Departed Portimao 23rd September
heading to
32 44 50 N 16 43 17 W Porto Santo
It was touch and go as to whether or not we would actually be able to leave Portimao as the repairs to the antenna ended up being an eleventh hour event. Our new crew (Ron and Mags from RTYC) were mid air as the guys from Bluewater finally got their act together and completed the job they had begun a month ago. We held our breath as the chartplotter and antenna were fitted, everything was crossed and after about 2 hours of deliberation it was deemed to be functioning. All that was left was to pay the bill OUCH! – could have put in a new system for what it ended up costing. However hopefully this will last us for our travels now.
Ron and Mags got to the Marina late evening after a trouble free journey. They were quite happy to get underway so we planned to leave Portimao by lunchtime the following day. It was a strange feeling leaving the marina which had been home for quite a long time. We had established a daily routine, met some lovely people and really enjoyed our time there.
28th September – Porto Santo
29th September – Quinto do Lordo – Madiera
Well we have made it to Madeira and Porto Santo the 2 inhabited islands in the Madeira group. We were accompanied by 2 friends from Dundee, Ron and Mags, neither of whom had done an ocean passage before. Indeed Mags still regards herself as a “novice” sailor. She can now hold her own in the Royal Tay YC alongside those who have sailed for years but never crossed 500 miles of Ocean! It was a great experience for all of us. The weather was kind; it was warm, sunny, wind from the correct direction ( although not enough some of the time) and the landfall welcoming. The assistance from the marina staff in both ports and the friendliness in general is quite outstanding.
We initially landed in Porto Santo which is 30 miles north of Madeira. It is a lovely island with only 5000 inhabitants. It has an amazing beach which is the envy of Madeirans who flock there at the weekend via the ferry. Compared to Madeira it gets very little rain. Usually only in January and February. They had a spell of 3 years when it didn’t rain at all. However, thanks to the arrival of 4 Scots who have plenty of rain experience it rained on Sunday night! There were a few ARC flags flying and we met up with Susan and David (originally from Rhu but now living in spain) of Voyageur which was lovely.
Decided that we would have a rest day before heading to Madiera. After a good nights sleep with no pole vaulting or hot bunking we did the island tour which took 2 hours! Not bad for the size of the island; 42 square kilometers. For the bus buffs out there it was on a Leyland Leopard with manual transmission and open top conversion. We couldn’t understand why the lady from the US wanted the windows open!
Yesterday, 28th Sept, we had a terrific sail to Madeira. Captain J decided we would try to go through a gap between the rocks as it would save us a half hour or so. However as we got closer the wind strengthened and there was a lot of weather helm , not mention an increase in the wave motion. At the last minute we had to bear away and go for the outside route watching out for the reef which shoals close by. Fairly had the crews adrenaline pumping but it was stunning scenery! As we got closer to the marina a rib came out and guided us directly to a berth. Ron and John reckoned this was a service that a lot of marinas would benefit from providing.
So we were safely tucked into the marina basin by 7.00 p.m. which of course was well after the sun had gone over the yardarm!
The marina is at the North end of the island and the area is quite barren and hostile. It is based under a huge volcanic rock which is quite imposing. The development plan for the place is to create a tourist village. Alas at the moment it is really just a building site! However the facilities and service in the Marina is superb. There is a bus service in to Funchal. Intrepid explorers we headed out on it. If the bus on Porto Santo was interesting this one surpassed it. The trip lasted over an hour and was up and down 1:2 gradients, round hairpin bends at heart stopping speeds, especially when we met a bus coming the other way! By the time we got in to Funchal having visited every village and the aeroport en route we just had to find a cafe! Had to go easy on consumption as we had to get through the return trip!
Our friends fly back to the UK today and we will miss their company as we have had a lot of fun and laughter while they have been with us. However we will spend a few days exploring the island as the weather is not ideal for the next stage of our journey. The next step is to Lanzarote but the winds are swinging round to the south east for the next week and we can’t contemplate leaving until that system has passed through. There are 5 other ARC yachts here all with the same problem. I’ve no doubt we will discuss it at length over the next few days.
On the journey over we saw a dolphins aplenty altho smaller than those seen around the UK. We also saw 4 turtles! They are cute little creatures that float like large biscuits. Unfortunately they don’t “perform” like dolphins and if they aren’t close to the boat and you aren’t looking in the right direction you would miss them. Hence we are surprised we saw 4. Hopefully we will see lots more as we head south.
The Radar is fixed and was invaluable coming over and we will need it for the next bit of the passage.
We are coming to terms with the fact that equipment downtime is part and pace of cruising life, allbeit a frustrating one. We have a small issue with electricity generation which needs attention just to prove the point.
