Happy Holidays from Kwajalein!

Santa found us in this big ocean.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.  We hope you all were able to spend time with your loved ones and enjoy some time off.  Once again I failed to get Christmas cards out so my apologies...between being unemployed and living in the tropics, I just couldn't find the time. :)

We’ve continued on our social marathon here in Kwajalein with holiday parties, cocktail hours and we even fit in a few boating trips.  The first was on the ferry here to Ebeye, a neighboring Marshalese Island.  This is where most of the local workers on Kwajalein live.  They take the ferry daily back and forth from Ebeye to Kwajalein.  We took the ferry with our sponsors on Christmas day to see the town and listen to some of the church singing.  It was a nice day getting out and about.  Ebeye is crowded, but appears to be a bit cleaner than Majuro and the people also seemed a bit friendlier.  Of course my opinion might be skewed given the high praise I have for Majuro (wink, wink)…

The ferry ride to Ebeye.

Yesterday we took our friends out on the boat to another island, Bigee (pronounced Bee-gee).  It was so beautiful - crystal clear, blue water with white sandy beaches – we decided it would be a great place to hang out for a week or two.  Ron and Christina brought their paddle boards a long with them for us to try.  I’ve been wanting one and it was nice to get to try one out first.  Although I think I might have been more successful if I didn’t wait until there was a small squall coming.  For a while there I thought Andy was going to have to get in the dinghy and come get me.  The kids played under the boat all day either swimming back and forth from the bow to stern or just making up games on the paddle boards.

The sailing was great as well.  We made a consistent 8 knots going out to Bigee which pleased Captain Ron to no end.

Captain Ron

The kids...a bit tired.

Playing under the boat.

Ron on the paddle board.

Not a bad place to be, huh?

We’re still enjoying ourselves and are even considering trying to find work here for a year or so (some of you will be picking yourself up off the floor right now).  We’ve had a lot of unexpected expenses since Tarawa and it would be nice to replenish the cruising kitty a bit while resting in a little slice of the US out here in the middle of the pacific.  But nothing is guaranteed here so we’re not getting our hopes up too high…it’s a win win either way – if we get jobs, we stay.  If we don’t get jobs, we leave and go to Tonga next year and keep on cruising.  There’s no bad option there.

In the meantime, we’re just soaking up the sun and enjoying this friendly, relaxing atmosphere.