Farmers market

So our first week in and we've got going on the jobs. The genny and staysail are off and packed away, Emerald has had a good scrub and the canopy has been cleaned and water-proofed. Our iffy water pump has been replaced and it's so much quieter and smoother running. The old one was pulling in air when it ran causing water to splutter out of the taps - turn a tap on and nothing for a few seconds followed by a violent spurt that sprayed water everywhere.

Colin has done an engine service with new oil and fuel filters, an oil and coolant change, gearbox oil change, sea water side cleaned and flushed through with fresh water and corrosion inhibitor added and the air filter cleaned (which was looking very furry). He also adjusted the idle speed and spotted the sea water inlet hose had some corrosion damage on it, so we'll need to replace it. The outboard and Igor the petrol genny have also had a service.

Saturday 2nd November
On Saturday mornings in Lagos there is a farmers market. It's held in a huge shed with rows of small holders selling their wares with boxes and pallets for tables. Some sellers have many different products; at others an old man sits with a couple of boxes before him. In the last few years I've tried to buy meat and veg from the local butchers and greengrocers rather than supermarkets, but that's not always possible when moving on constantly and there isn't the time to find these shops. So to have this market here is fantastic with lots of seasonal veg - onions, sweet potatoes, peppers, strings of piri-piri peppers as well as scotch bonnets, huge pumpkins that could be bought in slices, aubergine and many more types of veg including my favourite, avocados. You can even buy a live chicken!

Saturday afternoon was rugby in South Bar with half time sausage sarnies provided by the bar. I'm liking it here as well as pints of beer (more like lager-beer) or glasses of wine for €2.

That evening a music night was arranged by the Lagos Navigators club also in South Bar. The theory was that there is a core of musicians (keyboard, guitar, flute) and then anyone can join in playing or singing. We went along to see what it was like and before long Colin had gone to get his guitar and I'd joined in with a few other marina ladies doing some singing. Colin did a few of his open mike songs and then threw at me to sing 'Wish you were here' whilst he played. Erk - we'd only messed around learning the song that afternoon! Luckily it's one of my favourite songs and I knew most of the words, plus I was well lubricated with wine by then and the rest of the bar joined in too. A great night!