Location: Machico, Madeira
In normal day-to-day life, the level of connection with each person you come across varies. The impact each person you interact with has on you is something that more or less you can accept or avoid. On Argo, there is no such option. There is no such thing as a small connection. For three months, you will have woken up, gone through about every trial and tribulation of the day from steering and cleaning to missing family and friends, and gone to sleep within a few dozen meters of 30 other people. The distinction between someone being just another face or having an immediate empathetic effect is made for you the moment you sign on, and that is a wonderful thing. To face the joys and struggles of real interaction is something that many of us come to love about our jobs here at sea. Today was a day of reflection for many as only a spring cleaning day can be, waking to see the astonishing cliffside city of Funchal after coming to anchor in the night with breaking waves as our welcome. In the afternoon, with our passage from the Azores swept and scrubbed away, we’ve come to a new anchorage at a small harbor in earshot of an idyllic Portuguese town facing more of the Madeira archipelago.
Pictured:
1. Our sunrise in Funchal this morning
2. Sail handling on our approach to Madeira
3. The first few looks of the Island
4. Shipmates enjoying a dip
5. Yours truly, the Argo staff
6. Some excitement on first spotting land
7. Another view from this morning’s anchorage
8. A fantastic sunset
9. More from our last passage