Hi one and all,
Well we decided to try sail, rather than motor to Lisbon. It is 500 odd miles as the crow(?seagull) flies but we will need to zig zag and will probably double that distance. We are expecting strong winds over the next few days, and are already reefed down, nursing our torn Genoa. No birds, not much animal life to see, but lots of ships to keep us on our toes.
Madeira was a magical island. We arrived deliberately just before dawn, to see the whole south coast lit up like fairy lights. The island is small, 35 by 16 kilometers, very mountainous and green. There are about 500,000 people on it. Wherever possible, they have terraced the land, and there are houses and market gardens everywhere. The coast is spectacular, the roads are amazingly good, VERY high bridges and tunnels everywhere, the houses are all built to a high standard, there is NO graffiti, it is clean, well maintained, with a good bus system. The only flat land is in the interior at very high altitude, and is always foggy, so they merely suspended an entire runway on the coast between 2 hills! The space under it (it is about 10 floors in height!) is used for yacht hard stand, sports fields, etc. The coast is sunny and warm. The climate is semi tropical, so all fruits are on offer, they make a great rum punch (called pocho, of course),very potent, of course Madeira wine,and Madeira cake. They do scabbard fish in passion fruit, banana or pepper and honey. They have great wilderness walks along their waterways, often on the edge of high cliffs. Waterfalls are abundant, and there was a very scary landslide near us on the walk of the the 25 cataracts!
Well, last leg our weather grid files were inaccurate, so I will check daily for changes.
Love to all,
Arti & Dimitri
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