February 8, 2019 - Arrived one week ago
07 February 2019 | 7 7'N:171 18'E, Anemonet Island, Majuro Atoll, RMI
ronnie
My apologies for not updating this section of the blog in about a week!!! Once arriving into Majuro Atoll and getting reconnected, I updated my social media feeds and the blog at sailquiver.com, but this "passage blog" had gone ignored again. Thanks to my buddy Rob McFarlane for reminding me to update it!
As you can see, QUIVER has arrived safely into Majuro Atoll and is out and about, exploring some of the outer islands of this atoll. There was no drama in the closing stages of the trip, just a NE tradewind breeze that steadily increased until I was seeing 26 knots true wind speed upon approach to the main pass into Majuro! Once I reached into the channel and then came up on the breeze, I had to sail upwind 12 miles (inside the lagoon) to reach the mooring field(s). With two reefs in the main and a #4 jib, QUIVER handled the last 12 miles and got us to a mooring ball off Uliga Town/ Uliga Dock. (the main harbor). Some cruisers helped guide me into a ball and I was home safe! All under sail, too! I had to motor to actually pick the ball up, after two unsuccessful tries under sail in the puffy breeze, but the rest was all under sail. We burned about two gallons of fuel since Kauai.
Initial impressions of the Marshall Islands after a week are VERY positive. The people are amazing, the islands are massive and incredible, the weather has been great so far. There is a cool cruising fleet here, and also food and goods are easy to get here. (US Postal Service runs here). Fresh produce is hard to get here and they don't have the land mass to grow much here.
My girlfiend Kristen flew in to visit me for six days and we are currently having a great time. We've found some waves to surf and are currently moored off a small private island, about 6 miles from the main harbor. The local yacht club (I will get their link and plug them later. I'm going to join and support them, for sure) has set up a series of mooring balls around the islands, using UN grant funding, so that cruisers can conveniently come moor their boats without tearing up the reefs.
My crusing plans are already changing a bitÉ. With two SUPs and an inflatable kayak, we have plenty of ways to get 2 or 3 people ashore, but the reality is that a dinghy would be very nice to have. I have decided to stay in Majuro a bit longer and build a hard, nesting dinghy out of plywood and fiberglass that both rows and sails. I have made some cool contacts and the guys at the Marshall Islands Canoe building shop are going to help me and let me use their shop and tools.
When I finish the dinghy, I plan to do a sea-trial and then pack it onboard QUIVER for a surfing trip to the nearby Arno Atoll. Once I return from Arno Atoll, Kristen should be flying back in and we plan to go up to Ailuk Atoll and drop off some sails for the sailing fleet up there and then sail to Likiep Atoll to explore, cruise and take some supplies to that island as well. Both of these islands are a couple hundred miles north of Majuro.
About to go paddle board the lagoon and then sail back to the harbor and pick up some people for a Friday afternoon day sail.
Loving the Marshall Islands, make sure to check both this page AND sailquiver.com, as sometimes i'll be in Wi-Fi range or out of Wi-Fi range when i'm uploading the blog.
Yakwe from the beautiful Marshall Islands!!!
Yakwe is like aloha. Hello, good bye, good sentiments, etc.