Cruise to Madeira with David Latham
28th Sep 2008During the month of August I had an excellent cruise to Madeira with old friend David Latham on board his yacht Iris Mary from Faro Portugal to Porto Santo, Madeira main island and back to the River Guadiana. for more text click on the headline above. Hasta Luego!! John
David had suggested a cruise to Madeira last year from Portugal and was looking for crew so I was pleased to take up his offer, I flew out to Faro on July 29th and David was waiting for me by the steps beside the sportboat marina in the centre of town. We had an interesting trip out to the anchorage in his tender Joe Montana as it was now pitch dark and the turns in the channel were hard to follow, luckily he had a powerful lamp for navigation! After sorting the boat we set off next morning down the main channel to Cabo St Maria and laid a course direct for Madeira, initially we had a frustrating day tacking in light winds but eventullay the wind filled in and we had 4 days fast sailing on a beam reach to Porto Santo a smaller off island which has been much developed since David was last there with Jeanne on their Atlantic cruise in 1990. We spent 2 days there, very rocky with scrubby vegetation but a sandy beach before sailing to the main island which has very different vegetation, originally covered in trees cut down by the early settlers and heavily terraced for the growing of crops especially bananas and of course vines for the famous Madeira wine, stayed at Quinta do Lorde marina, very nice but remote; 90 minute bus ride to Funchal. We hired a car for 2 days so that we could explore the island, very beautiful with spectacular mountain scenery and step gorges, the tunnels and the main feature when driving on day 2 we counted going through 66! Walking beside the levadas, water channels in the mountains is a special feature. lets see if I can attach some photos to show the beauty of the island. The passage back was less easy, 8 days dead to windward and into a head sea found out every tiny leak in Iris Mary so that soon noone had a completely dry bunk. Luckily David is a brilliant sea cook so my cullinary skills where not tested at sea. Thank you for an excellent cruise David and your hospitality Jeanne when we got back to Sanlucar. Keep in touch folks; bye for now. John
[Iris Mary berthed at Porto Santo, Madeira]
[I helped David retouch Iris Mary wallpainting]
[Eagle Rock, Madeira north coast]
[John in the Madeira mist above Portelas]
[madeira clouds roll over the mountain]
[View from road up to Campo Grande plateau]
[Atlntic sunset on return leg to Algarve]