March 25-30, 2016
Ebeye is a very crowded small island in the Kwajalein atoll. We didn’t stay long, just long enough to do a little provisioning and clear out of The Marshall Islands.
Logbook – March 25, 2016 (Kwajalein to Ebeye)
Passage Log Highlights
- 0735 Engines on
- 0851 Engines off – Ebeye
Daily Notes
- Depart Kwaj – bouncy anchorage at Ebeye
- Met SV Cloud Nine (friends of Sweet Dreams)
- T/D – shore excursion – groceries
- Saw little girl *petting* dog
- Changed propane – one empty tank
Logbook – March 26, 2016 (Ebeye)
Daily Notes
- Boat day. Tim fixed SB macerator pump
- Dinner on Exodus with Cloud Nine (Scott, Katie, Nick, Sydney)
Email to Family and Friends Dated March 26, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Ebeye
Yesterday we left small town USA that is the Kwajalein Army Base and we are now anchored only a couple miles away off the islet of Ebeye, which is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Apparently because of the military operations here, the U.S. has moved people off of most of the other islets in the atoll and now they all live here. The landowners get compensated for their trouble, but most of the them are already wealthy and living somewhere else (Majuro, Hawaii…) so the ones affected are just the regular people who have to move from their village homes to this place. We went ashore yesterday to buy a bunch of rice and flour for the next atoll we plan to go to, Ebon, but then found out that missionaries just took them something like 200 bags of rice, so they should be OK for now. We also went to shore to clear out so that we could leave this morning, but Good Friday is a national holiday here so customs and immigration are closed. Weekend in Ebeye it is.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Logbook – March 27, 2016 (Ebeye)
Daily Notes
- Easter Sunday. Another boat day.
- T – worked on stackpack
- Sydney & Nick (Cloud Nine) over for dinner and games
Logbook – March 28, 2016 (Ebeye)
Daily Notes
- D – to shore to scout gov’t offices (Customs, Immigration) & groceries. Met Mormon missionary caught in the rain
- T – finish stackpack
Logbook – March 29, 2016 (Ebeye to Ennylabegan)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1432 Engines on
- 1447 Engines off genoa
- 1603 Engines on
- 1648 Engines off Ennylabegan
Daily Notes
- D – clear out – Customs, Port Authority, Immigration. No boarding party after all.
- T – sick 😦
- Move to outside of atoll – B in the water with speargun immediately
Logbook – March 30, 2016 (Ennylabegan to ?)
Passage Log Highlights
- 1539 Engines on
Daily Notes
- Editor’s note: When we left, we actually didn’t know where we would stop. Ultimately, we were headed back to south of the equator, but weather would dictate our route and timeline.
Email to Family and Friends Dated March 30, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Cleared out, waiting for weather
Yesterday we cleared out of The Marshalls, and now we are anchored in the lee of an island on the outside of the atoll waiting for better weather, specifically, a better wind angle/speed to head SE. Checking out yesterday was a typical experience in that you never know what you’re going to get. As usual, I went to the offices the day before to ask questions about the process, and it sounded straightforward, just go to customs and immigration, and the offices were right next to each other, and I even took the forms with me from customs so I could have them already filled out ahead of time. Of course, when I actually went to clear out it wasn’t quite so easy. There were several curveballs thrown including 2 additional offices I needed to go to (local government and port authority) and the suggestion of a boarding party for a visual inspection of the boat. I was patient, I was nice, I walked around town and did everything I needed to do, and that paid off, because in the end the customs guy waived the inspection, and in his own words, he’ll just trust me that we don’t have things to declare.
We are in a beautiful spot right now, and Brenden was in the water with his speargun before we even had the engines shut down, and he was so excited that he forgot that his primary mission was to check the anchor and Tim had to whistle at him to remind him! Unfortunately, Tim has come down with some sort of stomach bug, so he’s down for the count at the moment.
In Ebeye we made friends with another boat who has kids that same age as the boys, and they all really hit it off! The boys loved being back with cruising kids again.
Anyway, as soon as the wind shifts back to the NE we will start making our way south with the goal of getting to Funafuti, Tuvalu as soon as possible.
Love and miss you all,
-D.
Gresham Family Exodus 