January 15-18, 2016
After leaving Tarawa bound for Marshall Islands, a very strange thing happened. We were approached by three young men in a small fishing boat, and it turns out they were lost and were running out of fuel. Their island was 15 nmi away and we didn’t have the right fuel to give them, so we gave them a ride and towed their boat to Marakei.
Logbook – January 15, 2016 (Tarawa to Abiang Majuro Marakei)
Passage Log Highlights
- 2047 Engines on
- 2133 Engines off, main (1 reef) + genoa
Daily Notes
- Bouncy boat day in Tarawa
Logbook – January 16, 2016 (Tarawa to Abiang Majuro Marakei)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0342 Main (1 reef) + genoa
- 0458 P engine on (1)
- 0803 On to Majuro!
- 0813 364 MTG –> Majuro (2)
- 0930 P off SB on
- 0949 SB off Main (1 reef) + genoa
- 1010 SB on
- 1034 VHF w/ Mariposa (3)
- 1654 Rescue (4)
- 1925 P engine on – sails down (5)
- 2035 Engines off Marakei
Daily Notes
- (1) RPM gage not going > 1200-1400 RPM
- (2) Dist –> Majuro = Next wypt + 29mi
- (3) They are headed to Abiang 5-6 days then Butanitari
- (4) Small fishing boat. Lost. Need premix. We took them to Marakei
- (5) Dropped off our passengers @ Marakei, decided to stick around
Email to Family and Friends Dated January 16, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Outbound Tarawa
Did I just put pumpkin in a stir-fry? Oh yes I did! Who knew that pumpkin was so versatile? We’ve been having it every night and we’ve only gotten through 1/2 of one of the huge ones we got in Aranuka. Pumpkin is great in curry, beef stew, roasted with onions and garlic, and yes, even stir-fry.
Given that my last email included something about a hurricane you might wonder why the most interesting thing I have to talk about is pumpkin? Well, hurricane Pali is no more. There was a rapid change in the forecast over the past 24 hours and now the low is totally dissipated. On the one hand that’s great news, however, now we are left with no excuse to stop at another island in Kiribati after clearing out and so we are faced with a pretty crappy weather window to go to Majuro (Marshall Islands). Our plan was to beg to stay in Abiang until the cyclone passed, then ride the south winds on the backside of it as far north as we could. Now we’re looking at 20+ kt wind on the nose all the way to Majuro, and probably not making it on one tack. Oh well, maybe there’s good rum in Majuro.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Email to Family and Friends Dated January 16, 2016
Subject: Exodus the rescue vessel
First off, as we approached the pass at Abiang we made a hard right, went around the southern tip of the island and pointed East to go to Majuro. Majuro is NNW of Abiang, so I’m sure it makes perfect sense that we headed East. The thing is with sailing, sometimes you have to go in the wrong direction in order to get where you want to go.
Anyway, for 3 young men in a small fishing boat it turns out that we made a very, very good decision. After battling light wind, no wind, squalls, and big swells, we hadn’t actually made it very far by the late afternoon. When we were about 13 nmi SE of a small island called Marakai, the guys in the fishing vessel approached us. Now, they don’t speak any English, so we don’t know the entire story, but we think they’ve been out fishing for 8 hours, and they got lost (didn’t know which way was back to the island) and they were getting low on gas. Their first question to us was if we had gas, but they have a 2-stroke outboard and we have a 4 stroke, so we don’t carry “premix” on board. So, we are doing the obvious thing and giving them a ride back to their island and towing their boat. If we arrive before dark, we make try to anchor for the night. Unfortunately, there is no navigable pass into the lagoon so we would have to anchor on the outside, but if it’s a tolerable spot maybe this is our ticket to wait for a better weather window to Majuro?
Anyway, I shudder to think about the fate of these guys if we hadn’t crossed paths.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – January 17, 2016 (Marakei)
Daily Notes
- Visited by the boat owner & the 3 men we saved. Brought us a huge stalk of bananas and invited us to shore
- Horrible anchorage!
Gresham Family Exodus 