On 6 September wel left Cascais at 7 in the morning heading for the small port of Sines on the West Coast - our last stop before heading round Cape St Vincent to the Algarve. En route we had weird weather - sunny, foggy, windy and then windless - all in the space of an hour. We then got eyeballed by a Royal Navy frigate which crossed our path and then stopped a few hundred yards away. At the time it was passing we got a message on our Navtex set about a live firing excercise due to start at about the time that the frigate stopped. Luckily, after a bit of panic on our part, the Navtex mentioned that the live firing was not until the next day. The frigate departed looking mildly disappointed.

We arrived in Sines and, as we were tying up we met the crews of a couple of Sottish yachts (CCC members) who know Tarbert well and who were friends with Hlary and Neil MacDonald . They too were headed for Lagos for the winter - small world or what?

Sines is an industrial town with a large oil refininery but as a modern marina with some of the best facilities we have seen so far - Troon eat your heart out.

The town is the birthplace of the greatest navigator of them all, Vasco Da Gama and there is a statue of him by the castle walls, overlooking the harbour.

The town is also blessed with delightful beach with sociable beach bar, almost Carribean.

After 3 days here we left at 17.00 on the 9th to do an overnight passage to Lagos. The first hour or two was unpleasant, a quartering sea and large swell caused the boat to corkscrew all over the place.

After this settled down we had a beautiful night's sail with a full moon and loadsa stars. The wind and swell combined again to give us an uncomfortable time as we rounded Cape St Vincent at about 04.00.

We eventually arrived in Lagos at about 10.30.

The marina is huge and carries a 5 star rating. On arrival we headed for the bar for a few (surprisingly cheap) beers.

Gina and I immediately set about finding a flat for the winter which after a day's work we seem to have done. We should take on a 2 bedroom apartment on the beachside on 1 October.

John and Andi fly out tomorrow and Gina and I head for a brief exploration to Portimao where we hope to meet up with Bruce Harris from Tarbert for lunch and a few beers.