14 March – 3 April 2016
Our time in The Marshalls was winding down, but we made some stops in a couple more atolls, where we experienced the paradox of Kwajalein as well as a couple of days at the lesser visited atoll of Jaluit.
Route Recap
We sadly departed the beautiful atoll of Ailuk in the morning on Monday 14 March and had a pleasant downwind sail all the way to Kwajalein, arriving the next afternoon. We stayed at the U.S. Army Base on Kwajalein for 10 days, which was like transporting back to the U.S. and taking a short break from the cruising lifestyle. After that we anchored for 3 nights off the densely populated island of Ebeye (still in the Kwajalein atoll) where we did some light provisioning and officially cleared out of RMI (Republic of Marshall Islands). It was time to start making our way back south, but finding a weather window for departure became a bit challenging, and we ended up staying one more night anchored roadside on the outside of the atoll off of the island called Ennylabegan.
The Marshall Islands
We left Kwajalein in the afternoon on Wednesday 30 March without knowing exactly where we would stop. The passage was upwind in light to moderate winds, and we ended up stopping in Jaluit after two days at sea. At this point we were still in The Marshalls, and even though we had already cleared out we were able to stay under the radar and didn’t have any trouble. After two nights at Jaluit we had another departure without a destination cast in stone. Our tentative target was Tarawa, Kiribati, but we knew that if we could keep going we would. (Spoiler alert: we kept going.)
(Ailuk) –> Kwajalein –> Jaluit –> (Onotoa, Kiribati)
Gresham Family Exodus 