PICTON CASTLE dropped anchor in Essaouira Harbour, in the Kingdom of Morocco at 1030 on Friday morning. We are tucked in between the old fortified town with its high red walls and the Ile de Mogador, also known as the Purple Island since antiquity because of the purple dye made from special shells found here. This is a gorgeous, laid back fishing town. Already the gang have been ashore, haggled for carpets and silver jewelry in the tall narrow streets of the medina, been to a hammam or traditional spa to scrub the weeks of dirt away, drunk gallons of mint tea and eaten a whole lot of delicious barbecued fish and rich, sweet tagine. Magical*9+/-8.
SHIP’S WORK: Rust bust starboard t’gallant rail (even Donald helped out!), rust bust port main deck freeing ports, coat of oil on jibboom, rig MONOMOY, send up stay tackle, reinstall main upper topsail bunt blocks, hoist project boat KARL onto the hatch for work, training in use of the lead line and handling the skiff.
At: anchor, Essaouira, Morocco
TIME ZONE: GMT
NOON POSITION: 31°30.2’N /009°46.4’W
WEATHER: Calm, with slight swell. Beautifully clear. It’s warm in the middle of the day but cool later, dropping from about 72F (22°C) to 62F (17°C) overnight.