Madeira M’dears

Ahoy there Boatbloggers ® and welcome back to another exciting episode in the life of the good ship Domini and her good looking crew.

In the last episode we left you on the coast of Portugal in a beautiful anchorage called Culatra, somewhere near Faro.

And much as we loved this little bit of the Caribbean in the middle of the Algarve, it was time to move on. Next port of call, Madeira – or more accurately Porto Santo which is a little island just to the North East of Madeira. It’s about 500 nautical miles from Culatra, so a bit of an ocean passage which took 3 or 4 days.

The weather was predicted to be good, but even so, it’s important to prepare properly for long trips…

and to wear a silly hat.

It was a pretty easy crossing with calm seas…

…and Homer’s clouds.

I’d like to say they are called that because of some literary reference to the epic Greek poet, but no. It’s because they look like the opening credits of The Simpsons.

Land Ahoy!

Eventually we arrived at Porto Santo and anchored off the beach.

Intrepid explorers that we are, we set off to discover the island…

and as luck would have it, we soon came across a delightful little Caribbean Bar.

Though we wouldn’t want you thinking it’s all boozing and enjoying ourselves.

Even if it is.

It’s all very pretty…

But basically it’s just a great big lump sat somewhere off the Atlantic Ocean.

Jokes on a ten pound note please.

It was time to head off to Madeira, only about 30 miles away. There aren’t many anchorages in Madeira because it’s volcanic and the seabed tends to drop away very quickly, so we headed for a marina for the first time in months.

…and for a few days it was actually quite nice to not have to get into the dinghy to go anywhere.

Legend has it that the pattern in the rocks…

…was the inspiration for Munch’s famous painting, “The Spaniel.”

Madeira is famous for it’s hiking, so we donned our boots and set off into the unknown.

It’s knackering…

..but worth it for the views.

We discovered that it’s much easier to get up the mountains in a cable car.

To come down again, against all the advice, the Madeirans invented the sledge.

They didn’t seem to realise that sledges need snow.

But it’s all good fun.

The entries for this blog’s arty farty prize are “Cool Rocks,” by Lyn,

and “Cool Cactus,” by Lyn.

And the winner is…

LYN.

So that’s Madeira M’dears.

Watch out for the next installment the Boatblog ®, as we head to The Canaries and get ready to cross the Atlantic.

Hasta la pasta

Ju (Captain) & Lyn (Admiral)

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