Bay of Funchal
Baía do Funchal
Sé · Funchal
south coast of Madeira at Funchal, between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz
The Bay of Funchal, between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz, is the widest bay in the archipelago and the island's main anchorage, whose exposure to southerly gales caused many wrecks. The Elucidário notes it was surveyed by Vidal in 1843, that the Surprise was torpedoed there, and that it had never been studied oceanographically.
1Mentioned in
- Bays — One of the two inlets the Elucidário considers true bays.
- Kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) — Where kittiwakes are commonly seen in winter.
- Shipwrecks — Main anchorage whose exposure to southerly gales caused many wrecks.
- Garajau (cape) — The headland is its eastern limit.
- Oceanography — Suggested area for small-scale study of local marine fauna and flora.
- Geographical Maps — Surveyed by Vidal in 1843.
- Sarraut (Alberto) — Where the Surprise was torpedoed.
- Costa do Sul (southern coast) — Example of a safe anchorage on the south coast.
- Sanatoria of Madeira — Coastal strip chosen for seaside cure hotels.
- Carcinology — Habitat of several crab species and plankton sampling site.
- Machico (cove, harbour and quay) — Named as one of the few bays larger than Machico's.
- Locusts — Dead locusts were seen floating in its waters after the 1844 plague.
- Cruz (point) — The point is considered its western end.
- Aviation — The bay where the seaplane landed on 22 March 1921.
2Chronology
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Officers of HMS Challenger took soundings in Funchal Bay and measured magnetic inclination (55° 12' 5 N) and declination (20°33' W) at Funchal.
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Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral made the first flight from Lisbon to Funchal in the seaplane F-3.
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French minister Albert Sarraut visited Funchal aboard the cruiser Gueydon, which left for Brest the next day.