Vila do Porto - Islet Vila Franca do Campo

Nick W.

Wind WSW 12 knots so set full main and jib after leaving the pontoon. We had a very pleasant sail around the south and east sides of Santa Maria Island. On the south coast there were old abandoned terraces and farmstead - it looked isolated and barely viable. Ponta do Castelo lighthouse and Maia village were spectacular. By mid afternoon the weather was closing in with low cloud and reduced visibility, it started to drizzle at 1900 and the wind turned to S 6 knots. We stowed sail and motored the remaining 1.5 hours to Vila Franca islet. The weather improved as we neared the coast. We anchored in 6 m about 250m N of the entrance to the caldera. There were two other monohulls between us and the island.