Some diving in Majuro

We've been doing a bit of underwater exploring here in Majuro by teaming up
with SV Savannah. Within the lagoon there are several sunken wrecks, and
amazing coral. So far, we've mostly been looking at small fish - which are
plentiful. We have seen one spotted eagle ray, and a small shark, but
everything else is pretty small. Visibility is great. Andy's taking some
pics, so we hope to share an image or two sometime soon!

Two Years Aboard SV Renova

Well, I wrote this blog post a few months ago - early august in fact - but
didn't post it, while I sorted out the numbers. Well, I've finally done the
math...

Hard to believe that it was just two years ago, that I threw the last boxes
into our storage locker, tried to sneak an extra box or two aboard Renova,
passed my car keys to Brandy Lee, and boarded Renova for a short sleep at
the marina before we headed South on this epic adventure. What a chaotic
time that was!

Throughout these two years, we've endured crazy weather, crazy people, and
crazy places. But we've also been blessed by amazing sunsets, fascinating
wildlife, pristine anchorages, stunning landscapes and phenomenal culinary
delights.

But most of all, we've enjoyed the wonderful people that we've met along the
way. Both the other cruisers that we've met, as well as the local people in
the many various places have been an absolute joy. We continually met new
people on every part of this journey, who offered help and expertise when
needed, shared cultural experiences and anchorages, and generally were great
company. We look forward to keeping in touch with many of them in the
future.

We have so many memories from this journey, that it has been difficult to
capture it all in the small, readable tid-bits that we post here. For those
long-winded blog posts, I apologize. And then there are the times that we're
so busy experiencing...that we tend to fall behind on blogging. Oops.

Out of curiosity, I calculated how much time we spent at sea vs time in an
anchorage. To my surprise, we spent a lot of time in marinas! But thinking
back, it makes sense - San Francisco, when John was commuting to work at
home; La Paz, when John returned home to deal with our flooded house; La
Cruz, to do boat repairs after playing bumper boats in the anchorage; and
Samoa, where staying in the marina is mandatory. And of course, our trip
home to work during cyclone season had an impact on the overall numbers.

Nights at sea: 86 (12%)
Nights at anchor: 249 (34%)
Nights in marina: 177 (24%)
Nights at home in own bed: 219 (30%)
Total nights: 731

Here are a few other numbers:
Nautical Miles travelled: 11,672 nm
Countries visited: 8
Books read: 62 (just me - John's not included)
Flights: 10 (I guess this life-style isn't so carbon-friendly, after all)
Photos taken: 6000+
Guests: 10
Blog visitors: 4639
Blog visits: 19,937

We're now well into our third year. And the final year of this trip. By
spring, we expect to be crossing the North Pacific on our way home. By the
end of summer, we'll be looking for new jobs to recover from this trip, and
start saving for the next one!