Xmas Blog – a long(ish) post, so a cup of tea, coffee or whatever you fancy may be in order......before reading.........................

So there we were in a pizza place after the Music Group’s “Stroll around the Pontoons”, when Andrew was asked to sing a sea shanty! Why, goodness only knows. But what else could he do, but oblige – he manfully resisted for a few minutes, which piqued the interest and amusement of the rest of the restaurants clientele! And so he did, in something close to a warbling baritone it is said..........he still is not sure why, but he did. It was “South Australia” for those interested!

Pizza restaurants are not Andrews favourite places, but the rest of the impromptu “group” who walked the pontoons, sang and played as part of the Music Group’s Christmas Stroll around the Pontoons thought it was a good idea, so in the spirit of comradeship ( J ) we went. We raised €220 on a quiet night – many of the berth holders had returned “home” to spend time with their families, but we had a very nice evening none-the-less. The amount raised was shared between the Riding for the Disabled Charity, as a number of folks here-about are active volunteers, and the rest went to the Marina’s charities, along with the funds raised by us Fun Sailors (€105). Several of the bars we visited were really supportive which was really, really nice and the mulled wine was, lovely, the roasted chestnuts from Scarlet were amazing, and the chocolates from Clemmy welcomed by many. A really, really good evening.

Ravin and Steven from Oasis gave us a bottle of wine and were hugely supportive of the Xmas songs along with the Quay Lagos restaurant – no, neither Slade nor Elvis were a feature this year. Most surprising! A lovely couple and a really nice place for a good cup of tea (and that is rare in this part of the world) and a toasted sandwich, or even a full English, as some of the family will know.

An excellent evening last week was hosted by good friends David and Lyn on Scarlet last week which saw a host of cruisers and locals, with links to the NandI and Riding for the Disabled charities, gather on F pontoon – a really good international craic as they say – Swiss, Czech, Belgian, Irish (Eddie would not be pleased if we did not mention them), Scottish and English folks all came along. Irish Eddie had the most – well – how to describe – well, festive jumper on – apparently €3 – stylish, fashionable, desirable – no - but we are not convinced he paid for it as claimed. Anyway we presented €100 to the Riding for the Disabled as the mulled wine (12litres – should we say that?) flowed.

Delighted and really pleased to help local charities and volunteers.

Then there was a luncheon (yes, that’s what we were told it was) at a nearby restaurant on the day before the day before Xmas day – are you keeping up? – so we were full and physically challenged before Xmas day even arrived! It’s a 45 minute walk from the marina to the restaurant we should add. But we took the car and then went to see Star Wars at the local cinema in the evening – a pretty good film and much better than Bond in our view.

It’s a hard working life out here you know!

The Lagos Dawn Patrol is still disciplined, however, and maintaining a 7:30am, 7 day, 3 mile (+) per day regime – hhhrmmp, hhhrrmpp!! And we have digital evidence!!

The tea at the end of the walk is, however, most welcome and what we look forward to; though the aches in the joints when rising from the chairs afterwards, aren’t always welcome – (are we getting on perhaps?). We do have to admit though, sometimes, you just want to turn over and snuggle down in a nice warm bed..................if it’s raining we have an excuse, but it’s not that often! Of course Xmas day is an exception and we said to Steven and Ravin who run Oasis that they could have the day off! After all, we even provided the biscuits for several weeks!

Xmas Day saw us head for the beach, a dip in the Algarvean waters and a BBQ. Well................Susan did.  Andrew was pole-axed by a bug, and a not nice one either – it confined him to bed for several days, only the third time known to history, and even now he’s less than healthy! Whatever it was it was not nice at all. Several other males in the marina have also been kyboshed so maybe there is such a thing as male flu! Grrrrrrr.

We both managed to get to the beach for New Years Day – the evening before was pretty good by the way – the craic was good, the fireworks great but where folks got lost on the way to McCabes is beyond me. Tango’s in the square, soul on the stage, momentous moves in the dark – that’s New Year. New Years Day was also Tim’s 60^th – there was no way he was going to forget that! A whole bunch of folks arrived at the beach around 12 noon for a swim – and it was really, really nice. After the swim and a glass or two, we headed off to Linda’s Bar for a bowl of seafood chowder and another happy birthday song! An excellent afternoon – the day started with a morning walk (8 this time), tea and breakfast in Oasis, who provided a Bucks Fizz and a biscuit – what a way to start the day. After the swim and the excellent chowder, we all hunkered down to rain, wind and cooling temperatures. The rumours are purely speculative by the way!! No basis in fact! At all! Really!

Welcome to 2016.

We are really, really pleased that Tina, Mark and May (and of course Magic) are now enjoying the Caribbean after their recent crossing– sailing nearly 3000 nautical miles without a stop is an amazing achievement however you look at it, and we hope they will enjoy their stay there, the anchorages, the islands, meeting the local people and enjoy the “craic” with fellow cruisers.  We certainly did. There are some amazing folks out there!!

Now where’s that cup of mulled wine! It’s getting a little chilly!

Happy New Year

Andrew and Susan

Andromeda of Plymouth

Western End of F Pontoon

Marina de Lagos

Portugal