Eastern Madeira Coast

The sea east of Madeira surrounds Porto Santo, the smaller island of the Madeiran archipelago. Portuguese navigators reached it in the early fifteenth century, and settlement followed under Bartolomeu Perestrello. Its position made it a landfall for Atlantic voyages but also exposed its inhabitants to attack. In 1566 French corsairs struck Porto Santo before crossing to Madeira and sacking Funchal.