Funchal - Selvagem Grande

After five relaxing days anchored in Porto Santo, we chose to have a Sunday sail to Funchal before turning south. It turned out a swift and comfortable ride, despite a huge swell running from Northeast. The picture of the Madeira harbor tug "Ponta do Pargo" who we met between the islands gives a vague idea of the sea state.

In Funchal we were asked to tie up alongside oft the traditional park supply boat "Buteo". For Funchal a quite good place and much more convenient than on the rough harbor wall, especially so if you consider that we had spring tides of up to 3m. Despite the more and more worn down and overcrowded marina, Funchal as such is always a must for us and one of the very special places to be with your boat.

We only planned to stay for two nights, as we had already made appointments on the Selvagens: Our friends Dr. Frank Zino and his wife Buffy were on their way to the islands by means of the Navy ship and decreasing and light winds were forecast for the next days, so that it seemed wise to not wait much longer. 

When we left Funchal on Tuesday (May 22) that wind had indeed decreased and continued to do so. Unfortunately the swell continued driven from windier areas further away. This is not good for sail boats, as light winds alone may be ok with enough sail and some patience, but big seas along with it shake the boat and knock the sails around, especially with wind from the aft quarter. For us the solution was to let the engine run in addition at very low revs. 

Having been to the Selvagens twice before, we know that it isn't practical to visit there in all sorts of weather conditions. All anchorages are open to the south and the west and holding isn't good enough to allow any significant changes in direction as the anchor will have to hook up to something rocky.

While a bit slow, we still arrived around noon next day, well in time for a dinner at sunset. In the evening, the entire human population on Selvagem Grande, (6 including us), gathered on the spectacular terrace of the Zino estate, which is a little higher up and with an even better view than the ranger station, the only other house on the island.

The first picture shows the view from the terrace after sunset, with Taniwani anchored in the Ensenada das Cagarras, the next five of us: From left to right: Dr. Frank Zino, park warden Jacques da Mata, Carolina Santos from Park National Madeira and in charge of the Selvagens, Buffy our host and excellent cook, and Beate one half of the Taniwani crew.

We were still early in the season and the Cagarra population hasn't fully arrived at the islands for breeding. But a black tern found his way onto our dinner place and landed, slightly confused by the bright gas light, next to our dinner table.

Frank expertly picked up the bird and gave it the small scientific treat, which included weighing and ringing, but no blood samples for DNA this time.

Frank, who since his youth had regularly spent much time on these remote islands, had many interesting stories for us and so we only returned to Taniwani close to midnight.