33:03:37N 016:19:06W

Wind Charger
Bob and Elizabeth Frearson
Tue 21 Jun 2011 21:23
We arrived in Porto Santo at 2:30am which really was not a good time for any meal at all. It looked very over populated with strings and strings of yellow lights across the shore line for miles. Having anchored in clear water outside the harbour every one put their heads down for a good sleep and awoke to a very different scene than imagined.  Porto Santo is a very old indeed island, with pointy peaks and 18 million years worth of erosion gouging great gashes down the hillsides.  (Apparently Grande Madeira only appeared 5 million years ago).  They are trying to grow trees but the island is mainly populated with prickly pears, lizards and rabbits (that Columbus brought with him along with snails).
After a quiet morning mainly taken up with moving into the harbour and then promptly moving out again, because there was a wind howling through it and it was very very choppy, watching Mama Mia, which Haley surprisingly enjoyed after her previous synopsis had proved so baffling, we headed ashore.
Who would have thought that it could take so long for the armed policeman to take down our every particular and then for the port authorities to give us a printed bill for 11.60 euros.  They were all very lovely people but there appeared to be a problem with the latest computer upgrade.  It did give us the time for the loveliest port authority woman of them all to organise a taxi tour of the island for us.
The tour was interesting and we were able to take pictures of Windy at anchor from every panoramic point (Porto Santo is not a very big island).  We were totally outdone by the arrival of Georg Stage a classically handsome tall ship.
In the evening we quaffed the local beer and tried all the local specialities including the big black ugly fish that actually tasted very pretty, sardines and limpets which was a once in a life time experience i.e no-one ever wanted them again.
And so to bed ready for an earlyish start for La Funchal.