Thursday 4th October at Madeira
Spellbinder
Thu 4 Oct 2007 20:15
We left at 10.00 the next morning, and had a pleasant sail across the 27 miles to the eastern end of Madeira, and Quinta do Lordes marina.
The next morning we took the bus into Funchal, a hair raising hour and a half ride. General day sightseeing, concluding with a tour of the Madeira wine lodge in the middle of town. Only 7 of us on the tour, so we had all our questions answered, and then got down to sampling the product. An excellent calming influence for the return bus journey.
Wednesday morning was spent on winch overhauls and other general boat jobs, before going to the neighbouring village for lunch and a visit to a whaling museum. Eric arrived in the evening, and we had a lively evening onboard catching up with each other, a 40 years gap in the case of Eric and Bunny.
On Thursday Henry, Eric and Bunny set off in a hire car to visit a peak and admire the interior of the island. Martin declined a day in the car and went for local tourism in Machico. All met up to shop, as we have decided to set off for the Canaries on Friday morning, so we are now re-stored and ready to go.
The forecast is for light but favourable winds, which will become uncomfortably strong by Tuesday. With 280 miles to go to Graciosa, just off Lanzarote, we hope to be there in two to three days, so beating the deteriorating forecast.
We will continue to put up 1200 positions on the blog each day, allowing anyone interested to track our progress.