On our way back to Maloelap

Date: Today!

I am chagrined to report that I have still not had the time/taken the time to catch up on my blog. We are ever-moving ever-doing and it seems like there's no time to just sit in a quiet cabin and catch up (and there's SO much to catch up on besides the blog, when we've been out for the whole summer).

I still am hoping to get around to doing blog posts on

- Relatively uneventful sail/motorsail from Ailuk to Majuro with an unplanned stop at Maloelap (leaky exhaust)

- A short stop in Majuro for re-supply and internet

- A week in Mili Atoll, where we were able to dive in flat calm conditions on a B-25 bomber shot down in WW2 off the end of the Mili airfield. Because the conditions were so good, we located, photographed, and mapped parts of the airplane that had never been located before. We have shared our results with the Historical Preservation Office in Majuro (and with Matt Holly, the original discoverer of this airplane).

- Another very short stop in Majuro to provision for our trip to Maloelap

Plus of course, updating the existing blog posts with a few of the hundreds of photos we have taken!

We are now on our way 90 miles north to Maloelap Atoll, where we plan to do some more diving and land exploration of WW2 sites.

Tops on the agenda is to try to locate an as-yet-missing Corsair airplane reported shot down over Taroa Island in Maloelap. We have been trying to work with Matt Holly (who has been searching for this airplane for a number of years) and get a group of cruiser/divers together to do an organized search. Matt's been delayed and his disorganization has put off a couple of the boats that had expressed interest. But we and Challenger are going to get started anyway. We have enough information from Matt to know where he has determined the plan is NOT. Hopefully Westward II will be able to join us in a few days (they are working on engine issues in Majuro). And maybe Matt will actually join us in a few days also--sailing up with s/v Tribute.

The wind has been more or less "light and variable" for 3 weeks now, and the GRIBS look like it will stay that way for at least another week. Light winds are not unusual in the summer here, but a stretch this long with winds this light ARE unusual. It makes for terrible sailing but great diving.

So on we motor... ETA Taroa anchorage in Maloelap around noon.

Our future plans are to spend about 10 days in Maloelap, hit Majuro one more time for provisions, then stop in Jaluit (another Japanese base during WW2) on our way back to Kwajalein. We plan to leave Soggy Paws in Kwaj for October and November while we fly back to the U.S.