Baia d'Abra, Madeira

S/V Goldcrest
David & Lindsay Inwood
Mon 10 Sep 2018 10:15

32:44.738N 16:41.713W Sat 8th Sept 2018.

 

We had a great 5hr sail here from Porto Santo and are safely anchored in an amazing bay, surrounded by crazy cliffs.  This is yet another spot with weird geology; in this case the multicoloured layers laid down by early volcanic activity have been riven by vertical cracks filled with magma which has mostly crystallised (like the giant’s causeway hexagons but on a smaller scale and across the seams).  The colours & shapes are quite fantastic.

 

We dinghied to the beach yesterday to walk the peninsular and left the tender tied to a rock well above the waterline, we thought.  Returning 2 hours later the dinghy was adrift and being bashed against the rocks; no damage done but it was a bit scary seeing how close it was to being blown away in the very gusty winds this area is famous for.  And talking of scary, the walk along the cliff tops was a bit heart-in-mouth for me with 100ft drops just feet away from the path with just a wire barrier in the way.  At one point the path goes across a narrow knife edge between cliffs – not good at all for my vertigo!

 

Unfortunately the conditions here aren’t settled enough for the length of stay this place deserves.  We’d like to do more swimming and walking, but we are being buffeted about by unpredictable strong wind gusts and the water is therefore pretty choppy (but really warm, nearly 25°C).  We’ve been offered a place in the marina at Funchal so we will move on later today for a hopefully quiet night or 7.

 

At anchor with Blue Yonder, US friends we met on the OCC rally:

The narrow path:

Crazy rocks: