March 6, 2018 - Kosrae Day

March 6, 2018

I slept a long time last night and still wake up with the feeling of buzzing in my ears and pain in my neck. It’s pretty discouraging and a bit depressing, so it takes me a while to wake up, but I keep taking some organic nerve pills, aspirin and the antibiotics I decided to start last night. Pete makes me a cup of tea and without much energy, I try to focus on updating the blog and catching up.

Most of the day is spent working on the computer trying to reorganize my curriculum files as a Peace Corp teacher here is very interested in having the materials to help educate the children. Then, working on the blog, I’m constantly asking Pete questions, which – when he can hear me – he patiently answers. He spends the day working on the outboard for the dingy and other electrical work, once or twice asking me for help. Both of us feel a need to get off the boat, but the drive to get things done seems to overcome and I don’t want to move around a ton in the heat and make things worse, physically, for me.

2:30 in the afternoon rolls around and suddenly the wind kicks up and Pete’s out in a shot taking down the sunbrella which helps cool the salon/galley and cockpit, but he’s not comfortable having it up in winds more than 17-18 knots as it could rip apart. In an instant, the winds are 20 knots coming straight down the channel. I feel helpless and would so like to help, but it is a definite one-person job. I’ve been out there in very mild winds and the ropes whip around like nothing else and can snap across your body or face long before you can think about moving out of the way. The wind keeps kicking up and I hear some good swearing and hope he doesn’t go overboard, but at least we’re not on the open ocean if he does, so it’s much easier to help fish him out.

With the sunbrella down the winds kick up even more with pelting rain pouring down and soon Pete is in a panic as he realizes that Miss Kiss is dragging anchor toward the church and the rocks that line the shore. I don’t know what to do, but by this time he knows I’m ready to help out. He tries to start the boat engine and, of course, it doesn’t go. Yelling to me to turn in on in the navigation station below, I run down and turn on the power, but he has no luck in starting it as the rocks loom closer. I hope and pray it will start and go outside in the wind and rain to help and finally it kicks in. Pete tells me to run to the bow and start pulling on the anchor line and just haul it all up on the tramp, which I do. Then he decides it’s better if I take the helm and he deals with the anchor. Great! How many times have I screwed up on the helm going in the wrong direction and now it is crucial that I don’t make one wrong turn. I try not to think about which way to go as that just makes things worse for me and follow Pete’s directions from the bow and surprisingly, I do it all right.  The wind has been pushing the rain so hard now that we can’t even look forward without shielding our eyes and Pete’s out front trying to see and tell me what to do.  I don’t even mess up at the helm or with the motor, not putting it full enough in gear as my usual, as I’m trying to do everything with one hand so I can shield my eyes and see what Pete needs me to do to help.

He finally gets the anchor pulled up but it’s a mess with a lot of junk tangled on it, so he tells me to keep circling while he runs below to get a knife to cut things off and I’m worried because the depth gauge has also decided to stop working and I know that further out in the harbor there are shallow waters. Luckily, the depth gauge kicks in and it’s a more relaxed feeling as I keep at the helm circling until Pete has the anchor clear to set down again. He yells out orders, so I can hear him over the wind and rain and I follow his directions. Finally, he is able to throw the anchor down again and feels confident it is holding again. I continue to hold course in neutral then he asks me to back up to make sure it is all good. It is and we can relax a bit. There are still things to take care of, but by this time, we’re both soaked through our skin, so it doesn’t matter. I actually feel better with the coolness and the pain below my ear has gone away, but my ear is still bothering me a bit. Safe at anchor again, the winds calm and the rain begins to slow down and soon it is all over.

We did end up with a couple of treasures hooked onto the anchor that Pete was able to save: a nice large fish hook on a cable leader and a big spool of black 1/8 inch braided rope. Gifts from the harbor!

We head inside to dry off and change clothes, happy to have saved Miss Kiss. Time for a little relax while Pete is checking the weather to see what’s coming next.  

Needing to get off the boat we take the dingy to shore and stop at the grocery and veggie stand. Across from the veggie stand is a dock and soon I hear a bunch of boys singing, “you are so beautiful to me...” Looking around they all start giggling when I smile at them. I ask if it's okay to take their pictures and then also take photos of the racing trimaran that showed up a few days after we anchored. We turn away towards Ace and the dingy. The boys all wave goodbye and I say, “goodnight”. As we keep walking, I again hear, “you are so beautiful…” and I smile as sunset

approaches on another day.

The singing boys.

Part of the trimaran.

Another view but I think a photo from Miss Kiss would have been better, although too far away.

The laundromat.

Miss Kiss in the harbor behind the laundromat.

The island is full of lovely flowers.

These are all from the same garden on the walk back to the dingy.

Native hydrangeas.

An interesting building next to Ace Hardware.

March 5, 2018 - Kosrae; Laundry and Such

March 5, 2018

I wake up not feeling very great today and already start sweating. Just stripping the bed and getting the laundry together for a much needed, early morning trip to the laundromat was about enough for me.  My ears had been bothering me for a few days and with other symptoms have tried to put aside my worries that the Bell’s Palsy from this summer might be coming back, but they stayed in my brain and only seemed to increase. I know, according to the acupuncturist, that wind is not good, especially on your neck and ears, but it is often so hot when we’re not sailing, we have fans going to help cool us. I still have my wax earplugs and use them as needed and sleeping in the stateroom there is always a fan on, but my ears and neck are covered with a light cloth.  I’ve been doing everything right and have not had much recent close contact with people. It just needs to go away.

We load up four loads of laundry, soap and bleach into the dingy and decide to head for the dock closer to the laundromat so we won’t have to carry it so far. But, there’s not really a good place and certainly no steps. Right behind the laundromat are the remains of what might once have been steps, so we decide to go there and try not to slip on the algae on the cement as I climb out first for Pete to hand the loads to me.  There is nice remaining rebar to tether the dingy and we haul our loads the rest of the way up the incline and then into the laundromat.

We’ve tried saving our quarters, but find we have only enough for two loads, which for the moment is fine as there are only two machines open. We load up one with towels as I opted to use the dryers because I don’t think anything is ever completely dry here with hanging it out on a line – at least not so far – and do not want moldy clothes – the what I call ‘river funk’ smell my swim clothes sometimes get is more than enough to stuff them in the dirty clothes and not wear them again. 

I head over to Ace to ask about quarters and they send me to the grocery, where I’m told to go to the house directly across from the laundromat as the little shop at the laundry closed between hauling our clothes in and sorting for the first two loads. On my way back, I’m trying to decide which house is directly across from the laundry and go back in to talk to Pete, but instead ask the woman who has just arrived. She asks how many quarters I need and ask for $10 worth. After she says she has plenty, I get $20 in quarters and profusely thank her for her kindness. She tells me it’s okay if I want to count them and I’m dumbfounded, but tell her it’s okay, I trust her. Two more machines open up and we drop in our laundry. Soon the other two loads are ready for the dryer, so we haul them over and pay $4 for each one.

I walk across to the veggie stand to look at what’s available and tell her I’ll be back when our clothes are nearly done and she smiles her lovely smile and nods. Back at the laundry, I get another text about the internet service. Our plan expired today at 9:09am and when I tried to renew it beforehand, the money went to the cell phone service instead. So, we’ve been trying to get a taxi to Tofol as no one in Lelu has refill cards, but they were all busy. The kind gentleman who helped us last week is trying again and his text explains that we have to wait for it to expire before we can renew. Now we know. Somehow in the process of all this, finally another text arrives from the national internet service saying that our data plan is renewed until the 10^th. $10 gets you unlimited data for 5 days, the monthly plan is $50 with unlimited cell and text, but only 5Gs of data which won’t work for me. I still can’t seem to connect to the internet and decide to give it up until later because I’m feeling so crummy.

The dryers finish and we fold and pack those clothes and when it comes time to dry the other two loads, one dryer isn’t working. I take a chance and open the one already started to throw in a few extra things and don’t lose the quarters. Obviously, I’ve not much experience in using a laundromat. Pete opts to just hang his clothes on the line when we get back to the boat and I’m thinking, well good luck there.

I head back to the grocery for some panko crumbs as we’re completely out, more garbage bags for laundry, three ‘played out’ huge carrots and a couple extra rolls of TP. Then again to the veggie stand where I score three small bunches of lettuce, 10 tiny eggplants and a pumpkin. We still have a nice looking watermelon from the last trip and we are ‘banana-ed’ out from Emidj.

Finally, $20 later and we have clean laundry, most of which are dried and more than once am longing for the green laundromat by K &K in Majuro that would have done all four loads, washed, dried and folded – even underwear for just four more dollars. We haul it all back in the dingy, down the hill this time and then back onto the boat. I haul mine into the stateroom and leave it there. Still sweating profusely, I sit down in front of a fan and shortly after go back to the stateroom, shove the clothes aside and lay down on the unsheeted air mattress and soon fall asleep for a few hours.

Waking up still feeling crummy and not much interested in dinner, I just sit for a while trying to get enough energy to put clothes away and make the bed. Yes, finally finished as I sort my clothes into coveted IKEA oversized ziplocks to prevent mold and put them on the stateroom shelf, then struggle to put on the mattress cover and sheets in such tight quarters, climbing up and down and trying to get the corners on in the back so they won’t shoot right back at me when I do the front ones.  I’m again pouring in sweat and sit down for a bit while Pete warms the kettle and then I slide into the cloudy mangrove water to cool off my core temp before a nice lukewarm shower and then back to sleep, hoping tomorrow I will feel better.

Here's a couple of interesting websites:

The first is a website on visiting Micronesia, the webpage is photos of Kosrae, but the rest is interesting as well: http://www.visit-micronesia.fm/state/k_photo.html

The second sight is created by my friend Karen Earnshaw. It is the definitive site on the Marshall Islands and well worth a look: http://www.infomarshallislands.com/

March 4, 2018 - Sunday in Kosrae

March 4, 2018

It is Sunday today and there’s a lot of work to be done, but not wanting to be disrespectful, we work inside in the salon/galley.

Pete has plenty to do and keeps busy sewing the soles of my water sandals, untangling the spinnakers with patching and sewing their socks along with a few other things that need to be done. It’s been a while since I’ve done a ‘baking’ day and we’re down to our last slice of bread. It takes most of the day and dishes to make a loaf of buckwheat with seeds bread; oatmeal, peanut butter and mango cookies; freeze dried blueberry, oatmeal, sunflower seed mini loaves; vegetable dip, salsa, hummus and a spread with cream cheese and cooked wahoo. It is so hot and humid and with the oven going, even though I started early in the morning, I’m soon sweating like crazy. To the point where I’m looking forward to washing the dishes, just so my body can have some part feel cool, if only my hands. I’m dying to jump in, but we were warned not to at high tide as the sewage station is at the mouth of the harbor.

It is well into the afternoon, when I finish the cooking and we have a feast with so many choices. The last two fresh cucumbers – we haven’t been able to find more of them – are sliced to go with the dip and hummus and we have some stale bags of chips for the salsa. Add a cup – no glasses on board - or two of Pete’s homebrewed beer and it’s a perfect meal.

On to my next project, I spend the rest of the day working on editing the movies Pete took of the dives which he compiled into one video, but still much to large to upload and I was able to download a video editor before we left Majuro, so was excited to check it out and see what I could come up with. After many hours, mistakes and redoes trying to figure out the program, finally a video that was good enough for me, so I could let it go and try to upload it later when I did the next blog entries.

It’s been a long time since we’ve had beef, so Pete hooked up the BBQ grill in the cockpit and I crossed my fingers hoping the marinate had done it’s work and the ‘steaks’ if you can call them that, would be edible. After our earlier feast, we decide on just a salad with what little fixings we have left, namely lettuce, red cabbage, carrot and pickled pepperoncini. Even in the dark the steaks turned out to be mostly medium rare and though a bit tough, were a pleasant surprise and a real treat.

Still hot, with a full belly and quite tired; a lukewarm shower was perfect before heading to bed.

Well, no pictures from today and for some reason could not add these to yesterday's post, so more pictures from yesterday's dive.

Pete and one of the dive masters.

A school of what Pete calls 'blue stripes'. They were all around me at one point.

Mark and the crew.

A nice picture by Pete of me on the dive boat.

Pete enjoying the day.

The 'Sleeping Lady".

Plenty of space for dive tanks and a great ride back to Okat Harbor.

March 3, 2018 - Diving Near Walong, Kosrae

March 3, 2018

We are up bright and early to get ready for our diving day with Pacific Tree Lodge. Actually, very early as our clocks have not adjusted to the time zone, so we are an hour early getting up at a little before 6 instead of 7, but the extra time is needed as waking up takes more time than usual today. With all our gear packed except for tanks, we row to shore in the dingy and Mark soon arrives with the crew at 8:30 and we start our adventure.  

We make a stop on the way to Okat Harbor to pick up a man named Richard and soon he and Pete are sharing sailing adventures. He’s lost two boats and I’m thinking should I ask Pete if he’s every lost a boat or maybe it’s better not to know. At least he’s had Miss Kiss for nearly twenty years, so that’s a good enough record for me.

We get to the Harbor and walk to the end of the dock where the boat is waiting. There is a ton of gear to haul for the six of us and we make our way watching for holes in the dock where the wood has rotted away and I wonder if people fell through those holes and if they could tell that it was going to give way, so I step gingerly.

Situated in the boat, we begin putting our gear together and check that all is working. Mark tells us that it will be a pretty smooth ride to dive site on the south west corner of the island near Walung, but the ride back could be rough. Comparatively, it’s all a smooth ride to me.

We get to the dive site, fall overboard backwards and I feel my usual anxiety stepping in. Seems to always be right before I’m supposed to go under and I get the feeling I won’t be able to breath and feel I can’t. It’s the worst part of diving for me, but I take a deep breath, shove in the regulator and go under. It takes me a while to go down as my ears don’t want to clear. I try to relax, focus on clearing and look at what lies below; all the wonderful creatures to see and coral to investigate. Still getting used to diving, plus the new gear, my buoyancy is off, and I struggle with that as well, feeling like a complete novice, but soon a clown fish appears, and I’m again mesmerized by the ability to see, up close, the wonders of the deep.

Roughly and hour later, we are doing a safety stop before heading to the surface. I take off my fins to soon and Mark has to tow me back to the boat as the current is to strong to swim without them. Lesson learned for next dive – the boat was right there. Back on board we are given fresh drinking coconuts and Tuna Paninos. I’m not that hungry, but know the sandwich is too good to pass up. WE talk and wait until it is safe to go in for the second dive, having already switched out our tanks for full ones.

This time is much better, there’s no anxiety going under water and my ears clear faster this time. More comfortable, my buoyancy is much better as well and my confidence level soars enough, so I can relax and really enjoy the dive.  On of the dive masters points out a turtle, which I’ve been longing to see since arriving in the South Pacific and in a few seconds, it sees us and quickly swims away. There are lovely Christmas Tree worms all over the coral, but it’s difficult to take a close up photo before they disappear into their holes. Soon, our time is up, we board the boat and pack up our gear as we head back to Okat Harbor, enjoying the sights along the way and seeing the ‘Sleeping Lady’ on top of the mountains.

We stop at Pacific Tree Lodge to pay for our dive and I buy a few souvenirs in the hopes of mailing a package to my grandson when we get to Pohnpei. He was excited about the idea of unique ‘show and tell’ items for school.  Mark drops us off at Ace and we haul our gear back to the boat and unload before heading back to shore.

We find out the laundromat is open until midnight but decide we can wait until Monday. There are strict cultural rules for Sundays and that includes no swimming, kayaking, touring, laundry…it is a day to focus on God and a true day of rest. After a long look at the meat section of the grocery, I try to pick some chicken breast that seem to have the least freezer burn on them and we pick out some beef that I know will need a day to marinate before we can begin thinking of eating it. A stop at the produce stand and we get a fresh watermelon, more eggplant and some lettuce, which is more like a lighter colored, very leafy bok choy, but it’s fresh and I find that taste buds get used to the differences quickly. I also buy some of their homemade salted chili pepper to send in the care package to my grandson, Sam, though I don’t think he will enjoy that.

Back on board, we decide to make a chicken stew in the pressure cooker as the chicken is completely frozen solid and there’s hope it just might be tender. It turns our well, a mixture of; black rice, fresh pumpkin, carrots, chicken, onion, garlic, spices and eggplant thrown in for a few minutes at the end. And I’m learning to be like Pete an organize my photos right away – what a difference it makes.

Well fed and after a full day, sleep comes very easily tonight.

Here's a compilation of Pete's videos, shortened and reduced quite a bit so it can be uploaded with the slow internet. I not even sure why I bring my camera along he does such a fine job!

March 2, 2018 - Blog Day

March 2, 2018

Today was spent figuring out how to tether the internet to our computers. Pete and I enjoyed checking up on what's been happening in the world and I spent most of the day working on the blog and publishing 18 entries. Since I usually don't take the time to organize my photos and compile them by date from the phone and camera, that took quite some time, too.

In the afternoon, I take a break from sitting to take care of the pandanus Pete’s brought up from below as the rest of the knobs had fallen off and we didn’t want them to go to waste. He’s busy with one of his boat projects, so I decide I’ll do it this time. We don’t like to just chew on the ripe orange parts of the knob as the fibers get stuck in our teeth and even with flossing it seems to take forever to get them out. So, we make pandanus juice instead as it is an extremely healthy fruit. This is definitely a long process. First, the ripe orange part of the know is cut off and the rest put in a garbage bag to save and dump out at sea – at least three miles out - as the quarantine department does not want it dumped in the harbor or put in the garbage where it might grow and produce a non-native plant as the pandanus here do look different. Next, the ripe parts are put in the Ninja – our favorite and only electric kitchen tool – with some water and ground up. Still those nasty fibrous parts remain, so the mixture is put into a clean towel and the juice is squeezed out with the fibers going into the garbage bag for organic sea dump. After well over two hours, we have 2 liters of delicious, healthy juice and thankfully, the huge bunch we were given did not go to waste.

We had the last of the wahoo tonight, breaded with panko crumbs and sautéed Asian eggplant, zucchini and onion, plus fresh sliced cucumbers.  The vegetable supply here is very limited, but they are fresh and delicious and the lady at the stand in Lelu across from the laundromat is so friendly and helpful with a lovely smile. The zucchini is very different and has a slightly bitter taste to it. Looking it up online, I find it is called star marrow in Australia and the British also call summer squash, marrow as well. We have only a carrot, head of cabbage, three potatoes and an onion left and I find myself looking forward to Pohnpei and the hope of an array of fresh veggies, but there is still much to explore here before we move on.

A long, but very productive day.

Photos from: http://www.cuisinivity.com/globalfeast/pacific/Marshall_Islands/2012/Pandanus.php

This is actually, a page with the whole process and an interesting website.

Photo  of the local zucchini from: https://fruitezy.com.au/product/star-marrow/

March 1, 2018 - Lelu Harbor, Kosrae; Kayak and Snorkel

March 1, 2018

We wake up to another day in Kosrae and decide it should be a bit of a play day after running around the past few days trying to get checked in with the local authorities. So, we have a big breakfast; Pete a couple of eggs and cheese on my homemade bread for a nice sandwich and me with a couple of eggs and chili beans as the gluten seems to not work well with my body.

We gather our gear after again trying most of the morning to figure out the internet here which I’ve given up on as would rather relieve the stress. So, we pack up and get the kayaks down and loaded with our gear for the trip. Our plan is to kayak toward the oceanside and hopefully make it through a culvert before the tide gets too high. We head off from Miss Kiss and decide to explore a wreck on the other side of the bay and then go back toward ocean side looking for an outlet to the ocean.

On our way we enjoy the scenery and paddle around an island. Pete’s ahead of me and has his camera out focused intently on the top of the trees on an island. As I approach he asks me what I see and my response is, “Is that a bat?”. Yes, they are fruit bats and it’s interesting to see them so out and about during the day. We stop for photos and then move on looking for a way to get to ocean side and the blue holes so we can snorkel. We find a culvert we think is close to the dock by the blue holes and since it is not yet high tide and we can paddle through, we decide to do so.

On the ocean side, we realize it is a way to go to the pier and blue hole, but it’s an easy paddle and we watch some ladies harvesting something from the shallows. In the end, we decide they were gathering the small black seas cucumbers as there’s not been anything else we can see that one would eat. We decide to paddle to the sandy area instead of tying the kayaks to the dock and haul them up on shore tying them to a tree well above the water. We put on our snorkel gear and head for the small blue hole. The water is cloudy and warm on the surface from the rain, the tides coming in, we’re not sure, but a few feet below it is cold and a bit clearer. We spend quite some time snorkeling the perimeter of the blue hole and head back to the kayaks as the water has reached them. Pete wants to check out the FSM Bank across the street and I head down and across the road looking for a place to portage as our original plan won’t work with the high water now.

We get everything set and carry the kayaks across the busy road one at a time and then I get in the mangrove water and Pete lowers the kayaks. Back on course in the mangrove waters, we head for the Tree Lodge Resort and Bully’s Bar – a part of Mark and Marie’s establishment. We don’t know the way, but between the two of us, mostly Pete, we find the main channel and the causeway bridge and paddle along until we see what must be Bully’s. When we met Maria the day before, she said we wouldn’t miss it and she was so right. There’s been nothing but a couple of houses and then suddenly we see a large dock with a boat tethered and kayaks on the deck, along with tables, chairs and a bar right in the mangroves. Yup, can’t miss it.

We tie up the kayaks and sit down at a table for a delicious late lunch/dinner and it is well before 2 pm when we get our food: fried eggplant appetizer and grilling fish palimos. Sandwiches with bread made from local taro root flour. It is a wonderful meal and we have a couple of beers to enjoy the scenery and wash it down before we decide to walk through the mangroves to the rooms in the main resort which many, by now, with the high tide seem to be close to being inundated with water. We slosh through walkways and get to the main office looking again for the owner, Mark, who we’d met briefly when we arrived. We’d like to go diving with him and before we head back to the kayaks, he’s there after getting his boat under the bridge for a sunset cruise. We decide on Saturday morning for a dive and he names his price, which is steep as Pete has spoiled me with his ‘free’ diving adventures. But, Mark knows this place and we are excited for the adventure.

We are back at Bully’s and get into the kayaks still at high tide and head up stream back to Miss Kiss. On the way we see an arch cutaway through the mangroves and decide to go through to see where it leads. It is dark, and I expect an alligator to be hiding close by which is silly as there are none here, but it seems like the bayous of Louisiana though I’ve never been there. It’s a good explore and we wander our way back to the open channel and paddle hard against the current as we go back under the bridge.

We head back to Miss Kiss and looking for a place to put out to check out the Sharon Inn, I lead us the wrong way and we circle around to get back the main channel. We find a place on the other side of the inn that is filled with the high tide waters, tie off and check out the inn. Kim Albert mentioned it was in business with a restaurant and when we get there, it is deserted, so we must have misunderstood what he said as he would pretty much kn9w everything being the official taxi for the island.

It’s a short distance from there to Miss Kiss, but the winds kick up as we arrive back home, and it takes me three tries to line up the kayak so I don’t slam into the side and ruin the fresh paint job. We climb aboard and Pete has his kayak already up and helps me unload my gear.

I work on getting a blog set up as the internet seems to be finally working and we are both thrilled. With the big late lunch, I don’t need to cook tonight. Pete gets the generator going so we can power up and we both enjoy a nice fresh water shower, rather than having to most of our wash up in the salt water with a quick freshwater rinse. I’m working on my blog and organizing photos. Pete warms the kettle for me after his shower and it’s great to have fresh warm water. He’s a kind, thoughtful man and I’m a pretty lucky lady.

After a bit, Pete heads to bed as he’s still a bit sore from climbing the mast yesterday. I stay up to work on my writings and getting corresponding photos together and the internet is not working now, so no blog posts tonight. I had great hopes, but tomorrow will hopefully bring a well-rested body and brain to try again.

A sunken barge in Lelu Harbor close to our boat

Hard to tell, but there were bunches of fruits bats flying around this island and we enjoyed watching them

Going through the culvert to get to the ocean side and the blue holes

Snorkeling the little blue hole - the water was pretty cloudy

One of Pete's views of the blue hole

And we finally see Bully's with a cold beer and great food waiting. The friend eggplant and fish Panino made with Taro root were delicious

Bully's

The view from our table looking at the mangroves

A cement walkway with colorful recycled glass that cut through the mangroves from Bully's to Pacific Tree Lodge

Who's that?

The Western Union office by Tree Lodge

We found an arch through the mangroves and followed it in to a house

A house in the mangroves

Paddling upstream - as the tide hadn't begun to go out yet - toward the bridge on the way back to Miss Kiss

February 28, 2018 - Trip to Okat, Kosrae

February 28, 2018

We wake up late, after 7 as it’s cloudy and overcast and realize it’s time to get moving if we’re to meet our taxi on time at 8. So, I have a bite to eat and wait for Pete while he primps in the bathroom/head and give him grief about it. We row to shore in the dingy as it’s such a short distance and Pete has put the motor on the back of Miss Kiss to do some work on it. In front of Ace for the third day, we are again waiting. I wonder if we’ve missed the taxi as we were several minutes late, but it also doesn’t make sense as Pacific Islanders are such patient people. So, we hang around and watch the hierarchy of the local pack of dogs until well after 8:30 and Pete goes to check with Almeda who makes another call for a cab for us.

Shortly after the call, a white van pulls up with a taxi sign on top and I tell Pete our ride is here. He looks around and I say it’s the van over there with the taxi sign, being my smart aleck self. Come to find out Kim Albert has the only taxi sign on island. I’m dropped off at national telecommunications to figure out phone service and hopefully some internet as it’s been so long since we’ve been able to really communicate, and it comes at great expense. While I’m working on that with the ladies, Pete and Kim Albert head to the post office to pick up his package. They arrive back, and it seems to be taking forever for the internet and phone service. I realize that the lady and younger woman have little experience and next thing I know, a young man arrives and takes over. It was so kind of the ladies to call him which I had not realized until he arrived as they spoke in their native language. He’s trying to work things out but has not had experience with such a new phone and stupidly, I’m thinking it is two years old, not new at all compared to US standards, but I’m definitely not in the US any more. The problem is getting my phone to transfer from the 4g in Majuro to the 3g here and he promises to call later after he’s done some research.

We begin the drive to Okat to visit the port authority and Kim Albert asks if it’s okay to stop and pick up a passenger. Of course and it turns out the man is his cousin and he sits next to me in the backseat where we have pleasant conversation as we drive along until we come to his house halfway to Okat.

All I can say about the people of Kosrae is that they are extremely kind and friendly going well out of their way to be helpful and welcoming. It is a beautiful place here with so many plants and flowers and many houses have made lovely gardens with the native flowering plants. I try to take pictures with Pete’s fake ‘’GoPro” as we drive along as I forgot mine and my cell phone is almost dead.  Kim Albert drives us to near the airport in Okat on the north western side of the island, so we can check in with the port authority and pay the $50 fee to be here. Kim Albert talks with a couple of men and finds who we need to see about our final check in, so we can legally be visiting here. Two nice young men write all the info down on a sheet of paper, collect the fee and we’re good to go.

As we drive back to Lelu, Kim Albert stops at a store so we can get some necessary supplies, beer, garlic, wine… and we again stop at the Pacific Tree Lodge to find out how we might kayak there some evening for drinks and dinner. We talk to Mark’s wife Marie who is a welcoming woman and gives us as much info as we need to find their place by kayak. She’s sorry Mark is gone on a diving trip for the day and we plan to visit again and hopefully dive with them as well.

We are on the boat. I’m writing my journals and Pete’s finished most of the more difficult work like climbing up to the top of the mast -which I can barely watch being afraid of heights - and he cranks up the stereo as he is getting ready to bottle beer. I think of the two ladies from Emidj who wanted to listen to some music and the teacher at the school who just wanted a basic CD player so the kids could enjoy music as well and it makes me sad our batteries were so low that we couldn’t grant such a simple wish for them. 

A couple of beers later, a text from FSM telecommunications to help us switch from 4g to 3g and suddenly we now have no internet, but it’s a lovely late afternoon. We’re happy enjoying life and it’s time to let this journal go for a while so I can just be in the moment instead of recording everything in words or with a camera.

Laundry hanging out to dry and I wonder if it ever really gets dry enough to put away here

Okat Harbor

A colorful home I noticed on the way to Okat

A home near Lelu

The Nautilus Restaurant 

Native handicraft with shells and woven from palm leaves, similar to the Marshallese but still unique

One of the many lovely paintings at the Nautulis