more Lanzarote …..

Fixing our boom took some more time, than initially anticipated. The main reason for delay was, that the expert at the yard in Puerto Calero, not only wanted to just weld the cracks around the boom-vang attachment, but thought the material around the whole area has weakened over time, and that a proper re-enforcement would be the only way to do it right. Well, except from getting a new boom extrusion, but that would have taken until mid August to get shipped from Sweden. Bending the re-enforcement plates to properly follow the rounding of the boom, required a hydraulic press that could do the delicate multi-step bending process. While the shop at the shipyard is rather well equipped with machinery, it doesn't feature such a press. The only one on the island is in a large shop in Arrecife, a shop that was recently equipped with the latest machinery, after getting the order to build the new radar dome on Lanzarote's highest summit. At the time of our arrival, that press was rather busy punching out hundreds of similar parts for the local electricity company, this way introducing the first 3 day delay. But then, when all the parts were done, they found that they had the wrong measures and started all over again. So, in the end we had to spend exactly two weeks in Lanzarote.

This wasn't really bad though, maybe except for being in the most expensive marina in the islands, as we kept discovering more and more new beautiful sites on this island. Manrique has left his traces everywhere on the island and his good puristic style, that is so pleasing to the eye, seems to have caught on to the whole island. With its clean and minimalistic appearance, that island stands out from the rest.

After exploring the vicinity of Puerto Calero, walking over to Puerto Carmen, and on another day taking the dinghy there, we again rented a car to check out some of the popular sites that we hadn't yet seen during our past three visits. We found the lava caves, again different to those we had seen in other parts of the world, especially due to the well thought out lighting. Then there is a wonderful old fort containing an impressive museum of modern art, and another lava cave with an underground lake reflecting the outside world. Via a beautiful outdoor poll, this is connected to a vast underground auditorium in a large lava cave.

So, in the end we were not too unhappy to be forced into a longer stay at this fascinating island. Meanwhile our friends Henry and Kikki on Enderlig had sailed on to inspect Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. We know Gran Canaria, but haven't been to Fuerteventura, so that will maybe be on another trip. On the day we got our boom back, we took off through the night, to join our friends again in Santa Cruz de la Tenerife.