andromeda of plymouth - Exhausted from Lagos

Exhausted from Lagos

andromeda of plymouth

Susan and Andrew Wilson

Sat 17 Jan 2015 10:36

Exhausted from Lagos..............................

We hope you had a great Christmas and New Year and 2015 brings all you wish for!!!

Here in a sunny, though cool, Lagos it’s been a busy round of socialising, and one we haven’t been used to – so we are exhausted!!! How anyone can work when in such a social whirl is a mystery – just as well we have retired, we couldn’t have made it otherwise.

Christmas Eve we went for a sail on Magic, a Hanse 54 – enormous compared to us. But Tina and Mark, and May the dog, were great hosts and we had a nice, though slow sail, in Lagos Bay. Later we were off to Clemmy for drinks and canapés with numerous other folks, before mulled wine and Heston’s mince pies on HMG – we’ll translate later! Christmas Day, after a modest 2.8mile walk, it was time for a few pressies, thanks everyone, before Xmas lunch (ok ish) at the Marina Bar (Susan enjoyed it more than Andrew). After which we retired, though a few folks partied on. Boxing Day saw a leisurely lunch and Mexican Train Dominos with Alan and Bev, although Fergie dropped by earlier to say he had arranged for a couple of Cork 1720’s to go out for a race the following Sunday! Brilliant! In the meantime we were trying to fit in all the usual chores.

Sunday became, though that wasn’t the plan, a “fun race” – two cruisers and two 1720’s, twice around the fish farm. Pretty breezy and a few breakages, it was a good afternoons race. On the way back into the marina we were hailed by Chip and Sue from Toujours, so the rest of the afternoon passed in a blurr of nibbles, Irish Malt Whisky and Christmas cake! Toujours was almost overwhelmed with folks who had been onboard for some time, as the empty bottles showed, though we managed to squeeze in. A well earned second place in Carnage (1796), crewed by Fergie, Keith, Susan and Andrew – we will do better next time! We broke the kicker, were missing a sail batten and almost lost another, and the traveller was a nightmare – but we stayed upright! The main sail looked a mess which was unfortunate as Andrew was trimmer, and he was grumbling about the loss of the kicker and the sail shape! We passed the winning boat twice, but the last beat was a little too much for us.

The following morning, after a modest 3.3mile walk it was time to run the VHF Net which seems to be much appreciated – Andrew is getting many kudos as the broadcaster and Susan is thinking of setting up a fan club for him. After the net it was time to help Fergie to move Carnage back from it’s temporary berth. A quick Pingu run was followed by a reminder that it was go-karting afternoon, while Susan was occupied with the line dancing and having a good old jiggle about. In the evening there followed a party to celebrate 3 marina folks birthdays – 40, 65 and 75, held at Spinnakers Bar. Andrew was consistently 7^th out of 8 or 9 in the go-karts, which he hasn’t been in for some 20 years – there is a video of course! Line dancing has new participants and continues to grow in popularity. In the New Year it may be a challenge to get everyone into the Spa! As for the party, it was a good evening, everyone bought a plate of food and there was even the opportunity for Susan to really let her hair down and have a good boogie - It’s a tough life down here!!

New Years Eve saw us have a splendid meal in a Chinese restaurant with a bunch of other cruisers, followed by a stroll down the Avenida for the Fireworks celebration and the dawn of 2015 (dois mil e quinze). Bottles and glasses were involved, as were glasses of the funny kind. Our party really enjoyed seeing huge Father Christmas’s, Snowmen, Reindeer, Snowflakes, Elves and Stars as we watched the fireworks with the glasses on. Several other groups went to different restaurants both within and outside the marina, but it seems we got the right one. New Years Day saw a bunch of folks gather for a swim off the beach, and good fun it was, in beautiful conditions, the sky was a gorgeous shade of blue, the sea was calm, so once over the shock, we enjoyed the water with some 12 or so other hardy folks. Someone took some photo’s which we’ll post soon. Then it was back to the regular hectic social whirl that is Lagos this year, starting with Portuguese lessons with Suzanne the following day.

On a slightly different topic Andrew came across the following in a blog by a fellow live-aboard – we all have hierarchies and sort of like to know where we fit don’t we!! Let us know if you disagree - just wait till we get to the dress code!! [Andrew has added a few bits!!]

“There is a rigid and strictly enforced hierarchy in cruising, although there are many subtle sub-distinctions within it, the outline pecking order is as follows:

1. Full time cruisers who have been living aboard since before the advent of GPS, remember Loran, can work sextants, have fended off pirates, have no water-makers, have at least one complete circumnavigation under their belts, don’t like engines, distil water for the batteries, can make a gourmet meal from corned beef and cabbage, are familiar with Frey Bentos pies, and know Robin Knox-Johnson, personally. [We are jealous of this last bit – 3^rd in the 2014 Route de Rhum – absolutely amazing for someone over 80 - why isn’t he Prime Minister, or President, or King?]

2. Other full time, live-aboard cruisers – [we think we are here.....smug!!]

3. Those who own their own boat and live-aboard for at least 5 months of the year.

4. Dilettante owners who flit between their boat and one of their numerous properties spread across the globe.

5. Charterers.

6. Flotilla holidaymakers.

7. Holiday speedboat hirers.

8. Vermin including rats and cockroaches, stray dogs, mangy cats and stuff that floats down the river.

9. Jet skiers.

You will note that single handers are not included in this bestiary. This is because they belong in a separate category of their own, being, as they are, just too weird to be included in normal social discourse.