Madeira
Audaciter
ItchyFingers
Mon 24 Oct 2011 14:30
Finally arrived in Madeira on Wednesday the 19th of October. It took us 5 days from La Coruna as again, bugger all wind! What is the matter with these oceans...Give us some of your wind. Anyway, we would have got here quicker but we had to conserve fuel but we discovered that if we run the engine at 1,500 revs as opposed to 2,000 we almost double our cruising range. Yawn, I hear you cry, but it means that we may not have to stop in Cape Verde on the way to St. Lucia. Also, considering the crap amount of wind out there and the fact that our friends had to motor sail 19 days out of 25 last year across the Atlantic then this news is highly exciting.
The trip down was good. We finally wired up our cockpit speakers and put some Techno on and all of a sudden had not 5 or 6, but 12 dolphins swimming along with us whacking their tails against the keel. Coincidence? Me thinks not. The water has turned a beautiful turquoise colour and the weather is good. Madeira or 'Janet's Island' (Gareth's mum goes there regularly) is very beautiful and the people are lovely.
I am back in blighty for a couple of weeks and I believe Gordon is coming over to take the boat down to The Canaries with the boys. I shall be rejoining them there. Another update then..........