Arrived Playa Francese
Innamorata
Steve & Carol
Thu 30 Nov 2017 13:54
We arrived here at first light having to slow ourselves down all night to avoid getting here in the dark and anchored with a dozen other boats at Playa Frances. It was great to sail the whole trip and not have to use the engine (except to leave and anchor). We had other boats either in sight or in VHF range all the way and for the last 24 hours we had very kind seas and fair wind, Steve had dolphins on one of his watches and I saw a whale blow about 100m from the boat - unfortunately it didn’t surface again!
Boats need to have an anchoring permit here as its a marine reserve - we had applied for one while still in Portimao in October but not heard anything - before we left Porto Santo I emailed again with revised date and found the permit in our email inbox when we got here which was good - we aren’t sure how strict the authorities are and hear different stories.
We arrived just before Baltic Dart - who left from Madeira and Romlea who left with us, we are all enjoying the sunshine, clear water and having a little celebration drink later.