Saturday, September 26, 2009

First Week in Majuro

We arrived in Majuro in a rainstorm-welcome home! Just to make sure we were back, a cockroach decided to scurry under my suitcase as I was showing my passport. After some quick foot maneuvering on my part, he decided to move on an intimidate someone else.

Things heated up right away when John tried to start our Volvo 18 hp diesel engine to charge the batteries. Deader than a doornail. The engine had seized up. After a week of working on it every day and checking with "Cruisers Forum" on the internet, a great website for cruising people, he finally got it running but he thinks the compression in one of the two cylinders is not up to par. We will have to see if it will be necessary to get a new engine to the tune of $10,000. We sure hope not.

Yesterday, Friday Sept. 25 was Culture Day in Majuro, Marshall Islands. We were there with a booth representing the Mieco Beach Yacht Club selling memberships, flags, caps and T-shirts. It was a fun despite the rain. There were volley ball games, tug-of-war competitions between the different schools, both boys and girls, lots of singing, dancing, crafts and food.

We have received four boxes of school supplies so far with promise of more to come. We will sort through the things and try to fill the wish lists of teachers in the outer atolls. All you that have contributed, thank you so much. Pictures will be taken as we hand things out and I will post them on the Blog.

To those of you we heard from that have boats in San Carlos, MX and have sustained damage, we are indeed sorry to hear and hope that the damage is minimal.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Back to Majuro, Marshall Islands

Linda came to the states the end of June to visit with family and friends. Matt and Judy Johnston, formerly of the boat ELSEWHERE, picked her up from the airport and she visited with them for a few days before heading up to OR to visit friends, Tom & Eileen Riordan and then on to WA to visit with brother Terry, wife Gerry, and their son and his family.

She then returned to the Bay Area where the next day her daughter Trish and grandkids J.D. and Jamie arrived. In a few days the other daughter, Susan and her girls Kaytlin, Stefanie and Kassidy arrived for a visit also. We had four wonderful days of exploring San Francisco and area complete with a dip in the freezing cold ocean. This was a must for the older girls as they live in ID and never get to see, much less go into the ocean. The visit was way to short and everyone had a great time. J.D. and Jamie stayed with Linda on her friends Kathy and Charles Hodgekins boat, MISCHIEF along with Jane Beal and her son Dylan. Dad Dwight also came for a visit for the last week of the kids sailing lessons. We all had a great time and the kids learned about sailing, racing and living on a boat. There were lots of activities after sailing lessons and never a dull moment!

After the three weeks of sailing lessons, Linda, J.D. and Jamie flew to Dallas, TX where the kids live with their parents who were anxiously awaiting their return. It was much harder for Mom and Dad to have the kids away from home than it was for the kids!

The time flew by in TX and soon Linda was heading for IL on Amtrak. She visited with and aunt and her family, cousins and college friends. The next stop was Wonder Lake, IL where she attended the 50th Year Reunion of the first ski show in which she performed back in 1959. It was great fun talking over memories of stunts tried-some failed and there were some successes. This ski club has risen to be the well known Wonder Lake Ski Team. Check out their website at http://www.wonderlakeskiteam.org. They are amazing!

Soon it was time to head back to CA to meet up with John who had stayed in the Marshall Islands working on the boat until August and then flew to CA to visit with his family. We are now in the midst of packing up all the boat parts and miscellaneous items and will be flying out on Tuesday, September 15 for another season in the Pacific. Linda promises to try to keep this blog up and we always appreciate your emails. Linda & John