What`s happening

Welcome to Laura

We`ve been quite quiet for a while but that`s not because of being inactive. We`ve done our fair share of lounging in the cockpit, taking walks around some of the islands in the atoll and even rented a car to drive the total 50 kilometres of road

Lee, Desay and Connie on the beach at Laura

in the atoll and down to a picturesque town at the southwest end called Laura. Laura was the original settlement and remains today as the location where agricultural activity thrives. They have more irrigated land and a Taiwanese agricultural station that supplies a few of the needed fruits and vegetables to Majuro.

A work in progress?

From there is just worsened – we got wet, cold and started making bad decisions. We kept going – why? We could have very well taken all sail down, tied the helm to the leeward side and retreated below to dry out and take a break. But, no, we decided to keep going. You would not have believed the amount of water that was pouring into the cockpit as we tried to make our way northward against a NE wind.  Water, both fresh and salt, was pouring into the cockpit.

Yes, a new style of outboard available only in Majuro

Ah well, a lesson learned – the ITCZ is not a sailors friend. In the end we kept sailing until early morning and with the situation worsening we turned back to Majuro within only 20 miles from Aur. Going from the sublime to the ridiculous as we entered into the pass at Majuro, just passed the first marker, wegot hit by 45 knot winds, no visibility (couldn’t even wear my glasses) and looked at the chart plotter to realize that the previous tracks had been deleted and we had no idea where we were

ITCZ in action in the anchorage

in the pass.  We were sailing in but had little control with just the mainsail up and so turned on the engine to help keep us in one place within the pass and wait till the visibility improved.  It was frightening and made a dramatic end to the trip. There are many memories from sailing but this is one of the one that will stand out for a very long time.

So we’re back in Majuro. The ITCZ remained in place for the next 5 days and brought buckets of rain which brought the temperature down to a very cool 26 degrees and for the first time since leaving Victoria we’ve had to turn off the fridge as our solar panels cannot keep up to the electrical needs on board. I know this may sound funny to those of you entering into a Canadian falls season with cooler temperatures and shorter days but here in what should be tropical skies we have no sun. So the fridge is off (gives us a chance to clean it finally!) and we’re using an ice box and letting the batteries regenerate once the sun comes out.

Tony repairing sails

We also need to repair the sail we tore apart on our trip to Aur and dry out and rinse off all the salt water gathered from our trip. We’re in the planning stages now of moving west on to Jaluit and then Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia. Different islands and different territory. We’re looking forward to sailing downwind!

Do you have a building permit?

Kayaking in the atoll