Sailing Kaihanu

Rongerik Island, Rongerik Atoll, Marshall Islands |

I wasn’t even anchored when Lauri came rushing over in her kayak to greet me and invite me over for celebratory champagne! 🥂

What a beautiful soul. 💕

The next day we celebrated my birthday… only 20 days late! This officially makes it my longest-running birthday ever. Almost a whole month! 🤣🎂

Lauri, aboard Nomad, pulled out all the stops with a parade of pizzas from Café Nomad. An appetizer pizza, a margarita pizza, and then a brownie dessert pizza. 🤤

She knocked it out of the park as usual!

And just when we thought the evening couldn’t get any better, we were treated to a spectacular sunset. 🌅

The following day we set off to explore a little of Rongerik Island. 🏝️

We found turtle tracks leading to a nest, and of course, the beloved Rongerik Yacht Club.

Yachties earn membership by finding a prized piece of flotsam and decorating it with their name, boat name and year of their visit.

There were some seriously creative entries, but I think Sugar Shack stole the show with a pair of super-heavy-duty binoculars.

In the olden days, you’d use them to watch for pirates.

These days… drug dealers. 😝

A change in the weather called for a change of location, so it was time to move on.

We’ll be back to Rongerik though. There is still SO much more to explore! 💙⛵️🏝️



Nice view from Nomad

Lauri and I 💙💙💙

Cafe Nomad

Meet Hobie cat

Dinner pizza

Gizmo - this cat hates me with a passion 🤣

Brownie dessert pizza

A stunning sunset across the lagoon

Lauri walking past the turtle nest…huge!

Turtle tracks 😍

Rongerik Yacht Club

Check out those binos 👀

We both scared the living bejeesus out of each other and when I screamed I terrified Lauri 😆🤣

Majuro Atoll to Rongerik Atoll, Marshall Islands |

I know some of you think my sails might be broken because I’ve barely left Majuro…

BUT GUESS WHAT?!?!

They work! ⛵️

And thank goodness they do, because my engine now doesn’t. 😝

On the way out of Majuro Lagoon, my engine blew a fu-fu valve and dumped all its coolant into the bilge.

Turn around and fix it?

Or sail to Rongerik to see my friends Chuck and Lauri?

Hardly a decision.

Off I sailed!

My expected three-day passage became five days of light winds, big swells, flogging sails and very little sleep.

Then came a day when I went almost nowhere. With nothing but the occasional squall giving me a breath of wind, I sat at the helm and guided Kai down the waves.

And something shifted.

I realised how frustrated I was because I wasn’t getting my way. Once I stopped fighting the swell and started moving with it, everything became peaceful.

I became part of the movement instead of resisting it.

Eventually the wind filled in and I had a glorious final day sailing into Rongerik.

And then came the welcome committee: a spectacular sunrise, dolphins at the bow and a rainbow. 🥰🌈🐬

As I came through the pass, Lauri said she could see my sails.

My eyes welled up.

Five days of uncertainty, frustration, sleepless nights and being completely at the mercy of the ocean… and I’d made it.

Rongerik is stunning, although its beauty carries a sobering history. The atoll was affected by radioactive fallout from the U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands during the 1950s.

Frigate birds flocked around Kai as we arrived, and suddenly every frustrating mile was worth it.

I was home with friends. 💙

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands |

A little assortment of Majuro memories from the last few weeks. 💕

Birthday parties, parties just because, a DJ coming to town, good friends, good times… and, because apparently life in Majuro wasn’t quite entertaining enough, helping pull a boat off the reef! 😆

In between all that, I squeezed in some boat projects, tried to break my pinky toe on a deck fitting 🥴, and had the sweetest surprise run-in with Jasia, the student Anna and I tutored in math. 🥰

Have I mentioned how much I dislike these bloody westerlies?!?!

They certainly know how to keep things interesting. 🌬️🌊

Anyway, enjoy a few snapshots from life in Majuro lately. 🏝️💕

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands |

Oh, and I forgot to mention…

It was absolutely imperative that the crew of the superyacht check out some of the local dive sites before taking their guests out. Obviously. 😜

So we headed back to my favourite place… Calalin Pass.

And it did not disappoint!

Hammerheads, reef sharks, huge Napoleon wrasse, dogtooth tuna… the underwater cast of characters was impressive. 🦈🐟

We may have, however, mistimed the tide.

So instead of gracefully drifting through the pass, we spent a good portion of the dive holding on for dear life while the current tried to whisk us away. 🤣🌊

Definitely one way to make a dive memorable!

Great fun!!! 🤩

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands |

Then this group of absolute nutters came into my life… the crew of Douce France. 😝

This superyacht needed a little help getting shipshape, so I did some stretches, warmed up my polishing arm, and spent a week helping them get the boat sparkling for the owner’s arrival and upcoming charter.

In return, I got something far more valuable: a brilliant bunch of humans to spend time with.

There were some great karaoke evenings aboard Douce France, plenty of laughs, and, of course, another stunning Marshallese sunset or two. 🥰🌅

Not a bad way to spend a week in Majuro!

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands |

After learning the reality of those yucky westerlies, it was time for Jovan to head home.

With Jovan gone, I settled back into Majuro life, and what better way to do it than celebrating the 4th of July with a birthday bash for a friend at the Australian compound, Wallaby Downs. 🇦🇺🎆

All my favourite Majuro friends gathered together, and it was such a fantastic night! Good people, plenty of laughs, and of course… those spectacular sunsets. 🌅

After weeks of exploring the outer atolls, it was lovely to be back amongst my little Majuro community.

Back to island life. 💙🏝️⛵️



Kai spotted by Jonas on shore rocking and rolling in the anchorage. Jovan and I decided this was super uncomfortable and went sailing instead!

A Majuro icon…the windowless church

Jovan got to have his last dinner in Majuro with the Misco Beach Yacht Club crew 🥰

Time to say goodbye 🥺

Happy birthday, Claire!!!

Love this girl!!!! 😍

Just another magical Majuro sunset!

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands |

On our last afternoon at Calalin Pass, we went ashore and met the landowner, Daniel, and his cross-eyed kitty cat.

If you’ve never seen a cross-eyed kitty… OMG. Is that not ridiculously adorable?! 😻

We asked Daniel if we could take a stroll along the shoreline and eventually came across this boat that had washed ashore.

Then Daniel suddenly appeared from the coconut trees and started laughing at us!

Turns out we’d taken the long way. 😆

We sat and chatted with him about the new-to-him boat, and then he showed us a shortcut back through the interior of the island.

What a beautiful way to end our time at Calalin Pass. 💙🏝️

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands |

We had a second crack at the underwater dream at Calalin Pass… and it absolutely did not disappoint! 💙

This time we got an incredible close-up encounter with a scalloped hammerhead, plus a beautiful big nurse shark cruising by. 🦈

Jovan also spotted some very promising-looking crays. Unfortunately, they were considerably better at escaping than we were at catching them. 😆

So… no lobster mornay tonight!

Still, another spectacular few hours beneath the surface. I could get very used to this. 🤿💙

Majuro, Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands |

It was hard to leave Mili, but Jovan’s flight was looming and we had a party to get back for.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately for our social calendar, the party was delayed.

So we found ourselves with a few unexpected days to bliss out at Calalin Pass. And what a gift that turned out to be!

The snorkelling was quite possibly the best I’ve ever experienced.

Huge, healthy coral. Fish everywhere. Spotted eagle rays gliding through the blue. And sharks… so many sharks! 🦈

On one three-hour snorkel alone we saw gray reef sharks, blacktips, whitetips, a silvertip and even a scalloped hammerhead!

And then, as if the reef hadn’t already shown off enough, we found a whole garden of spotted garden eels gently bobbing in the current. 💙💙💙

Three hours underwater and I still didn’t want to get out.

It was an underwater dream come true.

A little drift dive at Mili Atoll, Marshall Islands

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbwLAuETHtr/?igsh=NmZjcTIwdXp1b2Y5

Tokewa, Mili Atoll, Marshall Islands | The next day we went for a drift dive in the pass… Wooooo weeeeee! 😳🌊 I think we may have mistimed the tides because that water was MOVING! Instead of leisurely swimming around, we spent much of the dive hanging on tight and letting the current do the driving. 🤣 But there was a silver lining. Being swept along meant I had to slow down and really notice the little things around me. Tiny reef creatures tucked into the coral, while the bigger guys cruised past in the blue. Sometimes the ocean decides the itinerary for you. All in all… a fantastic dive! 💙🤿 #SailingKaihanu #DriftDive #ScubaDiving #UnderwaterPhotography #MarshallIslands