25th to 27th June - A few days R&R

Lagos was going to be a relaxing break and everyone split up for much of the time to do their own thing.  The first thing that Emma and I did the next morning was some laundry, at which point Emma committed the cardinal sin of hanging clothes out to dry on the rigging and make Bali Hai look more like a gypsy boat than a luxury yacht.  Greg, on the other hand, washed his clothes and hung them up in his hotel bedroom which , in my opinion was the perfect place, although I am not sure that Suzy would agree.

Emma flouts the rules

That lunchtime John had booked a table in a beach bar that he and Lisa like and where Lisa is particularly fond of the white sangria.  We were sad that Lisa could not be with us and so raised a glass (or several) of it to her instead.

 A toast to Lisa

The following day was Emma’s birthday and I had booked a room at the Avenida Hotel so that she could wake up on her birthday in slightly more comfort than on the boat.  The hotel had a few quirks but did a wonderful job of making us feel welcome and even providing a plate of Emma’s favourite Portuguese custard tarts, Pasteis de Nata.

Emma's birthday tarts


Hotel Avenida's rooftop pool

To celebrate Emma’s birthday John had booked a table for everyone at Tasca Jota, a local Portuguese restaurant, but sadly he had to return to the UK earlier in the day and so was not able to go himself.   Fortunately, we were still able to make up for it and eat John’s share of the meal as well.

Emma's birthday meal

The latest plan was to leave the next day and sail overnight to Lisbon but first thing in the morning we received the news that orcas were immediately in front of us and had already attacked two boats.  We therefore decided to stay another day and give the orcas a chance to move further north.  We would also only sail during the day and revert to an earlier plan of stopping at Sines. This plan had been abandoned when we heard that Sines marina had closed but it is still possible to anchor in the harbour and so that is what we would do.  The only other worrying thing was that bad weather with gale force winds had been forecast for a couple of days’ time.


Lagos marina

As we would be leaving before first light and the bridge could not be lifted, Bali Hai was moved outside the marina and we spent the night on the reception pontoon. 

Waiting to depart


Comments

  1. Anonymous30 June 2023 at 11:53

    What a lovely treat for Emma. Go carefully

    ReplyDelete

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