Lagos is so lovely and has been Njord's home over the winter and spring months. People are right; it is difficult to leave and you get stuck to the pontoon!

Last night we went out to The Garden, a barbecue open air restaurant, where you sit amongst the trees on straw bales draped in an artisan throws. Jon and Vic had spent the day getting Njord ready for her departure whilst Clare cleared off numerous emails to have a clear slate before setting off.

The morning arrived with little wind and blue skies and no clouds. Perfect for the first time out on the water for a very long time.

Jana, Helen, Helen, Anne, Ken, David, Matt, John and Frank came to E43 to wave us off and make sure we didn't hit anything and I suspect make sure we actually left! With no wind it was a doddle and we left after lots of hugs and goodbyes.

Thanks for the photo John. We will see you and Helen in the Med I am sure.

The sails were hoisted with no birds nesting in the folds! So off we set on our way for Vilamoura. As the crow flies it is 26nm but we went out a long way on one tack to then changed tack as the wind got up to all of 13 knots and we made good passage at about 6.5 knots. This tack brought us in a straight to the marina entrance some 44 nm later! What a perfect start to the sailing season for us on our way to The Med. this bank holiday weekend is the same one we left on our journey from Plymouth across Biscay to A Corunna.