Ajirikku

After five days at the village at Ailuk island we moved further north up the atoll to a collection of small, uninhabited islets, and we anchored closest to the one called Ajirikku. The satellite image below shows the location of Ajirikku in the northern tip of the atoll.

Location of Ajirikku within the Ailuk Atoll

We ended up spending five days anchored here all by ourselves. I know that some people might have the impression that the cruising lifestyle is one of relative seclusion, but I have to say that it is a rare occurrence that we find ourselves anchored in a location without a village and without any other cruising neighbors. I have already written about the beauty of Ailuk, but it was really this location that in my mind solidified Ailuk as one of the most beautiful locations of our entire voyage. The islets are small and they run mostly lengthwise from ocean to lagoon and there are narrow, shallow passes between them where the water flows in and out with the tides. We spent our days exploring the little islands and the water passages and sand bars at different tide conditions and we relaxed and enjoyed having this little paradise all to ourselves.

One day, Alex drove Tim a couple miles over to the pass and he was in and out of the water quickly with, ho hum, another dogtooth tuna. We gave most of it to one of the outriggers sailing past, but we enjoyed a fresh tuna dinner ourselves as well. He said it was ridiculous how many tuna there were, he had trouble deciding which one to shoot! Upon hearing about it, Brenden was disappointed he didn’t go! But he stayed to accompany me on a bombie snorkle near the boat, although visibility wasn’t nearly as nice as other bombie snorkles such as in Raroia in The Tuamotus.