Category: Portugal Page 2 of 18
I have been to Baía de Cãmara de Lobos a few times and it is always a pleasure to come back. It is a short ride along the coastline keeping the sea in view while paddling up and down.
The main attraction today was the tiny little church right at the harbour. Not a single seat left and when the signing of the chant started the vibes electrified even spectators like myself outside of the church.
Fair winds…
There are some improvements planned for the Marina in Funchal to a) make it more attractive and b) reduce the swell inside the marina, which is unpleasant as we have just experienced the last two days. Looking at the new layout, I am convinced that the new entrance/longer breakwater will reduce this wobbling boat movements especially at easterly winds. Although the work should start any time now, a completion date has not been announced. 
Fair winds…
While tropical storm Gaston is slowly moving away from Azores, my focus is on Hermine heading north towards Canary Islands. Although it is less strong, it might influence my passage planning further.😕
Fair winds…
The market hall in Funchal is a hotspot on a Saturday morning. Although open every day except Sundays, it is particularly busy on Saturdays. Its reputation is not the best in terms of tourists being cheated, so you need to be careful and make a sanity check yourself before paying. The range is from pure local products to tourist’ gadgets.
After getting my fresh tuna steaks together with some local vegetables and fruits I enjoyed a Portuguese Galão while absorbing the atmosphere for a while.
Fair winds…
Harbour Master Sérgio personally and myself received the lines from Babs and René shortly after midnight completing the passage from Horta to Funchal. A lot to chat about after a short night of sleep for all.
Fair winds…
I feel fully recovered this morning having my second coffee. Damned good sleep until 6am. There is a bit on my list. Made a lemon cake first thing in the morning still in my pyjama, 9am is laundry time, 10am I expect Toribio to come. He is the local Sailmaker & Rigger and helped me out last time on the broken halyard. This time I need a few repair stitches (thanks to Danielle) to the bimini cover and perhaps he can also give an overall check on the foresail before we head on. Thereafter the lady needs a shampoo, shower and conditioner treatment. Also need to investigate a squeaky noise on the steering system, which comes and goes, etc. etc.
Nothing is more boring than getting older bored.
Fair winds…
Lines are fixed with the help of the Mariniero and John from Ireland, my neighbour for the next few days.
It is exactly on the day, one year ago, 18th Sept 21, when Susan and myself arrived here first time coming from Porto. Funchal is the place I have most often visited within this one year followed by Porto Calero. Not sure what that tells you. 😀 Fair winds…
After the initial hick-ups around the wind and the chaotic waves yesterday evening it got better with the hour. Three hours of motorsailing to stabilize the lady and get her from Rock’n Roll to some kind of more harmonic dance like waltz. I found it amazing how often the wave pattern can change on such a passage. From huge wobbling football fields (very pleasant) to significant steep climbs and falls in no time. I have observed changing patterns before wihtout any changes to the wind but on this passage it was special. I wonder, if Hurricane Earl has not contributed to this but also understand, how difficutlt it is for the metereologists to predict waves on the ocean.
Luckily the wind picked up to 15-20kn over night and the wave/swell combination got back to normal. The rest of the night was uneventufull, just clocking miles at good speed and get closer to our destination. I felt it was a bit colder than the nights before and needed an extra layer. Spent a cosy night in the cockpit taking rest getting some sleep. No other ships seen.
Two squalls hit us in the last 12 hours. First one last night, when I was talking to Jan from SY Sutje on the Marine Radio at 8:00 UTC. Our connection yesterday was very good but then it started to shake and I had to take full attention to the boat, Although I was already in reef #2 on the mainsail for the night, I quickly furled in the foresail to reef #1 and we got through the short period of time quite well with only 10-15kn of gusts on top of the 10kn wind we had at that time while motorsailing. It takes about 15min as these squalls move extremely fast. I can see them on the radar coming and also get an indication how much rain they imply. Easy during the day, but bit more difficult during the night and for this the radar is a good helper. It also give you a chance to slow down and let a potential squall pass your courseline ahead of you. Their impact is very local. The second one came this morning and was less significant.
Looking forward to another stop-over in Funchal Madeira.
Fair winds…