Underway - Day 1 and 2

Dolphins surrounded the boat as we left Ant Atoll.

Just in time for supper tonight, we caught a fish. Finally! I won't tell you how small it was, just that it was a Mahi Mahi and it was the perfect size to feed our little family.

Our first "little" fish.

Eventually, we caught two more.

That's the first major event that has happened on this passage. So I guess that makes it a pretty good passage. Our wind has been fair, but we've spent today motor sailing. The trades haven't quite settled in and the wind keeps shifting a bit and the speed varies as well. But we're making good time. We should be arriving in our little atoll tomorrow, early afternoon.

I was trying to think of something interesting to write in this update and couldn't really think of anything. The biggest thing on my mind this time is how much I wish I enjoyed these passages more. I haven't gotten sick on this one, but at the same time, I don't feel my best. I get nervous and I'm sure that doesn't help things. I wish I was more comfortable out here. I keep saying it's because we haven't been out in a while, but I know that's not true. I'm just getting more honest... The good news is that it will just be these short passages between atolls so even though I won't have time to get acclimated, I won't be very far from land for long.

Stay tuned...we have no idea what we'll find tomorrow. From the looks of Google earth, it's a bit populated. I don't think it will be too "native" but we'll see!

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Off to the Morlocks

We finally got checked out on Friday (not before being charged overtime for a holiday, which technically was on Thursday), and made our way to Ant Atoll to rest up and scrub the bottom before moving on.

We're heading out tomorrow and making way toward the Mortlock Islands (also known as Nomoi Islands). We don't know much about these islands other than what we've read from Googling it. We can't seem to find another boat that's gone this way and wrote about it. We chose the route for two reasons...The first being, just as I said, it's off the beaten path. Secondly, it's a great jibe to our next destination, Pulawat. We've heard from other cruisers that Pulawat is a great place to stop, very welcoming and friendly and still somewhat untouched by western ways.

As we've spent our last two days here on Ant, I decided to keep a good eye on the veggies. That local pumpkin I fully expected to last until the end? Well, it already rotted out and I had to throw it overboard. I don't know if it's because I had it too close to the cabbages or what, but it's not a good start. We're finishing up the last of our lettuce (the green bags obviously didn't work) and I had to roast all of our peppers and keep them in oil to keep from losing them as well. At this rate, we'll be breaking into those cans of corn next week. I'm not too worried, just irritated at the situation. As I've said before, since things come in on the ship from the US, by the time they get here they can already be 2 weeks+ old....no surprises that they go bad quickly.

On a good note, we're having fun! We've snorkeled, walked around the island, played on the beach and yes, caught more coconut crabs.

I started off with a little head cold (or sinus issue) and am now left with only the headache. Hopefully that will die off before we leave tomorrow so I'm only left with seasickness! We should arrive in 2 - 2 1/2 days and who knows what we'll find. The Mortlocks are actually quite populated (3000 or so people across 3 atolls), they just don't get very many visitors. Hopefully we'll be welcome.

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Moving on...

We’ve planned our next leg of our adventure and it involves 4 atolls and 1400 miles, ending in Yap.  There won’t be any grocery stores between here and Yap so we’ve spent the last few days stocking up.  I wasn’t really planning very well until Andy brought it to my attention that this would be the longest time between stores, including our Pacific crossing…that got my attention.

We don’t have nearly as much on board as we did when we crossed the Pacific.  I wondered if it was because we’ve gotten better at this provisioning thing and just don’t need as much.  But in the end, I think it’s because there is no Costco or Walmart here and things cost at least twice as much as they did anywhere else and well, there’s just not that much available.

You’ve heard my rant on the lack of veggies.  Well, the ship came in a few days ago, so there are plenty of [moldy] veggies.  The problem is, they’ve all been refrigerated and in order to take enough for a month, they need to stay out of the fridge…  I’m being forced to be creative.  I’ve gotten out my “green” bags, which I’ve never used.  I’m hoping they help keep things fresher.  And I’ve got plans for those things that start to go off.  Like my peppers, for instance.  We’ll eat them as long as they’re good, but when they start to go bad, I’ll roast them and then put them in a jar with some oil to prolong our enjoyment.  I bought a local pineapple.  Like everything else, they’ve picked it very green, so I’m thinking we’ll be cutting that open in a week or two.  We’re loaded to the gills with apples and believe it or not, pears.  Onions are swinging from the net and I have the obligatory cabbages.  My favorite part (and I’m not sure I bought enough) is the cucumbers.  All in all, I think in about two weeks we’re going to be out of veggies….then we’ll move onto the cans.

We’ve bought diesel, gas, propane, beer, wine, eggs (I finally found local eggs that don’t have to be refrigerated and they taste 100% better than the tiny things we’ve been buying in the store), cereal, milk, juice, soda, snacks……  I think we’re good to go.  I know we’re out of money, that’s for sure.

We rented a car to get the diesel and gas done.  It took us three trips.

Too much stuff in the car, he had to hang out the window like
the rest of the local kids.

Trip one.... two more to go.

Today we said our final goodbyes to our good friends Rodney, Monica and Luke.  Jake has met so many kids on our adventures, but the ones he truly connects with are few and far between.  Luke was definitely one of those kids.  His sweet little self followed us all the way up his driveway, then his road, and for a few minutes the boys decided he was going with us.  We’ll miss Rodney and Monica as well….great people, kindred spirits.  Who knows, it’s  a small world.  Monica and I are convinced we’ll end up on the same Carribean islands somewhere (or small suburb of VA, either way).

And now it’s time to go.   We’ll check out at the dock in the a.m. and if we can get out of here before noon, we’ll head on out to Ant for a few days and then off to the Morlock Islands.  We have no idea what we’ll find.  I can’t find any research where any cruiser has been there and written about it.  Stay tuned…this should be our least traveled path so far.  Remember, no internet = no pictures, but we’ll be updating the blog via the radio, so tune in for more.

Happy Halloween!

Captain America and Ceratosaurus get ready
to explore town.

Jake has been planning his costume for Halloween for about 3 months now.  As you might remember from last year, he gets very particular ideas about what he wants to be and it usually can’t be bought in a store (even though this year we had plenty of stores to chose from while we were home).   This year he decided he wanted to be a dinosaur.  But not just any dinosaur, he wanted to be a Ceratosaurus.  He wanted horns, stripes, blood stains and claws like a real therapod.  

I got ambitious and bought fabric and a pattern while we were in the states.  After stressing over it for quite some time, Andy finally had the brilliant idea to have the seamstress here in Pohnpei sew it for me.  So we did.  But that was just the beginning.  Jake had to make it just right.  So he and Andy spent a whole day putting stripes, horns, and blood on it specifically to Jake's directions.  They made a mask and claws as well (he ended up not actually wearing the mask, but it was his "favorite" part).  Jake thinks it's his most creative costume yet...he was very proud.

After spending so much time on his costume, we had to make sure someone saw it!  We were lucky this year in that we had another kid to go trick or treating with and we had places other than boats to go.  

We started out at the Rusty Anchor with Luke and his dad.  The boys got to show off their costumes and have some dinner to get them energized.  Then we got in the car and off we went.  

He wanted to make sure we all saw his tail.

Every dinosaur needs a bit of sushi before going out to hunt.

Trick or treating in the kitchen of the Rusty Anchor.

Getting their "treat"...ice cream!

Andy and I weren't sure if Halloween was a big deal here or not.  We quickly learned it was a HUGE deal.  Kids everywhere, cars everywhere, candy everywhere.  It's a lot like in the states only no sidewalks and no streetlights.  People pick their favorite neighborhoods and the parents drive them there.  Unfortunately, there's not many "neighborhoods" so everyone picks the same ones.  And it's the ones the Ex-Pats live in...the best candy and fewest dogs, I'm guessing.  You use the same general principal in deciding which houses to go to - the ones with the lights on.  Only the Pohnpeans don't want you to be confused so if they really don't want to hand out candy (or aren't home), just to make sure it's clear, they leave their dogs on the porch to bark and run at you.  Cool, huh?

The kids had a great time and were very excited about their candy.  It's still funny to me to watch Jake eat candy as he doesn't know the names of everything and his favorites are still those weird candy's they don't sell in the US.  Which makes it good for Andy and I.  While Jake eats his wacky jaw breakers, Andy and I get the Skittles and Snickers bar.

We're heading out next week, so from here on out we'll be doing our thing trying to get ready.  It might be a month or so before we actually get to Yap, so a bit more planning is in store this time.  Stay tuned.

The Elusive Waterfall....and other stuff

Another hodge-podge of events…  we’ve gone diving, had some friends over, and gone exploring the mangroves.  We’re going to be leaving here in the next week or so, so we’ve been trying to fit everything in….and we finally found that elusive waterfall…

While we waited on the ship to come in, we managed to live off of mangrove crabs and cucumbers!  Not bad...

A Japanese boat came through.  They were on their way back to Japan
with NO stops....good luck s/v Dolce!

 Rodney and Luke kayaked out to the boat one afternoon and the boys played and played...We took them back in the Mangroves at high tide and the boys had a blast.  The adults managed to have a good time too :).

They had their adventure to the "other side."

Drinking the "gift" from the Japanese folks...

 Before we left California, we met a guy from mom and dad's church who was volunteering as a teacher in Pohnpei.  Jake and I promised to meet up with him when we got back.  Well, here we are with Cole and 3 of his friends, enjoying an afternoon on Savannah.  I'm afraid the parents won't be too happy about it.  One of the kids is now thinking about the military and the other three are trying to figure out how to crew on sailboats....  sorry...

Sunday, we decided to go on a dive/snorkel on the other side of the island.  Jake and Luke played in the water ALL DAY LONG....

Our driver, Incher...

The boat ride back, after a VERY long day.

 There is a US Post office here.... our first purchase, a brand new grill...

And we finally found the elusive waterfall... You might remember that we tried to find this waterfall when we first got here with Lee and Richard on s/v Before.  Well, today we found it.  We had to cut the engine at least 6 times and duck under numerous trees, but alas, we found it... well worth the effort...

A bit of trash on the way...

Our own personal Gondalier (sp?)...

 On our way back, we all had to take our "Mangrove" pictures.

Sokehs Rock

Stay tuned for the next post....Halloween....and a very scary Ceratasorous  (a big dinosaur for you guys not in the know!).....

The ship has arrived!

After living on mangrove crabs and cucumbers for a few weeks (not a bad existence when you get right down to it), we finally have veggies again!  The ship came in and we have veggies, cheeses, good bread and semi-fresh meat!  We stocked up as is everyone else on the island.  You never know the schedule of these things and it could be another month before we see it again.

I'm not extremely organized in my thoughts lately so this is another hodgepodge post.  We've been spending a lot of time with other kids and due to one of the parents being ever so generous in his babysitting offers, Andy and I actually got to dive together the other day!

It looks like we'll be here a few more weeks.  We want to wait until after halloween as Jake has his costume all ready and since there are other kids, he's overly excited about trick or treating.  Then we'll wait for the wind to die completely and sail, motor on out of here.  Yes, we know we're leaving a tad early for the winds, but we're about Pohnpei'd out.  We're looking forward to visiting some of the outer atolls and making our way to Yap.

Eat what the locals eat...or not.

When starting out cruising, one of the first things you worry about is food.  You always try to stock up on everything and there’s a  balance between wanting to try new food and not wanting to go hungry.  Everyone always tells you, “eat what the locals eat and you won’t have to worry about it.”

I’m here to dispute that thought process.  I’m going way against the cruising grain here, but in our case, I think I’m right.  “Eat what the locals eat” is easy to say and follow in Mexico.  I mean really, who doesn’t love Mexican food?  Fish tacos, enchiladas, home made pico de gallo (although that’s a lot harder to find than you would think).  But who thinks about going out to dinner and says, “Honey, lets have some Micronesian food tonight!”  No one.  Do you know why?  Because canned corn beef, potato chips and mechanically separated turkey doesn’t sound good does it?  I know, I know…”they eat fish and rice and breadfruit and taro and oh, Monica, you just haven’t gotten into the culture!”  Wrong again.  They USED to eat that stuff and on the outer islands, you MAY find a few that still do, but I assure you, canned corn beef IS local food and has been for the last 2,000 miles of our adventure.  I saw a 1 year old kid at the laundry mat and in the few hours is took me to finish my laundry, I saw this kid drink 2 full size sodas and eat a rice crispy treat, bag of chips and a lolly pop.  No joke.  This area of the world has the largest diabetic population known and I am not shocked in the least.

Why am I writing about this now?  Well, I just spent a few months in California (5 months total in the States) and I am having some serious vegetable withdrawls.  To make matters worse, my parents are vegetarians so I ate an abnormal amount of veggies for me and well, my body liked it.  Here, in Pohnpei, it’s feast or famine.  “Feast” means a ship just came in….from the US.  Meaning it stopped in HI, Majuro, Kosrae and then here.  By the time it got here, the broccoli is growing extra things and the red peppers have fur on their caps.  “What about local produce Monica?”….I can hear you asking that.  Well, yes…there are bananas and coconuts.  There are cucumbers (by the way, that’s the highlight of Pohnpei for me….cucumbers…I love them and they are always around).  You can get fish but more often than not, it’s very small reef fish that you just took pictures of on your last snorkeling trip.  I have bought local lettuce (available once), eggplant (I’m just making myself like eggplant) and tonight, I bought green beans (I happen to be the only one on board who likes these).  The fact is, they don’t eat veggies.  They just don’t.  Kosrae had local gardens.  Pohnpei has these, but they are REALLY hard to find.

OK…I got off track.  “Famine” means just that.  Today we went to a restaurant and the choice with my chicken sandwich was fries or green salad.  I ordered green salad.  “We don’t have salad.”  I asked the grocery store when they were expecting the next container of veggies.  She screwed her face up really funny and said “ooooooo….November 2!”  It’s October 16.  But even that varies.  You can ask 10 different people and get 10 different answers.  But today…the entire island is out of veggies.  We drove around the island today and I looked in every small roadside stand and all I saw was beetle nut (think ‘skoal” and cigarette butts and rotten teeth) and donuts. 

After all that ranting, though…..we were on our way back to the boat tonight and we ran into a local ex-pat who had been fishing on his kayak all day and he gave us a tiny little barracuda.  Andy cooked it up and I cut up some cold cucumbers and blanched green beans (with dip) and we feasted on a relatively healthy dinner.  It’s all in your perspective, I guess.  We have some friends here who are Seventh Day Adventists, traditionally vegetarian.  I’m dying to know what they’re eating.  Canned corn and spinach, I’m guessing.

Food is always going to be one of the ways we rate our adventures.  For those of you that share our love for cuisine (and cruising), just think about that, while you prepare for your next major crossing or adventure.  “Eat what the locals eat,” sounds good, but isn’t always the best plan of attack.  Unless you don’t mind carrying an extra supply of insulin and cholesterol pills on board with you…  I’m just sayin’…..