Waiting for Weather

TROPICAL STORM (TS) 03W (FAXAI) HAS TRACKED NORTHWARD AT 05 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. ANIMATED ENHANCED INFRARED IMAGERY DEPICTS A CONSOLIDATING LOW-LEVEL CIRCULATION CENTER (LLCC) WITH IMPROVED DEEP CONVECTIVE BANDING WRAPPING INTO THE LLCC. A COMPOSITE IMAGE DEPICTS A MICROWAVE EYE FEATURE WITH MULTIPLE DEEP CONVECTIVE BANDS, PRIMARILY OVER THE NORTHERN SEMI-CIRCLE, WRAPPING INTO THE CENTER. THERE IS HIGH CONFIDENCE IN THE CURRENT POSITION.

Typhoon Faxai Brewing Up

TS 03W REMAINS UNDER COMPETING STEERING INFLUENCES, NAMELY, THE WEAK SUBTROPICAL RIDGE (STR) POSITIONED TO THE NORTHEAST AND THE NEAR-EQUATORIAL RIDGE (NER) POSITIONED TO THE SOUTH. THEREFORE, THE SYSTEM IS TRACKING SLOWLY.

NUMERIC MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN FAIR AGREEMENT, HOWEVER, FORECAST CONFIDENCE REMAINS LOW DUE TO UNCERTAINTY IN THE SHORT-TERM MOTION.

We originally planned to check out of Pohnpei Friday, stay the weekend at Ant Atoll (25 mi SW of here) again, and then leave when this weather moved off. We are headed 270 miles SW of Pohnpei to a tiny atoll called Lukunor or Lekinioch.

Well that half-formed tropical system has been sitting just west of us for over a week. At first, every day's new Grib file would show it organizing, picking up speed and intensity, and moving off toward the NW the next day. But it's now a week later and it is still sitting in almost the same place. A big cold front swooped down and blocked it from moving NW. But now the cold front has gone and it's still sitting there.

But they did name it (a weird name--Faxai) yesterday, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center has gotten involved in the forecasting. So we are hoping Faxai will really move off tomorrow so we can get out of here!

Here's a link if you want to keep track of what's happening via satellite photo:
http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/mtsat/wcpac/flash-rb.html

(of course, if you are reading this next week, this won't show the typhoon, but our CURRENT weather! However, a still shot is above.

The only problem is, as soon as Faxai moves safely away, there won't be any wind left :P

If you want to read about the area we'll be cruising in in the next couple of months, we have published a fairly complete Micronesia Compendium (a PDF file), gathered from internet research and from inputs from other cruisers ahead of us--there is no cruising guide out here. You can download a free copy from here:

http://svsoggypaws.com/files/index.htm#north-pacific
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At 03/01/2014 7:20 PM (utc) our position was 06°57.75'N 158°12.06'E

The Hustle and Bustle of Pohnpei

I can easily see sitting here in Pohnpei, FSM, for a month catching up on boat projects and recovering from our frenzied trip to the U.S. and the last 3 weeks in Kwajalein. But alas... on to the Hustle and Bustle of Pohnpei.

First, we have to see/do everything there is to see/do in Pohnpei. That has included (starting the day after our arrival), dive trips out to the reef, hiking, an around the island tour, ancient ruins, Japanese relics, and meeting and socializing with some of the FSM and American residents.

John Ranahan, when he can get 6 interested divers, does dive trips out to the reef. On our first diving day, he took us out to Manta Road, where we got to see about 5 huge Manta Rays hanging out in the current and feeding.

Great Manta Shot by Jerry from Challenger
Though we've swum with Mantas before in French Polynesia, you never get tired of watching these majestic sea creatures. The second dive trip we took, we had an awsome drift dive on a wall on the western side of the island.

For hiking, Stephen on Westward II arranged a trip up to see the "6 Waterfalls". We ended up with 13 yachties on that trip--facilitated by Kumer and Antonia helping to arrange 4WD transportation for that many people. This was an all day hike/scramble in the jungle, punctated by swim stops at a couple of the bigger waterfalls. Very strenuous. Well worth it, and probably the best day hike we've done in years.

Dave blew out his almost-new very rugged-looking hiking sandals on this trip--the uppers completely detached from the lowers halfway through the trip. He ended up putting his socks on OVER his sandals, to keep them together. He looked ridiculous, but it was effective. Two people on the hike ended up barefoot scrambling up the rocky riverbed. They had come in totally inadequat flip-flops. My genuine Keen Sharks (now 4 years and many hikes old) are still hanging in there (thank you Sally, for the hand-me-down).

We did another hike on our own up to Sokeh's Ridge. This is an hour walk away from the dignhy dock, up on a huge rocky outcrop overlooking the harbor.

The View from Sokeh's Ridge
We went up to see the Japanese gun emplacements up there, and we hiked all the way to the primary cell tower. We didn't go on the further hike out to the pinnacle overlooking the commercial harbor, but Westward II and Aurora Star did.

One of the Japanese Guns
A Japanese Memorial Marker
Dave Checking Out the Wifi Antennas
On another day, we went with Westward II and rented a car, and went around the island. The highlights of that trip was the "Botanical Gardens" (and black pepper farm), Nan Midol, and another waterfall. Pohnpei is so small (and with a decent blacktop road all the way around) that you can circle the island without stops in about 2 hours. So a one day rental is all you need to see pretty much everything. We bought a pound of black pepper fresh off the tree (still green) at the Botanical Gardens. We have since dried it and are now wondering what to do with that much pepper!!



Growing Peppers at the Botanical Gardens
The Cute Baby Pigs at the Pepper Farm
Nan Midol is another one of those ancient civilization archeological sites that are a "must do" when you visit a place like this. This is a large area of large fortifications / religious structures spread over several fringe islands on the shore.

The Layout of Nan Midol (from Wikipedia)
All the structures are made of huge basalt "logs". Basalt is a rock of volcanic origin, with similar properties to granite--heavy and hard. These "logs" (I would call them columns if they were standing up, but they are used laying down and so "logs" gives a better sense) are rough 5 or 6 sided, 1-2 feet in diameter, and 10-20 feet long.

The Boat Ride Out to Nan Midol




The walls on the main structure are 10-15 feet high. So, again, some older civilization has been organized enough to have the manpower to mine, transport, and construct a huge complex with really massive building materials. Like places like Tikal in Guatemala and Machu Pichu in Peru, it's staggering to think of the effort and skills involved. And this is on a relatively tiny island country 1,500 miles of open ocean from the nearest continent.

Right across from Nan Midol (by car) is another waterfall. We paid $3pp to park the car and "hike" in (5 minute walk on an improved trail" to the waterfall and take a swim. It is the tourist version of the Pohnpei waterfalls.

The Nice Waterfall
We concluded our day of touring with a nice dinner at Cupid's Restaurant, on a cliff overlooking the harbor. This is a popular wedding spot for locals and tourists. And they serve a pretty good meal.

A Nice Sunset at Cupid's Restaurant
Besides the big tourist excursions above, there are some other interesting things to see around town. The Japanese occupied Pohnpei during World War II. The U.S. never assaulted (with troops), but did bomb the gun emplacements on the hill. There are a few Japanese relics still left in Pohnpei. The Ace Hardware store has a small display of accumulated relics, and if you walk back along the dirt road next to Ace, through the concrete factory, there is a line-up of about 10 small one-man Japanese tanks. They are all pretty much intact but rusted in place. Rumor has it that there's one still operating on the island, and we're trying to get a peek at that.

The Japanese Tanks Behind Ace Hardware
A Nice Display of Japanese Artifacts at Ace Hardware
On another day, we got together with the crews of Westward II, Aurora Star, and Challenger and made a dinghy excursion through the mangrove tunnel and out to snorkel on the NW side of the island.

A Dinghy Trip Through a Mangrove Tunnel
Westward II and Aurora Star
Challenger
With all this stuff to see and do, we've been here two weeks and have barely gotten into our "must do" boat projects...

New Island, New Country

With our arrival at Pohnpei (Pon-Pay), we have left the Marshall Islands and entered the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The Federated States are another country formed in the mid 80's when The Trust Territories of the Pacific were "liberated" from the United States, who had acquired them from Japan as part of the WW2 settlement.

Nice View of the Anchorage from the Harbor View Restaurant
Similar to the Marshall Islands, the FSM have their own constitution and government, but have a clause somewhere that says they are in "Free Association with the United States". This means we protect them militarily and give them heaps of aid money and guidance. While the citizens of the FSM are not considered U.S. Citizens, they are granted unlimited visas to visit and work in the U.S., provided they haven't done anything to cause their visa to be denied.

Since most of our yearly aid money goes into health and education budgets in these tiny islands, there is a sizable chunk of the population who speak pretty good English. This makes it easy for us to travel and interact with people at all levels of the economic scale.

So we have had a pretty pleasant time hanging out in Pohnpei. There is a Seven Seas Cruising Association Cruising Host here, John Ranahan. John is an ex-pat American teacher. He and his wife have traveled all over the world teaching English in foreign countries over the last 40 years. They now call Pohnpei home, and help to welcome visiting yachts to Pohnpei. There is also a native Pohnpeian couple, Kumer and Antonia Panuelo, who are building a marina and boating complex on the water in the yachting end of the harbor. So now we have nice dinghy docks, a place to drop of trash, a cruiser bar, and showers. Currently under construction out on the Quay are a dive shop, restaurant, and small 4-unit apartment complex.

Within walking distance is a decent grocery store, a fresh veggie and fish market, and the public library with internet at $10/month. A $1pp taxi ride away, is the downtown section of Pohnpei with more grocery stores, a U.S. Post Office, and a very well-stocked Ace Hardware and Ace Office Supply. In 2 minutes, no waiting, no paperwork, we got a $10 pay-as-you-go sim card from the Telecom, and recharge card that work both for the cell phone and the wifi internet we can receive on the boat and most places in town.

The anchorage itself is the most protected anchorage we have seen since we left Fiji, deep inside an ancient volcanic caldera. I can see now why our friends on Carina spent last typhoon season sitting here in Pohnpei. It is the first flat-dead-calm no-roll-at-any-tide anchorage we've been in in a year. In a word, nice.
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At 02/20/2014 7:20 PM (utc) our position was 06°46.53'N 158°01.03'E

Safe Arrival at Pohnpei

In spite of a forecast that showed 17-18 knots all day, the light air persisted through yesterday. In classic "horse headed for the barn" fashion, rather than enjoying a quiet last day, we motor-sailed all the rest of the way to Pohnpei.

I was for heaving to and waiting for daylight (or enjoying a slow sail in). But Dave wanted to get in, so we arrived at the entrance to the harbor at about 11pm. We hadn't had a squall all day. But of course, as soon as we proceeded in the narrow channel, a small squall descended on us. Fortunately it didn't last long.

We had a good set of waypoints for the entry, and a good set of Google Earth charts, which showed every coral head and reef on the way in (we think). We went slow, with Dave on the bow looking out, and me at the helm, navigating "on instruments". With the computer screen visible in the cockpit, I couldn't see anything outside the cockpit. I just focused on staying on the plotted course, which had several twists and turns. (insert screen shot).

At the very end, we switched places, so Dave could take us into the dock--I dock Soggy Paws about half the time, but I prefer having Dave take her in in new places.

Anyway, we arrived at the Port Captain's dock at 11:55pm last night. A Port Captain representative was there to take our lines, and welcome us to the Federated States of Micronesia.

We had a good night's rest and have just completed our clearance this morning. Starting at 8am this morning, we hosted individual visits from the Port Captain, Agriculture (Quarantine), Health, Immigration, and Customs. The total cost for clearance was $30 paid to Quarantine, for which we received a receipt. All the officials were friendly and professional.

We already have a dive lined up for tomorrow. Besides Challenger and Westward II, we already know two other boats here (Helena and Java), and have been talking to 3-4 others on the radio. We're looking forward to enjoying Pohnpei.
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Sherry & Dave
Heading west across Micronesia in 2014
At 02/05/2014 12:50 PM (utc) our position was 06°58.71'N 158°12.18'E

Typical Fun Passage

We are 70 miles out, and will therefore arrive after dark. Dave says we'll go in rather than heaving to. He's been told it is a easy marked passage into the main ship pier, where we'll have to tie up to clear Customs, etc.

The forecast said (and still says) we should have tradewind conditions from 15-20 knots. Well, we're down to about 10 knots, in 20-knots-worth of sea--sloppy rolly slow conditions. We gave up sailing Dead Down Wind at about 6am on Dave's watch. He just got frustrated and turned the engine on.

The last 36 hours have been challenging. Instead of "tradewind conditions" at 20 knots, we had squally conditions where the mean wind was about 14-17 knots, but 25 knots in squalls. This is always challenging.

To make matters worse--we didn't get around to re-sealing our bimini before we left Kwajalein (we had 2 gallons of 303 shipped in to Kwaj just for this purpose). We were too busy and a good day (wind wise) just never presented itself. Well, that project has moved way up in the priority list. When it rains we now have a fairly steady stream of water pouring down on our heads at the helm station. There is a low spot in the bimini at just the wrong location. It wouldn't be too bad, but when the wind gusts up on this point of sail, we have to hand steer--neither the wind vane nor the autopilot can handle the changing wind conditions gracefully.

I finally took a black garbage back and rigged up a temporary "awning" over the helm to funnel the water away. It's a big help, but the whole cockpit is wetter than it should be. Need to re-coat the Bimini ASAP!

At one point in our passage planning, we had hoped to be in this evening. According to our polars (a table of how fast the boat goes on what point of sail in what wind conditions) and the forecast--according to the Maxsea Performance Routing module)--we should have been able to make it easily by sunset. The fault is mainly in the fact that the actual wind was nearly always about 5 knots LESS than forecast (except in the squalls), so we never made the speed we anticipated. We're also pretty heavily loaded and our polars are probably a little over-ambitious on this point of sail.

The seas yesterday during the squalls were huge--3 meters according to the forecast. That makes life aboard challenging. Picture trying to chop vegetables. I've got the cutting board, the counter, and the green beans in one hand, and a knife in the other hand. Make one chop and the green bean pieces roll immediately into the sink. Wait for a wave to come by to be able to let go with non-knife hand and grab the pieces and throw them into the pot. Anything not nailed down is flying around (or sliding back and forth). Nothing stays where you put it.

Getting up in the middle of the night half asleep to go to the bathroom is another adventure. We have hand-holds at monkey-vine distance all the way from the aft cabin to the forward head. I know where every one of them is, and can easily navigate this in the dark. But I'm half asleep (and trying to stay that way, so I can fall back asleep easily), and the boat is lurching around madly. Just pulling your pants down in that situation is a challenge!!

Anyway, we're making it. We're tired and ready for this to be over.

At 02/04/2014 11:16 PM (utc) our position was 07°12.67'N 159°22.28'E

Rockin' and Rollin'

After a slow start, we finally left Kwajalein Atoll about noon yesterday, sailing wing-on-wing out through Gea Pass.

We had a fairly slow first 24 hours--the wind that was forecast at 15-17 was more like 10-15 kts. Going downwind, that doesn't leave much wind in our sails. But light wind and reasonable seas were fine with us, and it was nice to have an easy day to get back in the swing of things.

We are in our usual downwind configuration--Genoa poled out on the windward side, mainsail vanged on the other side, and the staysail sheeted tight on the same side as the main. This configuration works well with the wind vane steering, and gives us about 30 degrees of steering flexibility without having to do a bunch of messing with the sails.

This is the first passage in a long while that we haven't had another boat or two along to keep us company. We haven't seen nor heard another soul on the VHF or AIS since we left Kwaj yesterday--it's a pretty lonely spot of ocean. Except of course for all our buddies strung across the Marshall Islands and Micronesia--we talk to them every morning on the SSB net.

The forecast is for the wind to gradually build in strength over the next day as a high passes by above us. The forecast is for winds to 21 knots--hopefully it doesn't get any higher than that. 15-20 is about perfect for downwind sailing, but higher gets pretty challenging because of the size of the seas that build up. With the stronger winds, our speed should pick up to about 6.5 knots, and if that happens, we might be in by Weds afternoon. Otherwise, it will be Thursday morning.
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At 02/02/2014 8:00 AM (utc) our position was 08°14.42'N 165°10.86'E

Getting Ready to Leave the Marshall Islands

January 31 - Kwajalein Atoll

We did it! We untied from the Kwajalein Small Boat Marina dock yesterday.

We had a great two weeks at Kwaj. We worked our butts off to get the boat ready (and still have a long list of undone things). And we managed to squeeze in some diving and a lot of socializing.

Our relatively new friend Geoff was a fantastic host. We spent almost every evening after dinner at his "quarters" (not unlike a dorm room, but Geoff has two adjoined), taking hot showers, having a spot of rum, and talking about a wide range of subjects--from life on Kwaj to cruising to boat maintenance to diving to world travel, to retirement plans (in Singapore, Geoff says).

My main tasks in the two weeks were to (a) Get the bottom scrubbed (b) Stock the boat (c) Repair the mainsail cover (d) Help Dave wherever needed. I spent a week laboring over the sewing machine in the picnic area of the Small Boat Marina. Our mainsail cover was built like a tank--with extra reinforcing and a heavy vinyl lining in chafe areas. But, we supplied the fabric for the cover, and, alas, the fabric was defective. (bought at a steep discount, it was definitely not performing like normal Sunbrella). The entire cover had almost turned to toilet paper. Compared to the dodger, built at the same time, it was definitely sub-standard. So I had to make a huge patch on the upper half of the mainsail cover, for the whole length. Big job. I hated it--cursing like a sailor over the sewing machine. It's done now. I hope I don't have to do it again.

I spent lots of time and lots of money restocking. Because of the weird setup at Kwajalein, I couldn't go to the grocery store by myself--I had to have Geoff there to buy anything. But the liquor store...a different story. With my military ID, I was permitted to buy things there. The government/Army subsidizes one store, the KRS contractor subsidizes the other store--the reason for the difference. So when we needed groceries, I'd make an appointment with Geoff, go shopping, and he'd show up with his badge when I was ready to check out. I did pretty well with the 3 opportunities I had to shop. Lots of nice American brand foods at a reasonable price. The last shopping was when the plane came in with fresh veggies, so we're pretty good with vegs for the next 2 weeks.

I made daily runs (by bike) to the liquor store to stock up on beer, rum, wine, and miscellaneous liquor. Trying to not look like I was hoarding (strongly discouraged here), I bought a little bit every day. We're good for about 3 months now.

Dave had his usual long list of maintenance items, including changing the oil in the engine, a very thorough upper rigging inspection (several trips up the mast), working on our starter battery problem, and other similar issues.

On Jan 29th, we finally got the Staysail and the Genoa back up (we take them down when we're off the boat to save wear and tear), and all the running rigging rigged. We're a sailboat again!

We did manage to go diving a few times. We spent the money ($50 each) to get checked out by the Kwajalein Scuba Club. Doing so meant that we had "free tanks" for the duration of our stay. With Geoff's help, we made 8 dives over two weekends. Mostly on Kwaj wrecks (Dave's passion), but also a couple of really nice reef/wall dives. Renting sport boats from the Small Boat Marina, with the free dive tanks, we could do 2-tank dive trips for about $25 per person. In comparison, the going rate in the U.S. is about $60-70 for a 2-tank dive, and the dive spots are not nearly as good.

One interesting social event we went to was the Kaleidoscope of Music put on by the Kwaj Women's Club. It's basically a talent show, centered around musical talents, that is used to raise money for scholarships for the Kwaj High School kids. This ended up being an amazing array of talent and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We also had an interesting evening hanging out at the Kwaj Yacht Club. A great group of people. Not a lot unlike our Melbourne Yacht Club--they're expanding/rebuilding their clubhouse entirely with member labor. And the current Commodore, Ed Zehr, did us a great favor and hauled our staysail with him to Honolulu, for repairs. Like everywhere else, boaters looking after boaters.

Another highlight of life at Kwaj is the cafeteria--Kwajers have an acronym for it that I don't remember. But it's officially known at the Louis Zamperini Dining Facility. (Look for the book "Unbroken" to learn about who Louis Zamperini is). For $7 a meal, we had access to an all-you-can-eat huge salad bar and cafeteria. This price included drinks and dessert. For awhile we ate both lunch and dinner there, but eventually tapered off to just dinner. I will really really really miss that place. When we were working hard, it was really nice to just zoom (on our Sun Cruzer bikes) at the last minute to the dining hall and indulge in great food--no cooking and no cleanup!

And not just the food... we really enjoyed talking with various Kwaj residents about what they were doing, how they got there, etc. It's a very interesting community... from people who have been working on this tiny island for 10 years, to the doctors who come for a 3-month stint. All interesting and unusual people. Half the fun of traveling are the people you meet.

Internet is quirky at Kwaj. There is no internet out on the boat. The residents here have dialup (yes, dialup) from their quarters. The only place to get wifi at a decent speed is (a) the Food Court and (b) the Coffee Shop. Needless to say, I spent quite a bit of time at both. The Coffee Shop opened at 7am, so I'd usually wake up at 6:30 and spend 7-9am there, catching up on email, blogs, SSCA business (I'm still on the Board of Directors), finances, etc. I'd try to stop in the Food Court either before or after dinner, but sometimes we were too busy.

We had a great time at Kwaj, but we're really glad to be underway again.

We anchored last night at Bigej (the Kwajers call it Bee Gee, but it's really pronounced something like Pick-esh by the locals). This is a beautiful spot. Both Dave and I said numerous times in the last 24 hours... "What a nice anchorage!' Wish we had time to spend a week here--great beach, great visibility, and a WWII dive site nearby!

But the horizon is beckoning... We leave tomorrow for Pohnpei. We're anxious to again hook up with our cruising/diving buddies on Westward II and Challenger.

Back Aboard

Jan 15, 2014 - Kwajalein Atoll

Getting back aboard Soggy Paws was another challenge. She was out on a mooring, and the Small Boat Marina is closed during the week. Almost no one keeps a dinghy in the water--they just use the ferry service provided by the Small Boat Marina. Geoff, our "sponsor" on Kwajalein had been scrounging for a rowboat, kayak, or paddleboard, so we could get out to Soggy Paws to get our dinghy launched. Fortunately, the day before we arrived, one of the sailboats came in to the Small Boat Marina dock with dinghy in tow. So Geoff had secured permission for us to use that dinghy to get out to Soggy Paws.

The great news was that Geoff had taken great care of her. The mooring lash-up was fine, the canvas all good, the batteries in good shape, and the bilge dry. The bad news was the calm conditions prevailing in the Marshall Islands when we left were gone, and Soggy Paws was pitching and rolling like crazy. Because of the tidal range in the Western Pacific (4-6 feet), at high tide, the swell comes right in over the reef. Plus with 20 knots of wind, we had a fair chop in the harbor as well.

So the first item of business was to get the engine commissioned so we could move off our mooring and into the inner harbor. We'd "bagged" the prop when we left--wrapping it first in burlap and then in a heavy black garbage bag. This worked wonders--not any growth on the prop at all! With a little coaxing, the engine started right up. Yay!

The next morning, we got permission to take Soggy Paws into the dock, where the conditions were much better.

Over the next 3-4 days, we unpacked the 150 lbs of luggage we'd brought back--some clothes, but mostly "boat stuff", and slowly got the boat systems commissioned... propane stove, refrigerator & freezer, fresh water, toilets, etc.

We'd had a bunch of stuff shipped out to Geoff while we were in the U.S., including 2 (yes, two!) anchors, a gallon of polyester resin, 3 gallons of 303 waterproofing, 2 gallons of Amsoil synthetic motor oil, a big Sailrite order, and some miscellaneous stuff. So once we were settled at the dock, Geoff delivered all our goodies. More stuff to put away.

Our permission to stay at the Kwaj Base ends on January 30, so we have a formidable task ahead of us--get ready to leave in two weeks or less.

Back on Kwajalein

Jan 14, 2014

After a long, but not arduous, trip from the U.S., we are back aboard Soggy Paws. We left Melbourne on Dec 27, and didn't arrive back aboard until Jan 13! We made 2 stops in Florida, spent a few days in Brooks, Georgia, where we left the car, and then flew commercially to San diego, where Dave's son lives. We had a nice few days in San Diego with Chris and Sandy, sightseeing on the Midway air craft carrier, and checking out Jack & Nicole Midence's new catamaran, Let It Be. We also drove out into the desert to see the Planes of Fame Air Museum. There we met up with Tom Cleaver, who has just finished a book on Dave's Dad's exploits in WWII (not published yet).

On Saturday, Jan 4, we rented a car and drove 8 hours to Travis AFB, near Sacramento. We hoped to get a "Space Available" military flight out to Kwajalein via Honolulu. We knew there was a 40-passenger flight that left on Sunday. We thought we'd timed our plans such that the active duty people would have all finished traveling with their families and be back to work. But, alas, when we were arrived at Travis, the Space A list was so full that we were on the second page--priority wise. We started about 100 names down the list, and as flights carried people away and took them off the list, we'd climb higher. But every day new active duty people would show up, pushing us back down. There was originally a 73-passenger C-5 scheduled for Monday, which would have virtually cleared the list, but the C-5s are notoriously cranky airplanes (they are very old and require constant maintenance). This flight got delayed for a couple of days. But we didn't even come close to getting on it. It finally went about Weds, and we were hopeful of getting on the next one. We almost did... on Thursday, another C-5 went to Honolulu. Due to "mission requirements" this one was down to 70-seats. We ended up being #71 and #72. Bumped again. But at least we were now on the first page of the roll call list.

Each time there was a plane leaving (at least one every day) that we *might* be able to get on, we had to be "flight ready" at the time of roll call. This means we had to be checked out of the hotel, rental car turned in, and waiting with all bags and paperwork. During the week we waited in Travis, there were at least 2 0630 roll calls. :p Once all the flights had gone for the day, we'd haul all our luggage back to the hotel and check back in. Fortunately, the hotel was reasonably priced, within walking distance of the Passenger Terminal with a luggage cart, and also near a cafeteria. We had good wifi internet in the hotel and in the Passenger Terminal, so it was easy to stay occupied. We also had a car rental reservation in Honolulu--which we'd have to change daily as we didn't get on the flight. At one point we had TWO reservations I was changing each day--one for the Passenger Terminal at Hickam AFB--most convenient but with limited hours, and one at the Honolulu airport--open 24 x 7 in case we got a flight that arrived in the middle of the night.

On Saturday, there were 2 pairs of KC-135's scheduled, each with 10 passengers (a total of 40 seats). We were pretty hopeful that Saturday was the day. We finally made it on the 2nd set of flights. We were excited to learn that the "mission" on this flight was providing tanker escort (aerial refueling) for some fighter jets being ferried out to Honolulu. Though the entire "passenger cabin" had only one tiny round window in it, the airmen handling the flight were kind enough to escort us to the back to watch an in-flight refueling session. Now THAT was worth a week's wait in Travis!!

We spent Saturday night and part of Sunday night in the Ala Wai Marina in downtown Honolulu aboard Intrepid, a Hallberg Rassy 42 that we had met in Majuro in September. Dan had single-handed Intrepid from Majuro to Honolulu while Cecily flew back to the U.S. to work. They were both aboard enjoying a holiday break in Honolulu. We also got a chance to have dinner with John & Linda from Nakia, and Eric & Sherrill from Sarana, whom we'd first met back in 2009 or 2010.

At 2:30am Monday morning, we tip-toed off of Intrepid, and drove down to Hickam AFB for hopefully our last leg of the long trip home. We were again worried that we might not make it on the flight--we didn't drop off the rental car keys until the roll call was completed and we knew we were on. This turned out to be a 42-seat 757 that does trips between Honolulu and Kwaj a couple of times a week. It was a nice plane, with nice seats, breakfast, and an in-flight movie!

By noon, we'd landed, cleared Marshall Islands customs and Kwaj Army Base formalities, and assembled our luggage at Geoff's (our sponsor for this trip) place.
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Sherry & Dave
In the Marshall Islands for the summer.
http://svsoggypaws.blogspot.com

At 12/01/2013 9:38 PM (utc) our position was 08°43.63'N 167°43.94'E
http://svsoggypaws.com/currentposition.htm

On Vacation

After an exhausting (and hot and sweaty) week, we have Soggy Paws "put to bed", and we are an hour away from getting on a flight from Kwajalein, that will eventually deposit us in Atlanta. We have overnight stops in Hawaii and San Francisco, and will arrive in Atlanta on Wednesday night.

I think we'll spend about a week getting to Melbourne.

We'll also be at the Melbourne SSCA Gam in mid-November.

Looking forward to seeing as many of our friends as possible during this trip.