The autopilot had a tantrum as we left Porto
Santo and refused to work. That meant one of us had to steer the boat. Being a
veteran ocean sailor now, Margery stepped into the breach most of the way across
to Madeira.
|
Margery at the
helm |
|
|
Next day in the marina at Quinta Do Lorde
Barrie cleared out one of the cockpit lockers and threatened the autopilot with
some serious tools. The autopilot gave up and came on
again.
|
Barrie attempting to fix the
autopilot. |
|
|
Meanwhile the skipper was busy too. The light
at the top of the mast wasn’t working. Paul hung around for 3 hours enjoying
both the view from the top and the exquisite agony of the climbing harness while
he fixed a replacement.
|
Paul fixing the navigation
lights |
|
|
As we get closer to the Canaries we see more
and more ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) boats. These are yachts who have
chosen to cross the Atlantic at the same time
and are all heading for the November start in Gran Canaria. We hoisted our flag.
There are 225 listed as starting in 2009.
|
ARC Flag on
Peejay |
|
|
We also made time to explore Madeira. My lasting impression is that it’s extremely
green and mountainous. I don’t know who would go weak at the knees first, a
civil engineer or a botanist. Being
neither, I managed to keep my legs working, which is just as well as I was
driving the hire car. Have a look at these.
|
Crazy old road in middle of
picture |
|
|
|
Tunnels and Bridges
galore. |
|
|
|
You must be joking
! |
|
|
|
Looks a bit like my old English
teacher |
|
|
|
Not sure what to say about this
one. |
|
|
We explored the caves on the island and the
volcano centre.
|
Barrie and Margery In the lava flow
tunnel |
|
|
The other great Madeiran event was Pat’s
birthday. Knowing just how to treat ladies Barrie and I went to the chandlers in
Funchal. Pat and Margery were stoic about this but stayed remarkably calm and
had ice creams instead. We all then went to the botanical gardens via the cable
cars.
|
The birthday girl in the cable
car |
|
|
|
Happy birthday
darling |
|
|
And finally my tribute to the Madeiran
Archipelago. They have this amazing food called bolo do caco com manteiga de
alhio. This is like a cross between garlic bread and hot buttered crumpet. It’s
gorgeous but if you buy extra you can have it cold next morning for breakfast
with marmalade on top and then it’s heaven! Crew don’t seem to share my passion
for garlic and marmalade.
That’s it – we’re off to some remote islands
that nobody has ever heard of. The Desertas group and the Selvagen group.
Nothing there but thousand of birds and you can’t go unless you have a boat and
a permit. We have both and Barrie is a twitcher. Say no more. After that
the Canaries and the start line.
