32:44.5N 16:42.7W

Friday 17^th September 2010

After an enjoyable evening watching ‘Christopher Columbus’ arrive at the town jetty and eating hog roast sandwiches among costumed Madeirans, we set off at a very civilized hour this morning (i.e. 10 a.m.) to sail the 30 miles to Madeira.  Day sailing has become rather unfamiliar to us of late, so it was a nice treat to set off knowing we should be in harbour  again by nightfall.

Madeira was soon visible in the distance,  and by 1600 we were safely tied alongside in Quinta do Lorde Marina on the Eastern tip of Madeira.  The marina is sheltered by a sheer cliff and very quiet, being absolutely miles from anywhere!  

On Saturday we made use of the marina launderette to catch up with the washing, and as it was raining on and off we had to make use of the tumble drier too! 

On Sunday we  shared a hire car with Rob & Sarah and did a tour of the island.  There seem to be many more tunnels than when we were last here, which make getting around the island easier and have the advantage of not spoiling the landscape.  However, they also mean you don’t get to see too much of the unspoilt landscape from the car!  We visited a number of places on the island, both ones we had seen before and new ones, and we remembered why we like Madeira so much.  It is still one of the places we would be happy to come back to.

Approaching the Eastern tip of Madeira                                                                                Breathtaking  landscape

On Monday we made use of the courtesy ‘bus’ into the next town and did a shopping trip to Pingo Doce.  We were left with some time to spare and went for a  stroll along the front before heading back to the boat and getting her ready for the 300 mile trip to Lanzarote tomorrow.