The Portuguese sailboat Santa Maria Manuela is moored in Funchal this Sunday morning at pier 2, where it will accompany the Rhapsody of the Seas. At pier 6 is the Europa cruise ship.
The Santa Maria Manuela, a Portuguese sailboat, owned by the Jerónimo Martins Group, was recently recovered (in 2010), has a total capacity for 48 passengers, being a twin of the Creoula (the latter belonging to the Portuguese Navy).
It arrived in the Region with 17 passengers at 8:15 am on Saturday, 15 passengers disembarked in the Region (two passengers in transit), and 23 passengers will board in Funchal this Sunday.
The sailboat sets sail at 6:00 pm today towards Porto Santo, where it should arrive at 4:00 pm on Monday.
The passengers are mostly German, but there are 5 Portuguese passengers to be reported, in addition to a crew composed of 21 Portuguese.
The ship’s captain, Artur Ribeiro, highlights the ship’s historical component, explaining that the most frequent triangulation of this ship, in terms of itinerary, is the Lisbon/Azores/Funchal/Canary Islands route.
Regarding the uniqueness of the ship, the captain points out that the trip allows you to see the islands from another perspective, “from the outside” and that makes the difference.
Among the crew of the Portuguese sailboat, we found a Madeiran, born in Calheta, Alexandre Bettencourt, who is the ship’s chief engineer (he worked for 5 years on Lobo Marinho) and reinforced the different experience of traveling on board.
APRAM intends to continue investing in this niche market
At the reception ceremony for this ship, the chairman of the board of directors of APRAM, Paula Cabaço, highlighted the importance of the ship in historical and scientific terms, adding that APRAM intends to reinforce its focus on this market niche which, naturally, is at the opposite end of the luxury segment, but which is equally valid and reinforces diversity.
From the same generation as this ship there is also the Argos (which is in Aveiro), the Gazela (which is in the USA) and the Creoula (which is its twin).