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Dec 19, 2006: The "green ray"

24°C / 75°F

Position:29° 2′ 56″ N-13° 37′ 12″ W

Wind: 10km/h

Land in sight! – the "green ray" – arrival in Arrecife, Lanzarote – warm welcome by the Canary Islands WWF people in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote.

Five days of sun, sea, sky – and suddenly on Sunday evening, 17 Dec., around 5 PM, before sunset, a tiny little island appears at the horizon – Isola de Alegranza. We are all happy that the "sun21" has made it, exclusively with solar energy, at the time of the year when the sun is low, when the sunbeams arrive on Earth in a flat angle at this latitude.

Some seconds before sunset,ichel tells us: "Today, we may see the 'green ray' - an extremely rare phenomenon at sunset. It appears only at sea, and only under certain very rare meteorological conditions. Today, it could happen". The golden-orange ball of the sun sinks into the sea. And, in the last moment before its disappearance, the remaining golden splinter of the sun turns into a beautifully sparkling green saphire.

In the afternoon of Monday, we anchor in the quiet harbor of Arrecife. Michel and Mark put our small rubber boat together including the additional electric motor – its key is a simple orange plastic stick. With this boat, we can disembark. We soon encounter Jose Trujillo and Klaus Guttenberger of WWF. They have prepared a press conference (21 Dec.) and a full programm for us in connection with the creation of five sanctuaries for marine life in the Canary Islands. Because of our delay and the Christmas festivities, this programm has to be reduced.

Today, we floated to Puerto Calero, a new harbor and settlement. Mark is very happy. His family is also on board. They arrived in Lanzarote to join Mark during our stopover here. Before heading for the Capverde Islands, we will stay in Lanzarote for four to five days. We will clean the boat and replenish our provisions.

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