Good Starfish, Bad Starfish

We are always learning on this adventure. We've learned that not all
starfish are good. The Crown of Thorns starfish are interesting
critters...central body with 'legs' similar to other starfish. But the
number of legs is more than 5. And not necessarily multiples of five. They
eat coral. They are eaten by Napoleon Wrasse and other big (and locally
absent) fish.


Here on Majuro Atoll and adjacent Arno Atoll, these starfish are in the
midst of a population boom. The scientists don't really understand very much
about them and are not sure what causes these localized explosions. But they
do know that where these leggy critters are in abundance, the coral is
decimated.

An instructor at College of Marshall Islands (CMI) and the local fishing
industry association (MIMRA) have joined efforts in an eradication program.
We were asked to join in the effort. So John, Mike (my brother), and I
joined five cruisers and 10 others and jumped on one of the local fishing
transport boats to nearby Arno Atoll. Even though we were planning to stay
only one night, we were loaded to the gills. On board was dive and snorkel
equipment for everyone, 2 dozen tanks, food, coolers, sleeping equipment and
so on. We could have stayed a week! The trip was fast, travelling at least
20 knots - we arrived in less than an hour, propelled by two huge 150hp
engines on the back of this open vessel.

We arrived and staked out the accommodations at a local B&B. Shortly
thereafter, we had a brief intro from Dean, the CMI instructor to discuss
what we were looking for, how we would capture them, and how to avoid being
stung by their sharp thorns. We were diving at night, as that is when they
are most active, and will be easiest to capture.

At 8pm, we all (remember - 18 of us) jumped into the back of a truck for the
ride to the boat. We spent an hour sorting out our gear and getting suited
up and then the boat dropped us onto the reef, just 100m away from the dock.
We worked in pairs or triplets, with some people responsible for scanning
and searching for animals, others wielding the long handled bbq tongs for
their removal, and all of us with multiple straw sacks tucked into our
BCD's/wetsuits that we were to fill with dozens of creatures.

After an hour of searching John, Mike and I had caught one starfish. ONE.
Most other dive teams had similar luck, with only two or three animals. The
snorkellers were having much better luck in shallow water, but we didn't
know that until we all rendezvoused back on the boat. Our trip definitely
added to the knowledge pool on this creature: shallow areas were preferred,
rather than the deeper sites; animals remain hidden and are not especially
active during the full moon; and coral with bleached spots may indicate a
nearby starfish.

All in all, it was a good trip. We did some snorkelling the next morning,
and a few more Crown of Thorns were added to the 45 that we collected the
previous night. The coral at Arno is some of the most beautiful we've seen
anywhere in the Pacific, such diversity and explosions of colour. Fabulous.

Mikey arrives on a shitty day

My brother, Mike, has arrived for a three week visit!! We're thrilled to
have his company on Renova. Too bad Tara couldn't join him.

Our first day was pretty relaxed. We sat around and caught up on news, and
enjoying unpacking the treats that he had brought with him from home. We
were thrilled with the books and magazines that he brought for us, as well
as lots of dried foods that will be great for the long sail home next month.
Our first evening was spent having dinner with the yachties.

Wind is light this week, so we've decided to stick around Majuro, until we
have some wind to push us to the outer islands. Even without wind, life
hasn't been dull. Mike's first full day was spent watching John rebuild our
head (toilet)...the most loved boat project aboard. Unfortunately, we
discovered a crack in the pedestal, so we've had to order a new part. Oh
well...it's a good thing we have great mail service here. There was no
shortage of poo jokes around here. Two boys, a toilet in pieces in the
cockpit and the kitchen, and the chief mechanic is also the chief cook. Yep.
Good times.

Shit-eating grin :O)

Oh yeah. And it poured rain for his first two days.

Updates

I see that my recent updates have not been uploaded. Sorry for the delay, I
see there has been a glitch in the email post feature. I'm going to resend
them. Also, you may have noticed that while we were in Majuro, I uploaded
pictures to the past couple months of blog posts while we were in Aur and
Maloelap. I've also updated our photos on flickr.

Enjoy.

Wotje Atoll

After a week of hanging with friends and reprovisioning in Majuro, we set
off through the pass and headed north. We sailed 175 miles to the atoll of
Wotje, which has 75 islands circling the atoll, a total area of 8 km2, and a
peak elevation of 3 meters.

We are anchored in 15 feet of crystal blue water, with a crumbling flying
boat ramp on our north side, and a crumbling pier on the south of us. We're
nicely sheltered in one of the calmest anchorages we've seen!

This island was another major Japanese base during WWII, and our guidebook
tells us that it is covered 'end-to-end' with war bunkers and artifacts.
We've read that 3000 Japanese military were heavily bombed by the Americans
here and many of those who didn't die in the attacks starved to death. Only
1200 survived.

After two days of wandering around, we've seen remains of some bunkers, pill
boxes, a radio tower, torpedo racks and barracks. There does not seem to be
as much here as Maloelap, but we still have some exploring to do. This
morning, we plan to snorkel a sunken ship and plane wreck not far from our
boat.

These racks held the torpedos for the flying boats and planes

Wotje is also the location of the regional high school for northern islands,
so there are lots of students here. It also seems to be more wealthy than
the other two local islands we've visited so far. Most homes are made of
cement block and almost all are painted in cheery colours, a luxury that we
rarely saw on Aur or Maloelap. There are even a couple vehicles here - we've
seen three trucks so far. There is a large generating station providing
power to most homes. It is a pretty unusual sight to see a local home built
of simple materials with a power meter mounted to the outside wall.

This old Japanese ammunition bunker is now being used as a home, and you can see the power meter mounted on the side.

After a couple months of both local planes being away for repairs, the local
airline had one plane running for the last month or so. But now it is back
in the repair hanger. This is a common theme in the islands. It is well
known that if you fly "Air Maybe" there is a good chance that you might not
be able to return as planned. There are currently a few people here on Wotje
that are looking for a ride to Majuro - we've been asked to take four people
so far, and we've heard that there are more. Our plans aren't firm yet,
we're waiting to hear when we need to be back in town, so we haven't yet
committed to the passengers. In any case, looks like we're in for an
interesting ride...

Majuro Fun

We have a love-hate relationships with Majuro. In so many ways it is
fabulous. There are large grocery stores, where you can buy most things that
you would want or need. It may be expired, but it is here. There are great
hardware stores, so it is easy to get your inevitable projects completed.
They use the US Postal Service, so receiving mail is simple and fast,
especially from the States. There is a great yachtie community here with
regular social activities and a wealth of local information. There is
internet - expensive, but it is good and we can get it from our boat - a big
plus.

Of course, it is a busy city for this part of the world. So it is a bit
dirty. We don't swim. The harbour is deep, so tying to a mooring ball is
required and not free (but by no means is it expensive). The worse part for
us is that we have no self control. We eat out. We buy stuff. We just bleed
money. So our new mantra is to stay only as long as necessary. After all,
we're getting closer to the end of our trip and funds are getting low.

But our favorite part of Majuro is that just a few miles away from 'town' is
a lovely getaway spot that is frequented so often by yachties, that they
have installed a few mooring balls to save the coral from anchor damage.
There are sandy beaches and wonderful swimming here. You instantly feel
removed and relaxed. Cruisers who are working in Majuro often come out here
on weekends, but during the week, it is easy to find yourself as the only
boat. We spent last weekend out at the island of Eneko, with friends on Savannah, Love Song and Molly II.

Love Song and Savannah anchored at Eneko

We had a great weekend. John scrubbed the bottom. I slummed with the
ladies on the anchored floating dock, where we read magazines, swam when
hot, and painted my toes. I gazed down at the coral life while cruising
around on Love Song's stand up paddleboard. We potluck bbq'ed on the beach.
And I even managed a sewing project.

3 boys and 2 dogs on a kayak exploring the reef. Very cool.

Just Add Bubbles

Guilty Pleasures

Within 10 minutes of tying up to the mooring ball at Majuro, we were in the
dinghy and heading for food. After our overnight passage, we were anxious
for some yummy lunch. DAR hit the spot with shrimp chop suey and chicken
chow mein. Yum.

Our overnight passage was pretty uneventful. We went through several
squalls, which we've come to associate with Majuro. There always seem to be
regular squalls as you get closer to this atoll. We always find one or two
day trips a bit painful, because there is no time to get your body into a
sleep rhythm. Try going to bed at 7pm. Not easy. Or staying up half the
night. After our 2nd or 3rd night, we're in the groove and life is good, but
a one night trip always takes a toll. Even if the passage is short, we still
think of the good food we'll eat when the boat stops rocking and hopefully
when someone else is doing the cooking!

After our lunchtime splurge we grabbed some eggs, potstickers, and an
internet card, and returned to the boat for a few hours of zzzzzz's.

Still more to see at Maloelap

We've been in this atoll for 2 weeks and there is still more to see. We
spent the last few days with Savannah at Ollot/Ollet Island, and now we're
back at Taroa Island. Savannah has left for the atoll of Aur, so we're on
our own again.

Today, we ventured out in the dingy to a tiny dot of an island about 1/2 a
mile north. There were a few whitecaps as we crossed to pass between the
islands, but it was an easy, albeit wet, trip. When we arrived, we realized
that the island was so tiny, that we wouldn't see much. We had read there
was a plane on the beach, but it was still buried under the high tide. We
did find the control panel, some aluminum scrap, and the landing gear.
Unfortunately, the beach was rocky, so there was little chance of finding an
intact glass ball, yet we searched the high tide line regardless. We did
find a beautiful conch shell.

In the afternoon, we returned to the village to stroll the beach one more
time, and say our goodbyes. We plan to head to one other uninhabited island
in this atoll, then head back to Majuro. We're in a rush now...John is out
of coffee!

Labels: Maleolap, Marshall Islands, culture, sightseeing, cruisers.

Savannah Joins Us

Our friends on s/v Savannah came to join us at Maloelap. Even though we were holding a piece of their mail hostage, I like to think they came because they wanted to hang out!

Savannah arrives!

We've had a great time hanging out with them again. It's been great catching
up on what we've all been up to since we were last together - we last saw
them in December in Majuro. I've destroyed numerous military bases, rocket
launchers, gun turrets, and even a aircraft carrier as a result of some
serious battles against Jake. He's six. And we're putting a good size dent
into our booze supply with our regular cocktail hours. We've all wandered
around the island, as John provided (once again) his tour guide services of
all the relics we've located here so far.

Touring the junk...

John and Andy dove on a sunken Japanese supply ship. Andy took some amazing
pics, so be sure to check out their blog soon (there is a link on the right
side bar). We've also moved 5 miles to a nearby island of Ollot Island, and
dove on two wrecked Japanese ships. Tomorrow we'll snorkel two Japanese
zeros (fighter planes) nearby.

Jake checks out a stash of old bullets on the beach

Our plans from here are not firm. We're down to our last few potatoes and onions, so I expect we'll head back to Majuro before venturing to any new atolls further north.

Our new position is 8 45N, 171 10E.

Deep Fried Goodness

We heard that our friends on Savannah were going to brave the winds and bash
upwind for two days to come hang out with us here in Maloelap. Yippee!!

So, in honour of their arrival, I thought I'd better try my hand at
deep-frying. They are from the South after all.

In the atoll of Aur, our friend James gave us some bananas and what we
thought were plantains. We don't really know what to do with plantains, but
I have heard that they are delicious when deep fried. So bring on the oil!
I sliced the plantains thinly, dipped them in a pot full of veg oil and
fried em up. Added salt. Yum. Like chips.

That was my test batch.

When Savannah arrived a couple days later, I made them again. But this time
they didn't get crispy. They were much softer. My plantains had ripened.
Monica and Andy listened to my woes, and quickly replied, in unison,
"Double-fry". DOH. OF COURSE!! I should have fried, drained, cooled, then
refried. Hmmmm. I have a lot to learn about deep frying.

They also informed me that they weren't plantains at all, just big bananas.
Oh well. Turns out I like deep fried bananas. Even soft and mushy ones. So
long as they have lots of salt.