SA Visitors

The third week of May saw Kerry and Jenni arrive from Adelaide. Ants spent time showing them the sites of Majuro and environs. They arrived at the same time as some new AVI volunteers started so it was quite a social whirl of evenings out and day trips. Their first few days included the “AVI” dinner to welcome the new arrivals. The Tuesday yachties night out at Marshall Island Club (all you can eat pizza for eight dollars) a film night at Wallaby downs. A day sail/snorkel to Eneko Island. A bike tour around Rita and Delap, the shanty town suburbs of Majuro. At the weekend Ants arranged a “Australian” sail on Breakfree for Wally (AVI) leaving and our visitors to Enamonet Island so 10 people on a lovely day trip.

The following week, much to the amusement and curiosity of the locals, we put Break Free up on Mieco Beach to have its two yearly bottom clean and paint, many hands make light work.

On the beach in front of WAM canoe house

Putting our visitors to work

Jenni fishing at Airik on Maloelap Atoll

At the end of that week Break Free and crew sailed ninety miles north to Maloelap Atoll. We had a great time exploring Airik, Toroa, Piggiatto and Tjan Islands. Lovely people, interesting wildlife, lots of Japanese relics and good wreck diving.

Then we sailed south to Aur Atoll visiting Bigen and Aur Aur Islands. The same as at Christmas Bigens water was crystal clear (for divers info 30m visibility)

Even though there is a drought emergency in the northern Atolls, Aur Aur had great looking gardens and with the great fishing they are living pretty well. After ten days we were back in Majuro.

Playtime at Airik

Kitchen fire starting to burn

Ready to dry Pandanus

Cooking a typical breakfast

Collecting some greens for the pigs

Going fishing

It sounds like Anti Crabs (actually Handicrafts)

Areson and Kerry after antenna repair

Jane and Jenni on Airik

A fish lunch at a Copra camp om Kemar Island

A young Taroan at Maloelap Atoll

Old Japanese gun emplacement

Peeling breadfruit with a modified cowrie shell

Lovely bronze trunnion mount on WW11 Japanese gun

A resident of Piggeyato Island

Foreshore crabs at Chien (Tjan) Island

Tjan net fisherman

Rowing out to wreck on Taroa Is  Maloelap Atoll

Cable winch

Intrepid diver

Great banana grove on Aur Aur Island Aur Atoll

Mooring bollard 70 years underwater

Ants, Kerry and Jenni spent the last few days taxiing to Laura, walking and bike riding around downtown Majuro and the obligatory evenings of “wining and dining” for all.

Ants is taking no responsibility what so ever for getting K & J to the Airport after their flight to Guam had closed nor the fact they had old bullets (just projectiles) in their hand luggage. It is only a US federal offence to carry ammunition on an American plane (they were travelling on United Airlines) and the jail sentence shouldn't be too onerous. Ants has promised to visit them in jail!!!

On a lighter note Jane is right back into it as WAM's new trainees start on Monday....it has been hectic, to say the least, getting things sorted in a week after 3 months of waiting for government funding to be approved and then released.

'til next post, cheers J & A

A Little Side trip for Ants

We became friends with Dick and Gail off a motor yacht Ice Dancer II. Yes friends with people off a power boat!

Ice Dancer II in Majuro

Gail had to fly home to Alaska with some health issues and Dick needed a hand to get Ice Dancer back to Hawaii. So Ants jumped on board to motor 2000 nms upwind.

The immaculate LARGE engine room

A bit about the boat. She is a Nordhavn 56' of about 60 tonnes and a million dollar plus luxury long distance boat with 80000 miles under her keel. She has a John Deere 350 HP main engine with a 36 inch 4 blade prop and a 90 HP wing engine with folding prop which also has hydraulics for bow and stern thrusters and winches. A couple of big generator sets fit easily in the cavernous engine room. 8000 litres of fuel capacity gives a range of 2500nms at 8 knots.

 

Dick looking after the John Deere

 Dick and Gail have been all over the Pacific and Cape Horn and Australia (Port Davey in Tasmania was a favourite).

In better weather enjoying a fish dinner

The trip from Majuro was upwind in 18 to 20 knots for the first 2 days and I struggled a bit with the motion (most unusual for me). I still managed my watches plus a couple of small repairs deep in a bilge and up the radar mast. Then the wind went light and we had 9 days of easy motoring to Hawaii.

The Blue Marlin we released unharmed

A Brown Boobie

We had a good catch of a 100 something pound Short Bill Spear Fish (great eating) and a catch and release 40  something pound Blue Marlin.

Sunrise in North Pacific

A very easy trip saw us arrive pre dawn at the Ko Olina marina and after a little hassle with immigration (my electronic visa waiver didn't work on a private yacht ;they did waive eventually the $585 penalty) I enjoyed 3 days in Hawaii before flying home to the Marshalls.

An interesting side trip but I am a yachtie at heart. I think it will take the European canals to convince me to be a power boat man!

More photos of the Jambo Arts Exhibition

my table....

note the Australian sea lion!

A pastel of Ants reclining

My model....

My least favorite portrait

My favorite so far....

A big moment for me, someone wanted my pastel!

A performance by Zack, a yachtie Californian fire-dancer, ended the exhibition

A quick little post about the Jambo Arts exhibition

Demonstrating Pastels at the exhibition


Jambo Arts is a Non Government Organization started up to promote art in the Marshall Islands.  I joined recently and I'm really loving being involved with the group, they are quite an inspiring bunch. Last Friday and Saturday I exhibited some of my pastels in the biannual exbo and got a great response for my first public showing. Just thought I would post a few photos that a fellow Jambodian artist took at the exhibition. I sold a large format pastel of a Maori face moko.  I might find a few more photos for the next post. 

A close up of a Maori portrait  I am working on

Some of the exhibits, note the WAM model canoe.  Can you spot the pastels of Ants reclining and the bearded man, some of my contributions? I bought the "LIVE" picture in the foreground which we have up on the boat now.

Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia

Lonely individual

Jane meeting one of the friendly locals...note nice lips!

We have just come back from a week in Pohnpei. Where, you might ask, is Pohnpei? Part of Micronesia (FSM) it is about 2000km west of here. A dozen or so Australian volunteers from the North Pacific are treated to an annual meeting/junket to talk about our experiences. So this post focuses on the 6 day visit. In a teacup...mountains/green tropical forests/rivers/waterfalls/friendly people.

Tropicaflorius pinkupetalus!

We set off on the “puddle jumper” flying West from Majuro to Kwajalein Atoll, 45 minute stop then another quick bounce at Koserae and onto Pohnpei. Because of the hills it rains more than Majuro. We went with four other Majuro based AVI volunteers, Pete, Wally, Soe and Allen.

Networking!!

Day two to four was the real reason we were there, our “in country conference”. An AVI fellow had been flown up all the way from Melbourne to help us network!! Short working days finished by 2pm. Exploring Kolonia town in the afternoons. Eating and drinking too much at night.

Talking amoungst ourselves we discovered we all have similar frustrations in our volunteering roles: a different work ethic, financial management, even “what am I doing here”, also though, plenty of positive stories and people really achieving something.

The highlight of our trip was going to Nan Madol. Nan Madol is the Machu Pichu of the North Pacific. It is a impressive stone city built on a shallow reef flat between 200 and 1200 AD. It is constructed of long hexagonal basalt blocks which according to local belief were flown in (by magic) and all done by two brothers. The basalt comes from a quarry at least 30 km away from the site. 

A North Pacific version of "the African Queen"

Nan Dowas, part of Nan Madol

Arty photo!

hexagonal basalt

Ants

happy travellers

On the Saturday four of us hired a car and visited spectacular waterfalls, Nan Madol, petroglyphs(rock carving) and circumnavigated the Island....

on the way to the falls

serious waterfall

this is when you need the waterproof camera!

we had company for lunch

typical Pohnpei parking lot

Spot the toad

another toad!!!

another bloody waterfall and our guide

cock fighters in training mode

On the Sunday twelve of us went on a boat trip and swam with 5 foot wing span Manta Rays at Manta Road, a gap in the reef. Had some great snorkelling and a picnic lunch on a little coral island. Then finished with another trip to Nan Madol...truly awesome.

Sunday boat trip

just the right height!

OK look this way

say "cheese"

Back home on Monday to Majuro. It was nice to get back to our simple, flat, one road town and the homeliness of Break Free.

we really liked his earrings