Finally the time to get a bit off the beaten track and out of our comfort zone even if only for a short period had arrived, we were going to cross the Gibral...

Closed Captions (CC):
In our previous episode, we left Gibraltar

in the wee hours of the morning

to cross the Gibraltar Strait.

Our adventure was taking us to Morocco.

How do you feel?

Uh, all the nervousness is gone now and I

can relax.

Would be much nicer if the motor wasn't playing

up.

Are you sure?

I'm at the helm...

Ahaha

You do know what that means right?!

It means you're in control.

It means something is going to happen!

No, don't say that Douggie the diesel is going

to look after us.

Uhuh.

Not Douggie's fault, it's the stuff they stuff

into him.

As the hours passed the sunrise showed us

how early morning sails are impressive

with all the different colours and hues reflected

in the water.

We all kept our eyes in the landscape around

us and enjoyed the morning.

We all set into our routines but in true nature

of a hunting dog, Ella kept her focus

on bird watching.

She stays for hours chasing them with her

eyes and sometimes running

from one side of the cockpit to the other.

Soon enough we were arriving to Tarifa and

if we wanted we couldn’t have planned

a better timing.

The ferries to and from Tangier were passing

right before our eyes and this way,

passing this point wouldn’t have any surprises.

As we were already passing the Traffic Separation

Scheme (TSS), Ella started crying

and looking to the sea, we couldn’t understand why.

Then we noticed a fin circling in the water,

could that be a dolphin, a porpoise?

Maybe a shark?

We don’t know.

Is that a shark?

I reckon its a shark!

But the day was not over yet when it comes

to surprises, we had been listening

on the VHF a message from the authorities regarding

a raft adrift on the TSS with illegal immigrants

and there it was right in front of our eyes.

Pan pan, pan pan, pan pan,

[Spanish]Llamada general, Llamada general

[English] All stations, all stations,

[Spanish] aquí Tarifa radio, Tarifa radio,

Tarifa radio [English] this is Tarifa radio, Tarifa radio,

Tarifa radio

[Spanish] transmitiendo una mensaje urgente,

[English] transmitting an urgente message,

[Spanish] embarcacione pneumática [English] raft a drift

[Spanish] entorno a 5-10 personas a bordo [English] with 5-10 people on board

[Spanish] navegando a la deriva en

las proximidades del Cabo Spartel... [English] in the vicinity of Cape Spartel...

Besides sighting the raft we also noticed

the AIS marker of a search & rescue helicopter

on our chart plotter, shortly after they passed

us.

Not short after we were moored in the fishing

port of Tangier, soaking up all the smells

and new sounds of this new place.

As the sunset arrived with its beautiful colours

so did the calls to prayer

from the nearby mosques.

A good end for a long day.