Company Arrives

Dave and Lorna have arrived in Majuro for their sixth visit aboard SV Astarte. It is good to have them here and they managed to get out of the snowy and cold midwest and arrive with an on-time flight. They beat the new windlass here by a few hours so unfortunately the boat wasn't quite ready for them. It was still quite "torn apart" so the new windlass could be more quickly and easily installed. After they got aboard, the phone call came that the windlass was finally here. It took a lot longer than the promised Fed Ex arrival date. But after our guests were aboard so was the new windlass, and installation began immediately. Unfortunately, the design of the windlass had changed a little in the ten years – so a bit of modification (along with some new words!) went into the process. Dave helped Michael get the the windlass installed even though a huge rainstorm began. The island had been in a serious drought until Dave and Lorna stepped off the plane. As soon as they set foot on Marshall Island soil, the drizzle began and over the next day it became a hard and heavy rain and squally weather.

Even with the wet weather, we managed to get the boat provisioned up and ready for leaving Majuro. We had already done the diesel runs so it was simply food, gasoline and the last minute beer, wine and scotch run.

Today, Thursday, we did manage to finally release the mooring ball in Majuro and head up the atoll to moor off the island of Enemanet – still in the Majuro atoll but away from the noise, lights and urge to keep buying stuff! We'll watch the weather over the next few days to see if we can make the run to one of the outer islands while Dave and Lorna are here. Right now it looks like the ITCZ is sitting over the area so it is a bit wet and squally and pretty windy from the northeast. We'd like the wind (and seas) to settle a bit and come more from the east. If that happens in the next day or two we'll make a run for Maloelap, It would be nice to get an outer island experience.

For now, we are enjoying the company and hoping the weather settles.

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