At last the weather has changed to give us the north east trade winds. It is blowing about 15 knots from the north east and the sun is shining, and has been for two days. We are under the automatic steering of the sayes rig who's little sail seems able to steer us even in a swell.

There is no one visible from horizon to horizon, except shearwaters and dolphins. Since last writing we have had an adventure in Morocco. To say that Morocco and its people are interesting is an understatement. We are only now, after three days at sea, coming out of shock. Culture shock!

Almost all the people we met were smiling and helpful. Most, we found out were that way because they wanted something from us. Usually money for services we mostly did not want (guiding)! There were three exceptions. The dredger captain who allowed us to tie alongside his dredger in Medhia, which is a very muddy river about sixty miles north of Casablanca. He couldn't have been more charming or helpful with our overnight stay. The other two Jamal and Mustapha took out our gearbox (twice) in Casablanca and reinstated it for under £1000, having rebuilt the whole affair. A receipt would have been of little use to us and VAT was nowhere in sight. It was Hobsons choice to have the gearbox done and after 36 hours of running since reinstatement it seems alright, although we still have our fingers crossed.

Murray Nelson came with us for ten days, but required to go home from Casablanca for urgent business. At least we don't think his departure had anything to do with his parting coment that "If Barbara wants to see Marakesh she can go on a tour bus!" Alluding I believe to the poor recpetion we received as yachtsmen visiting Morocco. If you are thinking about visiting Morocco by yacht, our advice is don't, unless you want to visit Asilah, quite a pretty fishing village with an old Portugese fort, renouned for its wall murals and arts festival,

or Marina S'mir on the Mediterranean coast where the girls manning the marina office are friendly and intelligent. Almost all of the remaining harbours are fishing harbours with an amazing amount of oil, plastic bags and other rubbish floating around.

The officials who want to stamp your passport in and out of every port, and keep them as well as the ships papers whilst you are in port, are official with teeth that smile, mostly. One was not averse to seeking alms for the poor, the suggestion was 400 dirhams (about 28 pounds). I did hand over 200 dirhams in return for our passprts and a cheery handshake. The 200 dirhams went into his wallet, no doubt to be distributed to the poor later. Another official kindly took us to his batchelor flat for dinner. He asked Susan if she perfered to be married or not married. She blushed. He said he wished to be married to a European girl and see Europe. We got the drift but it's difficult to see how you can fit 500 camels onto Atlantia! The food of yoghurt, bread, dates and apples was interesting with only mint tea (no alcohol) to smooth the way.

By the way it's Ramadan in Morocco! This means that the Moroccan's do not eat or drink during the hours of daylight and they pray five times a day to Mecca. The taxi drivers of Casablanca and the guides of the Tangier can still rip off the infidel, however, this is obviously allowed. All mistakes seem to be blamed on Ramadan since the people become dehydrated and ratty by six o'clock and then party all night! Who wouldn't!!

There are other sides to Morocco however, which from the isolation from within a car with armour plated glass must look quite good. The mountains on the north coast overlooking the straits of Gibraltar are spectacular. Their sheer cliffs rise straight from the sea with little open fishing boats making a subsistance living at their feet. The low cliffs and miles and miles of beach for the majority of the east coast also look inviting. On close inspection through binoculars on one occasion, we saw about a hundred people on the beach all with spades. Then we saw them shovelling sand into about twenty trucks, which were hurtling up and down the beach. Not much room for sunbathing with a twenty tonne dumper heading for you!

We have seen an orca jumping inside a ring of little fishing boats, sending his breaking wash across half a mile of water. We have seen flamingos in the marshes and dolphins by the hundred in the ocean.

There is one place in Morocco that is not to be missed, and I am glad to say we didn't. Near a small dirty fishing port called Larache are ruins on a hill overlooking the river, the salt marshes and eventually the sea. This is Lixus, once occupied by the Phoenicians, then the Carthaginians followed by the Romans. All have left their mark here, mostly trading with the anchovies from the fishing and salt from the salt pans, which are still in existance. Most important of all though, it is the site of the legendary Garden of the Hesperides where Hercules performed his tenth labour and picked four pommes d'or (oranges). He gave three to the Graces and ate one himself. It was a great privilege to be there.

It must have been a very important place when inhabited, since there is an amphitheatre with numbered seats, where they showed anything from Heroditus' plays to Christians being thrown to lions. Next door there were roman baths and Murray said that it was the ultimate leisure complex!

There are two Phoenician temples along with two Carthaginian temples complete with sacrificial altar. There are three roman temples, one a temple to Neptune, of sea fame. We made our obeisance to him in the hope of a good passage. A beautiful bronze plaque dedicated to him had been found here. There is also a mosaic floor in the bath house and we discovered peices of roman pottery at our feet. Our Moroccan guide spoke only Spanish and French but understood English a little. Between us we discovered he also had a sense of humour and was very knowledgeable about his site. He was obviously a learned and intelligent man and could not be classed among the guides of Tangier and Casablanca.

In Casablanca we did indulge on some nostalga by going to Rick's Cafe Bar. It is not the original of course but the pianist did play 'As time goes by' just like Sam.

The Mosque is spectacular and can house 25,000 believers inside and 80,000 outside. It is beautifully finished and has a huge minaret, which can be seen for one hundred miles, and a retractable roof over the area of prayer.

We were most grateful for Murray's help on our journey down the coast. Morocco is not a place for European woman. We have brought away three momentos of Morocco besides our abiding memories. A teapot for mint tea (with the tea!), a colourful raffia shopping basket that has already been useful, and a reconditioned gearbox.

The snaps of Morocco really make it look quite an attractive place. We hope you enjoy them.

Love to everyone, Will, Margaret and Susan