Oct 1 – 8, 2018 Final days in Agadir Morocco

(photos wont upload until we get better internet)
Back in Agadir, Frank set about diagnosing the problem that was causing our engine to stall and quit on us. He spent an entire day mostly on his stomach waist to head deep in the engine compartment dismantling the fuel filter housing. Island Packet does not make these jobs easy. The thing was coated with dirty fuel gunk. He cleaned out everything he could access and then went to work on the generator fuel filter housing just in case. Two days, my man worked like a slave getting cut and bruised in numerous places on his body in the process. As usual, I’m running around trying to catch the blood that’s dripping off him and cleaning it off sheets and whatnot. He finally cut up a tube sock to wear on his arm and elbow as a bandage because nothing else seems to work. Not much could be done about the two gashes on top of his head, that spotted the pillowcases crimson, but to keep it covered with a hat and copious amount of Neosporin. He was so sore and cramped up he took to snacking on Aleve instead of cookies for a while. Poor guy!

Our next hurdle was locating propane. Our tanks were nearly empty and had been since entering Spain last year. Obviously there will be no cooking without propane. We‘ve been eating out for the most part and making food that can either be prepared by boiling water in the electric kettle, microwaved or eaten raw (salad, sandwiches, etc).  There was no propane to be found in any of our previous ports in Spain. They use exchangeable camping gas canisters. We have been told there is none to be found in the Canaries either. Fortunately an American family here in the marina pointed us to a station that sells propane that must be self-filled by hand. Well this is a first. We’ve done it with diesel in Tonga and Indonesia but not propane. The man, Erik, went with Frank to show him the ropes while I went in search of prescription refills, and took care of other chores aboard. The job took Frank about 2 hours but our tanks are both nearly full so we wont have to worry about crossing to the Caribbean with out cooking. The American guy said he videoed the process and put it on the web. Their yacht is named Kandu. I think the link is RidneysKandu.com (its written all over their boat), if any sailors are reading this and want the info.

locals always coming to the marina for a day out.

The locals love to stand in this corner of the marina to get their photos and look at fish in the water

We have taken several long walks into the town and along the bustling waterfront. The main part of town is not close which is fine with us because we enjoy the long walks. We didn’t hang out on the beach. We just didn’t fit in. I don’t have a caftan and leggings appropriate to blend in with the local beachcomber threads of the Muslim ladies. Its fascinating people watching as so many women dressed in layers, heads covered, stroll along the beach with fabric billowing behind and around them in the ocean breeze. Some were even kicking around a soccer ball. Can you imagine? The men of course have no worries, running around shirtless in their trendy trunks. Again, we didn’t snap photos because it would have been very rude to do so.

fog in the breakwater entrance (from Destiny, bow-facing)

foggy days (from the stern)

Several of our days have been socked in with fog but we did manage to walk to the Sunday Market (the Suq which is actually open every day) on the other side of town for wonderfully fresh fruits and vegetables – and the olives that are amazing here. Unfortunately, as fresh as everything is, it is just as dirty. The gorgeous head of lettuce I bought was full of sand and black dirt. An hour of shopping is generally followed by an hour of washing the food before putting it into the galley. 

Frank's reward  - Moroccan beer) for letting me drag him around shopping. Love these olives!

One really big downside to Agadir for me personally is the smell coming from the fish market and the open fire grills along the adjacent port where they cook the fish all day into the night. The “offal” smell permeates not just the air, but our hair and clothing as well. It really is disgusting and pungent when the breeze is coming from that direction. I’ve begun to call Agadir: “Stinkadir”, and find myself constantly parading around the inside of the boat spraying air freshener.  A French yacht came in next to us with a little dog that yaps and barks a high-pitched incessant screech that rips right through us day and night. Everything sets this poor little dog off.  A pair of German Shepherds enjoy sauntering by on the dock to taunt him. When he gets completely riled they then curl up to settle down on the pier just aft of the French boat, sending the little yapper into a crazed frenzy for hours on end. I think Frank wants to feed him some of our diesel gunk.

We have enjoyed our time here and have found two really great restaurants on the waterfront: Pure Passion (very gourmand), and Mama Caterina (excellent homemade Italian food by a family who emigrated here from Torino).  We are, however, anxious to get moving. On the 3^rd, Frank booked Customs to check us out at 8 AM the next morning and sent me up to the Marina office to settle our bill while he readied the boat. After I finished paying, he walked up to the office to tell me we should stick around for a while because he just checked the forecast to find there is absolutely no wind after all and we don’t want to motor for two days. Next Thursday (the 11^th) promises great wind so we will stick around for another week. Oh boy.

I’m bored and ready to go. I’ve read four books while Frank putters around with Blue Jobs. I decided to clean our showerheads because the water we had filled up with in Sant Carles had a lot of lime or some kind of mineral substance in it that clogs the faucets and showerheads causing them to spray every which way. We learned a neat little trick from the RayMarine guy in Gibraltar, which is to soak our speed log paddle wheel in Efferdent to clean it off. I thought this might work on the showerheads and faucets. I soaked away, hoping this was better than using vinegar, the normal remedy. I think it worked but one of the showerheads broke when Frank was trying to reattach it. We spent one day trying to source a new one. That was a new adventure on the local bus #98. We looked real out of place and smelled better than most of the other riders! But it got us exactly where we needed to be on the other side of town.  We spent another day cleaning out all of the fresh water hoses.  Yes, we do live an exciting life but these things help us to do that.

Today is Monday Frank had another very early look at the weather and announced that the promised wind for Thursday has now completely disappeared off the forecast. There will be no sailing wind to the Canaries for at least another week. I urged him to let us just go. At 8 AM he went to Customs to begin the checkout process. We know there is a Front headed to the Canaries but if we don’t leave today we will be stuck again for several. We think we can get in before the bad weather hits. By 10:00 we were squared away with the marina and the officials. Here we go – 220 miles into the wind!