Mar. 16, 2007 - Life in Lagos and the concept of time
Well, Sunday 11th March sees me still in Lagos and still living in a boatyard. Hull painting finished and looking quite fantastic. S'pose that means I should really get the rest of the boat up to the same high standard, not that it's that bad. Bit of sand paper and teak oil/sealer has quite a remarkable effect. Got quite a lot done today (always seem to get more done on sundays, boatyard very quiet and fishing bait shop shut). Aries wind vane (a wonderful piece of equipment which steers the boat to using the wind direction without complaint or even a request for a cup of tea), stripped down and rebuilt. All new split pins and clean threads, ready for another thousand miles. Now almost frictionless and not so much as a single screw left over when it went back together. very satisfying. That and some clothes washing. Given up on the laundrette, no coin ops down here so it costs several bottles of wine to get a wash done. Can't have that, can we. So off to local supermarket this morning for some hand wash stuff. Bucketful of hot water from the shower room, some clothes and stuff in and , hmm, my Portuguse needs some work I think. The bottle had a drawing of a pair of hands in a bowl washing clothes (next to a drawing of someone washing a floor, maybe that was a hint) but when I put it in the water got really colourful instantly and smelt like a swimming pool. Now have several hippy glastonbury style tie dyed tee shirts. More bleach than persil I think. Anyway, quick learning curve and boat is typical yachtie with washing line out sporting some rather arty teeshirts. Might give the ironing a miss though. At least the wind vane's in good shape. Waterproof grease, fantastic stuff, I'd use it on myself if I knew where to put it (don't even bother with suggestions....).
Weather picked up last couple of days. Much warmer now (not that it's been what you would call cold really), fishing yesterday shirt off, shades on. Seem to be getting a bit obsessed with this fishing lark. Don't catch much though, and any which do venture onto the hook are tiny. Got "North atlantic and mediterranean" fish guide so at least I know what they are now. Had Annular Bream and Ballan wrasse yesterday, shame they were about the same size as the pictures in the book. But one of these days I'll catch my dinner.And boy that's going to taste good. I usually walk down to the end of the breakwater which protects the river up into Lagos. there's a family (herd? gang? what's lots of cats called?) of feral cats live down there and the other day one got all friendly doing the getting under your feet thing. I thought I was quite the Dr Doolittle. All animals love me, must be such a nice guy. Then I caught a little fish and it went wild, more kittys appeared just as excited. Ha, not me you're interested in after all is it? Not stupid these moggys are they. I mean, i just feel so used!
Which brings us nicely onto the nature of time whilst cruising. Throw away yer filofaxes and outlook, it's all a con. There are three periods of time. Main one is "now". Now is where it all happens. Best now is when you forget that any other time exists and are perfectly happy chopping onions (nice onions in portugal, good fun to chop) or spend an hour getting a particularly reluctant screw out of a windvane without burring the head. Thats a good now, definately achievable having been back on the boat for a while. Next (or previous) is "Before now". "Before now" is just that. I noticed sailing down here last year that it was very hard to remember if an event happened yesterday of a month ago. Simply doesn't matter, it's all "before now" and blends into one. Yesterday can seem an age ago, especially when making up a few miles. Makes history much easier. "When did you sail across Biscay?" someone would ask. Err, a few days ago, last week, ages ago, i don't know, it was before now OK! Next one is "after now". Now this is where the corporate west really has some problems to resolve. "After now" is simply that. (easy really, isn't it). "When are you leaving Lagos?" Hmm, lets see now, that would be, roughly, I would think sort of after now! No point trying to pin it down, just point your life in the general direction you want to go in and you'll get there in the end, possibly having much more fun and adventures on the way than you would have if trying to keep to one of those wierd schedule things. Or possibly you were completely mistaken in direction and end up doing something completely different but possibly more fun. So there, the nature of time in one paragraph. The Portuguese seem to cope Ok with it, work still gets done, my experince here has been that they work pretty hard, but don't get so hung up about it that it gets in the way of having some fun along they way and make sure a good lunch is had. They all seem to take pride in a job well done and if it takes a day longer then who's worried.
So "after now" new engine parts will arrive, engine will go back in, I'll have the more important bits of the boat sorted and will float again. Then off round the coast a bit towards Spain, drove up to a place called Alcoutim a few days ago with some friends. Very nice. Up river Gaudiana which seperates Spain and Portugal so I shall try to get up there for a few days anchored well off the beaten track. And then further into the after now, getting excited about spending some time in Morocco maybe. Then?? Madeira? Canaries? Who can tell. It's all in the after now and I think if you relax and sort out the now then everything else will fall into place without having to lift a finger. Suits me just fine.
Boa nuite e ate logo
ps New video of Biscay crossing here - http://www.youtube.com/Yachtconachair
pps Friday now, how time flies. Much excitement onboard, yesterday after several hundred euros and a long day working in confined spaces, Conachair has a working fridge! Cold drinks for the first time in over a year and a half. Yippee!!
|
