Lumpen proletariat

'When are you leaving Cascais?' 'Tomorrow'.  We had several tomorrow's due to unreliable weather forcasting. Tomorrow finally came and with a little help from our friends, we were hauled off the pontoon and away, and then came back again, to return a pilot guide we had borrowed from Richard & Catherine on Vagabond.  We motored out  into a slop with huge waves pouring into the bay. Tristan was on deck and  finally knew what it was like to pull in the fenders under full throttle. 'Don't worry', he said, 'The worst will be all over in four hours, and will be easy sailing to Cadiz.'

I was surgically attached to the wheel ........my comfort zone. As it got dark I was ordered below but only made the cockpit floor and surgically attached myself to a bucket for several hours! 'Don't leave me' was the cry as the thunder rolled around us and streak lightening pointed to the ocean floor.

I wish we hadn't had discussions about lightening strikes and metal masts and how the worst that could happen was a two foot long keel bolt fall out! I have since learnt from our  Canadian friends on 'Salty Ginger', that you should always put a GPS and hand held radio in the oven, when there is lightening. 

The 'rough sea' did not improve after four hours.......it was lumpen all night and we were the oppressed proletariat. I said I want to go to Lagos, meaning Sines which was a lot closer at this point. I need  to hug a tree.  I knew how ill I was when Tristan yelled 'bottlenose dolphin',  as I clutched the bucket again and couldn't care less about dolphins.

As soon as we turned the corner, Cabo de San Vincente, life was different. The seas went flat, the wind blew, dolphins surrounded the bow and we had a brilliant sail. Life was good. We inched into Lagos marina at low water.....bit dodgy for a 2.3m draught but we didn't touch.  Tristan then told me the hatch over the bunk had leaked and my side of the bunk was wet and, 'I've bought two laundry tokens', expecting me to be pleased.

 I had  a drink, climbed into my Musac and slept for hours.....woke
 in the middle of the night to find Tristan asleep on the floor in   galley!

We have been here a week......drying out, fixing hatches, rescrewing the deck and for the first time since Gijon, varnishing. 

Bumped into lots of friends and looking forward to seeing friends we last saw in  2004 in Falmouth.

Visted the Old Slave Market in Lagos, a reflective place.

In 1445  slaves from Africa were brought into Lagos and  auctioned, a trade established by Henry the Navigator. A place of misery.

                                                                              We don't eat out but I promised we would when we found goat. We found goat and Tristan ate goat and more goat and cakes, Dom Rodrigos  and Morgados, and more.......he's gone quiet now!

This plate on the wall of the restaurant was by Egon Schiele, 'The Artist's Wife' reminded me of Amy!


We feel we are definitely at the back of the pack.  We were told today that rain hadn't fallen for 18 months and reservoir levels were at 40%. They will have been topped up today and more is forcast for the next few days.


Looking forward to heading south!