Escape from Port Velcro - here we go, here we go
andromeda of plymouth
Susan and Andrew Wilson
Wed 5 May 2010 10:46
We left Lagos on Sunday morning in the sunshine with a lovely blue sky and
a nice north westerly blowing...... down the river out into the bay, the
sails were put up, the engine turned off and peace, we were on our way
again.....
Our last few days in Lagos we busy as you can imagine and by Friday we had
filled the boat with food, filled the tanks with water and stowed most
things in their proper places. Andrew went off to the office to see if
any of the parcels we were waiting for had arrived and came back with one
(queue dramatic music dun dun dah)....... bet you are all keen to know
what was in it... well I shall keep you in suspense no more - it was our
pack for the ARC including our flag for the 25th ARC - whoopeeeeee. This
really put paid to any more sensible things to be done for the day as we
were very excited. Needlesss to say we couldn't wait to show it off to our
friends.
Friday evening we went out with Sue and Ron from Silver Cloud (the boat in
the photos that is not Andromeda - clue only has one mast) and after some
lovely prawns went to have a jig in the local hotel where 'Elvis' held
court.
We were originally going to leave on Saturday but got an offer we couldn't
refuse - an invitation to a little soiree. In the meantime the last few
things were done on board including Susan making a light weight bimini
(just don't look at the stitching)for when we are sailing.
Saturday afternoon was being hosted by Andy and Michelle who were renaming
their boat from Low Flyer to Kerching of Poole and hopefully they have
their boat papers now. After some pleasant drinks in the sunshine
chatting to other boat crews we all headed off to a local restaurant to
eat and we said our goodbyes to the many friends we had made in Lagos.
Sunday morning as you have heard was a lovely day to begin a journey. Sue
from Silver Cloud waited on the bridge till we left and took some photos
of us leaving and then she and Ron followed us out into the bay for
another photo opportunity. You can see the results, we took pictures of
them as well (clue - Andromeda is the one with two masts). We headed for
Portimao on a short distance away but the ideal place to anchor off and
check that everything was ok and all the gear had stayed in the right
place. Sue and Ron anchored off as well and after we had all had lunch
came and rafted along side so we coiuld exchange photos..... quicker than
waiting for an email... then they went back to Lagos and we settled down
for the day.
It was interesting in the bay again, we saw lots of movement in and out of
the river including a team Origin boat - maybe they are practising for the
Americas Cup. The wind grew steadily stronger and we decided we would do
anchor watch overnight so I was in bed asleep by 9 to get up at Midnight
and back to bed again at 3......well might as well start practising
ourselves. Monday saw us enyoying the sun again and having a lazy day
before repeating ourselves at night again. Tuesday we set off about 10 to
head for new pastures - Villamoura - and the wind was great pushing us a
long very steadily. Not much swell but lots of white horses and we made
good time.
We will let you know our thoughts about Villamoura once we have explored.
Till then
bye for now
Susan and Andrew
s/v Andromeda
ps photos will follow later