had to try a couple to compare with my own preferences - and I've found some simple favorites. The traditional Medallion is an excellent everyday wine in my taste and they make it good in both red (Cabernet Sauvignon) and white (Sauvignon Blanc). Wine sampling (and drinking obviously) is a passion that grows within me more for each year and I'm trying to collect my favorites in every new wine-producing country we get to. The Italian ones I picked up this summer in Sardinia are slowly running out so new replacements will be done in form of Moroccan. Not quite comparable but still they are alright. I don't drink much white wines in general but if you like em', allow yourself to try the sweet Medallion next time you have the chance, also Alex thought of it as palatable - and he usually doesn't like the taste of wine at all. For me it was perfect when chilled  - served with the wonderfully prepared sushi we had the other night and I'm definitely going to pick up a few of the small version** for our boat.  /Taru

* Morocco grows 310.000 tons of grapes annually, ranks 30th in wine producing countries worldwide.

**375 ml comes in a stylish, thin bottle as shown in picture - perfect size for one person and takes less space in the boat.

Here's by the way a short text I wrote about my absolute favorite wine, all categories - in my other blog for some year ago or so - for the ones who're interested.

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Marina Bouregreg

For all of you who have wondered: This harbor is one of the best we visited so far on our journey. Super secure with security people patrolling day and night making it feel very safe leaving the boat and going out in town. They offer great service and the fee is ultra cheap. We're paying 108 Moroccan Dirhams (9 Euros or 12 USD) per night and this is the price for all yachts between 9.50-10.99 meters. Electricity, water, wifi and taxes included. It takes us about 6-10 minutes to get to the Medina, to the old city and to the center of town with taxi (also ridiculously cheap). The harbor is pretty quiet now in off season which we are very happy for, although there are some great qualitative cafés and restaurants just on the quay.

We can much recommend this place and it is, at least for us, a perfect stop in between Gibraltar and the Canaries. 

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A walk in the Kasbah des Oudaias


Kasbah des Oudaias is the charming little town inside of the fortress overlooking the Atlantic ocean. It is filled with winding streets scattered with low houses painted in blue and white and the streets are full of life in every corner. Kids are running around laughing and playing behind different doors, you'll find cats relaxing in the sun in the grass and the beautiful Andalusian garden, in the middle of it all, is full of students and loving couples, men reading newspapers and more kids running around and playing games in the scent from full-bloomed flowers and roasted nuts from the old man selling them off his wagon in the park. Inside of this labyrinth of houses and streets, it feels like you are one step closer to the real everyday life of Rabat, one breath closer to the core of the city - and somehow you get a feeling of that whatever happens in between these heavy ochre colored walls, has nothing to do with the rest of the world and vice versa. /Taru

P.S 1: A short movie from inside this town can be found on our Facebook.

P.S 2: Obviously I wore a scarf around my shoulders as we're in a muslim country, just not for the photo.

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Afternoon tea aboard Caos - day 37

Would you have the chance to get invited for a cup of tea into our boat this week, you would most probably not get to have a taste of my homemade cookies (eh) but some real Moroccan ones. We are both addicted to this shit. The traditional Arabic/Middle Eastern sweets. Mmmmm.. some layers of crispy phyllo dough filled with sweet honey and syrup in combination with delicately chopped pistachios, almonds, lemon, cinnamon, walnuts and other spiced nuts. It is pretty healthy too, at least that's what I'm trying to convince myself of. Not sure of if anything containing syrup and nuts can be healthy when eaten in this quantity though.. Nevertheless, they are delicious. Especially when devoured with the traditional Moroccan mint tea with sugar. /T

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Welcome to breakfast heaven

Have a look at this delicate breakfast and then try estimating the cost of it. Perhaps a similar one would've been around 79 USD in The Pierre hotel, New York. Or 480 Swedish kronas in the Grand Hotel, Stockholm. Or 65 Euros in the new exclusive Mandarin Oriental on Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona. So what is the cost of the same here in Rabat, Morocco, you ask? Let me tell you: For this exquisite morning meal with freshly baked bread with sweet apricot marmalade, morning squeezed orange juice from the sweetest of fruits, the most flavorful Moroccan mint tea, six pieces of buttery and oh so perfectly prepared pastry, the juiciest scrambled eggs you can imagine and a perfect cup of café au lait - all served on silver plates accompanied with the best of service - you will have to look no further than in your pocket of coins. Here we've tried the petit-déjeuner for two people and all we had to pay for it in total was 98 Moroccan Dirhams. This, ladies and gentleman, is equal to around 10 Euros. Or 12 USD. Or 100 SEK if you'd like.

The only problem in this equation, as far as I am concerned, is that this French café is located only 25 foot steps from our boat and that it will be very hard to resist the temptation of running here for their madly incredible pastry rich on calories as soon as we open up our eyes in the mornings. A bad habit we already implemented in our Moroccan lives.

This country is ridiculously cheap! /T

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On the streets of Rabat

Rabat, the second largest city and capital of the Kingdom of Morocco - is as vibrant and colorful as I had imagined Morocco to be as a country. Comfortably noisy and lively as many Arabic cities around the world - with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. We took an interesting taxi drive (20 Dirhams - 2 Euros) to one of the main shopping areas in search for some genuine Moroccan ambiance and tasty baklavas. Interesting taxi ride, because of the fact that you share your ride with other strangers who jumps in to the car (most probably a white Mercedes from around 1985) in the middle of the busy multiple-lane roads and out wherever might be suitable. 
Arabs are very loud and intense in their way of communicating and it's always a fascinating encounter to see them in action in their home environments. A special kind of chock - especially when coming from the sea, empty on people and their conversations. In the souk we visited and on the narrow surrounding streets of it, we found some of the most amazing pieces of leather bags, jewelry, shoes, home decoration, accessories, pottery, rugs and glass ware - all delicately handmade with beautiful details. We were not in a shopping mood though, more into the eating one and while strolling around in this intense and bustling environment - we ate our way around the city. Grilled meat served straight off the street with spicy flavors. Arabic pastry and baklavas served with Moroccan mint tea from the holes in the walls. The sweet flower smells from handmade soaps and perfumes shifted place with the warm scent of grilled meat, from one bustling street to the other.
We have been told that Rabat is very calm and relaxed compared to Casablanca and Marrakech  - so I assume it was a good start for us coming straight from the tranquility on the sea. The winding asymmetries and the orange/reddish hue made us feeling very comfortable and relaxed and it's with pleasure we will be heading further into town to discover more parts of this interesting city. And most definitely we'll be back in the souk or one of the other ones very soon - to stock up on spices, pottery and Moroccan tea cups. All to make our little boat an even heavier one.

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Our arrival to Rabat

Photo is taken some 150 nm from Gibraltar - maybe 8-10 hours before arriving to Rabat. The Atlantic ocean was pretty calm this night - in comparison to the previous night when the wind was a steady 25-30 knots all night long. That first night was a long and fast ride in darkness with the wind pushing us along from NW in a broad reach and that was also the first time we did an over-nighter on the Atlantic ocean together. It was like a new world opened up before me (Alex been sailing here before, during his 20's. Bay of Biscay - South Africa). I have only sailed in the choppy Mediterranean before so I was thrilled to see something so different and with such a long swell. Wonderful change to the better, if you ask me.
On the second day we had the chance to try the 81 square meter (877 sq feet) of beautiful gennaker. In 8 knots of wind we sailed along at 5 knots with this piece of nylon.
Beautiful..
We arrived to the river entrance of Rabat/Salé at five am on the second morning. As we've been advised, we called the marina to take advantage of the pilot service for escort up the river. We were told that the dam was open since a few hours, creating a strong current so we had to wait to enter until around 11am. We kept on sailing along the coast and met many of these fishing boats with large black birds surrounding them.
Finally ready to move on up the river around lunch time. The marina is to be found about 1 km (half a mile) from the sea. Rabat with the fortress is to the right in this picture, Salé to the left. 
Loads of colorful fishing boats in the river.
The old town surrounded by fortress.
The old town. (Colorful pics from inside of it coming soon)
A huge luxurious apartment complex is being built just before the marina. Bouregreg marina where we're staying is just a five minute walk from this area. 

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