Kinsale to Porto Santo – Day 10

This was our tenth and final day of the passage. After a night of light wind, it finally strengthened and we had a fast final 30 miles to our destination; Porto Santo in the Madeira archipelago.

Land Ho!

After so many days seeing sea, stars and several dolphins, the big event of the day was seeing the island of Porto Santo appear on the horizon.

As we got closer, tall peaks and sharp off lying rocks made for dramatic scenery.

The harbour is on the south side of the island so we made our way around the eastern end of the island and got our first glimpse of the town and port.

There is a small marina inside the harbour but this is apparently normally full. Three yellow buoys mark the edge a no anchoring area to give the ferry space to turn but to the north of these yellow buoys is an anchoring area. With so many yachts anchored outside where there was a bit of roll from the swell, we didn’t hold up much hope of there being space inside and, as we passed the entrance to the harbour, it looked pretty full inside.

So, instead, we picked a clear area outside and dropped our anchor in 10 metres on a sandy seabed with beautifully blue water.

The marina and border offices were closed for lunch so we had time to put the covers on Blue Velvet, inflate the dinghy and shower ready to go ashore to complete the arrivals formalities.  Even better, we’d been in touch with Beth Browne, a fellow OCC member who was ashore in the boatyard on SV Dyola with her fiancé Gary. Beth had let us know that every Friday all of the cruisers get together in the port bar for a drinks party.  Arriving in Porto Santo on a Friday afternoon was clearly the perfect timing – party first then catch up on sleep later!

Daily Passage Statistics
Position at midday 11 Sep: N35 10.16 W015 42.16
Position at midnight (0001hrs) 12 Sep: N34 06.31 W015 58.17
Midday to midday distance through water: 146 nautical miles (average 6.1 knots)
Midday to midday GPS distance towards destination: 140 nautical miles
Midnight to midnight distance through water: 71 nautical miles (average 6.2 knots)
Midnight to midnight GPS distance towards destination: 65 nautical miles
Total miles covered through water: 1275 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (GPS route to Porto Santo): 0 nautical miles (1170nm passage)

Porto Santo, Madeira Archipelago