Liam’s Take
Left Portimão early. Forecast was decent — light offshore wind building through the day. It held. One reef in, a bit of heel, quiet sailing. No dramas. Might’ve even enjoyed it if we hadn’t had Lagos in mind.
Marina’s well-run. Everything works. You get the code to the showers without having to beg. That alone puts it top tier on this coast.
The berth was tight — catamaran one side, Norwegian bloke the other, still wearing full foulies in 30 degrees. Ryan disappeared the minute we tied up. Didn’t ask where he was going.
I stayed behind to flush the heads and swap out the starboard deck light. Nothing major. Still waiting on the watermaker filter from Cádiz — delay again. I keep a list in my head of what’s borderline broken. It gets longer the calmer the days are.
Later, went for a pint and some marina wifi. Ended up stuck in a conversation about lithium batteries I didn’t start and couldn’t finish. Ryan came back just after sunset with that look he gets when he doesn’t know what to feel. Said he saw a guy try to spear a fish with a selfie stick. Didn’t ask any more than that.
Ryan’s Take
Lagos is strange. It’s clean and busy and nothing like the place I thought it would be. All those sailors we met back in Galicia said, “You’ll love Lagos.” I don’t know what version they went to, but the one we landed in was part marina, part music festival, part Instagram showroom.
There were three Dutch guys drinking wine out of metal mugs at ten in the morning. A woman in a macrame dress showing someone how to “clear energy” using eucalyptus oil. A toddler screaming at a dog wearing sunglasses. I walked in a circle three times and still didn’t know if I liked the place or hated it.
I thought about texting someone. Didn’t.
I bought a pastry that tasted like it had been made by someone who forgot what almonds were supposed to do. Sat by a tiled fountain until my back hurt. I don’t know what I was looking for — maybe something to feel slightly less in-between.
Town smells like fried oil and perfume and boat diesel. Everyone smiles too much or not at all. I caught myself smiling at a fish market sign for no reason and felt like a tourist in my own trip.
Back on the boat Liam was messing with the shore power line. He didn’t look up. I gave him the pastry. He nodded. We sat for a while. Someone dropped a winch handle on the next pontoon over and swore in German.
I said something about staying another day. He shrugged like maybe.
