Saturday 18^th, Sunday 19^th and Monday 20^th September

Saturday was spent tackling the extended list of jobs that had grown during the last few days, ranging from repairs to paperwork and storage. Remarkably after studying some photos of Serafina during her building, I have found an extra locker – well perhaps more a storage area, under a false floor inside one of the saloon units which is a real bonus as it will hold loads of bottled water for emergency use during the Atlantic crossing.

On Sunday we combined with SF to hire a car for the day to explore the island and what an absolutely wonderful place it is. Chris and Steve have been here before on a land based holiday but for us it was a huge surprise to find it such an incredibly diverse and beautiful island. The roads range from fast expressways that spend almost more time underground in huge tunnels than out in the open to allow the road to run all along the southern coast without spoiling or disturbing the views and character of the place, to small rural lanes reminiscent of Devon. Tacked on the south side of the island is a quite amazing airport with the runway built on stilts over the sea alongside a cliff;  underneath is a sports club with astroturf pitches and yachts and motor boats stored in a vast area. The island is made up from several volcanic peaks that rise sharply out of the Atlantic to heights over 1500m which is what dictates the climate here which is mild but quite wet! This leads to an extraordinary amount of lush vegetation and the fertile soil means that a remarkable variety of plants thrive here. Where else do you see brussel sprouts growing in a veg patch alongside bananas and grapes?

In the centre of the island are two plateaus close to the very peaks and from there you can take any one of dozens of carefully marked trails and walks that suit everyone from casual walker to energetic hiker along levadas, which are very well-maintained manmade irrigation channels running very gently down from the spine of the island. There are no golden sandy beaches, but all along the rugged coastline the roads drop down very steep wooded and rocky valleys to the sea where small resorts have sprung up at the shoreline. Everywhere there was evidence of the fearful rain storms that caused devastation only a year ago as the torrents of water cascading down the ravines swept away roads and houses. The photos we took do the place no justice at all and it is a destination we can heartily recommend.

For the sailors things have only recently improved. There are no natural harbours here and yachts were not welcome at all and so most yachtsmen until around 2003, left their boats in Porto Santo and came across on the ferry. Now there are three marinas, but one we noticed as we drove by is empty and abandoned. (  We have since found out that it was built by the government and was badly thought through and every year when the winter storms arrive the place is pretty near destroyed! Last winter the sea wall broke into two sections which seems to have signalled the death of the place!) The marina we are in is only partly full and the third is in the busy little main harbour at the capital Funcal.

As usual we attempted to navigate our way around the complicated and badly signed roads with the sole aid of a tourist map and so not surprisingly we spent a lot of time quite lost, which was part of the fun as we saw any amount of things and places we would never have thought to visit! The catch is that you are either driving uphill or downhill much of which is orientated around hairpin bends. It is quite unnerving to enter a tunnel which then starts to climb and climb before peaking and sending you down a steep incline so you burst out into the sunlight heading straight down a steep hill. There are also  dozens of cable cars for getting down the big headlands to the beaches and one feature we missed altogether by mistake were the cliffs reputed to be the second highest sheer rise sea cliffs in the world! (575 metres)

It was a long old day, but by sheer chance we found a lovely restaurant for dinner and eventually made our way home around 10.30 pm.

On Monday, Sarah decided to take the bus into Funchal as she was keen to go to an art museum dedicated to two brothers from Madeira, Henrique and Francisco Franco.   The bus driving was far more exciting than other experiences given the terrain and took an hour and a half. On arrival the rain started and didn’t let up till she arrived back at the marina;  amazingly very few of the locals seem prepared for the downpours and gather at all the shop entrances until it lets up. This far out at the eastern end of the island where the marina is, seems to escape the endless cloud bursts. The museum turned out to be very small (the taxi drivers hadn’t heard of it – oh for those talented black cab know-alls) and Sarah was the only visitor, but claims she was delighted with it.   She then visited the much hyped Municipal Market which proved to be visually stunning but staffed by pushy vendors insisting one tastes their wares and very much priced for the tourists. I stayed on board and got some more bits and pieces sorted out as well as some work done and we ended the day getting Serafina ready for an 8.00 am start tomorrow and the 300 mile trip to Lanzarote. Sadly the weather forecast shows little or no wind for the next few days so we will have to see what develops.