Holg is coming back to DHARMA BUM III

We *like* Majuro and the Marshall Islands!

Latitude: 07°06.47'N  Longitude: 171°22.17'E

 

After spending two months anchored in front of Betio island, Tarawa atoll, Republic of Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas), we had planned on going to another atoll called Abemama.  Our friends Walter and Gisela on their boat ATLANTIS had spent a wonderful time there and we were getting really sick and tired of getting jerked up and down by the quite considerable waves caused by the fetch across the whole lagoon of Tarawa.  All the wrecks of ships behind us reminded us that when things go wrong there, you have only seconds or they might go drastically wrong and you lose your boat. 

 

But that trip to Abemama atoll was not fated to be.  When we tried to extend our visa, we found out that we had to pay A$ 180 for that particular pleasure and so we decided to take off for Majuro in the Marshall Islands and save Abemama for our trip back.  I wasn't entirely happy with the repairs to our toggle for the port shroud & rigged an additional halyard there. 

 

When we picked up our anchor on Friday, 11 January 2008, we were surprised how easy it was to pick it up - and dismayed at the rusty look of our delta anchor and the chain.  Things went very well indeed until Sunday, when we were hit by a squall and I said jokingly to Liping:  "Remember, one squall never shows up all alone!"  We rolled up the Genoa by about 50% and put two reefs in the main, as we were still a bit shocked from the violence of the squalls from our way up to Tarawa. 

 

Sure enough, the squalls lined up like pearls on a necklace and the max wind speed was 45 knots.  Definitely not fun!  Things came to a climax on Monday when despite all our precautions the Genoa sheet parted with a loud bang, the big roller furling sail disintegrated (with huge pieces of sailcloth simply flying away) while the starboard sheet got caught under the closed hatch above the salon and broke it in two.  Liping was close to panic, I was furious about this new disaster and I didn't even dare to take the remains of the sail down in weather like that.  As there was plenty of sea-room all around us, I rolled up the remains, took the main down completely and so we drifted for 20 nautical miles in the next 24 hours. 

 

In between squalls we got the tattered sail off and set our Mylar-jib.  Unfortunately that one got ripped badly as well, so that for the rest of the trip we were extremely careful to make sure we didn't lose that sail completely.  On Wednesday, 16 January 2008, my brother Knud's 43rd birthday, we sailed between the atolls of Arno and Majuro and the next day we hooked up to a mooring buoy in Majuro.  Tattered and torn, but there we were.  We wouldn't be able to leave until the sails and toggles were repaired or even replaced. 

 

After clearing in, we made a courtesy call to the Taiwan embassy, where we were again welcomed with open arms.  Secretary Robert Chang invited us to lunch and later to his home and in the evening Ambassador Bruce J.D. Linghu invited us to a barbecue ashore at the RRE Hotel. 

 

I had a long and most interesting conversation with a scholar and a gentleman, who turned out to be the ambassador to the United Nations.  Alfred told me that he has German ancestors and that he enjoyed traveling there very much.  Both Ambassador Bruce J.D. Linghu and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Tony deBrum welcomed us and even asked us to go up to the stage to present a welcome gift of a bottle of red wind and some excellent green tea.  We were quite overwhelmed by all this hospitality and generosity.  After more good food and good conversation, we went back aboard DHARMA BUM III and looked forward to a few peaceful days of recuperation. 

 

Instead we were invited to a dinner hosted by the president of both the Bank of the Marshall Islands (BOMI), Patrick Chen, and the local Taiwan Association.  Ambassador Bruce J.D. Linghu was there as well and again bade us welcome to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. 

 

Tuesday morning saw an activity of a different kind, as we yachties were lucky to have an actual meteorologist amongst our midst.    David Sapiane of S/V CHAMELEON, hailing from New Zealand, had offered to teach interested people a bit more about his trade and naturally the response was overwhelming.  I recorded the whole two hours on tape and made copious notes as well, as the information density was very high.  Way too high for me without the help of modern technology, anyway. 

 

While there, I got to know Henry from Canada, who has lived on his boat RARE EARTH for 15 years.  Henry is a diesel mechanic by trade and agreed to look at my engines the next day.  Unfortunately he only had bad news for me, as there was water in one of the saildrives, while the other one leaked oil.  Bummer!  No way to fix that here and now, because the boat has to be out of the water for this operation.  Still, there was plenty of other work which could be done.  Fuel-lines and water-hoses needed replacing, so did all the oil and fuel filters, as well as the oil and belts.  That was all well and good, and the US$ 25 that Henry charges per hour seemed to me well spent. 

 

Still, when I heard that I need to repair the fuel-lift pump as well as several other things, I called a halt to repairs.  Costs were running away from me again and though I had decided after some serious thinking that it was high time to spend some cash to get the boat back into reasonable shape again, I simply couldn't afford to throw money at the boat indiscriminately.  What about the sails, the rig, the anchor winch, and all the other stuff?  The more I looked at my boat, the more depressed I became.  It seemed a never-ending story of replacement and repair until at last all our assets, all our time and all our energy were sucked up by the black hole, that our boat seemed to be.  Where was the Pacific idyll we had come here for?  The diving, spear-fishing, bonfires at the beach?  The lazing around or intelligent conversation with good friends, while listening to the sound of the break on the reef of the gentle soothing sounds of the trade winds in the palm fronds? 

 

It all seemed more like fear and loathing on the high seas at that moment and our future course was very much in question.  And that also is sailing:  From the very best and exciting experiences, the best of the best, on the one hand it goes all the way to the other end of the spectrum to depression, nightmare and despair - sometimes in the blink of an eye.  When it is good, it is very, very good  --  and when it is bad, it is abysmally bad. 

 

Tuesday, 29 January 2008, turned out to be a very special day.  In the middle of the night we got a phone call from the ambassador, who invited us to go out to the airport in the morning.  The vice-president of Taiwan, Annette Lu, was scheduled to arrive and spend a couple of days on the island on a whirlwind tour of meetings with officials and women's groups.  Ambassador Bruce J.D. Linghu went out of his way to steer her towards us while explaining who we were.  When that part of the day was over, former member of the Taiwan National Assembly Patrick Wang offered to drive us back and spontaneously invited us to his home.  Patrick loves to cook and to travel, and we found out that we had plenty more things in common.  We got along very well and had the most interesting discussions. 

 

While sitting at the local table of wisdom, in this case "The Tide Table" with Henry and Wolf of NOMAD, things got slightly hectic again.  Every couple of minutes I got a call on the UHF-radio to make arrangements for the next day.  Bruce Linghu was hosting a barbecue party at an exclusive resort for Annette Lu and the idea was, that we move our boat there for a scenic backdrop for the photographers and TV-reporters.  I was more than a bit worried about the safety for our boat, while the bodyguards and secret service guys were more worried about the safety of the vice president.  To my relief it was decided that we would leave DHARMA BUM III where she was, while we could go over in our dinghy to join the festivities. 

 

Still, it was a major and (for us) most astonishing operation.  We followed the boat which brought over the divers/explosives experts/sharpshooters/combat specialists/bodyguards and while some of them secured the grounds - and the waters around it - we had plenty of time to chat with the others.  Mostly I talked with a member of the Taiwan-CIA and the divers & got a tiny little glimpse into their hectic lives.  For the divers it is the most difficult, as they have to go from the low pressure in a modern airplane which flies above 30,000 feet to the very high pressures inherent in diving.  They have to go back and forth all the time and I got the feeling that they are skirting the edge of what is safe to do.  They other guys on the team don't fare all that much better, though, as they sleep around four hours per day on average.  No wonder top-politicians age that quickly, if they follow a schedule like that for years on end. 

 

We got to meet Annette Lu, shook her hand and had our pictures taken.  Obviously there wasn't much time for talk, what with all the reporters, journalists, dignitaries and so on all crowding around her to get a word in edgewise.  Still, we were interviewed as well (by Taiwan's Zhong Yang She - Central News Agency), photographed once more and got to meet all kinds of interesting and accomplished people.  When the party was over, we got into our dinghy, overtook the official boat and took off towards our boat at full speed. 

 

After all this excitement we were slightly annoyed when a helicopter from one of the purse seiners (extremely sophisticated tuna fishing vessels) took off and flew directly across the mooring field.  These tiny helicopters make an enormous noise and the downdraft is very noticeable on a sailing boat.  Wolf of NOMAD made his feelings perfectly clear with the help of unmistakable gestures.  Suddenly Aurora Ulani said:  "Mama, look!  That helicopter is always flying around us!"  And indeed such was the case.  Dumbfounded we looked up, the helicopter flew backwards and when a long telephoto-lens poked out of the window towards us, all became clear.  The crazy journalists had apparently chartered a helicopter just to get a few good shots of us on DHARMA BUM III!  We wove to the people inside, they wove back and a few minutes later things went back to normal.  No matter what, we are unlikely to forget those wild couple of days. 

 

The next few days were characterized by repairs on the boat, hunting for spare parts and spending bucketfuls of money.  No wonder, that while I am almost 48 years old, I am still the youngest boat-owner in an anchorage of about 30 cruising boats.  Modern "wisdom" holds that small boats are no longer safe (Now why would that be? ;-) and that you have to have a life-raft, a radar, an EPIRB, an HF-radio, a water-maker, wireless eMail and all kinds of other electronics and costly equipment on board.  Naturally only retired people who have spent their entire lives on their careers have that kind of cash flying around. 

 

For the record, I don't have any of those things and I think that the safety madness has gone completely overboard.  Even if upside down or completely submerged, my boat won't sink and therefore we have a huge platform, which should make survival a lot more probable than on a comparatively tiny life-raft without adequate resources.  Sure, things still can go wrong and when they do you always wish for what you don't have.  But if the only other option is to stay at home and give up on your dreams, than I really don't know whether that is a wise path to follow. 

 

I felt better when both diesels started immediately again, ran without overheating or making any alarming noises.  I only use my engines to get in and out of anchorages or in emergencies (we used about 33 liters for *both* engines in the last two months - 1 1/2 liters per hour per engine).  But I sure want them to be able to perform well when I really need them.  That was one thing off my long "To Do" list. 

 

Finally our friends Kaspar & Steffi from the Catana 43 catamaran CELUANN arrived in Majuro.  We originally intended to meet in Tarawa, but that didn't work out and now we finally had a chance to chat again.  We talked until late at night, helped each other whenever we could and they got to meet Ambassador Bruce J.D. Linghu and his crew.  Next year they intend to sail to Taiwan, in order to do an extensive overhaul of their boat.  First, though, they'll go back to Kiribati and then on to Vanuatu, so that we hope to see more of them as we follow the same route.  And, hopefully, we will get to stay in a few remote places where we can simply take it easy for a few days and go snorkeling and walk around the beach.  For that is the main reason why we are doing all this.  Everything else is just a bonus. 

 

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Holger Jacobsen
S/V DHARMA BUM III
YACHT-IN-TRANSIT
P.O. Box 283
Majuro MH96960
Marshall Islands

Phone +692-4550473