Ola from Madeira
Stargazer of Southampton
Susie and Adam (both think they are skipper)
Wed 13 Oct 2010 22:58
 9 boats set off from Porto Santo for Madeira
yesterday - that was most of the Marina. We had a good sail across - we
set off first but were beaten home by James who is a 73 year old solo sailor -
obviously experience won on the day there as he sneaked in close to the island
as we went around the corner of Madeira whilst we got swept off to the south by
a current that appeared from nowhere. . . well. .. that was our
excuse anyway and we're sticking to it.
We are in a Marina called Quinta Do Lorde - we are
crammed in - when we say crammed we mean it, the boat got into the berth but no
idea if we will get out. However - the three Marina staff (Carlos,
Orlando and Bruna to you) assisted us in and may well have to assist
us out . . . . .there is not a boat length behind us to reverse so it will be
interesting and I think it is going to fill up more. In the marina they
have a rib that we suspect they use for pushing boats to assist them out
although the reception lady did deny that this was a regular practice, we don't
believe it.
Today we went on the white knuckle bus to Funchal,
the main city in Madeira - the island is so mountainous that the roads are all
hairpin bends on cliffs - don't look down , the bus drivers go really fast
up and down some of the steepest roads we have ever seen. The Madeirans
must practice extreme gardening as lots of the hillsides are covered with little
terraces and vegetables in them - when I say hillsides though, it isn't like you
could take a stroll down them - mountaineering gear would be
required.
Here's the view from Funchal Fort to the mountains
behind
 Funchal was good, we got off the bus and were hit
first by the heat - Porto Santo is really dry and the air is dry, but here I
think there are usually clouds shrouding the mountain tops and much more rain so
it is much more humid - but that means it is very green which is quite a change
from where we have been for the past week - the city is full of tropical plants
and trees - lots of which seem to come from South America according to the
little signs on them. We wandered all over the city and around the parks
and investigated the wine lodge for some Madeira wine. Great ice cream was
also found - sadly we have a tally now of the best ice-cream on the trip to
date, it's between Madeira and Cascais right now, we may have to sample some
more here in order to make our minds up.
Flowers in the parks and around the streets and a
chubby lizard
     Adam modeling a particularly large
cactus
 Susie on the guidebook: The marina was really good
when we arrived - they gave us the free guide book of the area and I managed to
entertain myself for some time reading the info - it's probably just me that
finds the wording amusing so here are some tasters of the delights we have to
yet see here. . .
The opening line on Sao-Vincent Caves and
Volcanism Centre (which does in fact sound really interesting) - "The
caves offer a very well organised visit that lasts 30 minutes" - I am glad
to hear it is well organised and but hope that I will be entertained and amazed.
. . preferably for more than 30 minutes
On Monte Palace Tropical Gardens - "The Koi Carps
achieve a coloured and unique vision" ?
On Machicho - " Machico still faintly glows a
seaside town, of old time summers of hand painted postcards of its bay, with the
precise colours of an early morning"
The excitement of extra-tropical storm 'Otto' has
not materialised - from the forecasts it seems to have gone elsewhere, however -
apparently thunderstorms here tomorrow though so we're planning on a walk along
the cliffs to the end of the island so that if we get soaked it's not far back
to the boat.
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