Once again in Porto Santo

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.

Casa das Mudas - Calheta

Casa das Mudas, in Calheta, is one of the most handsome cultural centers existing in Portugal. Sadly, its location, about 40 kms away from the main city Funchal, does not really help to attract visitors. On the other hand, we can always say that the few that appear are the good ones ;-). And for them, the people that enjoy cultural atmospheres or just a coffee at sunset with a magnificent natural scenario and a fabulous architecture, this is the right place to be.

From the few exhibitions that I had the pleasure to see in Casa das Mudas, Man Ray's was, by a fair margin, the best and most frequented.

On the opposite side, my latest visit was some weeks ago, with two friends, to watch the projection of Leo McCarey's Love Affair (the 30's version, with Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne), a session inserted in a much bigger cinema retrospective of movies partly or totally made in Madeira. If my memory doesn't fail me we were six persons on the theatre. But it was fun anyway.

Ponta do Pargo lighthouse late in the evening

Ponta do Pargo is the main lighthouse in Madeira island. With time to spare in the afternoon, I went to the West coast of the island looking for some nice light. Conditions were not the best. Quite a dull sunset, actually. But this lighthouse is always spectacular.

Technical details:
Name: Ponta do Pargo lighthouse
Location: West point of Madeira island
Position: 32º 48' 49.77''N 017º 15' 28.02''W
Year first lit: 1922
Height: 14 mts
Focal height: 312 mts above sea level
Range: 26 NM
Intensity: ?
Optics: Barbier, Bernard & Turenne (Paris), Fresnel lens, Second-order
Characteristic: Fl (3) W 20s

Picture taken with Nikon D300 and Sigma EX 70-200mm f/2.8D APO HSM DG. Manfrotto 055 NAT2 tripod and Junior geared head. Post-processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, ver. 4.1.

Sunset over the central massif - Ilha da Madeira

What I find passionating about mountain landscapes is how they can reinvent themselves on a moments notice. It doesn't really matter how many times have you done a certain trail, visited a certain place. Rigged your tripod in a certain spot. It will always be different. We just have to wait. For the magic hour. For the right (or just the best one available!) light. And click the shutter.

Picture taken with Nikon Coolpix P7100 and post-processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, ver. 4.1.

Casio Edifice EF527D-1AV with Slide Rule

If you are looking for a (very, very) cheap alternative to the almighty Navitimer, this lovely model from Casio might just be the machine that you're looking for. Rated at just under 100 USD on the Amazon.com, this timepiece has the usual famed Casio quartz precision associated to a quite precise slide rule computer.

Besides the slide rule, it has a chronograph function (no split time, tho), a screw-lock crown and it's water-resistant up to 100 meters, which is more than enough for a watch that is not intended for underwater activities. There's a very interesting review of it on the Forum Watchuseek, posted by the user Nanok.

Although fun to use, the slide rule is not that intuitive. You have to train to understand the logic within it. The Casio Web Site has a page loaded with simple examples here.

And if you look at the Wikipedia, you'll find this page loaded with information about it. If you dig deeper, and also in the Wikipedia, you'll find a page devoted to the E6B flight computer. This later one is, basically, the slide rule that is present on this Casio watch.

This is a very handsome watch and my personal experience with it is quite positive. For such a cheap equipment, its precision is astonishing, either in the quartz machine and in the slide rule computer, which is quite accurate (it's Japanese, after all). Although with a large dial, this watch is quite light on the wrist. Doesn´t bother you at all. The luminescent hands, however, are not the best. In fact, they are quite weak. So, it's not that easy to see the time at night and in an unlit neighbourhood. Also my 43 years old eyes are no longer what they used to be, for very short distances viewing. So be warned about that if you suffer from the same problem, because the slide rule engravings are really small. I think it's time for me to buy my first glasses, since I'm reaching for a loupe quite often, when using this watch for calculations.

All in all a nice piece of watchmaking. A great one, if we consider the price. It's a Casio, is it not?

Praia da Conceição, Olinda, Pernambuco

Facing the ocean.

Picture taken with Nikon D40X and cheap Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II AF-S DX kit lens. Post-processing in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, ver. 4.1.

Volcanic Earth

Massive telluric forces shaped the face of Madeira ages before we humans started to walk on the surface of the planet. Even today, while hiking in the pristine central massif of this highly humanized island, we have the feeling that we are facing the dawn of the Earth. We just need to climb above the clouds.

Picture made with Nikon F100 and Nikkor 28-105mm AF f/3.5-4.5D kit lens. Kodak Ektachrome 100VS scanned in Nikon Coolscan VED and post-processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, ver. 4.1.