Two years ago, we were in Mexico for the Superbowl, and I’m pretty sure we didn’t even watch it. Last year we were in New Zealand, and we had a great time with some of our American cruiser friends at a roadside pub. This year we took a taxi down to Marshall Islands Resort (MIR) to eat pizza, drink beer, and watch the game with the tuna boat fleet. It was fun, but I’ll just let my Facebook posts from that day tell the story:
Superbowl Monday
Clearly tuna boat skippers like broncos more than panthers
Sadly we are watching via satellite feed so we won’t get to see the NG stealth fighter ad. Just ESPN basketball and motor cross ads. Boo.
(After a friend posted the stealth fighter add on FB for me…) Oh yeah. Almost makes me want to come back to work
I basically came to watch Peyton and I’m still hoping he’ll show up
(Referring back to the tuna boat skippers) They also like beer more than Coldplay
(In response to my friend who was watching the game and let me know that Mexicans like Beyonce) The Mexicans know what’s up. Tuna boat skippers think Beyoncé has a big butt.
Sometimes you just feel the need to get out of the big city of Majuro and feel like you’re cruising again. So, we joined the Meico Beach Yacht Club in order to use their moorings in a couple other places in the atoll. Our first weekend getaway was out to the islet of Eneko (labeled Enigu on Open CPN charts) and the main reason for heading out there was to make water. Long gone were the days near the equator when we could count on periodic downpours to fill our water tanks, so we had to rely on our watermaker once again. So, we headed out to Eneko to make water near inlets in the reef on a rising tide. It turned out that we were unknowingly on the same page as True Blue V and we converged on the moorings at Eneko and ended up having a couple of fun days out there together.
Eneko is about 6 miles from Majuro back towards the pass. There are 3 moorings there, but one of them was taken up by a half sunken boat, which somehow seemed kind of appropriate. While we were there, Tim went out Spearfishing outside the pass with some local guys, and he came back with a *monster* dogtooth tuna, which filled our freezer and fed the anchorage once we got back to Majuro.
Exodus, True Blue V, and a half sunken boat on the moorings at Eneko
A huge dogtooth tuna speared near the pass in Majuro
The yacht club also has 5 or 6 moorings at Anemomet, which is closer to Majuro than Eneko. We headed out there a couple times to make water or escape Majuro, and right underneath where we were moored were the wrecks of an airplane and a helicopter. The airplane is quite shallow, very easy to snorkel. From the first two moorings closest to the little dock, we were able to get internet from the boat using the bullet (Tim set the mac address of the bullet to be his iPad in order to access NTA Wi-Fi).
Underwater exploration at Anemomet
Being February and all, we ended up spending my 39th birthday in Majuro, and so we took a break from the boat chores and headed out to Anemomet to celebrate. And let me tell you, even given the fact that old age is setting in, there was still plenty of fun to be had. We ate birthday blueberry pancakes, played card games, did “family jump off the bow”, had steaks and mashed potatoes for dinner, and later in the evening we drank wine and ate apple crumble with our friends on s/v Free Spirit. Speaking of wine… I had bought a bottle of Kendall Jackson chardonnay in Majuro thinking that it would be a fun birthday game to do a taste test between my old friend California chardonnay and my new acquaintance New Zealand Chardonnay. It turned out to be no contest, because the Kendall Jackson that I bought in Majuro was rancid. I was sad for about two seconds and then I did some bilge diving and found some Robert Mondavi Cabernet, one of the few bottles still with us from California, and, oh my god, it was so good I almost cried.
After picking up our mooring on our first evening in Majuro we had much-needed safe arrival drinks, a nice dinner on a flat boat, and a solid good night’s sleep. Since we always try to follow proper protocol when arriving in a new country, we had attempted to radio port control when we arrived and again in the morning, but since there was no response, we headed to shore to take care of all the formalities in person.
Clearing in was easy. It simply involved visits to both the Customs and Immigration offices, and since we are U.S. citizens there was no limit placed on the duration of our stay in RMI. There was some confusion for our non-American friends and getting a straight answer from Immigration seemed to be a bit of a challenge. When asked about this, one immigration employee said, “I’ve heard it’s 6 months.” You’ve heard? Don’t you work here?
Anyway, Majuro has a ton of taxis and it’s a cheap way to get around town. Although our taxi driver had no idea where the government offices were, we just asked him to drop us off at the Marshall Island Resort. He had heard of that. And the other funny part is that because taxis are so cheap you shouldn’t expect a private ride all the way to your destination. As long as there is room in the taxi they will stop and pick up more people. We never minded, since it was just another way to meet more people.
With respect to the formalities for getting permission to visit outer islands, it’s a bit different in RMI than in Tuvalu and Kiribati. In The Marshalls, the permissions are controlled by The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) rather than Customs or Immigration. Even though I had been assured the approvals could be turned around quickly, I’ve just gotten used to how these things go, and I went there on our first or second day to get the price sheet for the islands and a copy of the form. Then I took these back to the boat to decide which islands to request and made copies of the form. (You have to fill out one form for each island you want to request.)
We submitted forms for the following atolls: Aur, Maleolap, Ailuk, Likiep, Rongelap, Kwajalein, Namu, Jaluit, and Ebon. It’s true that most were approved and returned back to me right on the spot, but a few took a while to turn around, and we never did get approval for Ebon. Apparently, approvals are controlled by the individual mayors of the islands, not the MIA. The MIA just manages the bureaucracy. Mayoral elections had just been held so some of the atolls had new mayors, so it took a while to coordinate with them in order to get the approvals. The mayors control the fees, so they are different for each island ranging from 0$ to $250, although most are $25 or $50.
They say that some mayors want cruisers to come to their islands while some prefer that you stay away. The word on the street from the ever so credible expat community was that Mili and Kwajalein should be avoided because they had previously kicked out some of our fellow cruisers. Whatever. Our friends went to Mili without incident, and, spoiler alert, Kwajalein was a piece of cake too.
Bikini and Rongelap atolls require an extra layer of approval to visit. These are the islands that were affected so many years ago from the US nuclear testing. Since their population doesn’t live on their islands, they have Town Halls in Majuro, and if you want to visit their islands, you need to also request permission at the town hall. So, I made a stop at the Rongelap Town Hall and after asking about five different people who I needed to talk to I found a man who looked over my paperwork and then asked me to speak with the Mayor. So, he got the Mayor on the phone, and I had a pleasant conversation with him about the fact that Tim and I are engineers. I could just see him coming up with a list of things for us to help with when we got to the island! He gave us approval, but unfortunately, we never made it there, but that’s because we decided to stay longer in Ailuk than we planned.
As we were approaching Majuro upon arrival I had been coordinating with Ariel IV just in case we didn’t arrive before dark. Erik had told us where they had moored for the night near the pass when they arrived, and he even offered to dinghy over and help us find the mooring and tie up. As we got closer and we were in VHF range I gave him a shout out and he very mysteriously asked if we could switch over to SSB to our “usual channel.” The conversation that followed was confusing, as much for Erik as it was for me, because he was trying to relay to me what some other people were telling him about the rules in Majuro and how Customs officials might be listening to VHF traffic.
And that was my first glimpse into the Majuro Expat Cruiser Community. We’ve been in places with a community like this before, mostly in Mexico like La Paz or Puerto Escondido, where there was a group of ex-cruisers and wanna-be cruisers living on their boats inserting themselves as a buffer between the actual cruisers and the local community. Don’t get me wrong, they can be extremely helpful with information if you need help but they can also be a bit pushy and self-important when you don’t. And this was never more obvious than when we were in Majuro, because we had just spent months in Tuvalu and Kiribati where no such help was available, and guess what, we all did just fine!
The small town politics was just too much for me to stomach. Again, reminiscent of places we’ve been in Mexico, or even Neiafu (Tonga), where people are backstabbing and two faced and grievances get aired in a passive aggressive way over the radio net when someone starts the net too early, or too late, or whatever. The pettiness would be comical if it weren’t so annoying. These people had an over-inflated sense of their own self-importance, I mean, I stopped listening to the radio nets altogether and somehow I still managed to figure things out. Luckily we eventually escaped Majuro for a visit to Ailuk where we got to meet and spend time with the real treasure of The Marshall Islands, the Marshallese people!
Majuro is the name of the atoll but it’s also the name of the main city located on the far eastern side of the atoll. There is a large pass, suitable for large shipping and fishing vessels, on the northern side of the atoll, but once you are inside the lagoon it’s still a 10-mile haul to the mooring fields which are located at the city of Majuro. You can see our arrival track on the image below.
The Atoll of Majuro (Exodus arrival track shown)
As mentioned above, we were racing the clock, or more accurately the sun, so as we approached the pass we decided not to enter through the main shipping channel, but instead we picked a shortcut that looked deep enough based on satellite imagery. We were cautious and had the boys posted as lookouts on the bows, and although the Navionics charts weren’t quite accurate, visibility was good and we had plenty of depth the whole way in. We were feeling really good about once again using our exceptional pioneering skills to our advantage, only later to notice that the short-cut, mini-pass we had used was already extensively documented in one of our cruiser guides (Soggy Paws Compendium) as a totally viable pass. Oh well.
Majuro Passes
Once inside the lagoon the sail to the anchorage was almost pleasant, since the water was relatively flat and we were able to zip along. We couldn’t quite point at the mooring field, so we just pointed as high as we could until we almost reached the other side of the atoll and then we engined up for the last little bit. There was *no way* we were going to tack back in order to make it the whole way under sail because 1) as I mentioned, it was almost dark, 2) we were so ready to be there it wasn’t even funny, and 3) There were literally hundreds of fishing boats in the lagoon creating a slalom course out of any straight line you might want to take. Seriously, we had never seen so many fishing boats in one place. The word on the street was that there was some sort of conflict going on with regards to fishing rights and the fleet was “grounded” for awhile.
Fishing Boats in Majuro
We were so thankful to our friends on True Blue V who found a suitable mooring for us that day, and as we were pulling up they met us in their dinghy and gave us a quick lay of the land. This arrival in Majuro is a borderline candidate to qualify for “Arrival Euphoria” and it was oh so appropriate that it also included being reunited once again with True Blue V.
There are two mooring fields in Majuro: 1) the north mooring field is owned and operated by RRE (a large company that owns a lot in and around Majuro, including the big hotel near the mooring field and the Tide Table restaurant.) 2) the south mooring field is owned and operated by Matt Holly. In our case, we were one of the last boats arriving for the season, and when Craig (True Blue V) checked for a mooring for us he found out that RRE was full and the ones that Matt Holly had left were not suitable for our size boat. So, they asked around and were able to arrange for us to use a private mooring owned by Chuck on S/V Deviant. It was separated from the rest of the mooring field a little bit further south, and it was more expensive, but it worked out OK for us. We kind of liked being out of the high traffic area, but on the downside it was a longer dinghy ride to the dinghy dock.
Majuro itself was very American, in fact it reminded me a lot of Mexico. The funny thing is that when we were in Mexico everything seemed pretty foreign since at that time we were so fresh and home was still so much in the forefront of our memories. At this point after being so many different places whose western influence did not come from the US, arriving in Majuro seemed so familiar, so much like home. But in reality, it was just the same as Mexico, it’s just that my perspective had totally changed changed. And it’s all the little details that made it feel American… USD as the currency, 110V electrical power, 8×10 paper (not that crazy A4 size), driving on the right side, pizza, good beer, coin operated laundromats, butter sold in 1/2 cup sticks, all of the American products in the supermarkets, the fact that there even were supermarkets.
The best internet among the Pacific islands is in Fiji by a long shot, but it turns out that Majuro is a surprising distant second. However, it’s only a wifi service rather than 3G digital data. So, when we were in range of a wifi hotspot we had a blazing fast connection, but we weren’t able to reach the hotspot from the boat. This means we tended to spend our afternoons in the Tide Table bar/restaurant getting our daily internet fix, while of course throwing down the cheeseburgers and beer. And as a bonus, it was air conditioned!
Provisioning in Majuro was good and bad, and here’s what I mean by that:
The good:
Several large, air-conditioned, western style supermarkets. The first time I waked into the K&K Store I almost wept.
Familiar American products
Good beer, like Sierra Nevada and Stone Brewing (although very expensive)
The bad:
Very little locally grown produce, only sad looking imported stuff
I bought one bottle of California wine (Kendall Jackson Chardonnay) and it had gone bad and tasted like vinegar
Lots of bugs in the dry products, especially cereal. The grocery store would refund or exchange if I brought it back, but after a few times, I just stopped buying cereal.
No automatic doors at the supermarket. This isn’t really that much of negative, but it is kind of funny that the first time we were in K&K I must have felt very much at home after doing my shopping, because I stood by the doors waiting for them to automatically open!
Overall, provisioning in Fiji, especially Suva, was much, much better, but Majuro was a sight for sore eyes after months in Tuvalu and Kiribati.
We hadn’t seen a beer selection this good since leaving California!
The majority of our time in Majuro was dedicated to boat chores and getting Exodus listed on the market for sale. Although we were busy, I had originally had big plans to do some touristy stuff while we were somewhat settled in one place for a little while. Yeah, this never really happened. The best I can say is that one day we took the day off from school to visit the Alele museum, and it was well worth the visit, but probably not worth credit for a *whole* day of school. It’s very small, with just a couple rooms, but that meant we could look at every exhibit in much depth. Two featured bits of interesting information is the construction of the traditional sailing canoes and the aspects of traditional Marshallese navigation.
Discussing a stick navigation exhibit at the Alele Museum (Why yes, I *did* make them pose for this photo)
We ended up spending an entire month in Majuro, which was *way* too long. I wasn’t really crazy about the place, but I suppose there are worse places to be stuck for a month (like Tarawa!)
During our time there, our “northbound” fleet of boats, the group we traveled with from Tuvalu to Marshalls slowly scattered as Ariel IV headed to Micronesia and many others went off to various outer islands within The Marshalls. This represented another end of an era for us, and we forged ahead as we always do.
The hardest part was saying good-bye to True Blue V yet again, but we’ve said good-bye to them so many times by now and we always seem to end up back together, so I tried to take this in stride as well. (Spoiler alert: Of course we will see them again in Fiji in a couple months!)
After a three-day upwind bash in the NE trades, we made it to Majuro. Unlike the other islands we’ve recently visited which have more of Commonwealth influence, Majuro is thoroughly Americanized. Their currency is the US dollar, they drive on the right side of the road, and most importantly they use letter (8.5×11) size paper. They even write their dates month/day/year. Crazy! If you don’t know about the extensive nuclear testing that the U.S. did here (Bikini atoll) then look it up. We caused a lot of pain here and most of us know very little about it. I imagine at this point there’s a very complex love/hate relationship but in daily interaction with the people here I haven’t felt particularly loved or hated for being American. Majuro is the “big city”, and we’ve been able to get many things we haven’t seen for years, like Sierra Nevada beer.
Walk to K&K grocery store – tons of American products
Burgers at Tide Table restaurant
Taxi back to NTA for internet.
Dinner w/ EOS II on Exodus – spicy Mahi Mahi rolls
Majuro atollOn a mooring at the town of Majuro in the atoll of MajuroThere is an extensive fishing fleet here. Totally an unsustainable enterprise.
Logbook – January 23, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
Drop off laundry
Hours at the Tide Table getting internet
D/T – drinks on Free Spirit
A/B – Dinner & movie on Sea Rover (kid boat!)
Logbook – January 24, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
Internet afternoon at Tide Table, stayed for dinner
Logbook – January 25, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
D – MIF, Visitors center, NTA, K&K
T – more internet @ Tide Table
Pizza dinner at EOS II w/ Ariel IV
Logbook – January 26, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
B – sick
T/A – cruisers pizza dinner
D – seminar on outer islands
Email to Family and Friends Dated January 26, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Majuro
Majuro, Marshall Islands has been good to us so far. We’ve enjoyed fresh food, restaurants, supermarkets, laundromats, internet, good beer, and catching up with friends. We will be here for another week or two while we wait for our permits to visit outer islands and also while we get organized to get Exodus on the market. That’s right, pretty soon there will be a pretty cool catamaran for sale, if you know any buyers! We are willing to deliver it anywhere in the south pacific. Hope all is well with everyone! Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – January 27, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
D – island permits, K&K, laundry
Internet/dinner at Tide Table
Logbook – January 28, 2016 (Majuro to Enigtu)
Passage Highlights
1134 Engines on
1150 SB engine off + genoa
1245 SB engine on
1300 Engines off – mooring
Daily Notes
Enigtu to make water
Drinks on TBV
T/B spearfish at marker. Nada
Majuro to EnekoOn a mooring at Eneko. The tiny motu to the east is Enigu, I think that is where I got “Enigtu” in the logbook
Logbook – January 29, 2016 (Enigtu)
Daily Notes
T – swim to shore – explore other side of island
D – paddle to floating wrech
B – swim & explore the island
Skua arrives
Three boats on moorings: Exodus, True Blue V, and a half sunk vessel. Nothing strange about that.Finally able to paddle boardThe dark speck on the reef there is Tim. He walk across to scout the outside of the reef for spear fishing.
Email to Family and Friends Dated January 29, 2016
Subject: Exodus – A little more about Majuro
We have escaped the hustle and bustle of downtown Majuro and we are now at one of the other small islets in the greater Majuro atoll. Mostly, we came out here to make water. It is much drier here than it was in Tuvalu and Kiribati, in fact it hasn’t rained since we got here. So, no more filling the water tank with each down pour like we had gotten used to. It’s also cooler here, which is a bit of a relief. But on the other hand, the water is cooler too, down to about 82-83 deg, brrrr. Majuro itself is very American, in fact it reminds me a lot of Mexico. The funny thing is that when we were in Mexico it all seemed so foreign since we were so fresh and home was still in the forefront of our memories. Now after being so many different places, arriving here in Majuro seems so familiar, so much like home. But in reality, it’s just the same as Mexico, it’s just that my perspective has changed. It’s the details that make it feel American… 110V electrical power, 8×10 paper (not that crazy A4 size), driving on the right side, all the American products in the supermarkets, the fact that there are supermarkets. We haven’t gotten to know any of the Marshallese people yet, but there is a small community of expat cruisers who live here now, either temporarily or permanently. It’s weird to have people you can just go ask about things rather than figuring it all out on your own. Although, figuring it out on your own can be fun too. Tim and Brenden went spearfishing for the first time in quite a while, but sadly, no dogtooth here. They will probably try again today. Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – January 30, 2016 (Enigtu)
Daily Notes
T/Craig – spearfish – bonita
A/B – paddle to downwind island
Happy hour on Exodus – TBV, Skua, Navire
Happy Hour on Exodus with Navire, True Blue V, and Skua
Logbook – January 31, 2016 (Eneko*)
*It looks like on the map there are two motus right next to each other called Enigu and Eneko. Our location was actually off of Eneko, so I presume that’s why I switched the name in the logbook.
Daily Notes
T spearfish with locals – HUGE dogtooth tuna
Tim went spearfishing with some locals and came back with an 80 lb dogtooth!Sometimes the fish table is just way too small. Notice where the kill hole is… Tim told us he “totally stoned it.” Brenden explained to me that this means when you get a shot that renders the fish immediately motionless (like a stone statue, get it?) You can stone a fish with a perfect head or spine shot. Apparently this one was a spine shot.
Logbook – February 1, 2016 (Eneko)
Daily Notes
Birthday picnic @ Eneko for Lahnee
A beach birthday party for Lahnee (EOS II). That’s the birthday girl in the middle all smily in the pink hat. I think she’s old enough to drink now.Building rock sculptures
Logbook – February 2, 2016 (Eneko to Majuro)
Passage Highlights
1110 Engines on
1124 Engines off, main (1 reef) + genoa
1201 P engine on
1208 SB engine on
1228 Engines off
Daily Notes
Back to Majuro
Afternoon internet @ TideTable
Yachtie dinner at Tide Table
Up close with one of the fishing boats as we sailed byFishing boat raft up
Logbook – February 3, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
D/Boys – museum, shopping
T – internet all day
They have a very small museum here, and the boys and I gave it a visit. This is an exhibit on traditional stick navigation aids. The boys are posing for this photo, they really aren’t that interested.This series of photos is of the shore of Majuro taken from our boat at mooring.
Logbook – February 4, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
D – laundry, internet
T/Boys – internet after school
Logbook – February 5, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
Nothing to report
Logbook – February 6, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
Nothing to report
Since we have internet, Tim made the boys download some TED videos to learn something. Brenden is learning about artificial limb technology (random) but Alex is learning the guitar. His first song is Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol. Sorry Colin, I will have a new sing along partner soon.He sounded much better after tuning.
Email to Family and Friends Dated February 7, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Fun and Chores in Majuro
We are still plugging away at getting a bunch of chores done in Majuro. However, we’ve managed to fit in a little fun too, including a birthday party on the beach for one of our friends, a couple of “cruiser dinners,” a happy hour on Exodus, and of course spearfishing. Tim went out last weekend with some locals and came back with a monster dogtooth tuna that filled our freezer and fed the anchorage.
Majuro has the best internet since Fiji, but the downside is that it’s only wifi, no 3G. So, when we are in range of a wifi hotspot we have really good high speed internet, but so far we haven’t been able to get it from the boat (only fleetingly yesterday), so we tend to spend our afternoons in a bar/restaurant getting our daily internet fix. At least it’s air conditioned!
Alex giving B some guitar pointersAnother awesome pizza dinner on EOS II with Ariel IVLove this girl!Lahnee rocked the Eukele…… and Slade made noise come out of the didgeridoo (just kidding, he was pretty good!)
No one could touch me on the toy xylophone!
Logbook – February 10, 2016 (Majuro to Anemomet)
Passage Highlights
1044 Engines on
1053 SB off, P + genoa
1133 SB on
1140 Engines off Anemomet
Daily Notes
Blueberry pancakes, Phase 10, family jump off the bow, steaks and mashed pots
Apple crumble and drinks with Free Spirit
Majuro to AnemometOn a mooring at AnemometIt was sort of a gray day when we arrived……but I didn’t care. I had wine. (Notice the color of the Kendall Jackson. I bought it here in Majuro, but it turned out to be bad. bummer.)Brenden took this series of photos underneath our boat at the mooring. This one is a helicopter.There’s a few people who live on shore, and these tow came out to Exodus to say hi. We used to ride the in Mission Bay!Happy Birthday to me!I enjoyed celebrating my birthday with our friends Lauri and Chuck from Free Spirit
Logbook – February 11, 2016 (Anemomet)
Daily Notes
Nothing to report
A whole lot of brain power going on in here……no so much out here.Runaway dingy!The rescue crew in action.
Logbook – February 12, 2016 (Anemomet)
Daily Notes
Engine hours calculation
Port – 1673.5 hr
SB – 1700.6 hr
Logbook – February 13, 2016 (Anemomet)
Daily Notes
Exodus internet cafe & nursery
T/A shore to play volleyball
Logbook – February 14, 2016 (Anemomet)
Daily Notes
Gray & rainy day – no internet
T/Slade – spearfishing – dogtooth
Logbook – February 15, 2016 (Anemomet to Majuro)
Passage Highlights
1027 Engines on
1041 Engines off
1116 Engines on
1132 Engines off Majuro
Daily Notes
D/Boys – HUGE grocery trip, required 2 taxis to get back
Dinner at Tide Table, no internet
Logbook – February 16, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
D – running!
D – MIA, women’s group, K&K
T – work on sink
Pub quiz at MIR
Not a bad spot to get some internet (at Marshall Islands Resort)Tim stayed busy in Majuro repairing our sink
Logbook – February 17, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
D – laundry, propane (w/ Leann)
T – more work on sink
D/Boys – MIR for pizza & internet (internet not workin)
Logbook – February 18, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
Drinks & dinner w/ TBV @ Tide Table
Ailuk – contact acting mayor Red Alfred, MI Alfred
Logbook – February 19, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
Lots of errands – Do It Best, K&K, MIA, Ace
Food delivery for Ailuk
Finally got Kwajalein permit
Email to Family and Friends Dated February 19, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Still in Majuro
Yes, we are still in Majuro. We never thought we’d be here a month, but that’s what we’re pushing right about now. The good news is that we’ve filled up on pizza, burgers, and good American beer, and we are in the homestretch and should be ready to blow this joint soon. Oh yeah, in addition to the pizza, etc., we’ve finished a few projects and we’re putting the finishing touches on the “Exodus for sale” website as we speak. I haven’t really been crazy about Majuro, but I suppose there are worse places to be stuck for a month (like Tarawa!) The first island we are going to is called Ailuk and at the request of the Mayor we are taking a bunch of rice, flour, and motor oil with us, because apparently they are out and the government ship isn’t expected for a couple weeks still. We didn’t have to pay for it, the Mayor had it all delivered to the dock for us, we are just the delivery ship. I have no idea where we will store it all, and I’m a little concerned about bugs, but we are happy to help since we can. I am really looking forward to Ailuk because it is the island where they still make traditional Marshallese sailing outriggers and apparently they also have some of the finest handicrafts. At the museum here we learned that traditional Marshallese navigation included watching wave patterns to be able to recognize nearby land masses. Fascinating. I guess that’s a skill that has not been handed down to the youth of Kiribati!
Our internet account runs out in 3 days, and we are going to try to get out of here without renewing, so after that it will be back to SSB only.
I stayed busy in Majuro hunting down good beer. This selection just about brought tears to my eyes.
Logbook – February 21, 2016 (Majuro)
Daily Notes
Boat listed!
Dinner at Tide Table
Logbook – February 22, 2016 (Majuro to Anemomet)
Passage Highlights
1320 Engines on – no speedo
1332 SB engine off, genoa
1400 SB on
1408 Engines off
1549 Engines on
1555 Engines off
Daily Notes
Escape from Majuro!
Finally finished Phase 10 game
Logbook – February 23, 2016 (Anemomet)
Daily Notes
Boys – start hull cleaning
D – clean bathroom, passage meals
T – repair genoa
Happy hour on Exodus w/ TBV
Email to Family and Friends Dated February 24, 2016
Subject: Exodus – departing Majuro this evening
We’ve finally checked all essential things off the to-do list and we’ll be heading out of Majuro just before sunset today. Our first planned destination is the island of Ailuk to the north. We’ve spent the past two nights out at the islet of Anemomet in the very familiar position of being on a mooring next to True Blue V. We will say good-bye to them yet again, but we’ve said good-bye so many times by now and we always seem to end up back together. Our “northbound” fleet of boats, the group we traveled with from Tuvalu to Marshalls has already started to break up with one boat heading to Micronesia and others at various outer islands here. It’s another end of an era for us, and we’re and, as usual, we’re looking forward to what the next one brings. On another note, Alex is getting really good at the guitar. He plays every spare minute he can, when he’s not sleeping or doing school. It’s fun to see him so interested in something. Love and miss you all, -D.
This wasn’t a long passage, but it was a particularly trying one. It was the kind of passage that makes you question what the hell you are doing out here anyway! The map below shows our inReach track that covered just over 400 nmi. You’ll notice that upon departing from Marakei we immediately started heading in the wrong direction. That’s the thing when you are dependent on the wind, sometimes you have to go in the wrong direction in order to later go in the right direction. Let me explain. Marakei is at about 2 deg N latitude, which puts it within the light, variable, squally weather of the equatorial region. We knew that once we got just a little further north that the Tradewinds would kick in, and since in the northern hemisphere they blow from the NE and we wanted to go NNW, and since Exodus is a big fat pig who doesn’t like sailing to weather, we knew we needed to get in a little easting early on while we could. (Yes, “easting” is a real word if you’re a cruiser.) So, we took advantage of the light wind in the vicinity north of Marakei and motored ENE for almost a day before making a hard left and heading in the direction of Majuro. We knew it was a good strategy, and we knew it had worked for True Blue V and others only recently, but it is still hard to be out at sea watching the VMG on your instrument display read near zero or even negative for hours on end. (VMG = Velocity Made Good = the portion of your velocity vector in the direction of your destination.) I was asleep when Tim made the left turn and by the time I was up for my watch we were bashing and bouncing into those NE trades, which would quickly, yet ever so uncomfortably, get us to Majuro.
Exodus track from Marakai (Kiribati) to Majuro (Marshall Islands)
By 6am the next morning we had 20+ knots on the nose and we pointed as high into the wind as we could with the goal of clearing the west side of Butaritari and then Mili (shown on the map above). It was a horrible, bouncy, upwind ride the whole way. There aren’t a lot of notes in the logbook for this passage, which is a clear sign that I wasn’t feeling well most of the time. When we were finishing day 2 of the passage things calmed down enough so that I could sit at the computer and write, and this is from an email I sent out:
“I think the time since we left Aranuka until now has been one of my lowest points while cruising. There’s just no way to describe the way the discomfort of a severely rocking boat gets deep in your psyche and makes you want to scream or throw someone overboard, or both.”
The passage wasn’t all bad, though. We were on our way to Majuro, a place where there would be American style supermarkets with American products, so we started eating all the of the little things I had been rationing since we left Fiji: oreos, ritz crackers, pringles, canned fruit, olives, juice, etc. The boys went through lockers and bilges looking for treats I may have forgotten about (or was hiding) but sadly, the chocolate we were all hoping for was long gone.
Our entire sailing focus was trying to point high enough to be able to clear the island of Mili to the east. If we missed it and had to go around the west side that meant a lot more direct headwind (i.e., motoring) later on, which we really didn’t want to do, as much to preserve our sanity as our diesel supply. So, once we cleared Mili it lifted a mental pressure and made the boat a little bit more comfortable as we were able to fall off the wind just a tad.
Overall, this passage could have been a lot worse. The most sustained wind we had was is the low 20s and a lot of the time it was in the high teens. Most of our fleet of friend boats who had trickled into Majuro over the previous couple of weeks had experienced much higher wind speeds and bigger seas. But that’s little consolation, really.
On the last morning when I was checking into the SSB radio nets I really thought there was no chance we would make it into Majuro by the end of the day, but stronger afternoon winds kicked up and helped us speed along. By mid morning we passed by the eastern side of the atoll, which is where the actual city of Majuro is located and where all of our friends were moored. We had VHF traffic with True Blue V and it was so nice to be welcomed by them yet again. Craig was organizing a mooring for us, but we still weren’t convinced we would get there by dark because we had to go all the way to the pass and then, once inside the lagoon, all the way back down to the city of Majuro. But we took a shortcut mini-pass into the lagoon and then flew across the flat lagoon water in order to be tying up to our mooring ball as the last hints of dusk were leaving the sky.
Passage summary:
Duration: 3 days, 7 hrs, 31 minutes
Route miles: 359 nmi (this is the distance of the passage route we planned in the chartplotter.)
Track miles: 398 nmi (this is the actual distance over the ground that we traveled.)
Log miles: 461 nmi (this is the distance derived from the log paddle wheel, so it is influenced by the current. The fact that this is so much greater than our track miles implies we had a prevailing head current.)
Average SOG: 5 kt (Speed over ground)
Average VMG: 4.5 kt (Velocity made good)
Engine summary: Port only 0:47, Starboard only 8:49, Both 3:30
This photo log has no photos. It was a crappy passage, and we were happy when it was over. I wrote more about it in this post, which is probably more interesting than this non-photo photo log.
Logbook – January 18, 2016 (Marakei to Majuro)
Passage Log Highlights
1021 Engines on
1132 P engine off, main (2 reefs) + genoa (1 reef)
1638 P on, no sails
1657 Engines off, main (2 reefs) + genoa (1 reef)
1739 Tack, wind died
1753 P engine on
1759 SB engine on
1810 SB off, tack back
1814 P engine off
Daily Notes
Nothing to report
Logbook – January 19, 2016 (Marakei to Majuro)
Passage Log Highlights
0453 SB engine on
0600 SB engine + Main (2 reefs) + geona
0743 SB engine off
1748 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (1 reef)
Daily Notes
Nothing to report
Logbook – January 20, 2016 (Marakei to Majuro)
Passage Log Highlights
0406 Main (2 reefs) + genoa
0620 Main (2 reefs) + genoa
1435 SB engine on
1528 SB engine off
Mahi Mahi
Irons – accidental tack, fish line wrapped SB engine
1754 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (1 reef)
Daily Notes
Nothing to report
Email to Family and Friends Dated January 20, 2016
Subject: Exodus – low point
I think the time since we left Aranuka until now has been one of my lowest points while cruising. There’s just no way to describe the way the discomfort of a severely rocking boat gets deep in your psyche and makes you want to scream or throw someone overboard, or both.
We are now finishing day 2 of the passage to Majuro, and just now have things calmed down enough that I could sit at the computer and write. We stayed at the island of Marakei for 2 nights and even went to shore and spent time with the man who owns the boat that we rescued. As a young man he worked on merchant ships, and his English was very good. He said we could stay at the island as long as we wanted… we mentioned that we didn’t have permission to be there and he said it didn’t matter. We brought back some of their own, so we are welcome. Unfortunately, the “anchorage” was almost as bad as being underway, so we didn’t stay long.
We still have 2-3 more days out here, so I could use lots of Zen thoughts sent my way.
+++++++++++++++ I wrote that last night, and after re-reading I thought I’d balance out the negativity… since we are on our way to Majuro, where we keep hearing that there are American style supermarkets, we’re getting to eat all the last of the little things that I ration… oreos, ritz crackers, pringles, canned fruit, olives, juice, etc. The boys have been going through the bilges looking for treats I might have forgotten about. We are all hoping for some chocolate, but I’m pretty sure that’s long gone
Love and miss you all, -D.
Email to Family and Friends Dated January 20, 2016
Subject: Exodus – Sensing the home stretch
I’m in markedly better spirits today, and I think that’s for two reasons. First of all, I think that sometimes just letting those sorts of feelings see the light of day inherently gives them less weight, so by writing to all of you just how low I was feeling I immediately felt a bit higher. And second, I am starting to sense the home stretch. Given that the bulk of this passage was going to be in the NE trade winds, we knew that our challenge was going to be being able to actually point upwind at Majuro. So, the first half a day or so we headed East, in order to increase the wind angle necessary later on in the passage. Since we made the tack north, our entire focus has been being able to clear the island of Mihi to the west. We are close now, so even though we are still bashing it’s a little easier to take since it shouldn’t be too much longer.
Our friends on EOS II arrived in Majuro today, so we are the last of our little fleet of boats to get there. True Blue V has been there for a couple weeks now, so it will be fun to roll into yet another anchorage and be welcomed by them.
Love and miss you all, -D.
Logbook – January 21, 2016 (Marakei to Majuro)
Passage Log Highlights
0359 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (2 reefs)
0614 Main (2 reefs) + genoa (2 reefs)
0752 P engine on, charge batteries
0828 P engine off
1603 engines on
1752 engines off Majuro
Daily Notes
Passage Summary
Duration: 3 days 7 hrs 31 min
Route miles 359 nmi
Log miles 461
Track miles 398
Avg SOG 5 kt
Avg VMG 4.5 kt (90%)
Engines
Port 0:47
SB 8:49
Both 3:30
Generator 0
From Marakei, Kiribati to Majuro, Marshal IslandsRounding into Majuro
The official name of the country is actually Republic of the Marshall Islands, or RMI. And we learned pretty quickly that they do so love their acronyms in RMI. It’s located north of the equator about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, with almost all of the islands falling between 5- and 12-degrees north latitude. It has a close relationship with the United States stemming from the fact that the U.S. gained military control of the island nation from Japan back in 1944 as a result of WWII. RMI gained independence in 1979, and although they are technically a sovereign nation today, they are still tied to the U.S. through a “Compact of Association” that was established in 1986. Basically, the U.S. has full authority and responsibility for security and defense, and Marshallese citizens can work and study in the U.S. without a visa. Furthermore, the U.S. provides monetary assistance for things like health, education, and infrastructure. And as part of the compact the U.S. military gets permission to use the lagoon and several islands of the Kwajalein atoll as a missile test range facility. Stay tuned for more about Kwajalein in my next post, since that was our destination upon departure from Ailuk.
Another aspect of the Association Compact has to do with compensation and reparations for nuclear testing that the U.S. carried out in The Marshalls between 1946 and 1962. The most notable test site was the inhabited Bikini atoll. The people of the island were “temporarily” relocated, being assured that they could move back home once testing was complete, but this of course turned out not to be the case. The testing contaminated the soil and water and made the island completely unfit for supporting life. An attempt to resettle Bikini was made in the 1970s, but this was a total debacle as it still wasn’t safe and the people who moved back there developed serious health issues. Preparations for permanent resettlement began again as far back as the early 1990s, but radiation levels even today are still considered too high for permanent settlement. Additionally, since it’s been so long since the original evacuation (70 years!) it is questionable that the descendants of the original Bikini Islanders, who have been scattered across The Marshalls (and The US) for so long, will ever permanently resettle there. Today, they run a successful dive operation for tourists at Bikini, and it is supposed to be some of the most amazing diving in the world, given that the waters and wildlife have been completely undisturbed by humans all this time. Sadly, we did not make it to Bikini, however, I’ve included this information here because it’s a tragic story that most Americans don’t really know much about. If you want to learn more: https://www.bikiniatoll.com/
Nuclear detonation just offshore of Bikini Island
Map of The Marshall Islands (Majuro and Ailuk highlighted)
There are roughly 30 or so islands that make up RMI, and most of those are very low lying atolls nearing the end of their volcanic island life cycle. Geographically the islands lie in two parallel island chains: Ratak (Sunrise) to the east and Ralik (Sunset) to the west. Majuro and Ailuk are highlighted on the map to the right, because those are the two I will be writing about in this post, but you can also see Bikini and Kwajalein, both in the Ralik chain. The total population of RMI is about 72,000 people with most people living in the capital of Majuro, which is where our adventure in RMI began…
Three years earlier when we were roughly sketching out our “plans” for this whole trip, I never would have imagined we’d find ourselves in The Marshall Islands. Tahiti? Yes. Tonga? Yes. Fiji? Yes. But The Marshalls? I mean, had I ever even heard of it before? But if there’s only a couple of things I’ve learned in these last three years it’s that plans change and adventures can be had anywhere. Read on to hear about The Marshall Islands…
Route Recap
It was late January, and after spending slightly over a month in Kiribati, we departed the island of Marakei mid-morning on Monday, 18 Jan. The three-and-a-half-day passage up to Majuro was a crappy, upwind haul, and we had another just in time arrival as we tied up to our mooring with the last light of dusk on Thursday. One month in Majuro, the capital of The Marshalls, flew by before we finally escaped to visit some of the much more remote outer islands. We decided to head straight to the popular island of Ailuk, where we enjoyed two absolutely amazing weeks. (This chapter will cover only Majuro and Ailuk and the next chapter will cover the other islands that we visited in The Marshalls.)
Gresham Family Exodus 