Changing the Plan Mid-Course
When I first mapped out the journey west, Morocco wasn’t even on the list.
In my mind, the route was straightforward: stop in Gibraltar or maybe La Línea, the Spanish town next to it, then find a good anchorage somewhere along the Spanish coast before crossing to the Canary Islands.
I had been to Morocco before—several times. And from a sailor’s perspective, it had never felt like an easy place. Regulations, unclear paperwork, almost no proper ports along a long, rugged coastline.
To me, it was simple: one doesn’t sail to Morocco.
When Curiosity Challenges Assumptions
Nike, however, didn’t share those assumptions.
She looked at the chart, saw a stretch of coast we were about to pass by, and asked the obvious question:
“Why not stop in Morocco?”
I brought up the dogs.
Traveling in Muslim countries with dogs isn’t always easy, and I knew from past experience that bureaucracy can get tricky.
But to her credit, Nike wasn’t deterred. She did the research—figured out what was needed to enter Moroccan waters by boat, with dogs on board.
At one point, she even looked into sailing to Algeria. But every account we found confirmed the same thing: Algeria is heavily patrolled, and foreign boats are required to check in with border authorities multiple times per day—sometimes even sail under escort.
So we let that one go and shifted focus: Morocco it is.
Touching Africa—Gently
As I mentioned in the last article, we planned to ease into the continent by making our first stop in Melilla—a Spanish enclave on the African coast. That decision turned out to be a good one.
Melilla gave us a soft landing. No immigration paperwork, no port authority chaos, no cultural leap just yet. It was a gentle way to arrive.
From there, we made the short hop to Al Hoceima, our first real Moroccan port.
And what a contrast.
A Coastline Full of Surprises
We sailed along the North African coast, dolphins dancing all around us, in what turned out to be one of the most peaceful passages of this journey so far.
And then came the biggest surprise:
Checking in was easy.
Professional, friendly, efficient—even with two dogs in tow.
What I had expected to be difficult and frustrating turned out to be one of the smoothest port arrivals we’ve had in a while.
When You Let Go of the Script
This leg of the journey reminded me why I sail in the first place.
Plans are useful—but they’re also meant to be questioned.
And sometimes, the best parts of a voyage are the ones you didn’t plan at all.
Come along as we sail from Melilla to Al Hoceima and see what it really looks like to arrive in Morocco by sea—with dogs, questions, and open minds.