Quinta do Lorde
21 August 2016
Alan
The 30nm passage from Porto Santo to Madeira was undertaken on 17th August in a light NNE breeze under clear skies, and thus we motored much of the way. We did however take the time and make the small diversion required from the rhumb line course to fly the blast reacher. This is a sail in storm spinnaker cloth that is smaller than our assymetric spinnaker, but a little larger than the working jib. The cut is similar to the assymetric, but the blast reacher furls bottom-up rather than top-down. We wanted to give it an airing because we had tried to use it on the passage from Ireland but were foiled by twists in the two-part halyard.We worked hard on that passage to get the twists out but we could not entirely eradicate them. It seems that somehow the halyard rope had developed an inherent twist in its long length, much of which is in the mast, but further work in Porto Santo reduced the twists to a usable level. At least so we hoped, and this proved to be the case. What a pleasure to see that sail deployed and pulling like a team of heavy horses.
Madeira with its high twin peaks is often visible in the SW from Porto Santo, but the dust haze (most of it Saharan in origin) meant it was not in view as we left its smaller sister to the north. But it gradually materialised and we rounded the narrow eastern tip to anchor in the late afternoon in Bay d'Abra on the south side of the eastern peninsula. This was a peaceful spot, but with a slight swell that is almost unavoidable around Atlantic islands. It was here that we first became aware of the quite high volume of air traffic into and out of Madeira's international airport which is situated on the coast a few miles to the west of the eastern end of the island. And it is a spectacular airport, with much of the main runway built on huge pillars over the shoreline.The runway is raised so high that boats with big masts can be and are stored ashore underneath it.
The following morning we motored the short distance westwards to Quinta do Lorde marina, and after making radio contact Kiviuq was met a mile off the harbour entrance by the marina's RIB and escorted all the way to her berth where there was a person waiting to take our lines. We were impressed by the helpful and friendly welcome.
Quinta do Lorde is a modern, purpose-built resort with a large hotel, apartments, restaurants, a few small shops and marina. But for the moment at least, it is relatively quiet. It is a pleasant environment.The marina is tucked in right under the lava and sandstone cliffs and we have just metres to walk to the convenience store, showers, a restaurant/bar etc.. There is also good walking on the cliffs of the peninsula. The only downside is that the resort is relatively isolated at the dry eastern end of Madeira. There is however a regular bus service to nearby Machico where there are a couple of supermarkets and to Canical where research suggests there is an especially good seafood restaurant. The bus also goes on to the main town on the island, Funchal, a journey of a little over an hour. But in order to see the rest of this beautiful island and to get to some of the best hikes and climbs we will need to hire a car. All that to come once we have Kiviuq spruced-up again and Bristol-fashion after her voyaging, and fully settled in her berth (where, unlike in Porto Santo, she is on a finger pontoon of adequate size).
