Funchal

The only issue with Quinta do Lorde marina is that it is a little remote. We really wanted to be moored in Funchal marina, 13 miles west, and this first bus ride would hopefully allow us to see if there was mooring space for us there and how viable bussing into Funchal several times might be. It also turned out to be a great way to see some of the island.

Madeira has a fantastic network of fast new roads built on viaducts and through tunnels which connect all the towns very efficiently. The SAM bus route, however, seems to take every one of the old steep, twisting roads which cling to the precipitous hillsides of the island. Routing through every village and town on the way to Funchal it was slow work [Ed: an hour and a half!].

However, for us as tourists it was a great ride: we got our first proper look at the lush vegetation, mountainous terrain and meticulously cut terraces which had allowed efficient cultivation of the land. It’s a beautiful place but has far more houses on it than we had expected.

The bus route not only took us past but also under the amazing international airfield. Most of the runway is supported on huge concrete pillars and the vast area underneath is used as a boatyard and a recreational area with basketball and 5-a-side football pitches. The pillars are so high that they dwarf the masts of the yachts that we looked down on as we drove past on the ‘flyunder’.

From the approach end of the runway you get no impression of the runway being built on stilts but we did see big ‘UP’ arrows on the undershoot; landing on the cliffs of the undershoot would be pretty terminal for any aircraft.

Dropping down into Funchal city   

The bus route continued to zig zag up and down the steep side of Madeira, visiting almost every town and village en-route. Finally, after an hour and half, we crested the last ridgeline and dropped down into Funchal city.

Funchal marina   

Having arrived, our priority was to see if Funchal marina would have space for us for a few nights; by now it was clear that to do any sightseeing in the city from Quinta do Lorde we would have to hire a car! Happily, the lady in the marina office said that there would be space for us from the next day, so we arranged to arrive the following afternoon, after we had visited the whale museum at Caniçal.

São Lourenço Palace   

The bus had dropped us next to the São Lourenço Palace, now the Governor’s residence, close to which we had been told there were some chandleries. We spotted where they were but by now they were all closed for lunch, so we turned our attention to having a look around the city.

We found it to be full of character with plenty of old buildings still lining the streets, though there are also plenty of newer buildings too. Many of the streets in the shopping and restaurant areas have been recently repaved with cobbles, black and white tiles in various patterns or black and white stones, also in a variety of patterns.

Praça do Município 

Bird of Paradise flower    

As we wandered around we fortuitously stumbled upon the Blandy’s Madeira warehouse and tour centre, the location of which we carefully noted for later in our visit! Outside the old warehouse is the Municipal Garden, also known as Jardim do São Francisco. It’s a lovely central town square filled with Bird of Paradise flowers, fountains and sub-tropical trees.

Fountain in front of Parque Santa Catarina   

Christopher Columbus   

We had our lunch sitting on the newly reclaimed and landscaped part of the seafront (about where the ‘notoriously rolly’ yacht anchorage used to be) and saw Chardonnay of Solent arrive. They moored in a different part of the harbour, an area that in our pilot book is designated for super-yachts but which clearly hasn’t quite made it that far; it’s filled with day-tripper catamarans and smaller local yachts. We had a brief chat with Martyn and his crew and then walked up to the Parque Santa Catarina which, in hindsight, would have been a better place to enjoy our picnic lunch. Here we found a statue of Christopher Columbus, probably the islands’ most famous ex-resident, who lived on Madeira and Porto Santo towards the end of the 15^th century.

With the lunch hour well and truly over, we tackled the chandleries and discovered that getting a replacement AIS aerial was far more difficult than we had expected. None were carried in stock and ordering from Portugal seemed overly complicated and would take around 7 days – we didn’t plan to spend that long in Madeira. The last chandlery did have a normal VHF aerial with the right attachment thread but it was up for sale at nearly double the manufacturer’s recommended retail price. We decided to think about that one and instead took a walk along the seafront with an ice cream to use up the last of the time before our bus ride back to Quinta do Lorde.

The return bus ride had just as enjoyable views as the one on our way out but, even taking the express route of just 50 minutes, we were glad that we wouldn’t be having to repeat the experience regularly to see Funchal properly. We arrived back at the marina and made an enquiry about getting our AIS aerial tested; yes, was the answer but we had about 40 minutes to get it done before he shut up for the day. In record time Nicky hoisted me half way up the mast to retrieve it and, armed with the suspect aerial, I disappeared into the electronics workshop. Predictably, it completely failed the tests. The chandler soldered a new plug on in case there was a short in the old connection but to no avail. It was an unrepairable, sealed unit which was completely knackered [Ed: and only a couple of years old too!]. Time for consolation sundowners!!

Quinta do Lorde Marina, Madeira