In light wind we started in Madeira for the 300 nautical miles to the Canary Islands. In the night the boat-speed even dropped to zero. But the next morning a whale appeared in the calm water. He sprayed a few times, then plunged into the depth, while he waved us with his tail fin.
Nael also wanted to swim in the 4000 meter deep water, but only with his life jacket and his floaties.
Simply the fish didn’t want to bite, although we tried with different lures. Only a small shark nibbled at our Windpilot.
For the second part of the crossing the wind was freshing up and we reached Marina Rubicon in the south of Lanzarote.
It was as if we had landed on the moon. Gray-black lava fields, no trees, volcanic crater as a witness of earlier activity. Small plantlets are struggling to survive.
With a rental car we explored the island: the sea water salt plant of Janubio, the green lagoon of El Golfo and the national park Timanfaya, also known as the Montanas del Fuego.
In that restaurant the meat is grilled over a hot earth hole.
Die Ostseite der Insel mit der Hauptstadt Arrecife ist ein bisschen grüner mit Weinbergen und Kakteen. Aber die goldenen Tourismuszeiten scheinen hier vorüber zu sein…
The east side of the island with the capital Arrecife is a bit greener with vineyards and cacti. But the golden tourist times seem to be over here …
Quite different the private marina: A lot of cruising yachts are visiting the marina, there are numerous restaurants and boutiques, a sailing shop and a swimming pool. We heard that in the future more and more marinas are to be built or renewed in Canary Islands.
We met a couple of yachts with whom we had previously had contact. They also stay some days in Rubicon and then move on. We left the Marina to see other islands before we go to Las Palmas to prepare the boat for the Atlantic crossing.
