Porto santo, Madeira
02/10/2015 13:07
After some discussion, we sailed to Madeira. First stop was Porto Santo which is a small island with 5,000 inhabitants, about 40 nm northeast of the Madeira. We don´t regret, it is incredibly beautiful out here and the water temperatures are impeccable.
The crossing started with too much wind and ended up with too little wind. First day was tiring with waves and gale straight into the side of the boat, so we sat stormsail and second reefs in the mainsail, so we got nice balance in the boat. I got the first part of night duty, and was a bit uncomfortable with the conditions. Night Cruising is challenging in many ways, and the worst is perhaps to judge speed, direction and distance of other boats. About 6 hours outside Portugal Coast vessels began to appear as shiny dots around us, and one of them had a steady course straight toward us from the port side. Much faster than I thought at first, so I got in a hurry to avoid collision. With the sails up in strongs winds it´s not easy to change direction immediately, and the Portuguese trawler showed no mine to change the course. As I stood behind the wheel and considered next move,a small whale came up right next to the boat. Collision Course, gale and whale watching at the same time was a bit too much for an inexperienced sailor, so I tapped the hatch to the aft cabin; "shit..help me!". The captain came out in his bare ass and hair straight up, a little unhappy. But he helped me out of the situation. 5 minutes later we drank coffee and ate drytek- chili con carne. The rest of the trip was largely without drama, and we spent about 3.5 days over.
It turns out that it is cheaper for us to pay for a month than a week here in the marina. A bit weird, but we do not complain. 100 euros for a whole month is cheap. There are several other Norwegian boats here, and we have become friends with Lars-Fredrik and Gina in "Tamara" and Stine, Anders and Andreas in the "Sun Trip". First night we had beach party with around 20-25 Norwegians, and we have been well received in "La Familia Noruega" that constantly grows larger. Fun having so many social people around us!
The young members of La Familia, us in Wilhelm, Tamara and Sun Trip, took a four day trip to Funchal on Madeira. Tamara is the largest boat with four cabins, so we gathered in and went. It´s more convenient to do it like this since it is quite expensive and difficult to get a space in the harbor at Funchal. Like most other getaways this was just one long party, and we were accidentally introduced to the local beverage "poncha" consisting of lemon peel, lime, vodka and honey. Hot stuff! Halvard and Anders had to clean up a barfight the "number 2", which ended with Halvard was bitten in the arm by an angry dark-skinned man. But in spite, they were heroes of the night, and got free drinks both that night and the whole evening after :)
If you go to the norwegian version, there are more pictures in the gallery.
