A few days ago, I went to Porto Santo, during our usual one week stand-by period Pilotage duty on the island. What I was expecting to be a rainy and windy time there turn out to be a couple of days with peaceful weather, resembling the best mid-May to mid-July Spring climate that we can expect in the "golden" island.
Two ships (the M/T Madeiro - IMO nº9418913 - and the M/V Funchalense 5 - IMO nº9388390) were my only costumers during that 24 hour period on the island. However, since I've arrived quite early to the island and the fist manoeuvre was only after lunch, I placed my luggage on the hotel room and went for a stroll.
Contrary to our seaman's mentality (always be prepared!) and out of laziness I forgot my swimming trunks at home.
Nevertheless, the water was scary cold. So I took some photographs instead.
Arrived early (as always) to the "golden" island. First flight in the morning from Madeira (Santa Catarina airport) to the fabulous 3000 mts NATO runaway of Porto Santo. The island itself, when seen from the air, resembles a rocky aircraft carrier since all the man made shapes are not visible from the air, exception made for the big and conspicuous runaway. Luggage placed in the bedroom... first breath of fresh air on the balcony... and off I went for a walk on the Promenade.
Picture taken with Nikon Coolpix P7100 and Raw file processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, ver. 4.1.
Butterfly and Echium candicans (Pride of Madeira or Massaroco) near the promenade, in Vila Baleira, the main town of Porto Santo island. My first attempts on macro photography with this particular camera gave me the impression of being a very capable equipment, with a very sharp lens. The butterfly was a mere 2 inches from the lens. Not bad for a 500 USD compact.
Picture taken with Nikon Coolpix P7100 and Raw file processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, ver. 4.1.
"The Boatman" statue facing the ocean. An homage from the people of Porto Santo to the professionals that (until the seventies of the past century) used to connect both the islands of the archipelago with small open deck wooden boats (called "Carreireiros"). The extension of sea between the two islands (called "A Travessa" in portuguese, or "the crossing") can be rough in Winter time, with the seas rising sometimes up to seven meters. So it's no surprise that these professionals were considered heroes.
Picture taken with Nikon Coolpix P7100 and Raw file processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, ver. 4.1.
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