Island time
Beach, Porto Santo.
The passage to the Madeira archipelago from the Portuguese mainland took about four and a half days, we arrived in the harbor of Porto Santo, the most northeasterly island in the early afternoon. Porto Santo is the smaller of the two main islands, the remaining Ilhas Desertas and Ilhas Selvagens are little more than uninhabited rocks. As we approached it was clear this island was quite different from anywhere we had been before. Volcanic and arid, it looked like we were approaching Mordor.
The marina was tiny and full of boats, rafted up to 3 deep on the wall. The overflow was relegated to anchor within the harbor walls. There is just one small town on the island which was pleasant to walk around and as with the Azores, the benefit of being a member of Europe was very evident with a nice new library and official buildings. The beautifully decorated sidewalks reminded us we were still part of Portugal. The main attraction of Porto Santo is the beach. It stretches the length of the island and is lovely golden sand, a rarity in these mountainous Atlantic islands. A ferry brings tourists from Madeira, 25 miles away, for a day at the beach.
After a week in the anchorage we managed to secure a berth in the marina making it a lot easier to get on and off the boat to explore more. Just next to the harbor was a curious industrial installation; a collection of glass pipes, many bubbling and in various shades of green. Jake informed us this was a photo-bioreactor producing algae for biofuels and/or feed. Cool.
The hike around the island coastline was a favorite, and we did it many times during the three weeks we stayed in Porto Santo. It was good to just stay put for a while, getting familiar with a place and the people is nice and restful. We needed the break.
One day while we were at anchor a dinghy came by to deliver an invitation.
Well of course we went. Along with about 10 other dinghies we gathered alongside Nansen for the big show.
We loved Porto Santo, it was a great place to relax and just wait until we were ready to move again. We made friends, we did some boat work, we enjoyed the local food, we borrowed bicycles and rode the length of the island, we had dock parties and watched the sunsets. The bonus was the marina fees were very reasonable, three weeks (two of which were on the dock) was only 140 euro (about $150).
Helacious’ visit is recorded on the marina wall.
Then it was time to go. We wanted to make sure we had enough time to explore the remaining Atlantic islands properly and by this time it was already November. We were half way into our 90 day Shengen visa time. We said our goodbyes and set sail for Madeira.