Zac's Blog

Latest Position: 03.38N, 170.52E at 08/13/2008 2209UTC

Alright, so I'm under way again and finally have some time to type up a blog.

So far, since leaving Majuro, I've had pretty light winds and some very big squalls. Yesterday afternoon there was one that was 6 miles wide and packed with 25 knots and torrential rain. It lasted for 2 hours. I've been thinking of different ways to collect the water for drinking etc. I even had a shower up on deck. I am headed directly south to cross the equator and get out of the northern hemisphere with all of its stormy squalls. After passing through the ITCZ, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, I'll head more south west and then west on into either Papua New Guinea or straight through to Darwin.

It was hard to leave Majuro. I had such a good time there. It was great to see everybody and to meet the people of Majuro. They are very quiet and shy. They were very friendly though and would buy me drinks if they met me in town.

The atoll is very big in diameter but the actual land area is so small. You can see from one side to the other when standing in town! I am still working on my understanding of Marshallese history.

There are a lot of people that I would like to thank. Especially, Karen Ernshaw and Cary Everts from Seal, all the cruisers, especially the Rag of the Air crew, the Meico Beach Yacht Club and Collette and Ramsey from the Robert Reimers Hotel.

Here is the summary of my stay in Majuro.

Day 1:

I got in to the atoll around 5:30pm and was led in by the boat holding my dad and camera crew and sailed up the inside to the mooring area. I chose to motor sail to make it to the mouth of the atoll by dark rather than have to stand off for 12 hours. It was dark by the time I got very far inside and I got way too close to an unlit derelict ship. I only saw it when it was 50 yards off - a little scarey. As I approached the mooring, three dinghies came out to help me tie up so I was hooked up in no time. I went down below and shut off all the electronics, grabbed my customs paperwork and headed to shore. I was greeted by my dad, Greg, Jen, Chris and John off Moana, Karen, the customs agent and small crowd of Marshallese. After saying hey to everyone and shaking a few hands we headed up to The Tide Table which is the restarant at the hotel. I got a burger and shake and tried not to space out too much while everybody around me talked and talked and talked...After I finished I went out to the hotel room and went to sleep. It is a bit hard to sleep solid for more than a few hours at first but it is great to be able to go back to sleep and not get up and check the boat.

Day 2:

In the morning I went down to breakfast and met a local family and got my pic taken with them. That's where I met Carla who I ended up hanging out with during my stay. She was born in Majuro but is away during the year at college in Oregon. After breakfast I went back to my boat with Greg and got my dinghy in the water and headed back to the hotel. We pretty much just hung out most of the day. Before dinner we went snorkling right off the hotel. It was pretty murky but the water was really warm. It made Hawaii seem cold. While diving, I saw a Moray Eel, a ton of sea urchins and an old back hoe. Yeah, that's right, a John Deer, massive back hoe! Don't ask me how it got to be 100 feet off shore and in 15 feet of water but it was and I dove down and stood inside the scoop. I really like the tropical weather here. It's always warm even when it rains.

Day3:

Ok now this was Greg's last day and he still needed a lot of footage so I had a pretty packed day. First we met with the president of the Marshall Islands. You already read about this from Karen's article in Pacific Magazine. We went in through an open back door, up four stories of steps and into the waiting room to see the president. Five minutes later we were led through to his office. We met and talked for about five - ten minutes. He had done a lot of sailing as a boy and told me about some of his trips.

Greg Lawson interviewing me

Then we headed out to a restaurant to try some local food. Carla came to help us order. The first round was breadfruit which tastes like a potato. Then we ate this creamy stuff that is like bread pudding made with coconut milk. The highlight of the meal was the pork blood and liver that Carla assured me was great. I later found out she had never tried it before. Oh well, it all tasted pretty strange even after living off my own cooking for 16 days!

Traditional foods

After lunch we headed to this place called Youth to Youth. It's a kind of teen center. Anyway, they sang and we danced and had a good time. After that we headed to the Canoe House and sailed some taditional canoes. There wasn't much wind and it was raining but the boat still went along really fast. We sailed for 45 minutes or so and then we headed back to the hotel and got in some dry clothes. I went to go meet Carla at a local club where we shot some pool with some of her friends until the power went out at 9:00pm. Then we met up with some more of her friends and drove around looking for power but when there is only one power plant on the island that means no power anywhere. Oh well, I went back to the hotel and had an early night.

Dancing with the locals

The Canoe House

Day 4:

Greg's plane was delayed a day so we shot some more film and did some repairs on the boat. I went skating around town however, I hardly got out of the parking lot before I realized the shortage of skatable surfaces on the island. Most all of the streets were cracked and there were no sidewalks but it was fine because a cab only costs one dollar to go anywhere in town. That night we went to the Meico Beach Yacht Club where I was made an honorary member for life and given $200 which was awsome! We had pizza and I told them about my trip thus far.

Day 5:

I picked up my mail today. Last estimate was over 300 hundred letters and a few packages. I am saving them for when I am under way again. Thank you to everyone who sent them. I don't think I'll be able to thank you each by name! The people who owned the hotel where we were staying, Colette and Ramsey Reimers, let us go to their private island to snorkel. The caretaker took us out in a panga. When we got there we grabbed our snorkles, masks and spear guns and got out on the reef. It was amazing! There were tons of amazing coral and reef fish. Nothing worth spearing though. After a good time on the island we headed back and I went to hang out with Carla and a couple of her friends, Kiyona and Kily

Day 6:

We fueled the boat and met with the United States ambassador. The embassy was interesting. It was all fortified and there were a lot of guards standing watch around the building. I talked with the ambassador for quite awhile and he had someone from the embassy drive us to a farm at the end of the island where I stocked up on fresh fruit and veggies for the trip. This was great because a lot of the other fresh food at the stores has been shiped here and is already pretty old. Hopefully this stuff will last a bit longer than my Hawaii provisions.

Day 7:

In the morning we got some more work done on the boat and cleared out of customs and immigration. My Dad flew out and I went back to the boat and finished up the last things I needed to do for my departure. Carla and some of her friends took me out for my last night in Majuro.

Day 8:

Today was a hard day. My dad, Jen and Greg had gone home. My stomach, which had been bothering me for days (maybe something I ate?) felt worse because of how nervous I was feeling about setting out. The forecaster, David Morris, was called to England suddenly and had not been able to give me a forecast and storm watch. I hadn't been able to pick up the newly wired solar panel regulator that Tom Brown and Mike Smith had sent over (it was stuck in customs). I finally decided to wait a day and pick up the rest of my mail, rest and prep the boat a bit more. Moana left at noon but it is probably better that we are not so close together anyway. Wouldn't want to bump into each other at night!

Day 9: Felt better today. Still no weather report from David but mom was able to contact another meteorologist who had offered his help and he checked out the scene. All looked good so at noon, after Cary from Seal came by and helped me stow my dinghy and outboard, I sailed back into the Pacific rollers and my lonely life at sea.