January 9, 2003 : the last report till he gets back
Most of you know that David is spending his Christmas taking the 46 foot
catamaran Capricorn Cat to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. They
left Hawaii yeesterday. Here are the e-mail reports.
Susanne Ames
Heading dates are the dates the e-mail was foreworded to me. The e-mails were often sent from the boat the day before — until they get to the dateline and yesterday becomes today. Ed.
Hello. I hope these things are working! Presently I am standing, actually sitting, my watch which is midnight to three. The boat is generally moving well, 8 to 9 knots, on a beam reach, but occasionally either the wind backs or decreases velocity then the boat starts to wallow and complain loudly. Yesterday we made about 190 nm some with the spinnaker but mostly with the genoa and main which so far has been the nicer ride. I am having trouble getting used to sailing a spinnaker without a pole, even with the wide beam the chute can wonder all over the place and it is not obvious what adjustment is needed. Blaire has a theory that you should ease the side that is collapsing but the results I find unsatisfying. I find it discouraging to have the tack of the chute well to leeward of the boat’s centerline when the wind angle is DDW! Does it sound like I am whining I should stop that! Just when up to take another look around, wow. The moon is full with a few puffy clouds, it is warm with 12 knots of wind on the beam, I feel fortunate to be here. Though I miss my sweetie!
On a different tack I have been experimenting with a razor. I’m not sure if it was a reaction to Jack shaving his head with Blaire’s electric razor but I think it might have. I am currently sporting a goatee (proper spelling?), my cheeks feel quite naked but Oh So Soft! I’m not quite sure what might happen next, the competition could get ugly.
I have been playing with the camera and uploading on the computer. It is a little hard to tell the clarity of the pictures since you can not tell the difference between the lowest to highest resolution on the monitor. Unfortunately the file size is too large to send at 1000 bytes per minute, at 60k file size it would take longer than we have been able to stay hooked up for. I am hoping too find a way to send pictures. Anyway I am having fun with it.
David
General email from the boat:
We just passed the Johnston Atoll this morning, Saturday, early. Got confused in the wee hours and thought maybe we were too close. Had some anxious moments but no worry.
We are 1230 miles from Majuro. We’ve been getting our exercise by changing sails for the last couple of squally days. We take the Big One down early ‘cause it is no fun fighting that sucker in 25 - 30 kts of wind. We have had a surprising amount of sunny days since we left though. It has been mostly sunny every since we left Kauai. We are out to 16 degrees 17' N and 170 degrees 16' W now. Getting close to losing a day. Getting bored. Already read two books. On the Seafarer’s Net last night they mentioned that they read about us in lectronic latitude. See ya, Blair, Jack, and Dave
Note: You can see the ’Lectronic Latitude Blair is talking about, and a picture of Blair at: www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/2002/Dec2002/Dec20/Dec20.html#anchor1
And David’s version (I left in the mushy part this time for Linda and Deanna!):
Hope you have a relaxing Sunday. It sounded like an exciting race all around: from the prestart to the right not being so favored for OneWorld on the first beat to being favored on the second for Oracle and then the finish wow! I have been enjoying the Searching for Paradise book. I find “islomania” has a parallel for me in why I am attracted to cruising on boats: cruisers tend to be a friendly part of the population.
On the sailing side, we had a bit of a firedrill before dawn as there was some concern as to which side of the Johnston Atoll we were passing on, and since the chart we were using is about a hundred miles to the inch plus the chart doesn’t indicate which Datum was used, we altered course to give it a wider berth. We sailed down the south side within 10 miles of the outer reef without seeing a thing. The sea state was a little choppy but no real indication that land was nearby. After day break we put the big chute back up and continued. We were playing a little cat and mouse with the cloud cells moving through, dropping the chute around lunch to avoid increased wind. The snuffer socks for the chutes are working well though when snuffing one feels a bit like a bell ringer, you pull down on the line and sometimes it pulls back hard! The trade winds were increasing through the day with afternoon boat speeds seeing 14 knots, which is nice except the waves are more prone to impacting the underside of the bridge deck quite loudly!. We have reduced sail twice: first to the 1500 sqft asymmetrical and then to the genoa. Winds are currently getting to the 25 knot range with boat speeds of 12 knots and the occasional bridge deck slam. The predictions are the trades will be steady or increasing which will put us at the Marshalls in 5 days, we shall see. One pet peeve of mine concerns the darkside of GPS navigation it is so bloody accurate it can, if you let it, make you sail down these little simulated roadways 2 miles wide which is absurd since we are in the middle of the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ocean. OK ... I feel better now. That is it for now, more later.
Big hugs from your sweetie
David
General email from the boat:
We swear that we’ve been good. But alas, Santa might not come see us this year. It looks like we may cross the International date line at the appropriate time to have to skip it. OH well, there is always next year. We promise to be good next year too. Would all you guys pass-on our predicament to Santa?
On the heavier side, we are just about half way from Kauai to Majuro. The wind has picked up to about 20 kts now so we are running on the Genoa alone and speed is varying from 7-1/2 to 10 kts. Following seas up to 10’. It was a little too nerve-wracking, running the spinnaker. We’ve been averaging a little under 200 miles per day.
It has been a couple of days since the last fish dinner, so since we can now stop the boat, we have the fishing lure out.
It is a “cool” 80 deg in the cabin with lots of breeze blowing through the open door. Pretty comfortable in bathing suits. I think I will go and try my hand at building a banana bread. Got over-ripe bananas to use up.
Bye-for-now, Blair, Jack, and Dave
David’s email:
Thanks for the update on The Cup. I hope no one is being flogged or keelhauled on OneWorld. It still sounds like some good mix it up racing. On yoga the boat motion is too quick for anything but the most grounded of poses, also one has to be careful not to have the boat motion over extend the pose. Yoga is a great boat exsisize.
On the camera I have been playing with picture file sizes and since we can only transmit data at between 500-1000 bits the time for one picture is about 1/2 hour, and we seldom can stay connected that long. I have CDs to download the pictures of the hard drive before I leave.
On sailing we are still sailing under genoa only with boat speeds 8 knots, wind 15-25 knots at 45 mag. It is interesting that the course direction matches, not only the wind direction but also the moonrise and sunset. I would like to try a chute but the heavy was damaged on the way to Hawaii and the wind is a little too strong for the asymmetrical. It is probably all for the better since we would be in the 14 knot range and the boat would be making a racket. Sorry I can’t join you in a walk and a tub, but I am enjoying imagining it.
Big hugs David
General email from the boat
As Blair has written, we have one very serious problem having to do with Santa Claus. From what I can figure, we will be crossing the international dateline on Christmas eve. That means we will suddenly be doing a teleport to Christmas day at that moment. Sadly, I think this means that Santa Claus after a very busy night all around the world will be searching for us and will find no Capricorn Cat. We would appreciate if you would leave notes on Christmas eve asking him to please try and get to the international date line and teleport like we did. We will have chocolate chip cookies ready for his consumption. And since we do not have a chimney, we will leave the door open.
Email from David
Hope you have fun at Paige and David’s, give them my best. We caught another fish today this time a dolphin, small but we don’t have room for a big one. I made up some coconut and lime juice ceviche, which we will have for an appetizer.
On sailing we are continuing with 20 to 30 knots of wind at 45 mag with occasional showers under the 120% genoa making 8 knots. Present discussions are that if we get to the date line at 1 second after midnight Christmas eve we will miss Christmas altogether!
We will see. Sweet dreams
David
General email from the boat (they appear to be getting over the Christmas thing):
Monday 12/23, 884 miles to Majuro, Cloudy/rainy. Hi Eric. I think it is a combination of something from Alaska causing wave action from the North, and our local wind, causing wind waves from the East. We’ve seen 30 kts true, from the ENE, directly behind us, from late yesterday afternoon until midmorning today. Genoa rolled up to about 60% and still going like a runaway freight train. A lot of breaking waves coming from both directions and exploding right under the bridgedeck. Rained off-and-on most of yesterday and last night. I guess I shouldn’t have said what I said about having so much sunshine. We are starting to open the throttle a little now, unrolling some genoa.
My banana nut/peanut butter bread turned out great. Ate mahi ceviche, we caught a small one yesterday, for dinner last night and nut bread and coffee for breakfast this morning. Life is good, even if we may miss Christmas. We even had a sea bird desperately hanging on to one of the mast spreaders for a while, last evening. And he did look desperate.
More later, Blair, Jack, and Dave
And here’s what David has to say
Hi you!
Nothing much to report here. The ceviche was a hit last night though I think it would be better with tuna, but I’m not wining. Last evening entertainment, other than emails and discussions about the date line, was a bird which we think was a booby trying to alight upon the mast head. He/she made many attempts at this spot but was intimidated by the beating of the anemometer, which the bird though was a hostile act so she/he tried to bite it. After being beaten by the wind instrument the bird went for plan B which was alighting on the top spreader this appeared to be good sport since the mast was snapping back and forth from the wave action. Eventually perseverance payed off and with his/her toes rapped around the aft edge managing to stay on til the buzzer rang and put in one heck of a ride.
On the Cup could you tell us what happened on the last race. I assume Seattle is packing containers, but I have been wrong before.
On sailing the wind got up into the 30’s last night which required us to reduce sail to 60%. Even with the reduced sail we still had speeds of 7-9 knots. The wave train is very confused with the wind waves crossing two side wave components which results in peaks of twelve 12 feet which is not alarming except when they peak under the bridge deck. The underside of the bridge deck is a flat surface 400 sqft and when a wave hits it reverberates through the rest of the boat and crew usually winces. On my watch last night I had a breaking wave jam itself between the two hulls and gave both Blaire and Jack a toss in their bunks as it rolled up past them in the forward part of the bridge deck area. On Blaire’s watch, though I don’t think he was trying to be vindictive, a wave came up against the starboard hull blowing the screen off the head window and forcing water down my neck while I was “sleeping” in my aft cabin. Other then that it is another day at the office.
Loveyouloveyou
David
David, Tuesday morning:
Well I’m back on my watch:midnight to three, and instead of crashing and booming the wind died down to a manageable 15 knots, sea state is down as well. Yesterday the crew started a betting pool on when we would cross the date line. Blaire the incurable optimist and grinch predicted that we would cross moments before midnight on the 24th....no Christmas! I was next guessing 0300 the 25th...three hours of Christmass. And Jack the pessimist and most generous gave us eight hours of Christmas. I was predicting the same sea state as the last 24 hours and slow going, though with the changing conditions we are all appearing to be pessimists. We will see what the wind gods/goddesses have in store for us.
Life on board has been very pleasant, lounging around reading, eating well with fresh fish, trying to help with some maintenance problems, though Blaire would rather do it himself. Sound familiar? We are having a little trouble with our energy budget, but why not over spend when you can have ice cream. That all for now.
Miss you cute one!
David
David, Tuesday evening:
Hi You
I miss you bunches and hope you will have a Merry Christmas without me. I just wish you are happy and safe. The stuation here has changed a lot. We have flat water and 20 knots of wind so we have the medium asym up and are maintaining speeds in the 9-12 knot range. My estimate for the date line is waaaay off, ohhhweeell! Looks like we are going to have pheasant for dinner by our tree. Things are good here.
Big hugs
David
David, Christmas:
How were things at Judith’s and Edith’s, I was sorry I couldn’t make it. The old folks here are not much conversationalists or into merry making. The last monent of Christmas they were gazing into their perspective GPS’s not wanting to miss the moment. I was sorry I didn’t get a picture, they were so intent on something so arbitrary. Today things are looking good, the chute is up and we are moving well in generally flat water. So much for sailing. I am starting Get a Life today that should be interesting. Hope you are doing OK I look forward to your email.
Love you bunches, David
Hi You
It is 1 in the morning on the 27th and everyone is asleep except for me.
Blaire has been a bit grouchy since we seem to be using more power than he
is used to and he found a water leak in one of our water bladders. He
thinks it is just an attachment so it should be minor to fix, but still
cause for concern. We are currently 360 miles out of Majuro and if the wind
holds we should be able to squeak in just before dark. If not we will
probably lay ahull offshore until first light. It is very exciting to look
at all the atols on the charts though a conspicuous lack of depth
information on the inside of them. The cat has been moving very nicely
tonight with extended surfs at 13 knots, Oto seems to steer less
erratically at higher speeds. It is quite exhilarating to hear the water
boiling along the bottom when we get moving, though when the bridge deck
space fills up with bow waves and a little extra it sounds like you are
dragging your undercarriage on hard rocks.
I am thinking of you skiing
today and I hope it is a great day with good conditions.
Big big hugs
David
Hi you
We are presently 160 nm from Majuro and I am sitting here at 2 am listening
to the water and wind collapsing and filling the sail. Blaire finds it very
important not to vary from straight line courses which is fine except our
courses have been DDW causing the genoa grief. It has been interesting
watching these two grapple with the usual situation of course and time to
go. At the date line, 600 miles out, they had decided which day we were
going to arrive and reduced sail. In the meantime we have had some
excellent sailing and had the opportunity to arrive a day early, Friday,
except that we gave up our buffer at the date line ...oh well. In reality
getting there earlier would mean more time at anchor waiting for Monday when
we could get cleared through.
Our best day of sailing so far has been 220 nm in 24 hrs. We had the chute up in 27 knots apparent as a squall came through during breakfast. We got up to 15 knots with OTTO doing OK: actually it felt a whole lot like going down a country dirt road with lots of crown in an old beater with questionable tires going way too fast. We had a couple of runs with the bows buried to the bridge deck, a little scary. If you were in a Hobie Cat that would launch everyone out of the boat. Weird feeling having the boat moving well then bury the bows and slow down! The only damage so far has been a genoa car, that Blaire had attached to the mast to prevent halyard chafe at the exit block, which was ripped from the mast during our morning squall. I guess it needs bigger machine screws. Got Blaire using a new knot on the halyard shackle, one I discovered on the Sea Star (not SLUG!). I have never seen it described so I refer to it as the French Knot, it was a French boat; not necessarily better just French. It is a simple elegant knot and so far so good.
Big hugs and smooches
David
A slightly delayed Christmas email from the boat:
This is the strangest Christmas I ever hope to celebrate. We had about four hours of it. We crossed the International Date line at 8:00 PM Christmas eve and all of sudden it was 8:00 PM Christmas Day. We baked a pheasant that we had bought at Costco in Hi. I made mashed potatoes and gravy. Had fresh string beans, and wine, so It was not too bad. We had our little Christmas Tree up and our automated singing snow man was singing. Jack had pre-planned a little gift giving, we each got a gift. So nice of him. The only way it could have been better would have been to be home with loved ones.
It is noon Friday here now. The boat has been screaming along for the last 36 hours. Ran 219 nautical miles in the last 24 hours. 9.2 kt average. Many times we were up to 13 kts on wave surfs. Had to take the spinnaker down a few minutes ago. Speed was just too nerve wracking. Wind is right from the rear at a little over 20 kts true. We are going 8.5 kts on the Genoa. Much more comfortable. I don’t get sea sick sitting at the computer now. It is 84 deg. in the cabin today and it is muggy. We can tell we are getting down close to the Equator. We are at 09 deg north of the Equator at this time. The GPS says we should get to Majuro late tomorrow afternoon. We may have to get the spinnaker back up to make it before dark. Oh well, the coffee pot and lots of other things are still sitting by themselves on the counter tops so it must not be too bad.
Bye-for-now,
Blair, Jack, and Dave
And a more recent update from David - land ho!
Presently it is midnight thirty and I am trying to get rid of my cold in time for snorkeling. I really don’t want another inner ear infection, NO FUN. We have been having an interesting day throttled back to make landfall at first light. Actually closer to it than I would like. As we have been approaching the atolls we have been experiencing some of the worst bridge deck slamming so far. At times it sounds like an artillery barrage. I think the cause is back scatter from land. Blaire thinks it is a contrary current. I will let you know how that resolves itself. The lights of the airport at Majuro are appearing in the horizon about where they should be which is encouraging. I think I am going to stay up with Blaire who has the next watch and the final approach to the entrance of the atoll.
I don’t know when we are going to be checked through, but I suspect it will be Monday, so until then the crew can not leave the boat. I will try to call around 9:00 pm your time which is 4 hours ahead of our local meridian but I don’t know what the Marshall Is time is which could be much different. We will probably have time for another round of emails.
Love you bunches
David
Email from Blair:
AAAHHHHHH. This is delightful. We can’t stop saying it. This place is intoxicating. We arrived at the entrance to Majuro Atoll at daybreak this morning, Sunday Dec. 29th here. The pass into the lagoon was over a mile wide and very straight forward and well marked. We had slowed the boat down to a crawling 5 - 6 kts yesterday morning because we could not depend on the ocean allowing us to get here before dark last night. It was just a leetle bit on the rough side with winds blowing 25 - 30 kts. It was a different, relaxing final 24 hours prior to arrival. After arriving, we made a tour of the lagoon and along the city waterfront and there appeared to be about a dozen big fishing boats in the lagoon and at least a dozen cruising yachts anchored behind reef motus, and in front of the city. We anchored in turquoise water offshore from a large grocery store and are doing a bunch of nothing for the rest of the day. We will go ashore and check-in in the morning and look around town. There is a nice looking beach in front of us where we can land the dinghy.
We had some visitors a while ago. Two locals paddled by on their way out to do some work on one of the boats in the lagoon. We had caught a nice tuna yesterday so we offered them some of it and they gladly accepted. David is supposed to fix us sushi or ceviche with some of it for dinner tonight. We also caught a medium size wahoo two days ago so we have plenty of fresh fish.
Twice in the last few hours a black cloud has blown over and washed the boat down with rain for just a few minutes. January through March is the dry season here and is supposed to rain about 2 inches per month. Easterly trade winds blow the year around and are stronger during the northern hemisphere winter. Right now we are looking at 10 - 15 kts here in the anchorage, but we are partially shadowed by the city front and palm trees. It is 84 deg in the cabin. Just about perfect. So that’s what is happening in our adventures today, how about you?
Blair, Jack, and Dave
Email from David
It is Sunday we crossed into the lagoon a little after first light with no problems and proceeded up to the city. We are now at anchor about seventy yards off downtown Majuro. It is quite a change from being knocked around to listening to church bells calling and the sound of children having too much fun at a park. We are stuck on board until Blaire can get us cleared through, in the mean time we are cleaning the boat and enjoying some of the fish we have caught. It looks like we will be here for at least a day if not two to regroup.
LOVEYOURUBYOU,
David
And what does "here" look like, you may ask? Well, just like any other landfall in Paradise: here are a few pictures to help your imagination: http://www.pacific-picture.de/english/Majuro.htm
I actually got to talk to David Sunday night. The boys are doing laundry, celebrating New Year’s with the locals, and getting their bearings before setting off for some atoll hopping. David continues to battle his sinus infection, which will limit his underwater adventures to snorkeling.
Hi You
Things have been fairly quiet as of late. We have been trying to get
clearance to go to other atolls but it is a slow process. First you make a
request at Island affairs who then contacts the major of the atoll to get
the go ahead. Since there isn’t a phone link to the other atolls I don’t
know how this is communicated ... carrier pigeon? Once that is
established there is a fee involved usually $25 but can go as high as $150.
Tomorrow we will check in again and see which places will have us and which
places we are willing to afford.
Last night was New Years Eve which was quite a scene. The locals have a block party which last until 4 in the morning. The locals enjoy very fatty foods: kababs of turkey tails and pork, an acquired taste. There were two stages with youth groups and some older bands playing which was fun to hear some indigenous music ... very soothing melodies. It was amazing how many children were out some on scooters and roller skates zipping in and out of groups of people. Also a large number of babies. An interesting experience. I am afraid I have to stop so this might get out before the radio bands collapse.
Big hugs for New Year’s day
David
Blair’s account of New Year’s in Paradise:
New Years Day. We moved in closer to town last night so we could easily attended Majuro’s annual New Years Eve “Block Party”. Mooring costs a dollar a day. It was fun. Kind’a like a Mexican city plaza on a holiday, lots of food concessions and a couple of band stands set up with music playing most of the night. They blocked off about two city blocks of the only road through the city, that sits on the relatively narrow reef, and everyone for miles around come in to just hang out, eat, drink and make merry. Lots of drunks. Food was lousy but everyone was in a festive mood and shaking our hands and smiling.
The brochure for this atoll says there are 30,000 people here. I can hardly believe that. Although, I think there were 25,000 little kids racing though the crowds, on foot and on little scooters. The road, part way around the atoll is almost 30 miles long, they say, so with houses on both sides of the road, I guess there could be 30,000 people???
We spent some time yesterday applying for permits to visit outer atolls. I guess it takes a few days to secure the permits. All of the atolls charge a lagoon entry fee of at least $25, and a couple of them charge $100. We’re not going to the expensive ones. We are on our way home now from snorkeling in a coral garden inside the lagoon. Wasn’t all that wonderful. There is a place here in the lagoon they call The Parking Lot that is supposed to be good snorkeling. It is where they dumped a lot of old army vehicles after the war rather than load them up and bring them home. The pass is supposed to be good also so we may try those tomorrow.
Met a fellow yesterday who some of you may remember from Nuevo Vallarta in 1998. His name is Cary Evarts on the Seal, a double ender. He has been here and every place between here and Fiji every since.
Jack had a very unique experience day before yesterday. We had taken a taxi back to where we had landed the dinghy. He was wearing his sun glasses and carrying his prescription glasses in his shorts pocket. When he was getting some money out to pay the fare, he inadvertently lost the glasses from his pocket. We were in a quandary about how to find them after retracing the route to no avail. Then a little Marshall Islands miracle took place. Acting on a suggestion, Jack went to the radio station and talked to Antari, the manager, explaining the events. No problem, we will just announce the lost glasses over the air waves. There is just one radio station here so he has a captive audience with the taxi drivers. OK, I say without much conviction for success. Four hours later, we were near the dive shop and there is Antari, “I’ve got your glasses! They are at my house.” I whooped it up and expressed my “kammool tata”: thank you very much. Antari said he would be at the Block Party tonight and give me the glasses then. So back in my grateful hands he placed glasses and case as an end of 2002 gift. Where else could that scenario take place?
More from Three men is a tub later.
Blair, Jack, and David
David’s adventures:
Sort of another normal day here. Finally found someone how knows about fly fishing in these parts. He, Rob, spent a month with some one who writes for Saltwater Fisherman and caught 21 species of fish on fly rods. I have been taking notes and am looking forward to fishing out island. I actually hooked up with a trouvally this morning but he/she took my streamer as if with shears. I now have wire leaders, as I can not afford any more losses since there is no gear here to replace it. Blaire went in today to pick up our passes to Aur and Maloelop, about 60 nm away. On his way back in the dingy the benevolent wind god/goddesses decided to blow them away. So we have been stuck another day waiting for the man at the outer island affairs office to make up some more passes, probably mumbling something about stupid Americans under his breath. Anyway we are good to go now, just a little embarrassing for Blair. It turns out I was wrong about the carrier pigeons, they actually use C.B. radios since there are not too many eighteen wheelers in the area.
Later today we took the hookah out for its first outing this trip. It is a floating compressor with three air hoses to regulators. We were trying to dive on a place called the Parking Lot, a place where the Americans dumped all their wheeled vehicles after WWII. We found part of it but also found an amazing amount of other junk on the bottom: washing machines, coolers, lots of cans. It was hilarious to have three people on three air hoses going in different directions. I have renewed respect/sympathy/empathy for dogs on leashes. Tomorrow we plan to go out island which will be a nice change from the junk around here and the people are reported to be friendlier. Right now it is rainy cats and dogs with 30 knots of wind. It is nice to be inside.
That’s it for now... more later. Big Hugs and Smooches
David
If you want to see a map of where they are, this was the most interesting one that I found.
Blair’s account of the diving expedition.
I second his advice about having your clearing out papers based on Mexico experience.
Hi everybody. Yesterday was a rainy day in Majuro. It rained off and on most of the day and into the night. It was still a warm 80 deg and we went diving in the Parking Lot where a lot of old army vehicles were dumped after WW II. It was weird looking at jeep laying down there and thinking that soldiers so long ago had driven the thing around. We got our outer atoll visiting permits yesterday so we will probably leave for Aur and Maloelap today or tomorrow.
I should mention to everyone who contemplates someday sailing to the Marshall Islands, or anywhere offshore for that matter, that you must have in your possession, some kind of proof of clearance from your previous port. Even if you are an American registered boat leaving the US, Customs in a foreign port wants you to prove that you legally cleared there. I was naive of that fact, but we were lucky. When we checked in with Customs in Hawaii, I listed Majuro as our next Port of Call and they, Customs, forwarded a copy of that entry form to Customs here in Majuro. Customs here was adamant about not clearing us in until one of the agents found that entry form from Hawaii, in their file.
More later, Blair, Jack, and David
And today’s report from David:
Yesterday there was a swap meet for sailors with treasures in their bilges, that wanted to trade/buy other people’s treasures in their bilges. It appeared that no boat had a net loss of stuff through the process. The event was published in the paper and broadcast of the radio, so there were a few locals that joined in. It was a nice way to meet the other yatchies, a nice bunch.
After the swap meet the yatchies retired to the Tide Club where the stories continued and we were joined by a local that is working on changing some of the repressive policies aimed at yatchs. He was a very humorous man. He was also instrumental in bringing Blair’s 70th birthday to everyone’s attention, so Blair got to hear the birthday song not once but twice! He held up quite well through it all.
Today we were up early to start our trip to Aur Atoll. We made it down to the ship channel through the reef to find that the wind was blowing 30 knots true and if we came up to our course the apparent wind would be 35 to 40 knots at fairly close hauled. It sounded like way too much fun slamming and crashing so we elected to go to the west end of Majuro to check out some more dive sites and see what tomorrow may bring. It seems to me we need to take a slower night time passage so we don’t have to keep up as fast an average boat speed to arrive at daytime, but we will see. That’s all the time I have now since it is time again to get today’s mail out.
Big hugs, David
A couple of updates from Blair and Jack, including the party scene at Majuro:
I had a pleasant surprise for my Birthday. About 20 cruisers here in the anchorage held a swap meet up on the quay this morning for a couple of hours, and then we all went up to a hotel bar that is adjacent to the so called marine yard here. That is where we park the dinghies. The chairman of the board of the Marshall Islands Visitors Authority was up there. He is a Hawaiian man who has lived here in Majuro for ever. He is a big jovial man about 60 years old, with a full head of hair. He made a big speech welcoming all the cruisers to Majuro. He then told a story about one of his birthday celebrations and then announced that today was my birthday and we should all sing happy birthday to me. Big seven oh. I guess Jack had squealed on me. So they sang happy birthday, twice, and bought me a drink and then I had to make a speech. It was a lot of fun and we all sat around and talked all afternoon.
We met the crew of a 108' Aluminum sail boat built in New Zealand, called Avalon. They are anchored right behind us. There is a crew of five. Three men and two women. They are quite the party animals. They invited Jack, Dave, and I out for a tour of the boat and the chef made pasta. We all ate and then most of the crew went back into town to party some more. Jack and I stay on and talked to the captain for about an hour. He is 43. He has been around the world a couple of times and visited all the places along the way. Very interesting guy. The owner of the boat is in the recording business.
We got our atoll visitor permits yesterday. We keep procrastinating about getting going. There are still a lot of good dive sites here at Majuro that we haven’t made it to yet.
Later. LOL, Blair
Hello from the remote west end of Majuro Atoll. Planning to head north to Aur Atoll, we were thwarted this morning by 25 to 30 kts. wind and corresponding seas. Instead of bashing on a close reach, we elected to head to a protected location behind the small island of Ronguron. From here, we will take the dinghy to explore the remains of a WWII B24 bomber which crashed on the reef about a mile from our location. Likely, we will also cross the reef at high tide and do some diving. The tidal range here is about 5 feet. Today is also special in that Blair turned 70. In his honor, the gathered cruising crowd sang a rousing Happy Birthday yesterday. Today, we celebrated with a spaghetti dinner and chocolate cake. He looks just the same so do not expect any slowing down in the near future.
All the best. Jack reporting
Just got this one. Guess they are still waiting for the sinds to slow down before leaving Majuro.
Hi you
The days are sort of going together now. We tend to get up later have a leisurely breakfast. Then it is time for a little reading, when one will hear Blair complain about how dang long it is taking to get the plot developed. Then if is off to do some snorkeling; it has been too windy to use the hookah. Yesterday we visited the site of a downed B-24 on a reef near by. It was a sad story for the crew. They had bombed some atoll near by and were pretty well shot up but they made a successful landing on the shallow reef, only to surrender after 10 days and then be executed! One of the many tails that surround us here. I am not sure what we are up to today. It is the AM so I guess I will do some reading and see what unfolds. The wind is still a little strong for crossing, though Jack while looking at a Gib File, weather, said the winds will be lightening up, from 30 knots to 25, whoopee. Anyway another day in paradise, more later.
Love you bunches
David
Well, it looks like our heroes are experiencing some NW weather, and this is getting in the way of further exploration. David and I will just have to go back and visit the places he missed!
Here’s Blair’s update
It has been cloudy here and the trades have been blowing 25 for the last several days so we have not left the lagoon. Water 81, air temp 82 - 84. We went out to the west end and dove on a WWII B-24 bomber that is just a few feet under water at low tide. We could see prop blades sticking out of the water. Pretty interesting. Dave found a 50 cal shell casing. We will stick around here for a while yet. Dave flies out on the 11th. We want to dive the pass. It is supposed to be quite spectacular. We are anchored on the NW end of the lagoon, protected pretty well from the surface wind. Water is flat. It was a wet and wild ride over to the bomber in the dinghy when we got out of the lee of this island.
Later, Blair
And here is David’s
Hi you. We seem to have a minor low to the south that is bringing us intermittent showers, and the wind has not let up either. The Californian boys seem traumatized by the inclement weather and are not interested in venturing out in such hostile environments. Lets see, it was a cooler 75 degrees today instead of the usual stifling 85, actually we don’t have a thermometer so I am making the whole thing up!.
I got a chance to use the inflatable to chase some of the fish around the anchorage while flailing at them with my fly rod. I was not successful. It was entertaining for me trying to make sense of a different fishery. The problem is the fish do not stayed balled up long enough for me to get to weather of them to be able to cast over them. Time and again I would get in position and start drifting down and they, jack tuna or something like, would be swimming past, at times fully out of the water, at great speed. I’m just not that fast at the draw, cast! Good fun anyway and maybe, if I say my players, I might catch one. We will see what tomorrow brings, but I have my suspicion that I will be only seeing Majuro this time. More later.
Wet smooches
David
Here’s the final set of emails. David is about to board a plane, arriving here in about 24 hours, although I think it will seem like 48. I am sure he will have lots more good stories to share, once he gets caught up on his sleep.
From the boat:
We had rain all day Tuesday. Finally said the heck with it and went for an exploratory visit to a little motu, Ajola. Walked around, sat in the lee on shore, waded out into the surf, collected a few coral souvenirs, hung some old flip flops on branches of a tree as the first art exhibit on Ajola, traversed the island through the dense jungle like vegetation getting completely entangled in vines, needed a machete, and then crashed in absolute exhaustion after dinner.
Today, we moved to an anchorage on the north shore and went snorkeling through the gardens of coral, some formed like giant fans 10 feet in diameter being held aloft by a thick stalk. Multiple coral varieties create an festive underwater world in which fantastic fish of innumerable shapes and forms scurry. We saw a black tipped reef shark move furtively in the shadows. One damsel shaped beauty had Tiger stripped sides, a tail half purple and white stripes and half black and white stripes with pale white fins and a bluish nose. Another had huge eyelashes, while one little critter was mostly yellow with a few black spots, shaped like a miniature Beatles Yellow Submarine with a translucent, dorsal fin directly in the middle of its back, and the ability to move any direction and curl into a U shape. Not only that, his cosmetologist fish, a little buggette, was in attendance cleaning out the gills. On the way back to Cap Cat, I found a coral encrusted coke bottle and old brass housed port running light with deep red globe. Most shells have inhabitants though we have found a few for collection. Tomorrow, we will take the hookah for further bottom time.
Our best to all. Jack reporting
From David:
Hi you
We had a great day yesterday using the hookah. We work much better leased together than we used to. The coral here at Kolalen is much the best we have seen so far. The number and colors of the fish were extraordinary as were the sharks. Jack and I were down for close to 2 hours which is getting close to the decompression limit. Even after being in the water for that long without a wet suit I was still warm. Had my hands not looked so swollen with seawater, I would have been up for some more. It looks like we will do some more diving here and perhaps have a walk about on the islet before heading back into town to get me on a airoplane. I will call from HI when it is not too early for you ... today. I will get in there at 2:30 am HI time, it is going to be about a 48 hour day for me. Hope all is well there.
Big hugs
David