21 October 1993 Gibraltar to Porto Santo, Madeira (Day 4)
Another dark night but not quite as cold. We changed to a goose-winged sail plan at three o’clock in the morning then back to a broad reach at midday. Life is made considerably easier by having the pole set up permanently with fore guy and aft guy and the genoa sheet led through a snatch block on the end of the pole. We can roll away some of the genoa or gybe it very easily from the cockpit.
We’ve got company today; a yacht has caught us up and is obviously going to Madeira too. I ran the engine for 2 hours to charge the batteries because they were very low (23.9V). We had a nice sail during the day, but in the evening, the wind dropped slightly so we went to all sails. It looks like there is a front coming. We had a very spectacular sunset with cirrus clouds highlighted red over the top of cumulus. The other yacht didn’t bother putting its navigation lights on except when a tanker went past – hope there aren’t any other boats doing the same thing nearby, as it’s a very dark night. I don’t feel sick anymore!
22 October 1993 Gibraltar to Porto Santo, Madeira (Day 5)
Not too bad a night. A front went over at about one o’clock, which was very impressive - no stars to the east of the front because of cloud and clear moonlit night on the other side. The line of the front was incredibly straight going north-south.
The wind picked up at three o’clock in the morning, so we put a reef in the main and genoa. The other yacht is still behind us (just!) – we’ve got to beat him in. Funny how it only takes two yachts under sail to make a yacht race!
The island of Porto Santo appeared as the sun came up at nine o’clock and looks very rugged. We anchored several times to find the right spot, then had to move further into the port as we were in the path of the ferry. We invited a young Belgian boy aboard from next door’s boat – the children are currently destroying all the tidying up we have done.
The passage here from Gibraltar has been wonderful in terms of weather and children behaving themselves – Brett and Craig still manage to play together even though they are constantly in each other’s company. The night watch system will be amended slightly, as Glenys and I both feel able to do an extra hour each and will save me having to do the deadly graveyard shift from 6 till 8 in the morning (Glenys 10-12, Neville 12-4, Glenys 4-8, Neville all day while Glenys looks after the boys and feeds us).
I walked into town to do a “reccy” and a bit of shopping. It’s a nice little town with a beautiful beach about 15 minutes walk away from the port. The distance from Gibraltar to Porto Santo is 575 miles according to the GPS. We did 602.6 miles according to the log. It took us 100 hours and we only did 11.7 hours motoring. Amazing after 6 months of Mediterranean motor-sailing!
23 October 1993 Porto Santo
We all walked into town in the afternoon. Brett and Craig loved running and digging in the sand. An hour or so was spent building “Sleezo’s Cloud Castle” under the pier. I tried to ring the UK but couldn’t get through. We went for a drink with André, Anne and Nicholas (8) on the Belgian boat “La Boudeuse”.
24 October 1993 Porto Santo
I went to André’s boat to play with his computer. I gave him a load of games and borrowed his copy of the manual for my weatherfax program. His demodulator is a lot simpler than mine, so I think I’ll use his design. We all walked into town and played on the beach in the afternoon.
25 October 1993 Porto Santo
School work and jobs in the morning. In the afternoon, we went on a guided tour of the island in a taxi. It was very good, took 2½ hours but only cost £16 - what a bargain. The island shows its volcanic origins – most of it looks like a lunar landscape. There is an intensive tree planting programme to stop the erosion of the hills and to attract rainfall. Apparently most of the islanders have stopped working the land and are working in the tourist trade.
26 October 1993 Porto Santo
School work and jobs in the morning. We went to the beach in the afternoon and I went snorkelling along the breakwater with my speargun. The fish are incredibly shy – they obviously get shot at a lot! I speared one fish, but it was small and evil-looking, so I didn’t bother to bring it back. Brett and Craig had a wild time playing with Nicholas. We are planning to go to Funchal tomorrow.
27 October 1993 Porto Santo to Funchal, Maderia
We woke up this morning to find that there is no wind! I cleared customs and left 500 escudos with the security guard for last night’s anchoring fee – I expect that will buy him a couple of bottles of wine!
We motored all of the 45 miles to Funchal. The marina is jam packed, there are rafts of yachts that are 8 boats deep and no room, so we went outside and anchored. I went into the marina in the dinghy (there is hardly enough room to moor the dinghy!) and did the documents. The Policia Maritima filled in the obligatory form and then issued a “Livrete De Transito” and charged me 250 escudos! I can’t find out where or when to get fuel. I’ve given up until tomorrow. Initial impressions of Madeira “I want to leave!”
28 October 1993 Funchal
What a horrible rolly night. Glenys said “Let’s go back to Porto Santo” and Craig said “Are we at sea?” I went to clear out at half past seven, but discovered a possible space on the end of a raft. We shot into the marina, tied up, breathed a sigh of relief and then helped another boat come in alongside us!
It started to rain as we were pulling up the anchor. It has rained all day – pressure is down to 1013, the forecast is for SSW winds up to gale 8 in the next few days.
29 October 1993 Funchal
It really blew last night. The pressure had dropped to 1000 by half past one, and the wind and sea was very bad. We were fairly secure in the marina, but we still had to get up 2 or 3 times to check ropes, etc. A river coming down from the mountains carried trees and flotsam (and 3 bodies) down to the marina entrance and then the swell dumped it all into the marina. The river broke through the side of its culvert and went through the middle of a restaurant in the marina destroying it. In the morning we looked around town, had lunch at a restaurant and slept in the afternoon.
30 October 1993 Funchal
Still raining and strong winds from west. I went onto “Naivasha” to help George sort out his computer system. Richard, the owner of the boat, is the founder of Creighton’s and has hired George to sail the “ARC” with him. I managed to copy another weatherfax program so I’ve now got two. I played games with the boys for the rest of the miserable day.
31 October 1993 Funchal
I filled up with diesel. George and Richard from “Naivasha” came to help me carry the three diesel containers from the garage. We spent the rest of the day hanging about. I went to the tourist office to ask about the fiesta for tomorrow (all Saints Day) but apparently everything is cancelled because of the storm. Lots of the buses aren’t running because of blocked roads. 4 inches of rain fell in 10 hours causing flash floods.
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