Passage Day 6: Cascais (Portugal) to Porto Santo (Arquipelago de Madeira)

Well we made it….safe and sound.

Only one things broke..the bulge pump, but we had a manual pump to back it up.  Just had to remember to pump it for a bit each day.  Opps.

And the self steering started to make funny noises.  One night shift I was sure that whales were calling out in the dark.  Then I realised that it was the steering system.  All the cables run through the bulk heads (walls).  I will need to get in there, lubricate it and check for wear and loose fittings.

After I did the blog the winds we prayed for kicked in.  Only problem was I forgot to ask for it to be ‘in a favourable direction’.  Right on the nose, like the winds were coming straight from Porto Santo.  So we had to tack (move the sails to either side) all the way in.

Despite this we made great headway through the night and entered the harbour at 12:30 in the afternoon.  We have tied off a buoy between the tiny Marina and the ferry mooring.

It was surprising how long we saw the island coming.  I could make out it’s outline at about 1 am against the night sky.  The flat coast of France and the mist covered cliffs of Spain all only appeared to us in the last few miles.  But not the Madeiran Archipelago.  Ancient volcanoes the islands suddenly rise up into the clouds with steep eroding banks.

The harbour is on the south coast which is one enormous long beach.  I went for a run on it when we arrived, after checking in with port authorities first.   I need to slip this in here…do not attempt to make a port authority representative smile….just take my word for it.

We tried to find out about all the different charges and if you could anchor outside the harbour for free.  So far it seems that it is 40 euros to tie to the pontoon and 21 euros to take a buoy in the harbour or anchor outside the harbour.  None are cheap.  50 euros return to take the ferry to the main island, Madeira, and there are no spaces free in the main city marina.

We are just going to take it easy for the rest of today and make plans tomorrow.

For now I think I will watch the humans have a beer and the water proofs airing in the wind.

0 nm to go!