So we had a great sail from Deserta (Madeira) to Lanzarote. Constant 15-20 knots of wind, on the beam (side) resulting in 6-9 knots of boat speed for a day and a half. Then we were hit by a few storms, top speed of 34 knots. Lanzarote had a number of days being battered by…

We left early in the morning heading for the deserted island. We had to have permission before we were able to enter the marine reserve, and that was quite some kerfuffle. Permission was granted midway through our passage thankfully! It was worth the hassle. And this is were we anchored, at the foot of the…

We arrived at Marina Quinta do Lorde after a further 4 hours of motoring. So we had a quiet evening, with the locals in the bar (Paul & John!) followed by our long awaited fish curry, from our own catch. Followed by some Port The next morning, we took Paul to the airport and collected…

Porto Santo 20 miles from Madeira is well worth exploring. The volcanic Picodo Castelo high in the centre looks more Hawaiian than European. Visitors from Madeira come for the long beautiful sandy beach, the only natural beach in this archipelago. It is smart, clean and exudes an understated wealth. Vila Baleira is an attractive little…

4 days 15 hours and approximately 700m from Porto. An average speed of 6 knots. Very happy with that. A successful passage, with an inauspicious start a great middle and pants to conclude. We left Porto at 07:00 on Thursday morning in the pouring rain. It was as cold as we’ve known it on this…

The plan is a 1200km trip to Porto Santo near Madeira. With the river open we plan to leave at 07:00 BST. We will hopefully have N winds for 7/8 hours allowing us to head west. It looks like the winds will die in 24r hours. Can you believe it!! Follow us on the Garmin…

So we arrived after another windless day and settled into Marina Douro on the banks of Vila Nova de Gaia, opposite the old town of Porto. We said goodbye to Rich – he’s gone home for some fishing, but he’ll be back when we reach Madeira. We said hello to Paul and John! We had…

After a great night at anchor we headed for Viano do Castelo across the border in Portugal. The town of Viano do Castello displays its wealth from bygone days of trade with Brazil. The Limia river is crossed by a two level bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel. I don’t imagine his services were cheap. Our…

Mañana. We’ve not heard that too often on this trip. But on waking this morning we chased up the sail repairs. Through pigeon Spanish I heard that loud and clear! So on the basis that the squeakiest hinge is oiled first, we set off to chase the repairs! It was fascinating to see how people…