Restinga Smir

Well here we are in Restinga Smir, a beautiful, newish marina about 40 nautical miles from Tangier, around the north eastern  ‘corner’ formed by the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The voyage here was pleasant, though light winds meant we needed to motor most of the way. The marina was built on a long stretch of rather lovely beach, and, like much of what we’ve seen in Portugal, Spain and Morocco, it’s way over-capitalised. The whole area has vast hotel/ apartment complexes, many unfinished and most empty. Everywhere there are the sad remnants of stores and businesses. A textbook illustration of the fallout from the GFC, variations on a theme we’ve seen everywhere from Vegas to Daytona, through the Bahamas to Europe and now north Africa.

The marina has berths for hundreds of boats, both in and out of the water, but it’s well below capacity. Nevertheless, all the service staff, restaurant staff, taxi drivers and others have been very friendly and helpful. Moroccan families on trips to the beach (who love to have their photos taken with a yacht in the background) have all made a point of letting us know we are very welcome in their country.

Almost from the minute we arrived, I succumbed to some hideous Tangier-belly virus, pretty much wiping out three days that I remember very little about. Nearly recovered now, in time to greet Marg and Mike Doust as they arrive (in about an hour!) for a stay aboard Common Sense and some adventures in and around Morocco. We plan to do a sail over to Gibraltar for a couple of days, a trip to Chefchaoun for the Saturday markets, a tour of the ancient city of Tetouan, dinghy rides to some good beaches, day sails and whatever else we can squeeze in.