Tag Archives: Leslie Rigney

Rounding the Southwest corner of Nuku Hiva

This is a posting that Eric sent to the world cruiser’s fabulous resource: www.noonsite.com back in 2016. It was never posted to our site and he thought with the upcoming 2019 Pacific crossing season approaching, our past knowledge might come in handy to the newbie Pacific Puddle jumpers. Some of the details may be a little dated, but things are slow to change in the Marquesas.

Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva. We anchored in the little inlet for almost a year: June 2015-May 2016.

June 2015, Leslie, Bryce (13), Trent (11), and I arrived from the Galapagos Islands in the Marquesas aboard Kandu, our 42-foot Tayana sailboat. Intending to stay only a few weeks, we remained nearly a year, becoming certified residence in the administrative capital of Taiohae, Nuku Hiva. Our sons would be the first Americans to attend Taiohae’s middle-school. Having been in Nuku Hiva as long, we thought it helpful to share some recommendations as to what to see and do were one to have 1-5 days to spend and cooperative weather. A detailed guide written by Rose Corsair points out the nearby historical sites and is available at her shop on the west side of the bay. So, here’s a short-list, in order of priority. Of course, spending more time at any one or more of these locations is preferable. Note: Although many services are described, this is meant mostly to serve as a sailing cruiser’s touring guide, getting the most out of Nuku Hiva in the shortest time, and does not provide a comprehensive list of available services.

Taiohae Bay seen from opposite side of the quai.

Standard Polynesian traveling preparations: water, bug spray, sun protection, a good pair of hiking sandals suitable for mud, seawater, and streams, and a roll of toilet paper in a Ziplock.

1^st Day, Taiohae, from east to west

Petit Quai dinghy dock (pronounced “per-TEET KAY”), services listed in order of appearance starting from this popular sailors meeting place:

Snack Vaekai aka Chez Henri (among other languages, Henry speaks English and can help solve most any boat problem the Marquesan way) (meals $8-$10): Internet WiFi with food purchase, mostly Marquesan menu, including the classic Marquesan poisson cru(lime-marinated fresh fish in fresh squeezed coconut milk), fresh squeezed fruit juices or citronade (lime-ade), and individual bananas that you pull from any one of the many stalks hanging along the tent’s edge to accompany your meal. Bananas are consumed here like bread or tortilla chips are in US restaurant. For dessert: gateau beurre(butter cake), ice cream, or firi-firi(French Polynesian donut). No alcohol served (BYOB from Kamake, see below).

Welcoming Quai businesses of Taiohae Bay, Nuku Hiva

Next stores to Henri’s, a boutique selling nice shirts, skirts, caps, and Hinano stickers, and a dive excursion shop, filling tanks and taking you out, but no classes.

Henri, like a brother to me, shows off a plate of his poisson cru, lime-marinated raw yellow fin tuna.

Then it’s Yacht Services Nuku Hiva (YSNH), Kevin can help you check in and/or with the authorities and help solve boat problems (the American way). He sells Marquesan courtesy flags, souvenirs, and houses one of the island’s premiere tattoo artists: Moana. YSNH can also set you up with one of their many island tours. Laundry and WiFi are just some of the services he offers.

Trash and oil dump location.

Open Market: Fresh fruits and vegetable stand, daily 6am-3pm except Sundays. (4 a.m. Saturday if you want tomatoes!!!)

Chez Celina, in the market place at the end of the quay, serves local dishes, ($6-$10), cold beer, and offers Wi-Fi with a purchase. Serves standard Marquesan fare as well as Marquesan dishes with international spiced variations

Quay restrooms are now payable ($1, or free when you eat at Celina’s), but not yet well maintained. We “lobbied” to improve this circumstance, asking that they have toilet seats, doors, toilet paper, soap and drying towels. Would also like to see the showers working too. There’s a place to hand wash clothes behind the building near the toilets. During rains, the water which is non-potable becomes brown with sediment and can stain clothes. Currently no potable tap water in Taiohae, except one of the three free filtered water stations, none of which are close to the quai.

Communal artisan center, more active when a cruise ship passes through. If you see something you like, buy it. It might not be there tomorrow. When larger cruise ships pull into port, Ua Pou arrives to sell inexpensive black pearls.

Tourist office, with maps and information about the Marquesas. Speak English. Can set you up with Nuku Hiva tours: Richard Dean and Jocylene speak English. Average tour cost $65 pp plus lunch. Tourist office has the best public restrooms on Nuku Hiva!!!!

Saturday morning flea market (marche de puce), 5-6:30am, fresh seafood and prepared foods. Tuna, wahoo, etc. $5/kilo. Live lobster, $15/kilo (out of season Feb-April).

General Stores: Taiohae has 5 general stores and 2 hardware stores. Larssons, next to Kamake sells higher-end items like curries, coconut oil, etc. The store furthest away, past the pharmacy, is open 7 days a week. The one behind Socredo, the only bank, across from the stadium field, is open during lunch, Monday-Sat. Cold anything, including soft drinks, beer ($2.50-$3/can), wine, chocolate, meats, cheese, and ice cream. Fresh baked baguette bread ($0.70) and pastries daily except Sundays and holidays. Kamake open 5:30-11:30am Mon-Sat, 2-6:30pm Mon-Fri, Larsson’s opens later. Fresh vegetables and inexpensive casse-croute(sandwiches) sold in front of Kamake until 11:30am. These general stores offer free truck rides to the Petit Quai if you have a heavy or large purchase, but you have to ask.

Kou’eva Ceremonial Grounds, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva

Kou’eva – Inland ceremonial grounds, restored for traditional cultural festivals. To find it, turn right up the town’s center street, main intersection, between Magasin Kamake and Magasin Larsson. Walk about a mile up, not far from the school bus stop, a super small sign on the right side of street marks right turn toward Taiohae’s reconstructed ceremonial grounds. The walk from the paved street inland along the dirt road is further than you think and which road to take at each informal intersection is not obvious . . . so, ask any passersby, or worst case, walk back and take the other path if you guess wrong.

Chez Bigo Hardware: Walking from Kou-eva back to the seafront, as you descend, you may notice Chez Bigo, the island’s most comprehensive hardware store to your right, just before the bus stop, across the small bridge. They serve cold drinks and packaged snacks like candy bars if the Kou’eva walk zapped your energy.

Moana Nui Restaurant, Pension, and Car Rental – on the main drag, further west after the main intersection. More European than Marquesan menu ($12-$30). Great steak. Serves French-style pizza (no mozzarella cheese for pizza in French Polynesia), beer and wine and mixed drinks. More expensive than the two Petit Quai “Snacks” (cafes), less expensive than Pearl Lodge.

Cathedral Taiohae – Ask permission to enter building. Strict protocols. Rose Corsair, on the westside of the bay, sells a guidebook for Nuku Hiva that includes descriptions of elements within the cathedral. Beautiful woodcarvings inside and out. Sunday mass begins with meditative chants at 7am, regular mass at 8am, ends 9-9:30am. Look for the Marquesan version of the Christian cross (previously Marquesan symbol for southern cross, I think). Butted together, the Marquesan cross figures look like a pattern of men.

Tohua Temehea – Seaside ceremonial grounds, built for traditional cultural festivals since 1989. Read the informational sign on-site (in French and English) for details

Melville Monument – Tucked in on the shore side, neighbouring the western cemetery.
A wonderfully carved large tree stump with weathered roof top and missing elements, shows the path he hiked out of Taiohae and over to Taipi Vai. The monument is reported placed at the beach location where Melville reportedly jumped ship and headed for the hills.

Joel’s Bella Pizza: Great pizza, ($12.50-$18; $3 delivery to Petit Quai), a less expensive alternative to Moana Nui Restaurant’s pizza. The “Indian” and “Petit Quai” versions are our favorites. Better than the pizza are the decadent desserts, tiramisu and cheesecake ($4, large slices)

Restaurant and Marquesas Museum at Chez Rose’s. Rose was an American sailing cruiser who arrived in Taiohae in 1972 with her husband Frank and later returned to stay since 1977. Far west side of bay. Never know when it’s open. Knock. Great exhibit. Sells a great Nuku Hiva guidebook in multiple languages. Restaurant serves an excellent hamburger. Free WiFi, password-free (some anchor their boats at this side of the bay to get closer to her wifi). A more casual Friday night happy hour than Pearl Lodge, Kevin sometimes arranges a complimentary communal taxi for sailors from his YSNH shop on the Petit Quay.

Pearl Lodge – Nuku Hiva’s gorgeous (expensive) bar, restaurant ($18-$40), hotel ($225/night). Very nice! Beautiful view of Taiohae Bay. Friday evening Happy Hour, half off beautiful $14 frou-frou cocktails (or as I see it, two for the price of one!)

Swimming
Remember in the Marquesas, beach equals no-no’s. They breed in the sand between fresh and seawater. Usually, it seems, the whiter the sand, the greater the no-no’s.
Beaches: Kouvea beach on the eastern side of the bay, in front of the French Administrator’s residence. To the west, in front of Rose’s place, there’s a beach but more no-no’s than Kouvea. And over the western hill, there’s Colette’s Bay, see “Hikes” below.

Sharks?

Cleaning boat bottoms and swimming in the bay have not been a problem for us or anyone else. Locals say sharks are a problem, but Kevin from Nuku Hiva Yacht Services and the Fire Dept. haven’t heard of an actual incident. Kevin says he is never concerned about jumping in to the bay to fix a boat.
That said, I would not advise swimming near the Petit Quai as sharks feed on fishermen’s scraps. Still, many cruisers have dived here, jumping in after fallen items, without incident.

Hikes (Randonee, in French)

Sentinal/East bay mouth

Moderate, but sometimes steep. Bring water. No facilities.
Between 1.5 and 2 hours R/T at steady pace.
Leave early in the morning, before it gets hot, before 7 am is best. Take upper road above fuel station to maintained dirt path. Ask any locals how to get to the start.

Taiohae overview vista, walk up the center road, as done for Kou’eva, until you get to the top for a stunning view (hitch hike if you don’t want to walk).

Colette’s Bay, over the ridge on the other side of the bay’s west side, . . . path starts above Rose’s motel. Turn right above the motel, then another immediate right, walking down and curving left. Stay on main dirt road until your reach top of saddle/ridge. Turn left, opening and closing the barbed-wire gate. (If you turn right, you’re on your way to Hakaui Bay, a much further hike, so ask in advance where the paths turn). Colette’s Bay is where Survivor Marquesas filmed their challenges. Great swimming beach. Remember, beach equals no-no’s.

2^nd Day, Car Tour

Pre-arrange a guide in Taiohae for a driving tour ($50-$120pp). Richard, Jocylene, and Kevin speak English. Ask Tourism Office, Henri, Rose, or Kevin to help you find a guide. Or go solo, diesel 4×4 rental is about $120/day plus fuel.

Self-guided?

Taipi Vai, Tohua ceremonial grounds (toilets often available) w/modern stone tiki.
Hoomi, see church and visit with Pena, a sculptor (toilets available in Hoomi).
Hatiheu Ceremonial Grounds

Ron Dennis indicating the ancient petroglyphs depicting a mahimahi, Hatiheu
Hatiheu
- Road from Taipi Vai to Hatiheu and beyond becomes rough dirt and washed out rock, requiring 4×4.
- Once arrived, visit the archeological ceremonial grounds, see petroglyphs
- Check out the Marquesan history exposition. Great history of Anaho too.
- Virgin Mary statue atop pinnacle southwest side of bay.
- Chez Yvonne’s for lunch (toilets available). Feed a piece of baguetteto the fresh water eels adjacent her restaurant.
Aakapa vista point, beautiful Attitoka mountain ridge.
Aakapa Bay and Attitoka Mountain Range
- From Hatiheu to Aakapa and especially beyond, requires 4×4 driving skill. If it were raining, I’d pass on going to Aakapa and/or beyond.
- Some drive from there (Aakapa) directly to the airport, but told the brush surrounding this un-maintained dirt road can scratch cars.
Drive across central plateau toward airport (or from airport, depending on how you drove there). This area is called ‘Too Vii’ or as some call it, mini-New Zealand, with its fresh air and pines. Stop at vista points at the top of the mountain ridge, including Nuku Hiva’s Grand Canyon.

3^rd Day, Hakatea Bay and Hakaui Valley

Before sailing over, quickly stop off at one of the nearby stores and buy fresh baguettes in Taiohae to give to Hakaui locals that same day. Nice gift.

Leave Taiohae, sail west to Hakatea, 1-1.5 hr motorsail, and anchor on the eastern bay aka “Daniel’s” Bay, where Survivor was shot. Daniel passed away a few years ago. This is also the bay where not so long ago a German sailor was murdered by an emotionally troubled man, currently serving time in Papeete. Careful, lots of no-no’s (noseums), some even fly to the anchored boat.

Walk west along bay’s north shore to Hakaui Bay.

Wade through river to other side (good place to run your dinghy to give it a fresh water internal rinse). Along the start of your way up the path to the waterfall, make lunch reservations for your return trip (4 hrs R/T) with one of the valley families. Teiki and Kua, as you enter the village, are favorites, but all meals from any family here are great. $10pp. Warning: Don’t take Teiki’s picture without permission! Easier if you dine at his place.

Friends Kua and Teiki showed Rosie Dennis Marquesan amity when we visited the Hakaui waterfall.

Continue walking deeper inland toward one of the world’s most breathtaking waterfalls, following a not so carefully marked path. Walking through the stream is sometimes safer than negotiating slippery rocks and tree trunks over the stream. After three trips prior, we went with a guide, Thierry, and saw three times as much, and more safely.

WARNING: Rocks can fall from atop, esp. the open field closest to the falls. Move quickly and quietly when adjacent cliffs. Don’t attempt this hike if raining, or rain predicted as flash floods are likely. Swimming to the very base of the falls places you in danger of falling rocks. Fresh water eels live in the ponds and stream. Not harmful, but they often nip at your legs.

Wear bug repellent and re-apply after swimming in waterfall pond.

4^th Day, Anaho Bay

Sail to Anaho, on the northeast corner of Nuku Hiva. About a 6-hour motor-sail. Careful of the rock on the SE corner of the island, off Controller Bay and Tikapo pt.

One of the most scenic and protected bays in the Marquesas, Anaho is where Marquesans go to vacation. Can’t help but sing Rogers and Hammerstein’s Bali Hai when I turn the corner to enter the bay.

To protect the coral, anchor south of the coral-carved dinghy path, cut to the shore.

Kandu in Anaho Bay, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas

Good snorkeling, safe (no sharks, sometimes jellyfish), clear, often times manta rays. Don’t eat any fish caught there. (Ciguatera).

Fresh spring water available from a free-running hose on the beach for drinking and bathing.

Careful, no-no’s on the beach and even more so to the east. Good surfing and a plantation on the beach over the small hill to the east. Be warned—mega no-no’s on the beach, so run to the surf. Moana Sr., owns the fruit and vegetable farm and has re-opened a small pension in Anaho that serves meals. This makes two pensions that sometimeserve meals, but difficult to count on. Usually about $10 a large plate of local fare.

Many artisans live in Anaho Bay, including a well-known Marquesan tattoo artist, Moana (Jr.), when he’s not in Taiohae at Kevin’s YSNH.

Lastly, a nice hike up and over western ridge of Anaho to Hatiheu. There and back (2.5 hr R/T), start early as it gets hot. Easier coming back than going. Some brag they walk it in half the time. Again, Chez Yvonne’s, a restaurant popular with cruise ship tourists, is in Hatiheu.

5^th Day, Controller’s Bay a.k.a. Taipi Vai (South) or Hanapani (North), let the swell decide:

If the swell is coming from the north, then better to go south. Taipi Vai is where Herman Melville lived for a couple weeks and about which he later wrote his first novel, Typee. From Anaho, sail east then a sharp turn south along the east coast toward the SE corner of Nuku Hiva (careful, there’s still that killer rock off the point to watch out for).

Once in Controller Bay, there are three smaller bays from which to choose: Hoomi to the east, Hakapuvai/Hakapaa to the west (only good if no swell), and Taipi Vai in between. Coral surrounds these bays, so anchor in the middle of them.

Hakapuvai & Hakapaa, are private properties, owned by local families. Together these two beaches comprise the other Survivor beach.

We anchor in Hakapaa, the bay to starboard, more easterly, where you may spot pigs roaming the beach and might fumble your way to the pretty waterfall and pool (easy, short hike) in the back, to the west (left when facing inland from your cockpit).
Hakapuvai, to the west, has a beach of shells, excellent for combing.
Snorkeling over coral is possible in both bays.
Occasionally no-no’s can reach the boat.

If the swell is coming from the south, may be better to go north to Hanapani Bay, northwest Nuku Hiva.

Haven’t visited this bay yet, but have been told by those who have that when the swell allows, for those who prefer remote white-sand beaches and clear water without other boats nearby, this is the place to be. It’s just west of Aakapa. Aakapa is not good for anchoring. Pua, further west than Hanapani, is quiet as well, but its landscape is a tad less “magnifique.”

If you’re planning to visit Nuku Hiva, I hope this little outline helps you get the most from your visit. If you’re in the Marquesas and not planning to visit Nuku Hiva, I hope this outline entices you to reconsider. See hello to Henri for me. I love that guy!

All the best! Eric Rigney – SY Kandu

While we were in the Marquesas, we sailed over to Hiva Oa to witness the Marquesan Festival that occurs every two years. It was worth planning around!!

Matava’a Hiva Oa Opening Ceremony: December 16th 2015

Canary & Cape Verde, Leslie's Posts

Our Snail Mail Arrived in Sao Vicente, Cape Verde!

December 5, 2018 admin 7 Comments

Yeah – our mail arrived from our mail service in Florida! We had ordered it weeks ago hoping it would beat us to Cape Verde. Oh well, we can leave Mindelo Marina of Sao Vicente, Cape Verde now after an extended visit of just over two weeks. This has been a lovely place to relax and enjoy the cruising life as Kandu had only a few maintenance projects to complete since most were completed earlier in the Canary Islands and Agadir, Morocco. We’ve met several lovely cruisers here making the Atlantic crossing and hope to see them again in the Caribbean.

We will be casting off the lines tomorrow to sail the Atlantic west to French Guiana. We are excited to get moving again. Everything is ready. Water tanks and diesel tanks are full, the boat bottom is clean as well as the deck, cockpit and the interior. All the laundry has been washed and we’re topped up in provisions.

The music scene is excellent here on the weekends. Typically there is a singer and guitar accompanied sometimes with a cajon drum box. Both weekends we went out to hear the mixed sounds of the tropics combined with Portuguese rhythms topped with a language mix of Portuguese, Creole and English. We actually bought a couple wonderful albums one from their most internationally famous singer – Cesaria Evora: Miss Perfumado. Today’s most popular singer Elida Almeida is featured on her latest album: Kebrada distributed by Sony Music.

These last two days, Bryce has been able to get out and surf the northeast side of the island in the south section of the Baia des Gatas: Praia Grande de Calhau. We met a recently arrived fellow American cruiser, Jeff Morcroft on sv Talaba who was game to join Bryce on some water adventures.

Bryce Rigney and Jeff Talaba, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde.

Canary & Cape Verde, Educational, Eric's Posts

Mindelo: a Piece of African Cake

November 28, 2018 admin 6 Comments

This article can also be viewed at the world cruiser’s Noonsite.com. Just follow this link: Cape Verde: Mindelo Marina and Town.

Sailing in from Lanzarote late November 2018, prior e-mail contact with Marina Mindelo indicated no berths would be available during this, their high rally season. Three rallies, 2 ARC and 1 French, meant 95 extra boats would fill their pontoons to capacity during the same week our unintended circumstances had us arriving. Rounding the northern point between Sao Vicente and the large rock northwest of the Grand Port, the marina informed us over VHF ch72 that they were able to make space for us and to look out for their red dinghy, manned to assist us. With a forecast of high winds the coming weekend and Noonsite reports of several thefts aboard anchored boats in this popular bay, we tied up bow-in to the leeward side of Pontoon A, grabbing the mooring line from the dock hands and tying it off to our stern.

Mindelo Marina, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde ARC rally participants 2018

The one-hour time difference between Canary and Cape Verde Islands meant that after checking into the marina, we had 30 minutes left before the state offices closed. Using the map the marina office provided, I quickly walked solo the short distance to both Immigration and Border Police, offices adjacent each other just beyond the ferry terminal. Border Police had a simple form to fill out and would hold our ship’s original documentation paper, to be returned on check out. Contrary to another Mindelo cruiser’s Noonsite report, no paper relinquishing them of any responsibility of theft was offered or required. Immigration took a copy of our crew list and stamped our 3 passports, requiring €5 total for the service. Both offices gave notice that if we wished to depart on a weekend, we’d have to clear out through their offices the Friday before. The whole process, both offices together, took 15-20 minutes.

Marina Mindelo, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde, Nov 2018

Checking into the marina was simple. Proof of Insurance, the captain’s passport to scan, and a standard form describing the vessel, crew, and prior/next ports were all that were required before taking my Visa credit card. They charge by the square meter. Our boat, 12.7m x 3.8m cost just about $30 day, which includes security, power, toilets, and access to WiFi through their Floating Bar restaurant. Water is a premium here, so the marina access card doubles as the water card. One pre-pays for water, $5 buys 250 liters for both their showers (hot) and dockside water. Although potable, it was highly recommended it be filtered. Their fuel dock offers VAT-free diesel, costing about $1/liter, 15% less than at the street-side service pump. The high volume of cruisers arriving for the rallies motivated the marina to set up a telecommunication SIM provider on premises. One euro bought the SIM, €10 bought 8 GB of data, valid for 30 days. The marina is well run, clean, and convenient to all services.

BoatCV operates a smart yacht services shop on premises and can connect boats with other service providers. There seems to be some bad blood between the marina and BoatCV owners, but we had no issues. The facilities, marina staff, the restaurant staff, security, and the chandlery are attentive and professional, operating at the highest standards relative to most locations we visited across our circumnavigation. A swell surge can push boats around and strong gusts can jet through the bay’s valley, so many fenders, chafing gear, and attention to dock lines is required. When it comes to an overall wet-berth marina experience, this place is hard to beat.

The location is convenient as well, central to Mindelo. Many cultural opportunities are within walking distance of the marina and inexpensive land tours can be had. Open markets and small supermarkets have most anything one may wish to provision. The local butane gas company seems capable of filling most any gas bottle fitting, including Amerian/Australian. Cooking gas filling service itself is straight forward and nearly immediate. Laundry from an outside vendor is collected and returned at 09h and 17h daily. They charged $12 for 7kg of laundry, washed, dried, and folded. From the USA, we had two items mailed to us at the marina Priority International USPS, a box of parts and an envelope of documents. The parts took a week and no customs charges were applied; the documents, 2 weeks. As for security, the marina feels safe and guarded from theft. I can’t speak to boats anchored. The ever-present young men and boy beggars and the proximity of the beach to the anchored boats might prove problematic.

Rue de Lisboa View from the Old Capital building

Rue de Lisboa buildings viewed from Mercado Municpal

Mindelo is mellow, quaint, clean, and convenient. The views of the surrounding mountains and nearby island are stunning. Yes, industry surrounds the port, but feels much less imposing than at other countries we’ve visited. Portuguese and Creole are the common languages spoken here. Service providers offer varying degrees of English, French, Spanish, German, etc. We enjoyed the local dishes and drinks. Cachupa is never the same dish from restaurant to restaurant, so once is not enough. Grogue is a local spirit as strong as vodka and “punch” is a syrup, low in alcohol. Both are inexpensive, less than the cost of a soft drink. Together, they make a tasty cocktail. I think they should give my new cocktail creation the French name for a mooring buoy, “corps mort,” which, when translated directly means, “dead body.” (Turns out I didn’t invent anything. The drink’s actual name sounds like: “Strompf-Parot.”)

Through the marina office, we arranged a standard island tour, covering three coasts. It was well worth the €60 for the three of us (the car accepts up to 4 at no extra cost), which included driving to the windy summit of Mt Verde, the tallest mountain on the island. The driver didn’t speak English and very little French, so we didn’t learn much about the history, but he took us to great photo spots, walking paths, and Restaurant Hamburg for an inexpensive local lunch.

Fluorescent waters of Sao Pedro Beach, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde

Local Sao Pedro boy, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde

Fishing Boats, Sao Pedro, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde

Madeira, Sao Vicente agriculture, Cape Verde

Restaurant Hamburg, Calhau, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde

RigneysKandu at Pria do Norte, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde

Bryce Rigney and tour guide at Pria do Norte sand dunes, Sao Vicente

View of Baia das Gatas from Monte Verde, Sao Vicente

View atop Monte Verde, Sao Vicente, Cape Verde

Bryce Rigney wind blown atop Monte Verde, Sao Vicente

Mindelo view from Monte Verde, Sao Vicente

Sailing to Cape Verde took us 8 days and will cut about 3-4 days from our upcoming Atlantic crossing to French Guiana. I feel the extra time spent to experience this African island was well worth the diversion. It also proved to be enjoyable and pleasant way to shake down the boat before our third and last ocean crossing. I wouldn’t insist that a cruiser come this way, but were they to make the effort, they would likely be pleased that they did, especially if they could dock at the marina.

From here, we leave for French Guiana, Suriname, and possibly Guyana, in route toward the Panama Canal. Cheers from sv Kandu!

Canary & Cape Verde, Experiential, Leslie's Posts

Pondering Blessings by Leslie Dennis Rigney

November 27, 2018 admin 8 Comments

November, 2018 – Looking Back and being thankful

After college, age 22, while traveling on sv Getel across the Pacific with Eric in 1989, I had time to pause from the ‘busy’ness of life laiden full of skills learned across multiple disciplines in order to earn a living, and reflect on how incredibly blessed my path had been up to that point. During that crossing from Hawaii to San Francisco, there was a difficult and rather scary 24-hour period when I pushed myself into a tight corner crevice, crossed myself (unusual for a Lutheran), and prayed. At that moment during the raging sea storm, in the most uncomfortable and frightening circumstance of my life, I thanked God for all the extraordinary experiences that my parents had provided me and the incredible opportunities to learn and to grow unhindered by war, by pestilence, tragedy, sickness, hunger, disability, poverty and even unattractiveness. I acknowledged that I had already lived a terrific life. Overwhelmingly thankful, I was prepared to die. Fortunately, the storm passed and we lived to sail under the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge.

Today, thinking back at that moment and my life up until then, my life had been truly blessed: born in California in the late 1960’s, healthy, strong of body with a decent brain, and an only child of devoted upper-middle class parents. Truly, I was the princess that most of my high school friends perceived me to be, living atop the hill in a big modern house that my father built. Although I never thought, nor think of myself as a princess. I rarely got new clothes; mine were mostly hand-me-downs. My parents owned a record player with basic speakers, a simple medium-sized television and VHS machine to record shows – purchasing movies was out of the question expensive, and renting movies wasn’t a possibility back in the late 1970’s. Spending time on the telephone long distance was forbidden. My parents didn’t often take me out to eat. We drank milk or water with dinner and ate simply. I learned a great distaste for shopping because while my mother loved to go ‘shopping,’ we rarely bought anything. Our big spending was food on special. Before I was ten, I collected aluminum cans, sorting through trash bins to recycle. When I was 10, I sold mistletoe wrapped and tied with a bow to neighbors for a $0.50. Later in high school, I babysat the neighbors’ children. I never received an allowance.

However, what my parents did offer me, above and beyond any material prizes, were experiences. With my mother, we joined a roller-skating club. I was four. Until I was twelve, I spent most of my after-school hours and weekends at the roller-skating rink, taking lessons and practicing. At age six, I started taking piano lessons. A little later I took-up violin in the elementary school orchestra…I was now taking piano and violin lessons.

My mother was a snow ski addict. During the winter months, we would drive up to the Tahoe mountains on Friday afternoons having packed all our food and sandwich materials for a weekend of skiing. At that time, Squaw Valley attracted families to their ski resort by offering children to ski free until age 14. I skied so much as a youth, that by the time I was 16, I was skiing the most difficult runs on the mountain. My mother’s brilliant idea, I attached a horn to my ski pole. While on the chairlift looking down, I would honk the horn to congratulate fellow skiers on their great form skiing and/or crashing. Haha. I used to ski so hard, that my own crashes were enviable…but fortune would have it that I never experienced a debilitating accident. At that time, we skied without helmets.

Then one day, my father showed up with a modest water ski boat. From then on out during the summer months, we would pack-up the El Camino with a camper top (my cousin and I lounged in the back on a cushion reading books – I became an avid reader – no DVD movie players back then) and headed out on late Friday afternoons to the bay area delta for the weekend.

Around age 12, my mother’s interest in roller-skating dwindled. She asked me if I wanted to continue. I was good enough that if I continued, I would have started skating freestyle pairs – a dangerous sport for girls as they are twirled, lifted, and thrown in the air at their peril. At the same time, my interest and skill at playing the violin had markedly grown. We decided that our roller-skating days were over. Instead, we water and snow skied many weekends, I poured myself into local after school sports (softball and soccer), practiced and played the violin, sang in choirs, and improved my mind through academics and reading. Junior high was marked for me by singing in the choir, the purchase of a good violin and playing in the orchestra at the junior college, but most significantly, having to wear headgear to school; before I smiled I was considered a small, cute girl. Haha.

My mouth was such a tangled mess, that the orthodontist required I wear braces and the worst possible: headgear 24 hours a day – even to school. He was going to wire the apparatus in so that I couldn’t remove it. Fortunately, my mother and number one advocate, protested the wiring and assured the doctor I would wear it. In the bathroom, my mother discovered me in tears trying to hide the headgear under my hair. She held me in her arms and said: “You won’t be able to hide it, instead, flaunt it!” From her crafts, she pulled out ribbons and dried flowers and together we decorated it in style wrapping it with bright colors and festooning it with “charm.” Interestingly, I was rarely pointed out or ridiculed. During those months, we arranged at school for me to eat lunch privately in a classroom away from prying eyes. The orthodontist predicted I would need to wear the headgear full time for five months. I determined that would not do. The moment my teeth stopped aching, I would tighten the gear myself. Three months later, my teeth had reached their new permanent place and the headgear was no longer required. I wore braces for just a year and retainers every night thereafter.

While I was in junior high, my mother went back to school to San Jose State University. My grandmother would pick me up from school to take me to violin lessons. Other days, I would attend soccer practice and/or walk home, practice my violin and piano, do my homework. A couple nights a week, I was expected to cook simple dinners – rice and vegetable stir fry and/or spaghetti with salad. In eighth grade, I auditioned for Oakland Youth Symphony Orchestra and was accepted into the second violins. For three consecutive summers, I earned music scholarships to attend La Honda Music Camp in the Santa Cruz mountains to improve my skills and make contacts.

Moving forward in time, as a freshman at San Leandro High School, I auditioned and was accepted to sing in the Notables Choir, and continued to study piano and violin privately.

The day I turned 16, I passed my driver’s license test. My parents were so relieved from having to taxi me around to rehearsals, they allowed me to drive their robust El Camino truck to school and to my numerous music commitments. By that time, I was playing string bass in Young People’s Symphony Orchestra, I was 6^thchair of the first violins in Oakland Youth Symphony (OYSO), taking lessons in San Francisco, and heading to school for 7:00 am rehearsals for Pirates of Pizazz, our high school “glee” club of singing and dancing. School mornings, I would pick-up two friends who also sang in the group. As might be expected, with all that driving, before I turned 18, I caused two smallish car accidents where fortunately nothing but the cars were damaged. There is a reason why drivers under 25 pay more for insurance. My parents were kind to me about those accidents as I was driving myself from orchestra rehearsals both times. They had the cars repaired, paid the higher insurance fees, and I continued to drive. Through OYSO I got a chance to travel to Europe…travel without my parents. It was my 16^thsummer. The travel bug hit me hard.

Kent Nagano conducted OYSO at that time.

Time passed musically. I had started taking French as a Sophomore in high school, and became so advanced that in my Senior year, I finished my high school classes at noon and continued French courses at Hayward Junior College. Between my orchestra classes as a junior high student and the French classes, before I graduated high school, I had already accumulated 58 college credits. I then graduated HS with good grades, but earned unimpressive SAT scores. After appealing my application, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) accepted me as a Freshman.

I could go on about the blessings of my life through University and beyond. I continued to have and to create opportunities. And then I met Eric. Through him, I found the courage to pursue a career in opera which led to more wonderful teachers and eventually to a Master’s and Ph’d in Music supported by teaching voice and a ‘priceless’ 12-year career singing in the chorus of Los Angeles Opera. These incredible opportunities were afforded to me by hard work and great people who helped and nurtured me along the way. I have never been exceptional at anything…even opera singing…but through much perseverance, I have become very good at a lot of things, even typing.

Eric also did well in his chosen career and we experienced an extraordinary boon; Eric and I were blessed with two very sturdy, healthy, and intelligent sons with whom to share our lives.

RigneysKandu floating in Dead Sea of Israel

And you wonder why I wrote this account that sounds a bit like boasting, why I recorded it ‘out loud?’ I wrote all this as an edification for a thought that has been mulling around in my brain for some time, since I was 22 and sailing aboard sv Getel. Now at almost 52 having traveled the world for 4 years, I have seen so many extraordinary sights, experienced incredible cultural events and have witnessed in person war torn countries, very poor people, and interacted with all types from different regions of the world. I ask myself and God why have I been so blessed? Surely, I have had to struggle in my life, but my struggles, in general, have been self-inflicted as I have toiled to grow, improve my understanding in music, language, writing, math, spirituality, singing, sailing, etc. Was it the environment in which I grew-up and the choices that I made along the way that protected me from horrible hardships? Was it luck to have good health and simply good fortune, and that I have not had to battle against oppression of all kinds?

This morning aboard our sturdy sv Kandu, before writing all this, a song was wafting around in my mind from Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Sound of Music: Something Good.” The lyrics repeated over and over: ‘Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.’ I’m not sure if a good life or having many blessings is a reward for good works in this life or another. It’s entirely possible that because of my “good life” or ‘Princess on the hill’ benefits, I still have much to accomplish of good in the future – to ‘pay it forward’ so to speak. I don’t know what that payment is or may be, or even if it’s necessary in the scheme of things. However, it doesn’t stop me from wondering deeply. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. Nevertheless, I feel the utmost gratitude for all that has made this outstanding life possible and to those that have been instrumental in this life I have been living.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Educational, Eric's Posts, Experiential, Morocco

Importing Parts into Morocco by Eric Rigney, 2018

November 26, 2018 admin 3 Comments

October 18, 2018

While preparing to leave Agadir Marina, I found our Yanmar freshwater pump leaked beyond repair and needed replacement. With only 7 Schengen days left on our visa and Spain’s Canary Islands at high season with packed marinas, I decided to take my chances with what I read was a difficult Moroccan Customs. First my experience, then how I should have done it.

Morocco does not allow yacht owners to import parts free of duty “yacht in transit” unless the part is coming in as part of an insurance claim and the yacht’s insurance agency works with one of the many pre-approved Moroccan insurance partners. Although the US vendor was cheaper, I privately ordered a pump, bolts, plus a spare and all gaskets from dieselpartseurope.com $825 US. Both DHL and FedEx have offices in Agadir. Dieselpartseurope.com shipped FedEx, 3-4 days, Netherlands to Agadir for $165. Within 48 hrs, the packaged arrived in Casablanca where Customs held it.

Packages above $20 do not transfer within Morocco automatically, and having clients refuse to pay customs fees, FedEx will no longer accept in advance on your behalf and pass on the charges to the recipient at acquisition. Note also that mechanical parts costing more than $1,360 (including freight, insurance, tax), must come with an additional importation permit. Two days after the package arrived in Casablanca, I received a FedEx notification of Customs’ withholding. I called FedEx Casablanca for clarification. I’m glad I speak some French. FedEx offered me three options: come to Casablanca and deal with it by myself, hire a broker to deal with it on my behalf, or pay FedEx $60 to broker it on my behalf. I opted for the latter. They asked for a copy of my passport, a copy of the invoice with my ‘ship to’ name and marina address, a photo image of the parts, and a parts description in French. I lost an additional two days due to some minor inconsistencies with my invoice, but fortunately dieselpartseurope.com and I were in similar time zones and they made the necessary modifications. Then FedEx Casablanca asked for a bank transfer to cover the Customs’ costs (23.5% ++, of total invoice including taxes, freight, packing, and insurance), $275. FedEx Casablanca would not accept a credit card. As an American, not easily able to transfer funds as the rest of Europe does, I discovered I could instead pay the FedEx office in Agadir. I paid in cash but I think the Agadir office might have accepted a Visa credit card. Two days later, Casablanca had the package. The next day they shipped it to Agadir and the next day it arrived, 12 days after it arrived in Casablanca. I then had to pay FedEx a Customs’s storage fee based on weight and duration of $17, not FedEx’s charge.

Recommended procedure: contact FedEx or DHL office Agadir in advance for a list of recommended brokers and see how much they charge, or deal directly with Agadir’s FedEx or DHL in advance and pre-arrange payment options, asking them to alert you ASAP of customs duties, taxes, and fees owed. Exchange with a representative’s contact information, phone and email. Provide them with the tracking number, a copy of your passport, the invoice, photos of the parts, description of the part in French and why you need them. Make certain the “Ship to” invoice is to your name, with the marina as an address, not the recipient. My hope would be that by doing this in advance, you’ll save 5-7 days.

One more option: go through the commercial Yanmar dealer in Agadir. They’re located in the commercial port where foreigners don’t have access, but Youssef Ajewher, a kind local yacht service person, a former merchant ship engineer, working privately at Agadir marina would be glad to assist you. The Yanmar dealer is said to provide you with a quote including freight, time frames, and customs’ costs estimates within 2-3 days. I didn’t go this way only because on day 1, I had a quote in hand from dieselpartseurope.com, with FedEx 3-4 day. I don’t know what the cost or experience would have been had I waited for the quote from the Agadir Yanmar dealer. I may have jumped too soon. I do not know.

Agadir Marina Yacht Services : Youssef Ajewher

+212 (0) 6 77 45 68 87, aj************@gm***.com

Eric Rigney, s/v Kandu, Agadir, Morocco

Educational, Eric's Posts, Morocco

“How to” Filter Diesel & Store for Long Crossings 2018

November 25, 2018 admin

October 2018

My wife, teenage son, and I are circumnavigating aboard our 42-foot Tayana sailboat Kandu, currently waiting for a replacement freshwater pump for our Yanmar engine in Agadir, Morocco, in preparation for our trip to the Canary Islands. I have some time to pass on some how-to’s we’ve learned over the past 4 years of cruising. Diesel fueling is a frequent chore on our boat.

DIESEL STORAGE: In order to motor distances greater than Kandu’s 500-liter tanks would allow, like when we motored thousands of miles through the pirate zone north of Somalia, and up the Red Sea, to minimize how often we have to go to fuel docks, we’ve loaded Kandu up with 320-liters of cannisters or Gerry jugs. In a Belgian museum, we learned that the term “Gerry jug” comes from WWII US G.I. slang for fuel cannisters modeled after those used by the German military. “Gerry” was slang for a German, thus Gerry jugs.

RECYCLED or REPURPOSED JUGS: In the US, sailors buy their Gerry jugs complete with nozzles, whereas the rest of the world uses alternatives which are free and readily available sans nozzle, converting 20-25 liter heavy duty plastic motor oil, coolant, and/or vegetable oil containers into diesel jugs. In Gibraltar, smugglers loaded with jugs of fuel throw overboard their empty and sometimes full jugs. Each morning, fishermen collect the discarded jugs. That’s how we got our last five 25-liter jugs, from Pepe, a helpful man you got them from a fisherman. The jugs interiors are cleaned with soap and water and then rinsed out with diesel that is discarded to provide a container ready to top up.

GASKETS: Not designed for re-use, these types of recycled jugs often leak fuel from their caps. The standard third-world solution is to cut squares from recycled plastic bags and screw them on between the cap and the jug, a poor man’s gasket. These gaskets are good for one or two uses before they fall apart and need replacing.

FILTERING: Diesel engines require clean fuel to run properly, free of debris and water. We rarely take fuel directly into our tanks without filtering it through our specifically engineered water fuel filter funnel; diesel is able to pass through the filter’s fine screen but amazingly, water does not. Water molecules are too large and don’t pass through the fine mesh.

SYPHONING: To migrate the fuel from a Gerry jug into one of our three tanks, we set the jug such that its bottom is above the level of the deck fitting and then use a syphon hose with a chambered glass ball that when shaken gets the syphoning action going without having to suck fuel in with our mouths and risk swallowing and/or breathing it in. An alternative way to get the syphoning action to start is to place a short second hose alongside the syphoning hose with a firmly held (air tight) rag, and blow through it to cause the air pressure to initiate the syphoning action.

Bryce Rigney syphoning and filling diesel tanks from gerry jugs

And lastly, old-school, just dip the hose as far you can into the jug without losing it. Place your thumb firmly over the hose’s opening, and quickly pull the hose out, drawing with it the fuel that filled the hose, releasing your thumb.

So that’s it. That’s how we store and fill our boat’s tanks with diesel. Hope this proves helpful.

Here is a pdf version of this article: 2018-11-2_Diesel Fill by Eric Rigney

Educational, Eric's Posts, Morocco

Agadir Marina, Nearby Cities & Marrakesh, Morocco October 2018

October 30, 2018 admin 4 Comments

This article can also be found on the world cruiser’s Noonsite.com called Morocco: Agadir Marina and nearby cities.

The day before our departure to the Canary Islands, I discovered an irreparable leak in our engine’s fresh water pump. It would take more than 2 weeks before our replacement would arrive in hand. Moroccan customs are notoriously painful. Thus we remained berthed in Agadir Marina for more than 4 weeks, a great place to be “stuck” and here’s why:

Finding it was not immediately obvious when we came into the marina, here’s the entrance waypoint: 30°25.2 North, 9°37.0 West.

We called two days in advance by phone from Mohammedia to insure they had space for our 12.7m monohull (+212 (0) 5 22 79 84 84). They did. Apparently, although they monitor channel 9, they don’t reply. Upon our Friday morning arrival, we hailed the marina on VHF channel 9 with no reply. As we arrived, we were waved toward our berth and assisted in tying off bow first, our preference as we have a windvane. The dock pontoons are low and short. The distance between pontoons is large enough for catamarans. When a heavy swell comes, boats sway with great force. Chafing gear and extra lines are recommended. The staff does what they can to assist.

Water (reportedly potable – although we still filter it) and power are included in the slip rental, as well as toilets, a hot shower, and WiFi. Water requires a pipe thread to garden hose adaptor. The meager toilets and shower stalls are locked behind a single door, with the key hidden outside. The toilets (2) are sit down with toilet seats, but bring your own toilet paper. The poorly maintained single shower has enough hot water for one and half showers and is clean enough for those who aren’t particular.

Morocco houses Immigration, Customs, and National Police at the marina office, 24/7. There sole role is to process pleasure craft. I think they hear us hailing, but don’t always reply. Once you’re tied up and settled in, they come immediately to your boat and process you quickly and professionally. We offered them coffee which they seemed to like. They filled their forms, we provided them copies of our ship’s documents, and they took our passports to be stamped and returned 1-2 hours later. They asked for a blue customs form from Mohammedia, which we never received. They accepted our explanation without issue.

Speaking French helps, but English is fine. Note: they asked if we had a drone. If we did, they would have held it in their office until our departure. There were no charges for processing.

Checking into the marina office was casual. Check out is the same. They want to see your ship’s document for measurements. Their credit card machine doesn’t usually work, so be prepared to pay cash when you plan to leave. An ATM nearby usually works, but other ATMs are not far away. Make sure your statement reads “Paid in Full” to eliminate any potential misunderstandings. Let officials know when you plan to leave, at least 12 hours ahead, or the night before if you wish to leave early. They do break for lunch and they do have shifts, so best not to wait until the last hour to check out. Note: the marina office is closed on weekends and holidays, but you can pre-pay your slip fees. They are very accommodating.

Security is excellent, 24/7. The common gate leading to the pontoons is not locked, but closely monitored. We left our boat to travel to Essaouira and Marrakesh. The free WiFi in and around the office is adequate for basic needs, including phone and video chats. We were able to slowly upload short videos and handle all Facebook and internet needs for communication back home. For decent phone and data service, go to Telecom Maroc and buy a sim for 20 MAD. Once you have your sim, head over to a local tabac or convenient store to top up on phone and data service…50 MAD buys you 5 gigs of data.

A nearby fuel dock offers diesel, gasoline, and cooking gas at normal local gas station rates. We gravity fed our own propane tanks at the station’s boat yard using our own adaptors.

Here is an instructional video we made while hanging out at the marina on the subject:

Light provisions can be found close to the marina, but a 20-minute walk there and a 20-40 MAD (Moroccan dirham) taxi ride back from Carrefour and/or Uniprix, or from the main Souk (closed Mondays) is worth the time and incidental cost. Marjane is a super modern supermarket near Mr. Bricolage (Home Depot), accessible by the #98 bus (3.5 MAD pp, one way) discussed in more detail later. Car rental agencies occupy one block near the marina (we liked Lotus), or the marina can arrange one (we did this too). We paid about $33/day for a 4-seater small diesel car. When we first took possession of the car, it had almost no fuel, so our first stop was the station to top it up. Parking on the street or in a lot where there are attendants is normally 2-5 MAD, not 10! Apparently, some insurance is automatically included within the rental rate. Good thing as we were broken into (small back passenger window) while parked at a beach. Nothing was stolen, but insurance covered half the window replacement; we paid US$70. The window was replaced in a couple hours.

Rental car with back passenger window broken

If you need any assistance buying parts, getting supplies, or with repairs, Youssef Ajewher, a kind local yacht service person and former merchant ship engineer, working privately at Marina Agadir would be glad to assist you. He helped us with many issues, including medical, getting recommendations, driving us around, bargaining and translating for us. He even knows where to dine. Having him care for us was a great relief and time saver. He accepts whatever you think his services are worth. If it were a simple errand, we paid him a little more than twice what a round trip taxi would cost because he knew where to go, who to talk to, and how much to pay. Sometimes, he spent nearly the whole day when we had a medical issue, making sure we knew what was what, and advocating for us. Obviously, we paid him more when he spent so much time, and he was grateful. I love that guy! Youssef Ajewher, +212 (0) 6 77 45 68 87, email: aj************@gm***.com

Agadir is a great place to visit and an excellent base from which to visit, Paradise Valley, Essaouira, and Marrakesh. We enjoy the sights, sounds, and scents of Moroccan souks (open marketplaces). Agadir’s souk is huge. Be sure to explore the nooks and crannies. Again – note that the Agadir Souk is closed on Mondays! Spices, olives, dates, almonds, walnuts, fruits and vegetables, butchers, bakers, souvenirs, electronics, cleaning supplies, clothing, it’s all there. The freshly peeled prickly pear cactus fruits are fun and wonderfully sweet and tasty. Expect to bargain, and even then, to pay more than a local. Bargaining is not our strength. Inside Agadir’s souk are wonderful micro cafés with inexpensive and delicious Moroccan dishes. Don’t be afraid to try out a café or two. On Fridays, couscous is served with vegetables, chicken, or beef. A portion serves enough for two and chicken couscous is 20MAD ($2.20 USD) which comes with additional sauce/broth. I recommend getting the bag of sour milk, a sort of buttermilk that marries perfectly with the couscous if your stomach handles dairy. They serve the milk with a bowl of plain couscous to mix with into a paste as an additional separate treat. I tend to leave an extra 5MAD as a tip. To get to the souk from the marina, walk awhile or take a taxi for about 30 MAD, or take a bus for about 4 MAD each.

Another souk a bit further away from town central, more rustic and active than Agadir’s, can be found in the town immediately south of Agadir at the end of the #98 Bus. Catch the bus just north of the marina (just north of the large round about by the fish market) and take the 98 bus to its terminus. It’s also your bus back. As you exit the bus, facing in the same direction as the bus, walk a few blocks further up and to your right. Ask around for the souk or “marche.”

This part of town survived the 1960 earthquake and its souk feeds the south of Morocco, selling mostly in bulk and wholesale. Chickens, turkeys, goats, cows, and camels are slaughtered between 5-8 a.m. The whole thing is an extraordinary experience sending you back in time.

Our favorite Agadir promenade restaurant is Herguita (aka Hurguita), a little place located just south of the La Coupole restaurant. It’s a wonderful stroll alongside locals and tourists. The Herguita breakfast and lunch/dinner combos can’t be beat for price, taste, service, and location. Breakfast of fresh squeeze orange juice, café au lait, Moroccan pastries is 20MAD. A two-egg a la carte cheese omelet is 16MAD. One lunch/dinner menu: soup or salad, brochettes or tajine, ice cream or mint tea for 60 MAD ($6.60) serves two of us. The avocado-date-milk drink is Bryce and my favorite Moroccan smoothie type drink.

RigneysKandu at Hergita Agadir Promenade Restaurant

Take a taxi before sunset up to the Kasbah overlooking Agadir for a wonderful view. They offer camel rides up there too, but we just took in the view of twinkling lights coming to life.

Bryce Rigney atop the deteriorating Kasbah wall

Kasbah of Agadir

Agadir Kasbah view overlooking the city

Through travel agency ‘AdmireMorocco’ located on the Agadir promenade relatively close the marina, we booked a local sand dune sand boarding trip located near Tamri (north of Taghazout right on the coastline) that included a traditional tajine lunch in the home of a Berber family; the three of us loved it.

One bummer about Marina Agadir is its proximity to the sardine fish packing plant just north. The smell and occasional dead fish floating around your boat can be a bit much for some. It doesn’t bother me, but then I don’t shower enough to notice.

PARADISE VALLEY is less than an hour’s drive from the marina. We rented a car. Don’t be fooled by the first beautiful stream-side date tree orchard with a Paradise Valley sign. Continue to take the ‘highway’ (currently under construction) much further into the valley, hugging the majestic sedimentary rock wall faces, layers of rock resembling pages from an enormous geological book. Keep going until you come to a ‘parking lot’ from where you can hike up, then down into the quaint picturesque valley. Little “resto’s” are everywhere along the 2-3 km trail, ready to serve you fresh juice or even a tajine lunch.

Paradise Valley: Don’t stop here…keep going!

ESSAOUIRA is a picturesque well-kept old fortified seaport that can be a day visit from Agadir. Two and half-hours by car, buses are a likely option as well since the old town is small enough to tour entirely on foot. The excellent wood crafting is not to miss.

Eric Rigney and those silly Moroccan tree goats!

Bryce Rigney walking thru Essaouira souk

Bryce & Leslie Rigney atop the Essaouira battlements

Eric Rigney ready to get’em w/ his new antique Moroccan knife.

For MARRAKESH, reserve seats on a CTM or similar bus for 200MAD round trip per person. Take a red-colored taxi from the marina for 40 MAD to the Gare Routier (bus station). I don’t know how often a bus fills up, but tickets can be purchased in advance and paid with by credit card at the Agadir station.

The bus is very comfortable but no onboard toilet. The bus makes one toilet stop. Note: 2MAD is the standard fee for a toilet visit. It’s about 80MAD (maybe less) by taxi from the Marrakesh Gare Routier to the center of the old town. I recommend pre-booking a Riad in old Marrakesh (bed’n breakfast type accommodation). They are inexpensive, private Moroccan/exotic guest homes designed with a garden patio in the center, centrally located within walking distance of nearly everything, and include a delicious breakfast. Some have pools; all have roof top terraces. The beds are often hard and our room’s shower didn’t have hot water (no morning coffee required!), but we only paid $40/night for three adults at Riad Chennaoui. We booked the night before through Booking.com.

Bedroom Entrance

Bedroom

Breakfast

Two to three nights should be adequate time to enjoy most of Marrakesh, but there’s no rush either. A guidebook like Lonely Planet is all you need. Not necessary to hire a guide.

Marrakesh Jewish quarters

Marrakesh donkey cart

Streets of Marrakesh

Bahia Palace, Marrakesh, Morocco

Bahia Palace

Bryce Rigney, Bahia Palace, Marrakesh, Morocco

Bahia Palace

Bahia Palace, Marrakesh

Saadian Tombs

Leslie & Bryce Rigney at the Saadian Tombs, Marrakesh

Bryce Rigney, Marrakesh

Marrakesh Museum – renovated palace

Koutoubia Mosque & Minaret

Majorelle Gardens, Marrakesh

Relaxing at Majorelle Gardens

Eric Rigney at Majorelle Gardens, Marrakesh

Leslie & Eric Rigney at Majorelle Gardens

Moroccan dancer

Marrakesh streets

Dyer’s Souk

Handmade Moroccan leather shoes

JAMAA EL-FNA – In Marrakesh’s main square called Jemaa el-fna, we found a food tent, #31, serving only Moroccans. We ate there twice. The Café Glacier rooftop is the best way to experience the square as the sun sets; great photo ops, day and night. From there, you can enjoy the street performers (snake charmers, African drummers, acrobats) without their aggressive demands for money. Some sailors found Marrakesh to be an aggressive, overly populated, tourist trap. We avoided traveling there on the weekend and found it to be a treasure worthy of its worldly acclaim.

SURFING: And the main reason why we came to Agadir was for the local Atlantic surfing scene. There are several spots north and south of Agadir that are good. A 20-minute bus ride (just 7 MAD) north from Agadir on either L31, L32, or L33 is a favorite spot due to the nice accommodations at Richie’s Cafe located at K11 on the beach front route just south of Aourir and Banana Beach. It’s generally a beginner wave, but fun when Anchor’s Point, further north off Taghazout is not pumping. Taghazout is a surfer hangout surrounded by up-and-coming tourist resorts. Even more north just south of Tamri village is Boiler’s Spot where a big ship’s boiler can be found rusting in the wave break. It is a more intermediate to advanced break where Bryce had a great time when the swell was strong. Wetsuits starting in October are generally used.

Richie’s Cafe from the front, street side

Richie’s Cafe: Surf haven just South of Aourir road marker K11.

Bryce Rigney at Anchor’s Point, Taghazout, Morocco

Bryce Rigney heading out from Richie’s Cafe, Aourir, Morocco

Bryce Rigney geared up to surf of Richie’s Cafe, Aourir, Morocco

Richie’s cafe surf site, Aourir, Morocco

Some things we didn’t do that sounded like fun:

1) Fez, just too far for us even from Mohammedia.

2) Book a camel trip to a desert Bedouin tent adventure. Sounds great, but we did camels in Egypt, and everything we were finding here was a bit too expensive for us. Those who did it, loved it.

3) There’s also a renowned film studio, but it’s a bit of drive from Agadir. Ouarzazate is the most famous where Lawrence of Araba was filmed and more recently: The Sheltering Sky, Last Temptation of Christ, Alexander, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven and Prometheus to name a few.

Whether planned or not, an extended stay in Agadir proved of great value to us. Hope our insights help you get more out of this friendly corner of Morocco.

Eric Rigney

Experiential, Leslie's Posts, Morocco

Laundry in Agadir, Morocco: Saving is a Joke!

October 29, 2018 admin 12 Comments

At home in California, I constantly tried to be frugal. I was taught to save money. I didn’t go out to buy coffee and treats at Starbucks. If there were leftovers from the previous night’s dinner, I would eat that for lunch the next day. I packed the boys’ lunch. I bought the grocery store brand that was $0.10 cheaper. And I used coupons.

Then I would get a parking or a speeding ticket.

In my mind, I would think all that saving was for nil. Privately, by myself, I would rant and rave, throw an adult “tantrum” – absolutely pissed off at myself for being so stupid to get the ticket or to have wasted so frivolously, wondering what was the point of saving if the universe or fate was going to take away my penny here penny there savings anyway. After a while, I would calm down and follow my mother’s advice. Immediately, I would pay the ticket and put it in the mail – try to forget about it.

At a certain point early on, I learned that maintenance of ‘possessions’ was much more expensive than the original purchase price. I tried not to buy unnecessary or repeat items.

Once I became a homeowner, the motto “Less is More” rang true in my head…small house, small cars…. Instead of getting pulled into a ‘sale’ item just because it’s ‘on sale,’ I would talk myself out of the purchase nurturing the concept, “if I don’t buy the ‘sale’ item, then I saved even more!”

Like refurbishing a house where we were warned to budget 30% above and beyond the original foreseen/planned budget, traveling on a ‘houseboat’ is similar. However, I’ve come to figure that expenditures on maintaining Kandu account for 3/5 of our annual budget. So, Eric and I and the boys continue to save and make decisions accordingly. Perhaps we eat out too often. Living on the boat, I’ve never cooked so much in my life. But in other aspects, we work to save. In fact, we planned extensive stays in countries where the dollar is strong and prices are cheaper for us: Marquesas, Samoa, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Egypt, Morocco.

Having learned that in non-Western, generally Islamic countries, bargaining from vendors is expected and among locals it’s a skill. We Western tourists are prime targets for milking and paying double or even triple the ‘local’ price which often ends up making the items as expensive as what would be paid in a technologically advanced country.

Yesterday, I wanted to have our laundry done because washing 3-weeks’ worth of clothes and linens by hand is an all-day painstaking job. I had previously researched the Internet to find there were no coin operated laundromats in Agadir. I asked the marina manager for a recommendation. She highlighted an area on the map indicating there was an establishment across from ‘a restaurant’ that some other yachties have used and the prices were reasonable.

Having been heavily ripped off and burned in Egypt over laundry, I was equipped with courage and determination to barter for the price. I was not going to pay US$100 dollars for two bags of un-ironed laundry. In Egypt, with use of a derelict washing machine (2.5 hours per load), I spent 2 days washing, hanging, and folding 5 loads of laundry. Port Suez Yacht Club then unexpectedly charged me US$10 a load. I had spent hours doing all of my own laundry and they charged me $50 in a country where things are supposed to be cheaper? I was beside myself frustrated.

Now in Agadir, armed with a map, Eric and I took off with two bags (3 loads) of laundry filled with 4 sheets, pillow cases, worn but decent boat clothes and underclothes that can all be washed together – no separating necessary. After a bit of searching we found the recommended laundry place (pressing or blanchisserie): Pressing Alwafa located across from ‘SouIaymane Restaurant’ on Rue d’Essaouira just north of the taxi cab hangout.

Pressing Alwafa, Agadir, Rue d’Essaouira opposite Soulaymane Restaurant

I approached a middle-aged man at the counter and started bargaining in my imperfect French right away. My mistake may have been that I should not have been as assertive. Many Muslim men don’t appreciate strong women, especially those not wearing long non-descript smocks, gloves, and head coverings. He wanted to charge for each item, so I took out all the large pieces and said: “I will hand wash the small pieces myself.” Then he counted the large items as I watched, dropping them in a basket behind the counter, announced it was 35 items and it would be 350 dirhams which amounted to US$38…already expensive! I then asked if I could double count the items – he was annoyed and turns out he was off by five…there were only 30. At that point, he said fine, for another 10 dirhams, he would do all the laundry – a total of 400 dirhams or US$45. I agreed. Then we negotiated when I would pick-up the laundry. The next day was Sunday, so he wanted to give it to me on Monday, but I needed it back the same day since we would be leaving on Monday – we agreed the pick-up would be at 7:00 pm. I mentioned that he didn’t need to wrap the clothes in plastic. Instead, to simply refill my laundry bags directly to on save plastic. He was put-out. Then I asked for a receipt which must have completely tipped him over.

At 7:15 pm Bryce and I returned to pick-up the laundry. Everything was cordial enough. Back at the boat, I started to sort through the laundry and discovered one of my good and hard to find ‘no underwire’ bras was melted/destroyed. Continuing to sort, half the laundry smelled burnt or dirty and felt hard, as if it hadn’t been washed and then I found 4 more pieces melted, burned and/or ruined and three others scorched. Now it was my turn to be pissed. The badly ruined and scorched items with the exception of one of Bryce’s old shirts and a hole in his best Hurley shorts, were mine. Was the damage orchestrated intentionally to punish me specifically because I had ‘aggressively’ tried to bargain? Or since I mentioned I was leaving the country Monday, maybe he didn’t care? On passing us the bags of laundry, the man certainly knew that several items had been ruined and/or damaged and didn’t mention it because half of the clothes were folded and some even ironed! He accepted the full amount of money with a smile. Also, the clothes in one bag were extremely hard wrinkled having been left sitting in a hot dryer – and then not folded. The wrinkles won’t come out even after hand washing unless I iron the items. It was the worst paid laundry job I have ever experienced. I guess I’ll be hand-washing my clothes in the future if I cannot find a coin operated laundromat where I can wash the items myself.

Expensive ExOfficio Specialty capris for sun protection

Recently gifted sweatshirt from Aunt Meg

My immediate reaction to the destroyed laundry was to retaliate. I know it’s sounds foolish and well I felt foolish, but I couldn’t sleep that night for all the possible methods of malice I kept devising in my head. Of course, much of this anger in me is pent up frustration in response to the overall Islamic culture’s treatment of women. It feels like to me that within conservative Islam, women are good only for breeding, cooking, and cleaning. Women should say little and have no opinions. Oddly, only mothers are revered. Not other people’s mothers, just yours. Certainly, a man cannot be friends with a woman…friendliness is interpreted as the woman being open to have sex with the man.

Typically dressed Muslim women in Agadir, Morocco

Eric tells a story about a male public restroom attendant working in the Middle East, filling pitchers of water for patrons to use (they clean themselves with their left hand using the water, no toilet paper). As a business man descends into the attendant’s domain, he grabs the pitcher at the end. The attendant orders the man to set it back down and take the third pitcher from the end. “Why? They’re all the same,” the patron declares. To which the attendant replies, “When I’m up there, I have to do what you say. But when you’re down here, you have to do what I say,” exercising what little power he can. Was this that case? Was the laundry man just exercising his power, because he thought he could? Because I was leaving and had no recourse?

So, my experiment with saving in Morocco was a joke. I tried to save on laundry or to at least get a fair price and I was kicked in the butt. The universe is laughing at me. However, what is the best thing to do? It is to WALK AWAY and let him think he defeated me – that he stole from me, beat me down, won. To me, he’s a middle-aged man surrounded by ugliness and dirty buildings, usurping his little bit of power over a foreign, modern woman.

What do we truly own in life but our attitude? Everything else can be taken away. I want my attitude to be positive, so I work to reject that man’s actions. Happiness is my preference. I want to be happy, and I will keep trying to save because it’s what I do, but maybe a little less vigilantly. Still, hard as I might, I remain a bit hurt, feeling attacked. I guess he won today since I chose to stay inside the boat, hide away and write this article instead. I also didn’t want to spread any residual bad mojo to those around me. Eric and Bryce went to visit the Moroccan souk without me, which I really wanted to experience, . . . but, well, I didn’t buy anything, so I guess I saved.

Epilogue – Eric and I returned to the pressing/laundry with the worst damaged 4 pieces that I was unable to fix and a pillowcase that was unmistakably browned – the other items I rewashed, pressed and/or mended myself. The shop owner seemed dismayed at the news, as his worker, the man I dealt with, looked on. The owner asked us to leave the items with him to see if he could have them repaired, and for us to return in a couple days. Without me, Eric returned and spoke with the jerk clerk. He said, “We were unable to repair the clothes, but we did clean the pillowcase. We are sorry.” The man didn’t make any special offers until Eric pressed him. Compelled, the man offered to do another load of laundry on the house. Burned twice having laundry done in Muslim countries, I couldn’t bare the possibility of getting burned thrice. I have since washed the laundry two times myself with a plunger, buckets, cold water and elbow grease. It all turned out perfectly clean, sun-wind ironed and smelling like fresh air. Not only did I save myself cab money and consternation, I got some exercise too!

Leslie's Letters, Leslie's Posts, Morocco

Leslie’s Letters from Agadir Marina, Morocco

October 26, 2018 admin 1 Comment

Dear Jeff (Jeff Jordan is a high school friend whose second job is traveling the world and may be joining us as a line handler in the Panama Canal),

Actually, we don’t know if Rick’s Cafe in Casablanca is still owned by an American…we never looked. We enjoyed very much our experience there. It maintains an international flavor. We went upstairs to watch the ‘Casablanca‘ film for 15 minutes. I had never seen it. BTW – did you know that the Casablanca movie was never filmed in Morocco? Eric believes it was filmed entirely in Southern California.

Rick’s Cafe Interior, Casablanca, Morocco

Bryce & Leslie Rigney at Rick’s Cafe, Casablanca Morocco

The exterior of the restaurant was nondescript same as most buildings we have seen in French Polynesia, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Eritrea, Egypt, Sudan, and now Morocco. We have discussed that matter with locals and their feeling is this: they don’t want to draw attention to their dwelling on the outside because they don’t want others to know their actual wealth and to steal from them or to expect unearned generosity. Today, a Moroccan gentleman explained to us: “If your neighbor needs something, you are compelled to give it to them over your own needs; your neighbor takes precedence over yourself and your own family.” Yet in my mind, we are all human, aren’t we? Such generosity is difficult to conjure even in myself. Sigh!

We’re finding Agadir great. Now that we are forced to remain here to await special bolts and a new water intake pump for the engine, we are finding Morocco more and more charming – desert dust and all. Sadly, the more time we’re spending inside the city (out of the resort areas) we’re experiencing a lot more beggars and homeless. Such an interesting human/global problem since forever, I think. My parents related during their five weeks with us that San Francisco is becoming quite the pit of filth, drug addicts and rampant homelessness. Not good for attracting international tourism!!!

We have meet wonderful people and not so wonderful people as we travel. At a local surf hangout called Richie’s located at highway marker K11 on the beach just south of Aourir (30 min busride north from Agadir), we met a wonderful young woman serving tables. For not ever having lived outside her country, her English and accent is excellent!!! I was so impressed with her and her artistry that we invited her to our boat and then she invited us to her home to share couscous. Hadjar’s generosity was so great that she insisted on giving us one of her paintings. Wow! We gave her a couple things too, but her favorite was a California flag!

Freelancing at Marina Agadir, we met a wonderful Muslim gentleman, Youssef Ajewher, a retired military ship engineer who provides yacht services. Along with many boat maintenance issues, he has also provided us many personal services too.

He helped me locate and visit a woman’s health/dermatologist (Clinique IBN SINA Avicenne) for some black spots that I was nervous about on my chest thinking they might be the beginnings of cancer – which the kindly middle-aged female dermatologist declared were deep seated blackheads and removed with a bit a trouble having to use her scalpel to cut open the skin. She did a good job and now, most importantly, I am no longer worried. We spend so much time in the sun, that I want to make sure to catch things early on. I was nervous about waiting 8 months to return home before addressing the issue.

On the other hand, we had a little issue with our laundry. I was so upset, I wrote a story about it in the raw the day the day I got back the laundry…couldn’t bear to go out for 24 hours as I felt personally attacked. Waiting a few days, yesterday, with Youssef, we took 5 ruined pieces back to the cleaner and presented them to the owner. He was apologetic. The man who had enacted the damage was there too, shamefacedly. The owner said he would try to mend them wanting us to come back in a couple days. I forgive the naughty man now, but at the time I was thoroughly put-out.

Pressing Alwafa, Agadir, Rue d’Essaouira opposite Soulaymane Restaurant – Damaged clothes!

Since we are waiting around, we have made arrangements to take a bus to Marrakesh, the capital city of Morocco, on Monday with a reservation through www.booking.com at an inexpensive yet decent centrally located Riad (old private home turned into a Bed’n Breakfast: Riad Chennaoui) – for two nights. Our 2 new water intake pumps (2^ndone is a spare), ordered from the Netherlands, will arrive sometime on Wednesday. Eric will get busy replacing the pump (he’s become quite the mechanic!) while I get to work cleaning, laundry in a bucket, etc. Bryce has some chores too to keep Kandu looking ship-shape. If all goes efficiently with shipping and customs, the plan is that we depart in a week or so for the Canary Islands.

Truly, moving from one culture to the next is always exciting yet a little daunting. I was nervous coming back to a Muslim country after our difficult experience in Egypt…which we haven’t really wrote about yet…I’m still too raw and I don’t want to sound mean nor like a spoiled brat, which sometimes I see myself as when wandering around poorer countries. Sigh….again!

Leslie

Educational, Eric's Posts, Experiential, Leslie's Posts, Morocco

Mohammedia Docking, Clearance & Casablanca Sights Sept 2018

October 5, 2018 admin 3 Comments

An extended versions of this report for cruisers is available on www.noonsite.com. Follow this link: Morocco-mohammedia-report of visit in october-november 2018

September 17, 2018

Unable to reach the Yacht Club du Maroc, a private enterprise, prior to departure, we set sail from Gibraltar in hopes a space would be available. A forecasted large NW swell had us forego the shallow entrance of Rabat, and Casablanca has no facilities for receiving yachts. Upon our morning approach, Port Control Mohammedia responded to our VHF call on 16. We were instructed to enter the port and head directly to the marina where someone would point us to a berth. Warned in reports of underwater obstructions near the marina, we arrived at high tide. The private marina resides tucked away in the corner of the commercial and fishing port. Seeing no one of authority, we stayed just off the marina’s two large pontoons, toward the commercial portion of the port rather than the likely shallower small fishing port.

Kandu waiting to be welcomed to Yacht Club du Maroc in Mohammedia

Within 10 minutes, an official looking person with collared shirt and long pants, holding a handheld VHF guided us to raft up alongside one of two possible boats, the choice was ours. They have limited space for visiting yachts. Looking at our depth sounder during our maneuvering into place, the depths were more than adequate, never below 18 feet. The official, who we never saw again, asked us to drop an anchor which I said I would do later, but intending only to stay for 2 nights, with no bad weather forecast, we did not.

All officials came to us within an hour or so, boarded our boat, and processed us politely and professionally in English and French, . . . no “gifts” asked, none given. Leslie offered coffee, which they gratefully received. No charge for clearance. They took our passports for an hour to process, stamp, and return them to us with shore passes (as we were in a commercial port with high security), and held on to the ship’s original documentation to insure we checked out properly. Check out was as simple and painless after 9 a.m., presenting our passports. Taking only 15 minutes, we had our exit stamped passports and original ship’s document. Agadir officials said we should have received a blue paper from Customs, but did not belabor the point with us.

The YC charges two fees, theirs and the port’s. Warned of the high price and that they charge per day, not per night, I was mentally prepared to see a high bill. Accepting only cash, up front, the YC manager was pleased I had made the effort to have Moroccan dirham on hand, having exchanged in Gibraltar before our arrival. He charged us for two nights, not three days. Perhaps because we planned to leave at the same time that we’d had arrived. The two-night YC charge was slightly higher than the port charge, but for a 12.7m monohull, the charges were about 500 dirham each, 1000 total, or $55/night. Price includes 220 power and potable (we don’t trust) water, separate men and women’s toilets and hot showers (clean and adequate), excellent security, trash, access to their restaurant across the port, and weak to non-existing WiFi. Our pontoon was for larger boats and was shared by mostly sports-fishing boats. While there are smaller local cafés nearby, to get to the center of town, a 10-dirham taxi ride makes it easy. ATM’s are common. We used the ATAM at the train station and purchased via cash our tickets through the ticketing vending machine. We hopped aboard the frequent (±every 30-minutes) half-hour train to Casablanca (showing up at least 15 minutes late), costing 32-dirham R/T, and walked 20-minutes to the Hassan II mosque, taking the 100 dirham English-speaking tour, by far the best and most worthy experience we had in our short stay in Casablanca.

Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, Morocco with Bryce Rigney

Mosque Hassan II Casablanca Morocco

Mosque Hassan II Minaret

One of many entrances

Titanium doors

Mosque Hassan II Interior, Bryce Rigney silhouette

Italian Murano glass chandelier

Magnificent Interior Hassan II Mosque

Intricate plaster carving

Mosque Hassan II Ablutions Chamber

Local Moroccan marble

Exit corridor

Moroccan art at it’s very best: Hassan II Mosque of Casablanca with Eric Rigney

Rick’s Café Americain was charming and elegant, although more expensive than we’re use to paying (4x the cost of the normal hole-in-the-wall places we frequent), very delicious, and the portions are large enough to share between two (wished we had known earlier). As with most all less technologically developed cultures, non-written prices must be negotiated before you engage in buying open market food items, but especially with taxis, where you might pay as much as 3 times the going rate. In perspective, sometimes that means paying $3 instead of $1, but it can also mean paying $50 instead of $20.

SIM cards are an excellent deal in Morocco, 20 dirham ($2.25) for the Maroc Telecom SIM which allows you some limited calling then you add separately a top-up at a tobacco/convenience store to acquire data or more phone. 10 dirham per 1 GB data. Valid for 30 days. We bought 50 dirham worth (about $5.50). SIMs are purchased at a Maroc Telecom or other brand store.

In summary, Mohammedia is a friendly, efficient, and secure place to berth if Casablanca is on your must-see list. Reportedly, the most populous Moroccan city, except for the Hassan II Mosque and the train station, we found this historic city to be unattractive. The old colonial architecture described in tour guides is not maintained and disappointing to behold. To be fair, we did not pay for a guided tour, nor did we have a local showing us the charm of what may otherwise be a very lovely place. Bryce did get to surf at Florida Beach, but even that experience was just okay. Eric Rigney

Dar Bouazza / Florida Beach, Morocco, Sept 2018

Arrive Dar Bouazza, Morocco

Bryce Rigney at Dar Bouazza / Florida Beach Sept 2018

Bryce Rigney waxing his board at Dar Bouazza

Bryce Rigney heading to surf Dar Bouazza, Morocco

Dar Bouazza, Morocco

Leslie Rigney at Dar Bouazza Beach, Morocco

Bryce Rigney, Dar Bouazza, Morocco

Leslie’s brief Facebook excerpt:

Casa Blanca on the ocean claims to be the largest city in Morocco. But not having a yacht marina directly in Casa Blanca, we headed instead to port Mohammedia 10 kilometers north from the city. From Gibraltar we left with perfect wind and tide circumstances hopping the Gibraltar straights shipping lanes to the south like a rabbit to avoid the big tanker traffic. With Kandu docked in Mohammedia, we took advantage of the inexpensive train and taxis to see the sights in Casa Blanca. We visited Dar Bouazza Beach for some long overdue surf and the renowned Rick’s Cafe for excellent 1920’s art deco ambience and delicious Moroccan couscous.

Bryce & Leslie Rigney at Rick’s Cafe, Casablanca Morocco

Rick’s Cafe Interior, Casablanca, Morocco

We were spellbound by the most impressive architecture found in the large and beautiful Hassan II Mosque (inside and out as they allow non-muslim visitors to tour the interior for US$11/person). We also walked the city to visit the acclaimed business city center, local souk and the famous Rialto Cinema…all of which were underwhelming. Not a beautiful or romantic resort town, two days was plenty. Sadly, most of the city was run-down and dirty…with hopeful construction everywhere especially on the beachfront which was completely torn up and off-limits except on the outskirts like Dar Bouazza / Florida Beach.