27th June – Lagos
After the early start on Tuesday, we ended up motoring almost all the 75nm to Lagos. The highlight of the trip was a very keen pod of dolphins playing by the bow, plus the sighting of a rare sailfish.
It is a time of mixed feelings, after nearly 5 weeks being part of a large crowd of boats & crews. The camaraderie has been great, and there is a good chance of bumping into some of them later in the year around the planned Atlantic crossing. Equally, we are ready for a slower pace. The Rally is brilliant for managing the passage down whilst giving good insight into the country. This does produce 4 weeks of pretty intense activity!
Last night was the final party, and another very late night. Given that a number of boats are staying in Lagos, and others are also entered on the ARC (the trans-Atlantic rally), there is a good chance of meeting up with some later in the year. In the meantime, thanks all for your great company.
Packing the charts and pilot books away, there is also the reminder that we will be back at work on Monday 😦
So anyway, the sails are now coming down, the boat has been washed, and everything stowed ready for lifting out tomorrow morning. There are then a few jobs prior to heading to the train on Saturday morning for the airport. With work and a wedding to manage for the next few weeks, it is going to be late August before we are back out to pick up the adventure. Hopefully we will have a new cruising chute by then, as our (in for repair) existing one is going to be only suitable for the lightest winds.
Freebooter 