Is that sunshine I see?

OK… my pity party is slowly coming to an end.  There’s a new and improved Monica with a positive attitude!  Why, you ask?  Well, because things are looking up, of course! 

First, we received some really surprising, yet fantastic news from the investigator in Tarawa.  Not only did they arrest three people for the break in of our boat, but wait….hold your breath… they actually found our two computers and iPad.  No joking.  The bad news is that it may take forever to get it back to us (they need it for trial), but with a few whiny emails about how we need it for navigation and communications and weather (all true) hopefully we’ll cut the time down by a few months.  You could have knocked us over with a feather when we got this news.

Secondly, It looks like Andy may have gotten his first paid freelance job!  Some Japanese folks are coming here and have chartered a boat to Bikini Atoll and are looking for an underwater photographer.  It appears that Andy fits the bill.  There are other photographers but none with the equipment and experience he has.  So, he may be taking a little 10 day excursion to Bikini in the next week or so.  (I tried to convince him it was my fabulous resume writing skills that tipped him over, but we all know I’m wrong).

And finally, and I do mean “finally,” we were able to get sponsorship to Kwajalein.  When we set out 6 months ago trying to find a sponsor, we had no idea the red tape and regulations it actually required (why, I don’t know.  I mean we’ve spent a lot of time in the military…it should have been a given).  But apparently, the people that step up to sponsor you are required to vouch for pretty much everything about you.  By that I mean, medical, food, housing, toilet paper…well, maybe not toilet paper, but you get the idea.  It’s no wonder a bunch of strangers were hesitant to give up their days allowed for visitors (they only get 90 a year) for a few vagabonds strolling in on a yacht.  But, much to our appreciation, it appears there is a really nice couple (fellow boaters) that we have a lot of common with (at least on the surface) and they are willing to host us for a few weeks.  More on that later…I don’t want to jinx it.  But the icing on the cake is that they have kids!  We can’t wait to meet them.  We’re hoping we can head up there right after Andy gets back from Bikini, weather permitting.

So there you have it….yes, it’s still raining here in Majuro, but my outlook has more sunshine in the forecast than thunderstorms and I can assure you the captain is very grateful for that!

Apologies for the lack of pictures but I just haven't taken very many...will try harder.