Since our surf reporter/forecaster informed us that there might perhaps be a slightly bigger swell in the north, we decided to take off for the northwest pass of Ailinglaplap. I think the name of the pass is funny since it's Namu Pass, but it's near Bock Island. And then in Namu Atoll, there is a Bock Pass, but no Bock Island. It seems that if they switched the names, it'd make more sense.
Anyway, we'd been to this pass almost 3 years ago, when TC, Chris, Swinton, Alex, and I came to Ailinglaplap to spend almost a week enjoying Swinton's home, Jih Island, which is the northernmost island of the atoll. It was a very relaxing and memorable trip. We met an SDA teacher who reminded us of Napoleon Dynamite. We hosted a bunch of kids to a jumping-off-the-boat and swimming party. We also offered them some snacks; I think it was the first time some of them tasted cheese. We slept in a traditional Marshallese hut that Swinton's family graciously offered. One night, we had a bonfire on the beach complete with singing around it. Our anchorage was within the swimming grounds of a manta ray, which we saw a couple of times. The highlight was probably getting to go for an afternoon sail on the traditional outrigger sailing canoes. It started out as a sunny day, but then we got stuck in a storm with lots of rain and lots of wind. It was a great trip.
Back to this trip, though. Before leaving Bouj, TC went in to let the Horiuchi family know that we were leaving for a while, but would probably be back. We were all glad that he took the time to go in because they had cut a huge bunch of bananas for us. Yay for fresh fruit!
Thanks to a passing front as we departed, we were able to sail for the first hour and a half - sometimes at speeds of 6.7 knots. However, it gradually started to die down, and once we were regularly under 3 knots, we decided to motor-sail. The engine started like a champ! This was probably the 7th or 8th time in a row that it started on the first try. We laughed and said that we might be able to start calling it "reliable" soon.
We reached the pass without any trouble, though finding a place to anchor was slightly more difficult. It was either too shallow or too deep. We finally found a little channel on the oceanside that was about 60 feet deep, and hoped for the best.
As soon as we finished anchoring, it started to rain and it looked like it would last for a while. TC and I decided to do laundry. Now I could live with having stinky clothes, but I figure if we've got the water available, I will take advantage of it.
After the laundry was done, the rain had slowed to a light drizzle. However, we could see another thick bank of rain clouds headed towards us. The wind was kind of messing up the waves, which weren't huge to begin with, but Paul was distracted from the fact by a huge bird pile. He convinced TC to go fishing with him. It started to pour as soon as they left. I watched them with the binoculars from the dryness of the cockpit. It was fun watching them go from birdpile to birdpile (there were quite a few out there). They caught 6 aku, but released 3 since we already had one aku in the fridge.
Once they got back, I served them hot cups of tea. We all took showers and still we had all of our water buckets full. It's a good feeling to have plenty of water - I feel comfortable enough to thoroughly rinse my hair.
After another delicious dinner (breaded aku, blackbean soup, and rice), I learned to play cribbage. It was fun, possibly because I ended up winning. No, even if I didn't win, I'd still say it was enjoyable. I like learning new games, even if I occasionally have to laugh at myself because I keep mistakenly saying, "nibs," instead of "nobs." I think it may be because I love chocolate. I've eaten many a piece of "dark chocolate with cocoa nibs."
We went to bed around 10 PM, but poor TC and Paul woke up at least 5 times throughout the night because of weird noises coming from the chain. When we woke up this morning, the boat was doing 360's. The wind had shifted and was coming from the south. Not good for where we had anchored for for the waves. We picked up and moved across the lagoon. Now we are anchored on the northwest part of the lagoon, just south of Jih Island. I'm fairly certain there are naps in the future - maybe not for me, but definitely for Paul and TC.
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I had to laugh when you typed that it was the first some of them had tasted cheese - we fed them the spray stuff! :) Remembering those days put a smile on my face yet. No word yet from Chris from Jaluit.
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