Going East at last
Lera(hen3ry)
Malcolm Cann
Thu 20 Mar 2008 17:03
don't think I had a single night where I wasn't woken by the boat jumping about making some terrible noises, got to go to Lagos 37 06.563N 008 40.404W
Decided Mon 17 was a good day to leave, the wind had been between NW and NE for the last two weeks and the night time temp was up to 12deg. Sun I went to pay my bill and consult the weather, though the weather is not very comprehensive in the office consisting only of "Windguru" tables. From Windguru I gleaned the fact that on Mon the wind would be SW turning at about midnight to NW and not exceeding 20kts. This didn't look too bad, I'd have to motor all day but could sail after midnight, only 12 hours motor. I also checked out the Navtext and German broadcasts and they all seemed to agree.... all would be good after midnight.
Monday I was up bright and early for me and consequently left a little earlier than intended at 10.40, and motored off into the sunset! The temperature was a lot better than last time and * didn't even get chilly until about 2300, at which time a minor storm came along and started to mix things up. The wind made it to 37kts and it became bumpy and then continued bumpy and windy all through the night. The direction of the wind was good but its strength and the bumpy sea convinced me to continue on the motor.
About 0600 I got to Cape St Vincent and started to turn East, out of the Atlantic, the wind was beginning to subside a little and I was contemplating using the sails for the last 20 odd miles, but the wind decided to turn to NE just as I did. I don't know if this is caused by the land mass but the changes did come together, motor on.
I ultimately was pleased I had opted to motor as, when I was about two miles from Lagos the clouds rolled in and the wind really did whip around me and churn it up, I'd been quietly soaking up the sun two minutes before. It stayed for about 40mins then vanished just as quickly as it appeared. I pottered slowly into Lagos at about high tide and parked on the reception pontoon.
The first impression of this place is that is a British colony, everyone speaks English and it looks as if most of the boats also are English. The boat I'm parked alongside is British they effectively berth it here for 6 months of the year and spend the other 6 months pottering around. weird!
The local supermarket has a shelf FULL of Heinz Baked Beans in proper size tins and a vast selection of tea!!!!!!!!!!
I'm here for at least two weeks so no doubt I shall modify or consolidate that opinion.