We write the text for our website in English. The multiple language selection feature is an auto-translation by Google. This translation is not perfect; it sometimes uses peculiar words and even expresses things in a very different way than what we actually meant. So, if you’re reading in a language other than English, and you read something strange, switch back to the English version to read what we actually meant to write!
If you’d like a shorter/summarized version of our posts, read only the “Highlights” section below and stop before “The Captain’s Log“, which is much more detailed, more like a logbook / diary and contains information for our reference as well.
Highlights – the overview
In a departure from our normal format (of highlights and complete story), and because there aren’t any detailed lengthy project write-ups, we offer only the complete story below. Madeira is a lovely island and we wouldn’t want you, dear readers, to miss any of the beautiful photos and descriptions of our week here!
The Captain’s Log – the complete story
October 7.
At sunrise, we hoist our anchor and head to Madeira.
There’s almost no wind so we motor out.
At the western end of Porto Santo there are some rain clouds and a small rain shower shows a little part of a rainbow.
The rain shower intensifies at creates a really nice rainbow!
While the rain shower moves ahead of us it creates a full double rainbow!
Really intense colors 🤩
After a while, the rain shower moves off and the sun comes out again.
Once we round the western tip of Porto Santo, the wind picks up. We have a nice broad reach in 15 knots of wind. A big rain shower passes behind us and we see 28 knots of wind. We reef the Yankee to be safe. The ferry from Madeira passes us on his way to Porto Santo (the Lobo Marinho).
After lunchtime we approach Madeira. We keep having the nice broad reach course in winds from 10 to 20 knots. A great sailing day!
When we round the eastern cape on Madeira, a rain shower passes in front of our bow. We don’t get wet but it doesn’t look like a warm welcome…
This is what we see at our stern: Porto Santo in bright sunny weather…
Madeira has high mountains that generate clouds (and rain). That’s the reason Madeira is green.
Well, the approach and rounding the eastern cape is impressive!
After we round the eastern cape, the wind is gone and we motor to the anchorage “Enseada da Ambra”.
It’s a stunning anchorage! We’re surrounded by impressive layered rock walls.
On the cliffs, we see hundreds of people walking a hike. Like a train of little ants!
October 8.
The katabatic winds are pretty strong here! We see gusts of 30 knots on the wind gauge (which sensor is in the top of the main mast) but they’re only very short. Just a few seconds. After that, there’s no wind at all for a short time! But the gusts that hit the sea surface are much stronger. We can see clouds of water being blown up from the surface. That takes wind speeds of at least 50 knots! But because these bursts are so short (seconds), the inertia of the boat prevents a strong pull on the anchor chain. And the holding is excellent: clean sand at a depth of around 8m. We’ve put 40m of chain out, to be sure.
This morning, we have a gorgeous sunrise:
Funny! The ants gather on the hill tops to watch the sunrise:
We stay on board and enjoy the majestic surroundings. We’re all alone here. Hundreds and hundreds of hikers pass by on the trail all day. We bet we’re being photographed thousands of times!
Sher is doing some sewing and Wim is working on his Signal K / Node-Red software project for the boat telemetry.
October 10.
Today, we’ll sail to the marina of Funchal. It’s half a day sail. But first, a stunning sunrise!
At 10 o’clock we hoist the anchor and we motor out of the bay.
There’s a nice 15 knots breeze in a broad reach. It’s a lovely sailing day!
We sail along Madeira’s south coast. The views are beautiful!
Juts after lunch we enter the marina of Funchal. The marina is completely full and we have to go alongside another boat. It’s been 3 months since we were in marina, and we feel like sardines packed into a tin…
But, this only for a week. Wim’s daughter and her partner will visit Madeira and we’ll meet up with them.
The boulevard of Funchal is really nice.
October 11.
We take a walk in the old town of Funchal.
A Miradour (view point):
Late afternoon sunset over the city of Funchal.
At night, thousands of lights in the city.
October 12.
We take a scooter ride to the west side of Funchal along the coast.
The views are nice but it’s mainly hotels, hotels, hotels… Hundreds of hotels.
Late afternoon, we have drinks and tapas with Dione (-II) and Ramon 🙂
October 13.
In the morning, a sea lion next to the boat!
In the afternoon, a scooter ride to the east side of Funchal. Much nicer than yesterdays ride!
But, a lot of uphill walking…
In the evening we have dinner at an Indian restaurant with Dione & Ramon. Delicious!
October 14.
Tour and wine tasting of Borges Madeira fortified wines. We taste 9 different wines from dry to sweet and from 5 to 20 years old but we like Port and Sherry better. Yes, we’re totally spoiled!😅
Bottling.
October 15.
Scooter ride. We’ve been to the west, we’ve been to the east, and now we go to the north. That’s uphill… So that means a lot of walking…
When our batteries get to around 50% we have to turn back home, but we’re close to Funchal’s botanical gardens. We decide to have look and it’s really gorgeous!
Another Madeira wine tasting on board. But no, we still like Port and Sherry better.
October 16.
The Signal K dashboard runs on the tablet, too. Nice!
October 17.
We have rented a car and we drive over the mountains to the north side of Madeira. The landscapes are stunning! Very green, luscious, fertile. Steep cliffs, rugged coastline, beautiful ocean views. We stop a hundred times to take pictures, one even more beautiful than the other!
Another delicious dinner with Dione & Ramon in a Tandoori restaurant and then drinks in the old town square. 🙂🙂🙂🙂
October 18.
Another drive with the rental car. Now, we make a circle around the west side of the island. We like south side and west less than the north side. It’s a bit rainy and sometimes foggy but it’s still impressive. We take some very narrow and steep roads and the Nissan Juke has a hard time keeping traction on the road sometimes 😅
In the evening, we say goodbye to Dione & Ramon. They’ll fly back to the Netherlands tomorrow. We’ve really enjoyed their company and it was a unique opportunity to meet each other here at this beautiful island!
Yes, we found it a beautiful island with stunning nature, but a bit too crowded for us. Funchal is packed with ten thousands of tourists, you can do a hike only when you booked a long time in advance, there’s a lot of traffic and we didn’t like the marina at all. We felt like sardines in a can, packed alongside and in-between other boats. Plus, there’s always some swell in the marina. Even when there’s no wind. So, we’ve seen the highlights of Madeira (except for the hikes, which seem to be nice but very crowded) and we liked it a lot, but a week is more than enough. Tomorrow, we’re off! Into the big wide ocean and the Canary Islands!
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