We return to Lagos at the end of September after a wonderful summer at home in Sweden. We have had time to spend with relatives and friends, vaccinated ourselves against covid 2 times. Now we are eager to sail again.

The week before we were to go here, Carina felt sick and took a PCR-tested with a negative result. After a few days, she feels better and we choose to travel to Lagos as planned.

The days before the launch we live in a small hostel near the marina, perfectly OK but for Carina who got sick again, it is hard. We rent a tiny little room with a small bathroom, unfortunately, there is no fridge, so we can not store cold water or food in the room. I spend the days at the shipyard getting the boat ready for launch while Carina is resting in the room. In the evenings I buy food for us and then we eat in the room and watch SVT Play (the hostel has good internet).

Sally seems to have done well and the jobs that the yard took care of are ready when we get there. We are super happy with how Sopromar took care of our boat while we were at home and visited children, relatives, and friends. When we ordered the jobs, I was careful to ask them for a written description of what they would do and who would do it, and when it should be ready. They would also get in touch if there were any problems. I think this model works well when there are several smaller commitments where each commitment is not so extensive. For larger jobs, eg bottom painting or if something is to be manufactured, eg a targa frame, I always leave a written description of what I want to be done and ask for a quote.

When I have to reassemble the sprayhood that has been washed, it cracks in the seams, the outer thread in the seams breaks! The sailmaker Fofovelas sews the seams in time for the launch.

Why do the seams break in a three-year-old sprayhood? I contact the manufacturer (Rössy Kapell) who says that it is completely normal for a sprayhood that sits up in the sun and splashes of salt all year round in hot climates. It corresponds to at least 10 seasons at home in the Swedish climate with only summer sailing. According to them, it is the salt crystals that wear on the UV-resistant wire. Think I will get a new sprayhood the next time it is time for washing.

As if by accident, the boat is ready the day before launching. The spray-hood arrives the same day we are to launch.

After five days we launch the boat and put it in Lagos Marina where we have booked a place for a week. Then we plan to sail into the Mediterranean to the Balearic Islands.

We move onboard and start preparing for the autumn sailing in the Mediterranean, unfortunately, I also start to feel sick and weak. Carina is not getting better and the days go by and the preparations for the autumn sailing to the Balearic Islands are progressing slowly.

We realize that we need to extend the booking of the berth in the marina, we extend by 1 week but we don’t get better. So we extend as long as the marina has room for us (mid-October). This means that we can order some gear that we have not found here in Lagos, including foldable and light bicycles, mooring lines, cockpit cushions, fender protection, and more that needs to be renewed.

The last week in the marina we start to feel better and are able to visit the center of Lagos in the evenings.

We meet some other Swedes who have also sailed here with their boats, for instance, Gry and IdaLina. Gry is going into the Mediterranean as we and IdaLina are going down to the Canary Islands to sail to the Caribbean in November / December.

Up next

Finally, it’s time to leave Lagos and start sailing towards the Balearic Islands, the first harbour we sail to is Villamoura, more about that in the next blog