Lae Atoll
19 February 2018 | Marshall Islands
Janice
OK we have arrived at Lae Atoll, at just before midday Saturday 17 February. We tried to anchor outside the village but it was too shallow with lots of coral heads, especially with a spring tide and strong winds forecast for tomorrow and Monday. So we moved to the next island; the beach area being more sand than coral outcrops. Late afternoon we were visited by the Acting Mayor, the first time the locals have come out to us. It was good to invite them onboard and offer them soft refreshment while Bud and the Acting Mayor chatted and Bud paid the Visitors Fee. Needless to say they were not intimated when Bubba tried to repel them by deafening us all with his barking! Haha. There are almost 500 residents on the one island of Lae. The other islands are for copra (coconut). The islanders get a supply ship every 3 months, the next one leaves Majuro on Monday so they are looking forward to that in order to sell their copra and to buy supplies.
Sunday 18 : We were due to visit the village after church today however, as Chris Parker forecast the weather has turned squally with consistent rain. As I look through the bridge window, I can only just see the village on the other side of the bay. No rush to go ashore today. As usual there are maintenance jobs to do. In houses there is maintenance but when you live on a boat on a constantly moving, wet and corrosively salty environment, there is unending maintenance to keep the safe and optimum performance of your home. Later that evening a boat came out in the dark to deliver a bag of drinking coconuts for us from the acting mayor. Delicious cooled in the fridge. They remove the husk in a way that leaves a soft plug. When you want to drink from it, you knock the plug off and if a hole is not evident you push a knife through the soft area left by the plug. Easyð¥¥
It is a shame but we have had to miss out visiting Wotho atol due to being delayed in Bikini and the bad weather forecast for the next 3 days. We need to be back in Majuro by the 23/24th. This passage was particularly lumpy but Andy and I did a good job of battening everything down so we didn't have the teak table and chairs and the large coolbox sliding around the aft deck like the last passage. Even poor Bubba was struggling without the stabilisers. He could not find a comfortable position. If anyone wants to know how a gyro works, you only needed to watch Bubba when he tried to stand up or move about. I should have taken a video and put it on YouTube. In the circumstances it was not funny. He kept snuggling up to Andy and I for comfort and to brace against.
19 February : A better day so we all headed into town. We were met on the beach by 2 young American Mormon missionaries Elder Tingey and Elder Scott. They are on 2 year missions between High School and University. They travel around the islands either the Marshall or Gilbert Islands and can change islands every 6 weeks. Their mission allows them to write home once every week and they are allowed 2 phone calls home in a year. The Mormon men are generally aged between 18-25 and do 2 year missions while the Mormon women are aged 19-26 and generally do 18 month missions. I asked Elder Tingey what he'll do in July when his mission ends; his reply "go home to get a higher education then find a wife".
We walked through the village seeing the kids in school. The village has 2 communally owned fibre glass dorries with 40 hp 2 stroke outboards (we can not buy 2 stroke outboards in Europe now). These plus their traditional sailing outriggers are used by the men to visit the islands and collect the coconuts. It is brought back and then the coconuts are cut in half and laid out in the sun to dry, then the flesh is removed to produce copra. Lae is the first island where the ladies have been cutting the coconuts in half, great piles of them. Lae is also the first island where we have been able to watch the men working on at least 4 traditional outrigger boats; 2 were new and others were being repaired. These are great boats, sailing really well and fast even when laden with 6 men and sacks of coconuts.
Before leaving the island, Elder Tingey had collected a few sprouting coconuts to let us taste Iiu (pronounced yew). You open the coconut and the whole of the centre has become a soft tastey white pith which you eat. The coconut is a truly versatile fruit. Andy and I did our last snorkelling in the afternoon, heading out to a coral head in the middle of the lagoon. It was the best and healthiest coral we have seen with plenty of fish including new varieties. What was fascinating was how much it dropped off from the middle which was just below the surface and then drops off quickly to 10, then 20 then 70 feet or deeper. I managed a dive to 25+ feet, swimming there with the large parrot fish until returning to the surface to breath. Great fun.
PICTURE : Alyson working on his new outrigger sail boat, making the mast chocks