Wildlife and Waterspouts

Whales, Turtles, Surfing Sushi and Waterspouts......As time still feels fairly tight for the ARC+ preparations we departed from Quinta do Lorde Marina on a sunny Thursday afternoon, and with very little wind headed southward to Las Palmas. The peace was duly broken as we looked back at Madeira to see the island was cloaked in cloud and a large waterspout had appeared in the distance close to Funchal.

From the distance and scale it looked to be around 100 metres across. Not something to meet on your evening sail. For the next 36 hours we had light airs, calm seas and great wildlife watching. A least six whale sighting, mostly Pilots, and a few of groups of sunbathing turtles near the Selvagem Islands nature reserve. We even had a school of tuna running with us for an hour enjoying the surf from just behind the bow wave. Madeira was peaceful, interesting and relaxed…now for the chaos of Muelle Deportivo the ARC flotilla!