From Porto Santo to Madeira Quinta do Lorde on it is only a stone's throw from well 30 Nautical miles. Since we could leave us a little more time on Sunday and make us only about ten clock on the way. Previously, we tried to reserve seats on the harbor master already, because a few thick low-pressure areas to cut through north next week. In this outlook, we did not lie so much at anchor.

After all the arrangements had been settled, it was already going on. Pleasant wind up 20 Nodes and six feet wave made the trip very enjoyable. I did not trust my stomach but still. You never know! So gab es vorsichtshalber unterwegs erstmal nichts zu essen 🙂 Das schadet ja nicht.

Just before we reached the first rocks of Madeira, we were again greeted by dolphins. This time it was a school of about twenty animals. A whale but we can not discover, although here there is to be any. But we are the next day keep our eyes open. Maybe we'll get lucky.

The Port of Quinta do Lorde is part of a hotel complex and is dominated by an impressive rock. We went there directly felt. While I took care of the food, Dietmar completed the formalities at the port office. When he came back to our SUMMER, he had a surprise in the luggage.

For the next day he had an appointment with the local diving school. Now it was serious. In March we had made even in Bavaria our PADI Open Water exam. The last time, when we were diving, we had scarce 10 ° C water temperature and sleet. Das sah hier natürlich deutlich besser aus 🙂

So we started the next day after breakfast, so, prepare our diving equipment. After nearly six months, they were almost a little dusty. Tanks and weights we could use from the diving school, so we did not have to trawl through the whole port the heavy stuff. The anxious question, whether it still fits in his wetsuit after such a long and lazy time, we were able to answer after some pulling and tugging with YES. A completely new experience was but, so that a wetsuit can be very warm. So far I only had frozen in my dive stuff. Today was a difference.

In the diving school we first got a detailed briefing from our instructor Marco. Today, we would dive on the house reef, direkt vor der Marina. Thoroughly he discussed with us the route, we take and the depths, would expect. He also told us, What interesting animals we would get down to perhaps as face. Finally came the last safety information and you say the standard hand signals. Denn Reden unter Wasser ist ja bekanntlich schwierig 🙂 Die Bedingungen an diesem Tag waren ziemlich gut, not to be compared with the Bavarian Stretch, in which we had collected our previous experience.

So we transported all the equipment to the outer harbor wall. When we got there then complete with BC, Bottle and weights were equipped, we felt heavy as. Even simple getting up from the bench and the short walk up the stairs to the water for us was a real challenge. Only the fins and then finally off to clear, blue water. It's just a great feeling, because the water was coated immediately, how much weight one has dragged through the area.

The descent and Tare (Balancing under water) worked surprisingly well. Quite unlike my last dive in Germany I had quickly found a stable position in the water, instead to commute between surface water and ground back and forth. Dietmar had already had far fewer problems with the balancing in Germany and that had not changed. But we were both very happy, that we had a qualified instructor while, who not only knew the way, but also had our air consumption in the eye. In addition, he also saw with his eyes well trained animals, which actually did not want to be seen. Especially try octopus, likes to cheat than stones by. But since they had no chance at Marco. Already after 35 We had used up our air so far Minutes, that we had to finish the dive. Since we'll have to continue to work on our relaxation, denn bei erfahrenen Taucher reicht eine Flasche wohl bis zu einer Stunde 🙂

The next challenge was but, to leave with the entire equipment the water again. Good, the stairs had a stable railing, where you could pull himself up. The perceived 30 Kilos of extra weight forced me almost to its knees. Aber von solchen kleinen Anfangsproblemchen lässt man sich ja nicht abschrecken 🙂

As we sat together after the dive in the sun before diving school, all efforts and starting difficulties were forgotten. In the determination of books we beat all the fish after, who had swum across our path. Strip Barben, Trompetenfische, a spider crab, einen Octopuss, Parrot fish and many others we had seen. But the book was also wanting more. So we agreed directly the next dive for the next afternoon.

So we discovered Madeira first of the underwater side and not just dive on Tuesday, but also on Wednesday. On Thursday but the weather was so, that another underwater excursion was out of the question. Da mussten wir uns wohl oder übel ins Auto setzen und die Landseite der Insel erkunden 🙂