At Anchor in Paradise!
Niord's Big Adventure
Tony Gratton
Mon 28 Aug 2023 18:54
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Sat - Tue 19-22/08/2023 Porto Santo
The anchorage here has a rugged beauty, with the
backdrop of the volcano, the endless sandy beach covering the entire south
coast, fringing the opal, turquoise, then azure sea. Claire swims at every
occasion, and is loving it! Our unplanned stay ashore last night meant that our
anchor light was unlit until late. The German lady from the next boat swims over
to tell us off, but it is hard to take her seriously somehow as she isn't
wearing anything! We have pizza ashore which coincides with the local Folklore
festival. Lots of singing and dancing by locals in traditional
dress.
The container ship which arrived yesterday left during
the night. Tony had a better night thanks to the pain relief patches, and strong
painkillers. Claire paints our yacht picture on the wall during the day. Tony
sorts out the formalities for the crew change with the Guardia Nacional
Republica. We have a slow walk, as Tony can't move very fast, into town for
shopping and ice-cream. Tony finally gets a compliment for his Portuguese, from
the girl at the ice-cream shop who is Brazilian, and who loves his Brazilian
accent! Progress! Back on board, it's raining, and the wind is up. Rob cooks
risotto for dinner, and Tony does chart school with Claire.
Monday is crew change day, so we're up before dawn as
Claire is sadly leaving us. We say our goodbyes, then return to Niord, to spend
a good part of the day sprucing her up for Karen's arrival. Rob and Tony meet
Karen off the ferry from Funchal, and luckily catch a taxi back to the marina. A
quick trip back to Niord with Karen's bag, then we walk into town for a meal at
the beach club. We taxi back, get the dinghy to Niord, then collapse into bed.
What a day!
After a well deserved lie-in, Tony spend ages on endless
calls and emails trying to book into a marina on Madeira for our next crew
change. Karen visited the marina in Funchal on the way over only to find out
that it's closed for visitors as they are replacing the pontoons! We finally get
a place in Quinta do Lourde. Ashore for more formalities for our departure, a
final shower, and pay the marina bill. Another meal ashore at another beach club
- a nice steak with a bottle of Quinta de Lapa
Reserva!
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