It is 14.45 hours Saturday 13 January and Reel Dreams has just moored up on a buoy in Majuro harbour. There are 27 other yachts here plus another catamaran motor boat, which has a 6,000 mile range at 10 knots!!! It is overcast with regular quick squally showers but hey it is warm so you quickly dry out and it is quite refreshing at its current rain level. Last night on passage we had a few very heavy tropical squalls which did a good job of freshwater washing the boat down!

For Andy and I it has been interesting. We travelled from Greenland which was UT-3 to the UK, UT and then to San Francisco which was UT-8. On passage we have gone through 2 time changes between the USA to Honolulu and a further 2 time changes from Honolulu to Majuro plus a date line change. We are currently UT+12, 13 January, so a day ahead of Europe.

So a little info on The Marshall Islands. Of the 1225 islands of the Marshalls, only 5 are single islands. The rest are grouped into 29 coral atolls, altogether comprising more than one-tenth of the world's atolls. The atolls run north-south in two almost parallel chains about 150 miles apart and 800 miles long. Ratak, the eastern chain means 'toward dawn' and Ralik, the western chain means ' toward sunset. Despite being only 70 sq miles in land area, they are scattered across 750,000 sq miles of ocean. The average daily temperature in Majuro is 81°F (27°C).

The Marshallese economy is almost wholly reliant on US funding from land leases and other payments connected to the USA's missile project but also compensation to the victims of their nuclear testing. The Marshallese people suffer the highest incidence of nuclear diseases worldwide. There is some small scale domestic income from copra production, tuna fishing licenses to Taiwan and South Korea, handicraft and aquaculture projects. Marshallese is the official language but English is taught in schools. The American dollar is the local currency.

Their traditional greeting " Yokwe yuk" means ' Love to you' and " Kommol tata" is ' Thank you'.

We cannot go ashore until we have cleared customs and immigration, and since it is Saturday we have to wait until Monday but at least for the first time in 14 days the engines are off!

PICTURE : View of Majuro harbour from Reel Dream's mooring.