Hi Everyone. Elisabeth and I are back on Proximity after having a nice two and a half-month “vacation” Back in California for the holidays. This is now the time of year where we prepare for the upcoming season, and this season promises to be a bit different. We have been in the tropics for six years now, and we are thinking that a change of location will be interesting. We love the tropics, mind you, but we want to see other places as well.
We have decided that Alaska will be our next destination, and we are planning for a departure in Mid-May to June. Yes, it will be a big change. The idea is to sail direct north until westerly winds are found, then bend the course to the east to Alaska. As such, it is lots of preparation, such as service winches, grease the furler, check the sails, fresh varnish, etc, etc. You know the drill by now.
We are doing this here in the Marshall Islands, and this past week has seen us moored off a small island in the atoll called Anemonot. We have seen this island spelled about six different ways, so bear with us if you think we got it wrong, ok? Many thanks! It is beautiful here. The water is clear, we are protected from the wind – which was nice last Monday when I spent three hours up the mast working on our VHF antenna.
Yesterday, we had friends Cary and Karen, both are long time Majuro residents and yachties, come visit us for the day. In addition to their yacht, they also have a fast little fishing boat that was perfect for the occasion. Elisabeth has learned how to make corn tortillas, and Karen made up some humus, so we had a Mexican/Middle Eastern lunch that couldn’t be beat. It was wonderful.
So, our time here has been very productive as well as fun. Lots of swimming,, a little paddling in our inflatable kayaks. By the way, the kayaks, like the paddleboards and my old diving BCD along with countless running and boat shoes have fallen victim to the sustained heat of the tropics. The boards went first, with the glue separating at the seams. Good quality Hobie boards that I would still recommend – just don’t bring them to the tropics. The BCD was a good quality unit, the kayaks are Innova – again great quality, but the glue on the seams just gave out. The shoes were Nikes, Solomon, Slam, Dubarry, Musto, and the soles separated from the rest of the shoe. The kayaks lasted the longest over the shoes and the other things. It’s the tropics. If you come for a long time, just be ready for it.
We figure we will head back to town on Tuesday, and we will keep you updated from there. As always, any specific questions, just drop us a line. Now go be excellent to each other and have lots of fun.