January 3, 2008

A Night Out of Town
Yesterday we decided that a change of scenery would be good. Majuro Atoll is pretty big, and there are a couple of the smaller motu (reef islands) that have acceptably shallow water for anchoring, and some protection from the prevailing easterly winds. The nearest of these "getaway anchorages" to the main town is called Ennenmannett, or something similar to that. The spelling changes depending on which chart or source you look at. It's about 5 miles from the town, so the sounds, smells and boat wakes of the port don't reach out here. Several of the other yachts are here, a couple having come out several days ago for an extended New Years break. There are some nice patches of coral near shore, where the fish are pretty and interesting for short snorkeling excursions. It's a nice place to do some relaxed maintenance and clean the boat bottom in a more remote feeling environment. Karen did some sewing for friends yesterday morning while I did some outboard motor work, so we only got away from the mooring at about 4 in the afternoon, but by 5 we were anchoring, and at 6 we joined the rest of the boats here for a little deck party on Windswept. Windswept is a trimaran, 65 feet long by 40 feet wide, so we weren't crowded! Had a nice visit, returned to Sequester not long after dark, and were in the bunk by 9 o'clock. So, by 5 this morning I was up and about, enjoying the crystal clear stars, and the sliver of the new moon glimmering through the ring of cloud that skirts the horizon. Today we'll swim, visit, and I'll give a hand with adjusting the new propeller on Windswept, then we head back to town late in the day. For now, that's life at 7 degrees north latitude, near the ends of the earth. Here's hoping your 2008 is off to a good start. Ted