32:44.49N 16:42.73W

We weighed anchor at 8am and sailed slowly down the golden sand beach waiting for Galatea to catch up, before trimming the sails for a starboard reach across to the eastern side of Madeira. 

Jane had been trying for a day or two with emails and phone calls to book into Quinto do Lorde but they were weren’t in a hurry to accept our booking.  We did secure a back-up berth in a marina on the south-west side of the island but Quinto do Lorde was far preferable.  Finally, when we called them on VHF radio and they saw we were approaching the marina, they admitted both Infinity and Galatea.

Our timing turned out to be perfect as there was a religious festival that weekend in which all the fishing boats from the next harbour along the coast arrived with the priest to collect the statue of the Virgin Mary from the chapel at the top of the hill and take her back to Caleta.  Health and Safety inspectors would have had a busy day counting the hordes of merrymakers on each of the boats, filling every available space and even the lifeboats!

It was a bit rough in the marina due to swirling winds and a bit of swell, so we were tugging at our mooring lines all the time but sleep wasn’t too disturbed.

Ashore, we had supper in Machico, a walk around the hills in the local area and a visit to the Botanical Gardens in Funchal.  We were sad to say goodbye to Josh, whose enthusiasm, skills and great company on the trip from Lagos had been priceless. 

However, it wasn’t long before we bumped into our next crew, literally, on a side-street in Funchal.  Richard and Cordelia were walking the other way as we sought a good table for lunch.  They stayed another night in their hotel (they’d accidentally booked the honeymoon suite it would seem!) and we picked them up the next morning.