It is the day before the anniversary of operation hailstone and we are off. Like so many of the most valuable Japanese war ships those many years ago, leaving before the air strike on the 17th. I'm not sure if any kind of ceremony or Japanese visit was planned but it would have been nice to have witnessed it if it did take place. As it was, the officials and the weather, once again, dictated our movements.

With the exception of one 12 hour period we have had big wind while here at Chuuk. The lagoon has been pretty rough on the boat rides out to dive the more distant wrecks. Chuuk Lagoon is a lagoon, but it behaves more like a small sea. The distance from the port at Weno to the barrier reef in the direction we're headed is over 11 miles. The fetch and average depth of 150 feet or so makes for short, steep seas.

Watching the weather we have found February to be a big wind month, at least in 2009. The area just north of Guam sees 25 knots frequently and we have had high surf warnings almost continually. We have planned our trip to Guam as an overnight to Namonuito Atoll followed by a double or triple overnight to Guam. A week of days with seas under 3 meters and wind 20 knots or less along that track has not been forthcoming. We ultimately decided to stage up at a little island in the northwestern part of the lagoon 7 miles from Weno port today. From here we will wait for the seas to come down bellow 3 meters and then head out to Namonuito. Seas are 3.8 today/Monday, 3.3 meters tomorrow/Tuesday and 2.7 Wednesday.

With the wind at 20 +/- knots it will be a fast trip for us. Namonuito is only 110 from reef to reef and we usually make a good 9 knots in these conditions, assuming settled weather without too many squalls. If things look right I think we will try to take off tomorrow just before dawn and make for a pass in the reef just 4 miles ENE of here. We should arrive at Namonuito a couple hours before sunset and make the anchorage before sunset as well. Then we'll recheck the weather and see how the rest of the fleet is doing before deciding to leave for Guam the next day or the day after. This will put us into Guam on Saturday or Sunday.

We went into the Blue Lagoon this morning for breakfast and one last visit to the little store up the road. The eggs benedict at the Blue Lagoon are not bad and it is a nice setting overlooking the anchorage. The Odyssey live aboard dive boat was there changing divers out for the new week. There were also some US military from Guam in town to train locals on emergency procedures.

Angelique had already anchored in the port by the time we made way. We anchored behind them but after contacting port control it became clear that we were going to have to tie up to satisfy the inflexible officials (particularly immigration, they are too lazy to get out of their car much less get on a dinghy). A large Japanese cargo ship was inbound but the port captain let us tie up to the A berth. This is the best spot on the quay, as it is actually inside the fishing/small boat harbor and much more protected from the wind and swell. The small boats also tend to go slower here and you don't get waked as badly.

It was clear that the officials were not coming for an hour or two, so we dinghied over to the Truk Stop for lunch and some final internet. At and Dia on Angelique were doing some final shopping as well. When we saw Whistler sail by we radioed with the hand held and Eric informed us that he had picked up a British guy named Jeff as crew to Guam. All of the flights in this part of the world converge on Guam, so getting a ride to Guam works with almost any flight plane. Jeff was just getting into sailing so it was a perfect arrangement for all.

We cleared out with far less hassle than clearing in and only had to deal with three organizations rather than five. Immigration still required us to print them a crew list on exit (even though it was the same as the one we gave them on entrance and they had all of our passports). Port charged us $185 and that was after we talked them out of $25 for one night of stay on the quay, forced upon us. In total (in and out) we paid about $275 to officials to be here for two weeks on our own hook (or a yacht hostile quay). It is by far the most expensive country I have been to and certainly one of the least favorite. Diving the amazing collection of wrecks is the only reason I can think of to come to Chuuk, and I would recommend flying in to stay on a live aboard dive boat rather than visiting with your own yacht. Unfortunately FSM controls a vast area of ocean, for safety and comfort many yachts will want to make stops inside FSM territory when transiting the area.

The officials, other than port which was expensive but always very friendly and reasonable, demanded that we depart immediately after checking out. Rational behavior did not fit into their doctrine. We said little, paid our fees and left.

We arrived at Fanos island, seven miles away, just before sunset. We have been warned by everyone to avoid the Tol group and everything around it. The best passes on the west barrier are in this area. Upon inspection of the charts we discovered that there is also a decent pass with 30 meters of water in it four miles from Fanos. So we decided to anchor behind Fanos until we were ready to depart.

We arrived an hour before sunset and it was getting tricky to read the water. The island has a lot of coral heads on the southeast end but we found reasonable shelter and room for three boats at the north west end in 40 feet, fairly close to shore. Angelique came in just after us and Whistler arrived a bit after sunset. Soon after some guys in a fiberglass boat from the island came out to give us drinking coconuts. I was just lamenting to Hideko about our lack of drinking coconuts. It was like magic. The guys were very friendly but didn't speak much English. They were looking for cigarettes but offered the same courtesy to the other boats (Eric had some smokes for them) and then they headed back to shore.

Fanos is small but lovely. The anchorage is good in north to northeast wind. The reef around the southeast point gives you some protection from the easterly seas. The bottom is sand and coral. Too much coral to be optimal for sure. The island has a few structures on it but looks to be sparsely inhabited.

We settled in for a nice evening and looked forward to spending a beautiful day here at Fanos tomorrow.