Funchal

Chiscos - Atlantic Cruise
John Simpson
Mon 3 Oct 2011 14:28
32:38.74n 016:54.59w
 
We eventually left Quinto do Lorde today,  2nd October. We couldn't leave yesterday because the weather had blown up for the south so we decided to delay one more day before leaving.
This means that we will not now go to the deserted Selvagem Islands, 150 miles South of Madeira. We will go to Funchal and then direct to La Palma.
We had a great sail down to Funchal in the (still strong) Southerly winds. Funchal harbour , normally crowded, was virtually empty. They have cleared it because they are a stop off point for the Mini Transat race( a race across the Atlantic in small boats). The competitors had left La Rochelle on the 25th Sept but had still not arrived due to the  unseasonably strong southerly winds. The marina office weren't very keen for us to come in , but after some gentle persuasion, we managed to get a berth for the night!!
 
Last time we visited Funchal in 2005 we did a wall painting for Chiscos. When we looked at this again it had weathered badly so I repainted it and we took some pictures next to the repainted version!
Before...........................................................After
 
I realise that Regis and Carrie are not on this leg (but will be joining the trip for other legs), and felt that Rob would have been pleased to see his pants repainted!! So we decided to leave the painting as it was. I can't now remember why we chose to paint our underwear on the forestays!! I'm sure there was a good reason at the time!
 
 
John