Out on the water

We have completed the required steps and are now allowed to use the boats at Kwajalein! The classes and tests are mainly geared towards safety and the local conditions and rules, so it was not a big deal for us to go through. I went out last Thursday to take the practical class in one of the marina boats. You need to show that you can handle one of their rental boats properly. This was actually a new thing for us as these are twin engine powerboats (Twin V, and Boston Whalers). We have never spent much time in powerboats (other than our dinghy). Maneuvering with two engines can give you a lot of control but it also gets more complicated. Our thanks to Mike Herrington for taking us out on the police boat for our orientation and his sailboat for the sailing test!

 

The marina here is a very popular spot especially on the weekends. There are several power boats that can be rented out for fishing and diving (or whatever), also a ski boat and several small sailboats. One of the entertaining parts of this occurs when the fishing boats return. There is a cleaning station set up for the fishermen to process their catch at the top of the dock. The carcasses and waste parts are tossed into the water to the eagerly waiting sharks. The sharks know where the cleaning takes place and even know the sound of the fishing boats. When the boats are returning to the marina you can expect several sharks to come out to meet you and follow the boat back to the dock. At first it is a little disconcerting, but they are not aggressive sharks. It starts to remind you of feeding time with a couple of hungry puppies running around.

 

On Sunday we went out with John, a friend of ours for the Mother’s Day race. The Kwajalein Yacht Club puts on monthly races, but this one is different as there is a requirement for a Helmswoman. A woman must be steering the boat for the entire course. If a male touches the helm, the boat is required to perform a penalty 360 degree turn. So Cindy had the tiller while John and I manned the sheets of one of the marina’s Capri 22 sailboats. There were 7 boats in the race, ranging from 22’ feet to 40 ft. We had good wind, everybody had a reef in the mainsail, and nice flat water as we were in the lagoon. We started out a bit slow but we got faster as we learned the boat and the course. It was a good race and everyone had a lot of fun. Once the handicapped times were calculated out, we found ourselves in 2^nd place! The race took about 2 hours, but the next 2 boats were only 50 seconds behind us! It was fun to sail the smaller and more responsive marina boats, but we might get Masquerade out for a race once in a while.

 

My camera is currently out of commission so not much for photos. There are a few on the website; I will put up more once I get the camera fixed.

 

Bike to work day

Here on Kwaj everyday is bike to work day.

There are no private cars on the island so if you want to get somewhere you walk or you ride your bike. There are two problems with riding your bike on Kwaj, both weather related.

 

The first is the wind: the strong tradewinds make it easy for me to get to work, but difficult to get back. The winds makes it feel like you are riding up or down hills.

 

The second is the corrosion. The exposure to the salt air does terrible things to our bikes. Rust and corrosion will destroy a bike quickly. We soon found out that after just 3 weeks the brake and gear cables can become so rusted that they no longer work! We have heard stories about bikes where the handle bars or seat posts have corroded so bad that they broke off while being ridden. We will need to set aside time to keep up on our maintenance.

 

There is a wide variety of bikes here. Many people decide to go with a single speed beach cruiser style bike so that the maintenance is less. The fancy bikes don’t last. There is a also a common Marshallese variant where the gooseneck is very long, this brings the handle bars up to about shoulder level. The other thing you will see here is the bike trailers. Even your large or heavy items need to be transported via bike power. There are trailers varying in size from carrying a bag of groceries to holding large ice chests. We will need pick up one of these ourselves.

Tale of the tape

Masquerade is now off the dock and out on a mooring. We are currently borrowing a mooring from couple while they are not using it. It is a good place to keep the boat, but it will not be quite as handy as on the dock. In fact Cindy and I need to take a class and take a test to be able to use a boat in the Kwajalein atoll, we also have to get a sailing endorsement. It seems a little silly to have to prove that we are safe boaters and know how to sail after a 5000 mile passage, but the rules are the rules. So until we pass the test we cannot even use our dinghy here!

 

Looking at our log book, I did some calculations. We came up with the following numbers:

Days underway:                        44

Shortest day’s mileage:             102      

Longest day’s mileage:              155

Average miles noon to noon:     124

Johnston to Kwaj avg                137     We made better time the last 12 days.

Total miles made good              5405

Total miles traveled                   5504

Total miles as the crow flies       4698    

 

As shown above there are many ways to measure the distance traveled. We did not travel in a straight line due to leaving the Sea of Cortez first, and because we headed more southward initially to find better wind. As a sailboat we often sailed in a direction other than directly towards our goal so that the wind/waves were more favorable. It in interesting to see the difference in mileage.

 

All distances above are in nautical miles. 100 nautical miles is equal to 115 statute miles.

Island Life

Thank you to everyone who has been following our adventure and have been leaving comments or sending email to us. We appreciate hearing from everyone and we will be working on catching up on our emails over the next few days.

 

We worked to get our boat speed up the last day so that we could make it to Kwaj before dark. As I said earlier the weather was cooperating, and when we sailed into the lee of the atoll, it was nice and flat for the first time in a long while. However, we had a bit more sailing to do. Because tradewinds always blow from the NE the pass (on the southwest) always has current coming out. We motored slowly into the pass against the wind and tide, looking for the buoys that mark the channel. We ended up bashing to weather almost all the way to the dock, the atoll is so large that the wind waves build up inside the lagoon. We arrived wet and salty, instead of the planned showered with clean clothes. We were met at the dock by our sponsors and the Harbor Control and Kwaj Police. They did a quick check with the K9 unit (while the kitties were hiding in the head), then took us to Security Control to get checked into the island. After that we did a quick tour of the island, and had dinner. We then were shown our room, and headed back to the boat to grab some clean clothes so that we could shower and pass out.

 

Oh, and I was expected to meet my sponsor for breakfast at 7am the next morning!

The last few days have been hectic. I have been getting set up for my new job, and running around to the various departments filling out forms. Cindy has been back on the job hunt and trying to get the boat cleaned up a bit and keep the cats happy. We are looking forward to the weekend so that we have a chance to catch our breath.

 

So far we are liking Kwajalein. This is a pretty small community and everyone has been very friendly. We have a great view of the ocean from our room. The view is to windward shore, of course the winds have been blowing salt spray on the window making the view a bit obscured! The weather has been pretty warm but the constant wind makes it pleasant. More later…

Island Life

Thank you to everyone who has been following our adventure and have been leaving comments or sending email to us. We appreciate hearing from everyone and we will be working on catching up on our emails over the next few days.

 

We worked to get our boat speed up the last day so that we could make it to Kwaj before dark. As I said earlier the weather was cooperating, and when we sailed into the lee of the atoll, it was nice and flat for the first time in a long while. However, we had a bit more sailing to do. Because tradewinds always blow from the NE the pass (on the southwest) always has current coming out. We motored slowly into the pass against the wind and tide, looking for the buoys that mark the channel. We ended up bashing to weather almost all the way to the dock, the atoll is so large that the wind waves build up inside the lagoon. We arrived wet and salty, instead of the planned showered with clean clothes. We were met at the dock by our sponsors and the Harbor Control and Kwaj Police. They did a quick check with the K9 unit (while the kitties were hiding in the head), then took us to Security Control to get checked into the island. After that we did a quick tour of the island, and had dinner. We then were shown our room, and headed back to the boat to grab some clean clothes so that we could shower and pass out.

 

Oh, and I was expected to meet my sponsor for breakfast at 7am the next morning!

The last few days have been hectic. I have been getting set up for my new job, and running around to the various departments filling out forms. Cindy has been back on the job hunt and trying to get the boat cleaned up a bit and keep the cats happy. We are looking forward to the weekend so that we have a chance to catch our breath.

 

So far we are liking Kwajalein. This is a pretty small community and everyone has been very friendly. We have a great view of the ocean from our room. The view is to windward shore, of course the winds have been blowing salt spray on the window making the view a bit obscured! The weather has been pretty warm but the constant wind makes it pleasant. More later…

Landfall!!!!

Masquerade arrived in Kwajalein on the afternoon of the 15th (14th west coast).
We were met by our sponsors and were welcomed and checked into the base. We sailed 5504 miles according to the GPS.
More of an update later.

Land Ho!!

Yesterday afternoon we sighted our first Marshall Island! It was Erikub Atoll, we passed to the south of it and continued on towards Kwajalein. We should be arriving at Kwaj this afternoon. We put up extra sail yesterday and last night to gain some speed so that we could make it in before dark. The weather cooperated with us and gave us smaller seas and no squalls overnight. We need to maintain good boat speed but should be good to make it to the dock before sunset.

Looking forward to making our landfall, stretching our legs and seeing other people for the first time since the end of January.