Madeira (hydrographic features: shoals and islets)
Original title: Madeira (Aspectos Hidrograficos: Baixas e Ilhéus)
Sub-entry of the Madeira survey on coastal hydrography, referring readers to the article on islets and listing the named reefs or shoals (baixas) around the Madeiran coast.
The reefs or shoals near the coast that break the surface of the ocean, or that lie only a little below it even at low tide, are generally known in Madeira as Baixas. Those worth mentioning are the Aguagem shoal, south of the Ilhéu dos Desembarcadouros (‘islet of the landing places’), near the Ponta de São Lourenço (‘St Lawrence Point’); and those of Atanásio, Badajeira, Barbeiros, Bispo, off the coast of Câmara de Lobos, Carneiro, Cesto, near the coast of Jardim do Mar, Conceição, Cotrim, off Porto Santo, Furado or Nariz, Galé, Galeão, Guincho, Junqueira, Larga, Leão, Marinheiros, Neta, Raiz, São Pedro, Três Irmãs, Machico and Pôrto do Moniz (see those entries).
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 12
- Baixa da Aguagem
Calheta. Shoal south of the Ilhéu dos Desembarcadouros, near Ponta de São Lourenço.
Shoal south of the Ilhéu dos Desembarcadouros, near Ponta de São Lourenço.
- Baixa do Bispo
Câmara de Lobos. Shoal on the Câmara de Lobos coast.
Shoal on the Câmara de Lobos coast.
- Baixa do Cesto
Calheta. Shoal near the coast of Jardim do Mar.
Shoal near the coast of Jardim do Mar.
- Câmara de Lobos
Coast where the Bispo shoal lies.
Parish west of Funchal. The Elucidário traces its name to Zarco's discovery voyage and describes its churches, chapels and collegiate chapter, early settlers, fishing community and renowned vineyards. It also records the parish's localities, boundaries, levadas and population.
- Ilhéu dos Desembarcadouros
Machico. Islet used to locate the Aguagem shoal.
The Ilhéu dos Desembarcadouros, also called Vermelho, da Metade, da Cevada or dos Embarcadouros, is the largest of the three islets off the Ponta de São Lourenço. It lies between the Ilhéu de Agostinho and the Ilhéu de Fora, from which the Boqueirão Grande separates it. It is notable for rare plants found only there in Madeira and is used to locate the Aguagem shoal.
- Jardim do Mar
Calheta. Coast near the Cesto shoal.
Jardim do Mar is a small parish on a coastal fajã on Madeira's south-west coast, in the municipality of Calheta, originally part of Paul do Mar parish; it grew from an eighteenth-century curacy into a parish in 1848. Its people built a Gothic-style church in 1906–1907, Malvasia is grown there, and divers in its waters catch slipper lobsters by hand.
- Ponta de São Lourenço
Machico. Headland near the Aguagem shoal.
The Ponta de São Lourenço is the long, narrow eastern headland of Madeira in the parish of Caniçal, said to be named after the caravel São Lourenço, with a lighthouse on its islet. The Elucidário describes its geology, seasonal vegetation, islets, fossil calcareous bodies at Piedade, land snails and use as pasture. The steamer Forerunner sank there in 1884, and a submarine bank lies between it and the Desertas.
- Porto Santo
Island where the Cotrim shoal lies.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.