LORELEI'S SAILING ADVENTURES
Yokwe!! (Welcome
in Marshallese)
Welcome
to Episode 15 of the Hog Blog.
At the end of Episode 14 we had just arrived in Majuro Atoll the Capital of the Marshall Islands after a fantastic month in the Kiribati
We were on a mooring in the northern mooring fields at D-U-D
(Delap, Uliga & Darrit), the central hub of the Atoll.
You'd need 3 years to explore all 29 atolls....
Majuro Atoll
The first 72
hours was jam packed after we arrived from our 3 day sail from the Kiribati
Group.
We were
welcomed by many boats – some we knew, some we didn’t.
Ben &
Wendy had arranged a mooring for us and helped to get Lorelei safely tied up. JP
(Jean Pierre) off Alya who we spent time with in Abaiang Atoll kindly offered
to take us ashore to Immigration & customs, to show us around town and
visit the key places that we should know. Within 3 hours we were cleared, fed
and had a basic idea of who’s who and what’s where. We were stoked!
The lagoon
floor of Majuro is deep and anchoring is impossible for yachts because of the
depth and the large amount of scattered wreckage on the bottom. $3 a day for a
mooring is an easier and safer option.
Being an
American Port, US Postal freight covers this area and is roughly the same cost
as what it would be within the USA mainland so many of the boats here are
online, crazily ordering away to obtain new toys and vital boat parts.
On the 2nd
evening we were invited to Philip and Terri’s cat Blue Bie moored next to us
for drinks. We meet 10 other yachties (from 7 different countries) with the
realization that most of them are adventurous people our own age.
Of the 20
boats in the mooring fields, there were a large number of surfers, kiteboarders
and divers all wanting to get amongst the action.
We were
buzzing with excitement.
Tuna
The day we
sailed in we noticed many large ships in the bay and commented it was a lot for
the size of the port.
We found
out to our horror that they are mother ships anchored to service and unload the
Tuna off the equally as large and seriously high tech Tuna catching vessels.
$10
million worth of Tuna a day is brought into Majuro Lagoon from the surrounding
waters and stockpiled onto these mother ships until their holds are full and
they simply up-anchor and leave the country only to be replaced by another.
Check out the Tuna spotting
helicopter and serious binocular setups on the Tuna Tower
A Tuna boat unloading to a mother ship.
Just some of the mother ships in
the Lagoon.
We were up
early decorating Lorelei with a range of Aussie Flags.
Ex Pats Maurie
and Rhondi off the Aussie Boat “Navi-Gator” saw the flags and came over to invite
us to a fun afternoon and evening at “Wallaby Downs ”.
We had no
idea what we were getting ourselves into but gladly accepted and dressed up in
Aussie garb and caught a cab there with Ben and Wendy.
Wallaby Downs is a small compound run by the Australian Navy and
home to the Naval Commander, his family, staff and their families.
We were
welcomed with open arms.
A typical
introduction:
“Hi I’m
Lisa”
“Hi Lisa
I’m Tom”
Hi Tom
nice to meet you blah, blah, blah…”
“So Tom
what do you do”
“I’m the
American Ambassador”
“Oh!
Ok…..”
That arvo
after we found ourselves playing cricket, basketball and competing in a thong
throwing contest with many dignitaries such as Ambassadors from many countries,
The Police Commissioner, Ministers for Immigration, etc.., The Naval Commander, many other ex-pats and
the list goes on.
After a
few formalities, the lamington bake off awards, and a fantastic catered dinner,
we found ourselves in the pool at night playing volleyball, drinking and
ribbing each other, dunking, wrestling and generally having a really good time
with these great people who like us were just out to have a fun day.
Lamington’s galore
Overall we
had a fantastic time, met a lot of new people and befriended a few who we will
definitely catch up with in the future. For Lisa it was a great chance to
network as a few people had similar professional backgrounds.
A huge thanks goes out to Peter & Jen, Gary and Simone and their family for a fantastic day out with a lot of great people.
For the
rest of the week at D-U-D we restocked Lorelei with fuel, food and lots of
fresh F&V.
Nearly
every night we found ourselves out at either another yacht socializing or in
town enjoying one of the many restaurants that are very cheap. We even went to
the weekly local yacht club function. Many of the ex pats we met at Wallaby Downs were there which was great.
We saw this in the main street. The
Marshalls
We also
went to Internal Affairs to apply for our outer Atoll permits.
For any
atoll you wish to visit you must have a permit and pay the local Mayor the
entry fee which varies from atoll to atoll and ranges from free to $150 US but
most were around $25-50.
We
obtained permits for Maleolap and Wotje Atolls as they
have good diving and a lot of WW2 relics both above and below the water.
Whilst at
D-U-D we also enquired about Bikini Atoll.
Bikini
Atoll is part of the Marshall
Islands
It is also
the place the swimsuit is named after.
Nearly
everybody knows about the Bikini Atoll nuclear
tests.
If you
don’t, google it up and have a look. www.bikiniatoll.com
Paul has
wanted to dive the Bikini Atoll wrecks since
the area was opened in 2007.
After many inquiries we found ourselves at the Bikini
Atoll Town Hall
at Majuro in a meeting with the Bikini Atoll
Trustee and Mayor.
After 2
days of extensive enquiries of trying to organizing diving at Bikini ,
Paul did not have any success.
The only
way to dive there is to book with a pre arranged expedition, fly into the Marshall's as a group
and board a 10 passenger live aboard that travels to Bikini
a few times a year from August to October which is the typhoon season in the Northern Hemisphere.
The yacht cruising
season is from November to May and during this time diving is suspended in Bikini .
There was
a land based dive operation set up in Bikini
in 2007 but it closed a few years later as the local Airline with only 1 plane
was too unreliable.
The
frustrating thing is it’s free to go there (with the correct permits), we have
the GPS coordinates of all the wrecks, they are in a protected lagoon in
crystal clear viz, on a white sandy bottom.
It’s not
like we couldn’t find them or see their outline from the surface…
To say
Paul was disappointed was an understatement!
Wreck Diving D-U-D – Majuro Atoll
People had
told us the owner of the southern mooring field simply attaches the moorings to
the wreckage on the lagoon floor.
We tied our
RIB to our friend’s yacht Azimuth and dived over.
We were
amazed at what was below and we found a Naval Patrol Boat, a Freighter and a
large long liner fishing boat amongst other things.
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After a week
at D-U-D we departed and sailed over to Anemwanot Island
There are
7 free mooring buoys for yachts and a beautiful outlook.
One of the many pigs that roam
freely on the beach and island.
We also
made some new friends Paul (Paul N for the blog so there’s no confusion) and Helena
Drinks on Looping.
The
kayaking and snorkeling in the area was fantastic particularly in the passes
between the islands.
We took
the RIB out with Wendy and Helena to 2 pinnacles in the lagoon that rise from
50m up to 6m for a look and a spear. The area was swarming with bait fish but
no edible fish. On the way back we found a pass between 2 islands with a wild
incoming run of water from the ocean on the flood tide. We jumped in and drifted
through the pass with the most amazing viz. It was blue and endless.
For diving
there are 2 helicopters & a DC-3 plane in the shallows and Fiji’s ex Blue
Lagoon Cruise ship, The Oleander in 25-30m depth.
We had 4
dives on The Oleander stopping at the planes and copters on the way back up.
The diving
was simple as we were able to rig up on Lorelei’s dive platform, slip over and
return straight back to her – no RIB required.
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The bait fish
inside The Oleander were very dense and the most we have ever seen on any wreck.
It was impossible to see more than a meter in front of you and you had to keep
waving your hand or torch in front of you to clear a hole to see through or
take a photo.
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In the bridge area.
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Bait fish all along the roof…
The Trevally getting an easy feed
around the wreck.
The guest rooms in the lower deck.
Richard off Azizah at the rudders
with a large Lionfish.
One day
when the viz was excellent we free dived the wreck which was pretty cool
especially swimming through the aft decks at 25m with all the fish.
When Paul
was free diving off the side of the wreck he saw a dark shape on the sand in
the distance and after a bit of exploration we found it to be the tail section
of the plane in 23m depth. On our next scuba dive we had a better look.
Ben exploring the tail section.
When we
sailed over to Anemwanot we noticed we had some stitching that had let go on
our storm jib so we asked Semea who has a sewing machine stronger than ours to
see if she could repair it. At first we tried in Azizah’s cockpit but realized
that we needed more space and ended up on the foredeck.
One
lunchtime, 3 helicopters which we assumed were from the Tuna boats came over us
and started to do some crazy hot-dogging around us.
They were
doing loops, corkscrews, and some insane high speed flat 360 spins only meters
above the water. They were also weaving through the boats and trees at speed. It
was an amazing display.
Spot the Helicopter…
We didn’t believe it was possible
until we saw it – a helicopter doing loops.
That
evening we had a party onboard Lorelei for Paul’s 44th birthday that
went well into the night.
Everyone
chipped in with food and Helena
Chocolate Caramel Slice as a
birthday cake alternative. Yum!!
At 9am the
next morning Paul N is over banging on our hull –
“Get up!
The winds pumping I’m going kiting – so are you!!!”
We all rode Cabrinha Switchblades – and all
2012 models!
Paul’s in action!
The lonely planet guide warns of
the aggressive dogs in the Marshalls
This is Leo our kite mascot who
will lick you to death if you get too close!
For 3 days
straight we kited in the pass until the weekend.
We really
wanted to get going north to the outer atolls but it was still 20+ knots of NE
wind and a large 4m+ sea and swell to really mess it up.
So with no
option to remain in Majuro, we decided to return to D-U-D for some more fruit &
veg and to enjoy the Japanese festival that was planned for Saturday night.
Japanese Cultural Festival
Saturday
evening we went to the annual Japanese Cultural Festival which was at the Marshall Islands College
All dressed up and ready to party.
Over the
weekend we did some more research and talked to a few locals to try and find
some more dive sites within Majuro lagoon. The research paid off and Sunday we
were ready to dive with 2 more spots to explore.
More Diving at D-U-D
The first
was a post WW2 dumping ground where they simply rolled a heap of US Vanuatu
There are
a lot of Fire Trucks, Semis, Tankers and Flat Bed Lorries as well as large
barges and a 44 gallon drum dump.
They were
all sitting close but separate from each other on sand in 19-22m of water.
The wrecks
had a lot of coral growth and in particular long soft whip corals that made
good photo opportunities.
This photo had us laughing for
days. Paul was turned around taking the photo below while Lisa was sitting driving
the fire truck complete with siren sounds, sharp corners and honking horns.
Paul spun around and snapped this photo mid antics….
A beautiful Bubble Anemone on the Wheel
The next
day we dived a large freighter called the Ocean Glory which was lying on its
side in 25m of water on sand.
It was
easy to find as the local yacht club have tied a large yellow buoy to its stern
and use it as one of the start line markers for the weekend sailing races.
As we descended
down the line we saw large schools of Rainbow Runners and Spotted Eagle Rays
hovering around the top and sides of the ship.
It was a completely
intact wreck with lots of deck structure, towers and cranes, etc to explore.
The inside was great but very silty and it was one of those wrecks were a reel
line would be a must if you wanted to penetrate through multiple levels and
find your way back out safely. We didn’t have one with us so we erred on the
side of caution.
Later on
in the week we found out that this area was known as tiger shark alley. We were
bummed that we didn’t see one….the locals thought we were nuts.
Lisa with a large Flounder we found
under the wreck
Looking up from under the wreck
The searchlight bracket on the roof
of the bridge
The bow and the anchor winch all covered
in fish
After 4
days we left returned to Anemwanot Island for some more kiting and Paul did a
great down-winder from Enigu Island down to Robokaere Island with Philip off
Blue Bie while Lisa and Terri went down in the RIB’s to have a snorkel and pick
us up when we got there.
For 2 days
there the weather was terrible with a lot of rain and strong winds. Lisa made
use of the time by letting the dingy fill with rain water and had a bath.
Friends
Nick and Kathy off Impala also turned up on the first rainy day with son
Patrick and fiancée Sae-he on holidays from South Korea
At dusk
the wind on the last night went from NE to SSE with a 30 knot storm that swung
both boats around putting us on a lee shore and over the sand and coral bommies
close to the beach with only 3m under the keel. If the mooring broke we were
gone! We had no option but to sit on watch for a few hours until about 10pm
when it fortunately passed and the wind dropped out.
Maleolap Atoll
After 3
weeks of being at Majuro and 2 weeks looking for a weather window to head north
we finally had a small break in the conditions. It was just a little respite
for only 1 day where the wind went from 45 to 60 degrees and the seas from 4m
down to 3.5m. The wind strength was still 25 knots!
We just
had to go as once it picked back up again in 36 hours, there appeared to be no
let up for another 10 days.
We left at
2pm on the arvo of the 16th Feb with Impala leaving about 1 hour
later for the 135nm run to Maleolap Atoll at a bearing of 350 degrees.
We had set
the boat up for full storm conditions and we are very glad we did.
As soon as
we exited the pass we were sailing tight on at 45-50 degrees crashing into some
very steep and ugly seas. There was green water going right over the boat. The
best option we found was to slow the boat down to 4.5 knots and ride though it
and that’s how we spent the night.
By 7pm it
was very uncomfortable and Paul was quite sick – literally!
Just
before daybreak we sailed under the lee of Aur Atoll which gave us some respite
from the swell. We were able bear away and to increase our speed up to 7 knots
sailing up past Aur Atoll and onto Maloelap Atoll arriving at the NW entrance
at midday. The last 22nm run across the inside of the lagoon was also pretty
wet but we maintained good speed and arrived safely to Taroa Island
An uninhabited island marking the
NW passage
Impala sailing up to Taroa island.
We
couldn’t believe how beautiful the area was offset by the piles of WW2 relics we
could see on the beach. We anchored right alongside the wreck of the Toroshima
Maru which was a large Japanese ship that sunk here when it was bombed by US
planes during the war. The masts still stick out about 15m into the air making
it very easy to locate.
Finally we
had made it!!! The extra bonus was being able to anchor for the first time since
leaving Tarawa 5 weeks ago rather than relying
on questionable mooring buoys.
For 2 days
we went onto the island, first to pay our respects to the mayor and to have a
look at the small village, the school and the WW2 relics.
Lisa and Sae-he drinking coconuts
Mobbed by school kids at lunchtime
The destroyed Japanese Wharf.
A US
These ladies make the beautiful
woven baskets. It takes days to harvest and process the raw materials then
about 3 days to weave each one. Baskets these size sell for around $15 each.
Maleolap World War 2 Relics and Tour
The Germans
occupied Taroa Island
The
Americans came in with great force and destroyed the Japanese base. The
Americans did not need to take the island so they just left it. The villages
returned in the 1970’s to re-start.
It soon became
clear that there were way too many WW2 relics to see in one day and a lot that
were hidden within dense undergrowth so we organized a full day tour for the
next day with Jack the Mayor’s son to show us around.
Ben and
Wendy had sailed up overnight (and also coped a flogging) so that meant 8 of us
for the tour.
Some of it
was fascinating whilst other parts were quite sobering.
Mobbed by kids again as we tried to
put our shoes on before starting the tour.
The Japanese HQ.
The massive double sets of doors
that led to the air raid bunker.
This is one of the walls in the
bunker. Note the triple weaved metal reo in the thick concrete walls. This room
was a mess of bullet holes and blown in doors and walls. It was very sobering
as this appeared to be the Japanese officer’s last stand.
Just one of the many aircraft drop
fuel tanks strewn around the island.
The steel fuel tanks encased in a
huge amount of concrete for protection.
The tanks from inside the concrete
housing.
All that concrete didn’t help this
one – it was a blown apart.
The airfield was scattered with
lots of twisted remains of many zero fighters and larger bombers. There were
bullet holes everywhere.
Inside of a bunker we found hidden
in the dense undergrowth.
This bomb didn’t explode on
impact!!!
Look how thick the concrete is on
this gun emplacement
Maleolap Kiteboarding
For many
days we kite boarded the pass between Taroa and Pigeeyatto Islands
The pass
was only 4-8 feet deep and packed with stunning coral and fish over sand in
crystal clear water. The view kiting over it at speed was awesome.
Ben rode Paul’s smaller 8m kite
most days…
While Paul used Ben’s 10m. Wendy
launched and Lisa took the photos before taking themselves off snorkeling.
The gun
was a great feature for the photos but it was only inches deep around it making
it fun to kite past but too dangerous to jump over or around it.
The
pillbox/bunker was another story! It had about 2-3 feet of water depth around
it so Paul could jump over it…..
….or try a
rail slide along its edge.
It was an
insanely fun place to kite and we were truly kiting in paradise.
A day with the Village Kids
We really
wanted to spend some time with the village kids on our first full weekend there
so we went in early on the Saturday to fly the Octopus kite and play Frisbee at
low tide. The kids played for hours. We also got a better look at the bunker
now it was dry.
The bunker at low tide
When the
tide came in we decided to go for a kite. The kids were fascinated with them
and after a few lessons we had them unrolling and blowing them up for us. They
loved it and so did we!
The boys
climbed onto the gun and watched us kite with the highlight for them being able
to high-five us on the way past.
Lobsters and Coconut Crabs
We were
talking to the local adults and discovered that the Island
had run out of sugar and the supply boat wasn’t due for many weeks.
Lisa and
Wendy decided to help so they gave 1kg bags to select families who we knew
would share it around.
What we
received in return was staggering. Over the next 2 days we received piles of
drinking coconuts, paw paws, limes and woven bags full of fruit and Coconut
Crabs. Jack also dropped us out a few Lobsters too.
The girl’s
decided to get together and make a big feast with all the fresh food. Lisa made
lobster thermadore, thai mahi mahi fishcakes and punch, Wendy did the coconut
crabs and bread while Helena
We had a
fantastic evening feasting and drinking on Looping.
Diving the Toroshima Maru Wreck
After 8
days of being anchored at Toroa
Island
With a max
depth of only 13m we were able to do 2 long 105 minute dives and explore most
of the ship.
The
highlight was the 1000’s of baby barracuda schooling around the top & sides
and the scores of unexploded depth charges throughout wreck.
It was
such a pleasure to just to rig a scuba pack, flop off the duckboard on Lorelei
and swim 30m over to the wreck. We didn’t even have to launch the RIB – So
Easy!
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That’s a depth charge under Lisa.
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Note the tracks on the floor to
roll the depth charges through this door and out off the back of the ship. They
were on both sides.
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At the end
of the second dive we could see Paul N and Helena snorkeling overhead. Paul got
Helena
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Diving the Ollet
Island
After 9
days we left Toroa
Island
Our first
stop was Ollet Island
This is a
small island with about 50 villagers.
In the
shallows in front of the island were 2 wrecks that could easy be seen from the
surface. There were numerous coral heads all around the wrecks which were lying
upright one in front of the other and ranging in depth from 6m to 20m.
We saw a
load of fish with lots of bait & flashlight fish inside the wreck and reef
fish around the coral bommies. There were 2 large jobfish always in view and we
even saw Yellowfin Tuna off the back of the deeper wreck which was amazing
considering we were in a lagoon.
Despite
the crystal clear viz, photography was a real challenge as the sunlight was
beaming one minute and clouded over the next.
Cuppa Tea anyone? Paul thinks it’s
an oil can, but Lisa is not so sure…
We soon
realized that the anchorage was quite rolly with waves coming through the
passes on the spring high tide so we decided the next day to leave and seek an
island that would offer more shelter and less roll.
We had a
drama trying to pull the anchor up in the 22m deep anchorage as we were caught
up on a small bommie. What resulted was a stripped gypsy on our anchor winch
and 70m of chain exiting the anchor locker at speed only to end up on the
lagoon floor – twice!
The gypsy
was pretty well worn anyway but now it was really stuffed.
It took us
over 2 hours to finally drag the anchor around the bommies and into the
shallows where we managed to haul it up 4 links at a time.
With a
repair now needed we decided to return to Taroa Island
There was
only one other boat in the bay, a German cat, Maraposa.
At dusk we
were sitting in the cockpit having a drink when we heard a massive explosion. The
noise and pressure wave that hit us was immense! We had never heard or felt
anything like it. Immediately the both of us and Michael & Birgit off
Maraposa were on the foredecks with binoculars trying to work out what it was.
All we could see was a large smoke cloud rising up above the trees from the centre
of the island.
We could
only assume one of the old WW2 bombs had detonated.
It must
have been a big one or possibly a few all piled together.
After such
a strong pressure wave, we tested all our electronics onboard Lorelei and
fortunately everything appeared to work ok.
As a note
to that – we caught up with Ben and Wendy 3 days later and they felt the blast
from their anchorage which was about 3nm away from Taroa.
The next
day Paul managed to fix the gypsy by deepening the 7 slots that grip the chain
links. Both Paul and the workshop looked like they were sprayed with gold dust
after 4 hours of grinding the bronze metal.
After a
test of the winch we found it better than ever so we were off again and this
time over to Piggyatto Island to join Just Magic, Looping and Philip and Terri
off Blue Bie who had just shown up. At last the 4 boats with the mad keen
kiters (and divers…) were all together and looking forward to some serious fun.
At last the kite crew are together!
8 of us from 5 different countries with the 4 Aussies being from 3 different
states. What a mix!!!
The view from Lorelei at our
anchorage at Piggyatto.
Can you see Lisa snorkeling?
Looking West to our kiting spot.
The kiting
spot is off a sandbar that is only exposed 2 hours either side of low tide. At
high tide on the first day we went and explored Radio Island
The kiting
at low tide was ballistic! Flat, shallow and crystal clear water in a small
U-shaped bay with sand spits at both ends that we could jump over. For a bit of
fun over the next 3 days, Paul experimented with mounting one of the contour
cameras on both the kite strings and his gath
Even though it was flat, Paul went for a run on his directional surf board as well as his twin tip for the photos and for a bit of a blast.
Even though it was flat, Paul went for a run on his directional surf board as well as his twin tip for the photos and for a bit of a blast.
Clear huh??
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The
snorkeling around the island was amazing with stunning coral formations in
perfect condition. We were that impressed that we went and grabbed our scuba
gear and went for a dive. Terri and Wendy joined us too.
The coral in front of Piggyatto Island
We noticed
the destroyed wharf in front of the Island and could only assume that there
were also WW2 relics on the island so one day we went in for a look. We discovered
the Island housed the power generation system
for Taroa and we also found the wire cables connecting the 2 islands during our
dive.
The damage
to the island and the complex from the US
The 2 people living on the island
produce copra for which they earn 23 cents a pound.
The entire island is littered with
bomb craters.
Note the impact marks on the
concrete where the bullets hit.
Lisa is in the background up on the
mezzanine level.
Inside one of the heavily
reinforced rooms. This one was a real mess.
After 18
fantastic days at Maleolap Atoll we decided to move further north to Wotje
Atoll.
Overall we
just loved our time at Maleolap Atoll and it is one of our top 5 places we have
visited so far since leaving Aus.
Wotje Atoll
The sail
to Wotje was one of those legs where it was too far to transit during the day
but not far enough for an overnight sail. Additionally it was way too dangerous
to lift the anchor and negotiate the scores of coral bommies in the lagoon and
the pass without decent sunlight overhead.
So we left
at 1:30pm for the 22nm crossing of the lagoon and exited the pass at 5pm. Even
with shortened sail we arrived at the Wotje pass at 2am so we simply turned
around and sailed back out and in for 3 hours each way and safely entered the
pass at 8am and had the anchor down at Wotje Island
It was an
uncomfortable sail with 2-3m seas and 20-25 knots of wind but fortunately
nothing like the horrible sail to Maleolap.
Wotje is
the furthest north location that we are going to visit this season. It is
approx. 570nm or over 1050klms north of the equator.
On our
first full day we paid our dues and explored the island and its many war
relics. The island is 3 times the size of Maleolap and has a high school, power
plant and people lead a less traditional life.
We found
the WW2 relics not nearly as good as Maleolap because they were striped,
overgrown and far too spread out. There were no planes on the land which for us
is always a highlight.
What was
pretty cool were the large guns placed about every 300m along the ocean side of
the island.
That
afternoon (Friday) we had a visit from the local police chief who informed us
that we were forbidden to scuba dive within the atoll unless we paid him a $250
fee. To cut a long story short we objected, and after much discussion with
other island officials and talking to other cruisers on the HF we decided to
leave 2 days later in disgust. The downside of this story is it’s the ordinary
villagers on the island who lose out as we simply notified the rest of the
cruisers of what appeared to be a bogus fee and they simply scrubbed Wotje off
the list of atolls to visit. Someone will no doubt put it up on the internet
cruisers forums. The mayor loses his $50 atoll entry fee and the locals lose
the ability to trade, sell fresh produce and interact.
Unfortunately
it’s not an isolated incident.
To rub
salt into the wound, the mayor invited us to a large dinner banquet on the
Friday night as a few dignitaries from other islands were there for meetings.
The police chief was suppose to pick us up from the wharf at 7pm but by 8:30pm he
still hadn’t shown up so we went home quite angry.
There were
2 highlights of the last two days though.
The first
was meeting Glen who ran the MEC power station as he organised some fantastic
fresh produce and told us where to find a large 4 engine bomber aeroplane that
crashed into the lagoon after it was shot down. As it turned out it was about
30m from where Lorelei was anchored in 10m of water and we were able to
freedive it a few times.
All these Bananas for $7 and “Marshall
The second
chance meeting was with Alex who is a young US US
The next
day Elisabeth, who is another primary school teacher at a smaller island about
8nm away, was at Wotje for the day so the 5 of us headed out to Lorelei and
then over to freedive the plane. Garrett had been looking for it for months so
he was stoked to finally find it.
Unfortunately
we only had the contour camera which doesn’t work real well at that depths.
In the
afternoon we jumped in the dingy and went a few miles to another island to
snorkel a large Japanese Freighter which was half in and half out of the water.
The prop and deck winches were all there and we found a way through a hole into
the centre on the vessel and the holds.
On the way
home we stopped at the villages of London and Germany
The guns on the lagoon side are in
much better condition than those on the ocean side
Unfortunately
for Elizabeth
We caught
up with the boys the next day (Sunday) and Paul & Garrett took the kids for
joy rides in the RIB much to the delight of the kids parents looking on from
the wharf.
Doughnuts RIB style
We left on
Monday morning to sail the 175nm back to Majuro. The sail was relatively
uncomfortable and uneventful for the first 22 hours but with only 20nm to go to
the pass, the winds changed to on the nose, the seas and wind picked up and we were
pelted with torrential rain. Thank goodness the sails were already heavily
reefed. In 4 hours we managed to snap the stainless steel loop at the back of
the boom that holds the main sheet and blocks, tear the sail bag on the main
and somehow get a stream of water through the mast base into the front guest cabin.
And it’s a deck stepped mast!! There was so much green water it was hitting the
sails with full force, filling the cockpit and running down the stairs into the
living area. It was UGLY!!!
By lunch
time we were safely tied up at the mooring field and cleaned up so we treated
ourselves to a Katsu Chicken lunch at our favourite little Restaurant.
Overall
our 8 weeks in The Marshall
Islands
(and
hopefully get to Bikini ) when we come back
through this way in the northern Hemisphere Winter 2014/15.
Our plans
from here are to spend 2 days here at D-U-D completing a major re-provision for
food supplies and fuel that will last us all the way through Micronesia and the Solomon Islands
We will
hopefully clear from here on Friday or the weekend for the 4 day sail to Kosrae
in Micronesia
We need to
leave the northern hemisphere by the first week in May to escape the impending
Typhoon Season and will have to tackle the 1200nm run south to the Solomons at
around that time.
So that’s
it for Episode 15 of the HOG BLOG!
Hope you
enjoyed it!
Look out
for Episode 16 from Pohnpei in around 1 months time…
We’re
sorry it has been over 6 weeks between episodes and such a long one. 2 smaller
ones probably would have been better but the internet is still pretty scarce in
this remote part of the world.
Cheers!
Paul
Hogger
Lisa
Hogger
Team
Lorelei.