Sitting on back of the boat
in a marina on the eastern edge of Madeira. We got here two days ago and
anchored in a bay around the corner, spending a windy night swinging around in
the stiff breeze (20 knots - about 25mph so not slow). Anyway, now in a
marina which is
protected and the wind has also dropped. Marina at bottom of large cliff face so an amazing backdrop for us all.
protected and the wind has also dropped. Marina at bottom of large cliff face so an amazing backdrop for us all.
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| Quinta Do Lorde Marina |
Caught the local bus to Funchal today (the island's capital) and did the bus
tour and tasted some Madeiran wine. It is not too noisy but so different
to the chilled out zone that is Porto Santo where we were. We will go
back to Funchal in a couple of days (it is about an hour on the local bus) as
there are a few things we want to see. But tomorrow we are going to stock
up on supplies in the local town (about 10 minutes away in a free minibus
service run by the marina) and to walk along the local cliffs around this area.
We plan to sail along the south coast of Madeira after that, anchoring along the way. This should be fine
as the south has a few bays and beaches and the prevailing wind is from the
north (so blowing us away from shore if the anchor slips). The north cost
is rugged and rocky; vertical cliffs dropping directly into water some 100m deep - no places to anchor in the north at all and no
harbours either. We then head off to (we hope) the Salvagem Islands en route to Canaries. These
are small uninhabited islands that are part of the Madeira archipelago and are
a nature reserve. We can only go ashore if we get a permit from the
authorities in Funchal and you can not stay on the islands overnight, only in
your boat.
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| Funchal |
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| Funchal |
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