Onto the Canary Islands!

It's been a couple of weeks since our last update, and we have done and seen so much!  Lots more time in Morocco, and then a passage to the Canary Islands.

We had a wonderful time in Tangiers, Morocco and spent a week getting acquainted with all that city had to offer.  The Medina (old town) was amazing and there was a huge variety of local crafts people that were available to help us make/fix things that we needed for the boat.  The sites, smells and sounds of the old town were beautiful.

 Micah and Aria had the opportunity to ride camels and horses on the beach (5 minutes from our marina).  They were in heaven.

Oyai was all tucked into the modern marina in Tangiers.  We met many folks from other cruising boats here as well.  We were all waiting for good weather to head south to the Canary Islands.

In our wanderings through the spectacular Medina, we were constantly amazed by the kindness of people and how clean the streets were kept.  The streets would sometimes narrow down to the width of two people walking side-by-side.  Muslim prayers were broadcast on loudspeakers throughout the city 5 times per day, and became part of our daily rhythm.

 

We indulged in another traditional Moroccan dinner that was so uniquely tasty!  Oranges with cinnamon, pomegranate with lemon and many other different savary flavours.  It was amazing.

This is our restaurant in the Medina - a beautiful view from on top of the ancient city wall!

The Kasbah Museum was also very interesting with a really well-preserved palace and gardens at the highest point in the walled city.

We met a new friend in the Kasbah.  He looked like he had been tending to the gardens there for many years.

While we were in Tangiers, there was an international Triathlon event held a few minutes down the beach from us.  Also, on this waterfront promenade, near our marina, there was a new fountain feature that had been created.  Micah took full advantage of the water because it reminded her of the play fountains in Nice, France.

We had been monitoring the weather for our southern passage to the Canary Islands, and it had shown lots of wind going in the wrong direction for weeks.  So when a relatively calm stretch of weather showed up, we jumped at the opportunity to make our way south using our trusty diesel engine (mostly).  

It was a mellow 4 day trip.  Lana, Stu and Aria took turns doing watches and the hours flew by.  We played lots of games, read lots of books and listened to music and audiobooks.  

We have been asked about pirates off of the African Coast, but this is not an area where pirate attacks happen (luckily!).  Its much more likely that we would have encountered a ramshackle migrant boat full of people trying to escape from Africa to the Canary Islands.  Thankfully we didn't have to rescue anybody. 

We also had an incredible visit from a huge pod of dolphins on our last day at sea.  They hung around for about 15 minutes and were jumping, riding our bow wake and turning their bodies so they could get a good look at us (as we were gawking at them!).

We arrived to the Canaries at dawn on our 4th day at sea.  The weather is quite a bit warmer here, and the winds much more consistent from the north.  The Canary Islands have been described as having a climate of perpetual spring, and we can see why.  Its the perfect temperature.  The landscape is very volcanic and rugged.

We will now be in the Canary Islands for about 3 weeks while we wait for the start of our rally that will take us across the vast Atlantic Ocean.  We have signed up for the ARC 2022, a rally that has 200 boats participating.  We will all cross the Atlantic together and have many social events in Las Palmas (on Grand Canary) prior to the start of the sailing.  The kids are really looking forward to hanging out with other kids.  Stu and Lana are very interested in the instructional seminars offered on all topics sailing.  There is also happy hour, a costume party and many other social events.  It should be awesome!

We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of our crew from Comox as well!  Amelia is Aria & Micah's sailing coach from back home and has been so helpful in arranging logistics and bringing things we need from home.  James is an experienced sailor as well, and just a great all-around guy.  He has been renting our house back home, so is helping us in more ways than one!  We can't wait to see you guys.

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