Marina do Lorde at nightfall
This was just a day sail.
After a quick breakfast we hoisted the dinghy up and stowed it fully inflated on the foredeck, got the anchor up and headed for Marina do Lorde on the eastern end of Madeira. Our main reason for heading there was to undertake what is billed as a dramatic walk out on the spiny penninsula sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean.
We had a light north easterly breeze and so had a very pleasant if rather slow sail there making an average of about 3 knots. One other boat left the anchorage after us and took a more southerly track. I assumed they were bound for Ilhas Desertas but when we arrived, the Swiss boat, Migaloo as it turned out had come here too.
The major event of the passage for me was being trailed by a pod of small whales for about 10 minutes. They were very similar to pilot whales but a bit bigger and were a grey/brown colour unlike the pitch black of the pilot whale. They only stayed around for about 5 minutes. Before they left the largest of the pod swam up right alongside our quarter and was almost rubbing alongside the boat. Thankfully they did not indulge in any overly inquisitive activities unlike their Orca cousins. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos!
When we arrived at around 1900, we moored in between Niord and Migaloo who had both sailed there from Porto Santo. Migaloo's crew applauded our patience by sailing all the way. They got fed up with the slow progress and motored the second half of the trip.
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