Green Flash!

21 March 2014

As a convert observer of sun downs I am a firm believer in the green flash, having seen it twice before. The unbelievers in the crew, upon interrogation, established however that at least once I had a gin and tonic in my hand and a few more down the hatch, at anchor near St Anne in Martinique, upon the supreme moment and therefore disqualified me as an unreliable witness. In order to win converts and restore my credibility I have been keeping a sharp eye on approaching sun downs and a number of times this trip I have shouted “green flash candidate!” just before sundown, only to be disappointed by clouds and haze on the horizon, to the growing irritation of the unbelievers. They grumble that I am the cause of burn holes in their eyes. Yesterday evening the western sky was crystal clear and not a cloud to be seen anywhere near the descending fireball. So I shout my shout and this time, god be praised, as the last sliver of the sun went down below the horizon, at least four of us, thankfully including a professional crewmember, saw a massive green flash! So now I have a number of fellow believers. Those that missed out however have re-invigorated their counter attack by pointing out that we have been ‘dry’ now for the last five weeks which make us, if possible, even more questionable witnesses than before. You can’t win.

PS:
Thanks to the many who have replied to the latitude equals longitude challenge! This best online casino game is threatening to become serious and the powers that be are now mumbling that we need rules to make sure the game is fair. This means we are getting pressure to establish a cut-off date and they want assurances that we will not ‘game’ the outcome. What a bunch of old nannies! OK, so no entries will be accepted after the ‘Oosterschelde’ has passed 10 degrees north, giving everyone at least another week or so and we here on board will not be informed about the replies.