Advice please on passage from gib/Cadiz to Morocco

[Oscarpop]

Will be leaving either gib or Cadiz in a couple of weeks to head to Morocco.

We have 2 passage plans which we keep tossing back and forth.

1. Gib to tangier, then port hop down..
However the marina in tangier , or rather lack of it has such poor reviews it is putting us off.

2. Gib or Cadiz to Rabat . Nice overnight passage. However there are many reports of the area being festooned with unlit nets, boats and pots galore, making the passage tricky.

Any first hand knowledge.

Ta

 

[tcm]

It's a bit more than just overnight to Rabat. I've been direct from Cadiz and Gib several times. Cap'sensible know loads about the area. Nice direct run to Canaries from Cadiz. Or get way offshore from Gib. Full ocean stuff. Stay way offshore to avoid ships in yer face.

 

[BobnLesley]

We did Gib to Rabat in October 2012, as I recall it was about 160M, but only took about 26-28 hours on our 35-footer - a good push from the Straits tides, then a favourable current south? - We didn't encounter any long laid nets, thought there were dozens/hundreds of fishing boats out there and similar south of Rabat too; as we later discovered, they were mainly 15-20 open boats with an outboard all looking a bit careworn and ramshackle, but no problems as we quickly christened them 'disco boats' as they were absolutely festoon with bright, multi-coloured and sometimes flashing lights. On that passage, 75-80% seemed to be within a mile or two of shore, with the balance 6+ miles offshore; we tracked down about 5M off and saw virtually none nearby. What we found more concerning was further down; these were boats I'd be dubious about taking more than 100m offshore, but we came across a few 60-70M offshore when it was blowing F5/6 and they were still lit like discos and happily fishing - rather them than me!

 

[bjl]

I made the passage from La Linea to Rabat (Bouregreg Marina) via Tarifa in October 2013. Getting the tidal streams right made a huge difference from Gibraltar to Tarifa. I had the pilot book so I knew what to expect. I could see the boundary between the different streams in the same direction and therefore where to tack to avoid the slower stream. I quickly sailed away from a 46ft catamaran in my 40ft monohull. I was settling down for an early night in the Tarifa anchorage, having had supper, by the time the catamaran sailed by.

After Tarifa I found that AIS was extremely useful when timing my crossing of the Traffic Separation Scheme.

I used radar whilst in fog and for locating the small fishing vessels, which were well lit up in the dark but I sometimes found it difficult to estimate their distance. There is nothing remarkable about the fishing boats, nets or pots in my passage log.

I called Bouregreg Marina on Ch10 to ask for their pilot boat to lead me in. The conditions in the river entrance were quite challenging so they asked me to stand off for an hour. Later they led me directly to the clearing in/out dock. The formalities took less than half an hour and the officials were most courteous and charming. The pilot boat then led me the final 100m to my slip.