John and I spent seven days in Lagos catching up in boat work and even some relaxation! Megan and Tony left for home on the 2nd July early in the morning with plans to join us again later at some point in
the trip. Megan has probably clocked up more nautical miles in her first passage in the past two weeks than many sailors have in a life time! We all agreed that she is an absolute natural sailor and a great crew member.
The story of the toilet seat was not over yet. We managed to order one in the Chandlery in Lagos on Thursday and paid the carriage for a next day delivery. We had moved to anchor in Portimao a few miles along the coast
and returned to collect it on Saturday to find them closed at lunch time so we had to delay our departure until the Monday morning to allow us to pick it up.
Whilst at anchor in Portimao we had a surprise visit from Lynn and Steve on Aztec Dream, a couple who has also missed the Arc due to late delivery of their new boat. They came aboard for a chat and a drink and exchanged
stories of our respective independent trips south. Whilst we were all sorry to have missed the Arc Portugal Rally, we weren’t sorry to have missed the horrendous weather they experienced crossing the Bay of Biscay. It was nice to meet up with Lynn and Steve
and feel a little less isolated having missed the boat so to speak.
After two nights at anchor, we returned to Lagos to collect our next crew. Nigel joined us around tea time on Saturday 5th July and John, Nigel and I went to a marina side restaurant for dinner which was very
enjoyable, getting to know Nigel. We were just starting our dessert when Colin arrived from the airport and shared Nigel’s very appetizing strawberry pavlova. On Sunday we had a morning in the marina and went out for a sail in the afternoon to show the guys
the ropes. It was the first wet day since arriving but then Colin was with us and has always been known for bringing questionable luck along with him. (Ask John to tell the story of the missing propeller)! We anchored outside the Lagos harbour waiting for
the Chandlery to open on Monday morning to collect the long awaited toilet seat. Alas, the Spanish supplier in their wisdom had sent the loo seat to Lisbon by mistake so we were back to square one! ….and we had delayed our departure in order to collect it.
The Chandlery staff were very apologetic.
So off we set for Madeira. We left Lagos at 11.10 on Monday 7th July in strengthening north, north easterly winds by the evening reaching up to high 20’s when John decided to drop the main sail and sail under
a reduced genny. The sea state increased to rough overnight and by Tuesday the wind was gusting up to 30 knots. With the exception of Nigel who has never sailed with us before and hasn’t sailed for a couple of years, the rest of us felt decidedly queasy.
Unusual for John who has never experienced sea sickness before but we have put it down to the extreme stress he has been under over the past couple of months with deleted resilience. Nigel didn’t allow all of our sickness to dampen his amazing high spirits
and he helped to keep us all afloat! Thanks Nigel. Over the course of Tuesday the wind continued to increase and was gusting 36 in the night with a very rough sea state with waves of at least 10 meters. Sleep was very difficult under these conditions and
we were all exhausted. We saw one other yacht pass us very close on Tuesday evening called Bye Bye Lone Sailor. Seeing this yacht alone in these massive seas gave me a picture of what we must have looked like and how tiny and vulnerable we were in this hostile
environment. John called him up on the VHF and got a weather update which didn’t look like improving any time soon. We had been lucky in the Bay of Biscay with the weather but this was making up for it! We hoped for some reprieve but each time it looked
like the wind was reducing, as quickly it would strengthen again making our spell on the helm quite challenging. Apart from Monday evening when preparing food felt impossible, I managed to get one cooked meal prepared per day and the rest of the time we would
graze on fruit, cereal, crisps and bread. Despite the conditions, we still had a laugh when Colin reported that Nigel had suggested at 6am watch change, he go ‘down to arouse Alison in case she oversleeps’. Colin decided to err on the cautions side and just
knock my cabin door for fear up upsetting the Skipper! However on the 3rd day even 2 attempts at arousal from both Colin and Nigel failed and I slept through 2 hours of my watch. As the days passed everything became incrusted with salt, or clothes,
skin boat and noticeably the taste of salt in our mouth. As any sailor will know, such conditions make the simplest task nigh on impossible such as going to the loo or making a cup of tea. I have one memory of Colin, around 2am, crawling across the cabin
floor on his hands and knees to his cabin, having fallen and not had the energy to stand up again! At all times you have to hang on to something to stay on your feet whilst using the free hand to do the rest! I would often contemplate such a task for over
an hour before plucking up the energy and strength to carry it out. You may well ask why we would consider putting ourselves through this hell. Well I find it hard to answer that but sitting here writing, I know living at that edge, makes the polarity of
the amazing beauty of being so close to nature and all that brings makes it all worthwhile. This is living.
On Thursday morning we were all excited to spot the first of the islands, Porto Santo to our Starboard. We sailed on past until Madeira came into view arriving at Quinta Do Lorde in the North East of Madeira at 11.00
exactly three days since leaving Lagos and covering 510 nautical miles and all under sail. My priority was to call home to my sister to hear how my niece was doing as she had been unwell. It is hard not being there to support and be in contact at times like
this. A beer and a shower never felt so good. The marina staff were so pleasant, helpful and welcoming. We pottered around doing laundry and enjoyed a good meal before turning in for an early night for our first proper sleep since Sunday night.
I hope to be back in touch again before we leave Madeira. Bye for now.
Alison