Arriving in Porto Santo


We had been in Lagos for just over a year and it was time to move on and say goodbye to all the friends we had made there.

When we arrived somebody said this place is like velcro.... now I understand why.

It was hard to leave but we needed to push on down towards Madeira and Porto Santo. So on the morning of 14th July we had a good forecast and slight seas so we off we went. Its about 380nm from Lagos to Porto Santo and we estimated about 3.5 days.

It felt great to be finally starting the journey that we had planned for so long. All the research and preparation had fallen into place and it was time to "Just Do It".

When we set off the winds were light and as we neared Cape St Vincent we picked up the reliable Portuguese Trade winds. These blow from about May to September from the N to NE at about a steady 15-20 kn.

We set our course and set the hydrovane to steer us and just sat back. We had a great passage only tweeking the hydrovane course and not touching the sails for three days.

We did watches from 8pm till 10, 10 till midnight then three hours each till 6am followed by another 2 hours each. Pauline had prepared meals that only needed heating up. We were even able to play cards in the cockpit as the wind was light and seas quite flat. Its rare to get such a nice enjoyable passage. We were a little sad it had ended and could easily have kept going.

Waiting to take our lines in Porto Sant were Jackie and Ian on Rival Lady. We also met Soren and Vib a Danish couple on a big moody called Johanna.
Us arriving in Porto Santo


We prepared all our fenders and mooring lines in what was a gentle breeze just right for mooring up, however we had noted the violent katabatibc gusts that kept blowing into the harbour....right on the beam. As I turned into the allocated berth we caught a gust of about 25kn, this blew the bow down wind and would have caused us to hit another boat. Luckily I managed to reverse out and have another go. I tried to go backwards but the gust was so strong all I could do was to hold station.

We eventually got in but it was at speed.....no damage done. We had reached Porto Santo.... Yippy..

We arrived very rested after 3 days and one hour, so much so that we invited Jackie and Ian, Vib and Soren on board for drinks later that evening. We chatted about our passages and realised that we were very lucky to have such an enjoyable crossing.