Madeira!

The stretch to Madeira would be our first on the Atlantic Ocean and our longest to date, 480 NM from Cascais. We aimed to find a good weather window for as much sailing as possible. A departure on September 15th looked perfect, just after the sea state with 3 m waves from a north Atlantic weather system had settled, and just before winds died down and turned towards the north.

On the departure day, the family reunited in Cascais harbor. Linnea had stayed onboard 2 nights to prepare the boat while Martin and the kids had stayed with parents/grandparents Fia and HB in Cascais. We lined up on foredeck with grandma for the departure photo, wearing our new Frenesi Sailing T-shirt that Johan has graciously and talentedly designed and sent to Portugal, for the occasion. It was emotional to wave family, whom we may not see for quite a few months, goodbye but it was also exciting to get moving again and to venture further out onto new waters of the Atlantic. The winds quickly picked up and we passed the continental shelf to deep waters within a few hours. The orca risk was back to negligible for the first time in a month.

Actual conditions turned out at least as good as the forecast with a steady NW 20 kt fresh breeze and calm seas with just a meter-high swell to the South. The first day we worked with trimming sails to get the Hydrovane to work. We learned a great deal such as reefing both main and mizzen very early and that a 90-degree beam reach is tricky due to the big influence small course variations have on the apparent wind speed. We gave up a few times and reverted to autopilot but eventually got the hang of it and sailed most of the distance using the Hydrovane. In addition to sailing comfort, it has a significant impact on power consumption and eliminates the need to run the genset at all.

As we passed the 24h mark we had logged 165 NM translating to 6.9 knots on average. A good speed for us. Days and nights passed, and activities onboard changed from listening to audiobooks in a horizontal orientation to more active doings such as trying to get the boat to go faster by hoisting bed linen, dolphin watching, fishing, and acrobatics in the jack lines. After 3 days we sighted the mountains of Porto Santo on the horizon, and eventually made landfall a few hours later at the anchorage just outside the town. It felt like reaching the goal of our whole adventure. Warm winds and blue, clear water through which we could see the anchor chain to the bottom. The relaxed ambiance and beauty of Porto Santo was welcoming.

The coming days involved catching up on schoolwork that had been suspended during our crossing, snorkeling and scuba diving, social highlights such as dinners with fellow ARC+ families on Vildensky, Alana, and Adelante, all from Norway, as well as visits to the Christopher Columbus festival that happened to be celebrated during our stay. We also endeavored a day hike with the Vildensky crew, through cactus landscapes to the top of the island’s volcano. Some time was also spent on putting our watermaker into service. After final adjustments, it eventually worked and started producing fresh drinking water. A game changer for our independence since we are now only limited by food supply.  After a few days, our friend boats set off towards Madeira Island and after another day it felt like it was time to get moving, just a bit too early.

We set off to Madiera island and dropped anchor outside Funchal harbor, just next to a handful of Scandinavian boats. The contrast to Porto Santo is substantial, with a more fashionable city and an even more dramatic landscape. Linnea has been running the boat school for a few days while Martin has been immersed in fixing a new alternator. Our 38-year-old unit gave up on our last trip and it proved difficult to find a replacement. Martin visited boat yards, car repair shops, and shops on a rented scooter in search of a solution and eventually, we found and installed a new but temporary unit. A long-term solution is arranged with fantastic logistics support from our friends Rasmus and Sara onboard Notorious.

In the last days, we have hung out with Linn, Eirik and Henny onboard Ocean Crosser for a road trip on steep roads, hiking with spectacular views, swimming in natural pools, and dinners. Good days.