Returning to Society

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Matt and I spent 3.5 months in the outer atolls of the Marshall Islands.  It was an adventure to “get away” and experience remote living.  However, we were low on provisions, fuel, propane, and beer which means time to return to society.

We planned to return to Majuro around mid-to late February.  This limits the amount of time we have to spend in this anchorage. You can read the reasons why we don’t like this anchorage here and here.  But we have to endure the industrial anchorage in order to go shopping.  

Uliga Anchorage

The main anchorage is incredibly industrial and packed with supply ships, tankers, derelict boats, and lots of defunct, rotting equipment near shore.  It does not make for a scenic spot.

This is a far cry from the peaceful, scenic anchorages we’ve been in for the past 4 months.

Majuro Errands

We had a lot of errands to do in Majuro but tried to limit our time in the actual anchorage.  We anchored at Eneko and Enemonit when we were not running errands.  Here is our to do list:

  1. Fuel Station for both gasoline and diesel
  2. Propane depot to refill our propane tanks
  3. Markets for food, fresh produce, and beer
  4. U.S. Embassy to pick up Christine’s passport
  5. Bikini  Island offices to collect our refund
  6. Rongelap Island Office to give her drone photos of Rongelap, Rongerik, and Alinginae
  7. MOCIA office to discuss updating the Outer Island Permit for them
  8. NTA the local telecom company to get our local SIM card activated
  9. Post Office to update the phone and names on our PO box account. Pick up parcels
  10. Police Station and Ministry of Finance to get a Marshall Islands Drivers License
  11. General Shopping: hardware, marine, miscellaneous…

Fuel

We mostly sailed between the atolls and did not use very much of diesel.  However, we used a lot of gas as we took the dinghy to a lot of the surrounding islands inside each lagoon.  Sweetie, our dinghy went through 35 gallons of gas and we returned with 7 gallons.  $315 in Diesel ($5.25/gal) and $132 in gas ($6.60/gal).

Propane

Sugar Shack has (2) 4kg (8.8klb) bottles and (2) 9kg (20lb) bottles of propane.  We use propane to cook, bake, and grill.  It had been awhile since we filled our tanks and we were running low.  We took the (2) 9kg tanks to be filled to the closest and most convenient place.  However, when we arrived they informed us that they ran out of propane the night before.  Ugh!  So, we had to taxi over to the only other place called Marshall Energy Company.  They filled our two tanks for $76 and we were on our way!

Provisions & Markets

We were so low on provisions. The boat was completely out of fresh produce, cheese, milk, eggs, butter, peanut butter, beer and snacks.  No snacks!  We had plenty of meats and pastas.  We did not do a “full” provision run because we only have 6 weeks left on the boat.  Matt and I are both coming to the U.S. so we did not want any food to go bad while we were away.

The one ship I won’t complain about…the Costco delivery ship.

U.S. Embassy

My passport expires in October 2025.  It is not a big deal to renew your passport if you are living in the U.S.  However, renewing it while living abroad can be a challenge.  Lucky for me there is a U.S. Embassy here in RMI.  I completed and submitted the application in October 2024.  The new passport was ready for pick up in early December.  However, we were hundreds of miles away from the embassy at the time.  Against regulations, they agreed to hold my passport until I returned.  So,  when I returned in January, I scheduled an appointment to bring in my old passport to get a hole punch and picked up my new one!  Excellent.

It sounds silly to renew your passport one year before it expires, right?  Well, most countries require at least 6 months on your passport.  It was too risky to get it in the U.S. with a short visit.  There is no embassy in Kiribati or Tuvalu.  And I would not have the full 6-months left as we entered Fiji.  So, I had to renew a year early.

Government Offices

Can you believe I have errands with multiple government officials?  Here is the list:

  • Bikini Government Office:  Matt and I paid $250 USD to visit Bikini Atoll for 1 day.  We knew it would be unlikely that we would go for just one day.  However, we had to pay for 1 day for the option to go.  In the end, we were not able to sail to Bikini so we asked for a refund.  To our surprise they agreed to refund us $200 of the $250 which we consider a win!
  • Rongelap Government Office:  The woman in charge of the permits is incredibly nice.  We offered to take drone shots of her three atolls: Rongerik, Rongelap, and Alinginae.  So, we stopped by to drop off a SIM card with all of our land and aerial footage.  She was over the moon excited.
  • MOCIA Office:  This office is in charge of issuing most of the outer island permits (except Bikini and Rongelap). Chief Mabel, the woman in charge, asked if we would help her revamp the application.  We’ve been working with them to perfect this new online form.
  • NTA Telecom:  I had to visit the main office to reactivate my local SIM card and load it up so I have connectivity while on shore.  It also allows me to make local calls and have local businesses call us.
  • Post Office:  We have a “virtual P.O. Box” so we can receive mail and parcels here in the Marshall Islands.  Did you know that USPS is the mail service in the Marshall Islands?  Yep, the USA provides the mail service here.  Anyway, I had to update our phone number and remove one of our cruising friends from our account.  Plus we had lots of packages delivered from Amazon!

Drivers License

A new drivers license is not something I need, but rather something I want.  Why? Well, why not?  It is pretty easy to get a Marshall Islands drivers license.  You go to the police station on Tuesday or Thursday and fill out a form.  Then you go to the Ministry of Finance to pay a $20 processing fee.  A quick return to the police station to show your receipt and take a photo.  Five minutes later you have a colorful Marshallese drivers license good for three years!

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.  We returned to society in early February 2025.  See what it is like to sail between the island chains in the Marshall Islands.

Sailing Between the Marshall Islands Atolls

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Exploring the outer atolls of the Marshall Islands requires a bit of patience, a strong will, and a keen eye on the weather.  There are two parallel island chains:  The Ratak, or Sunrise island chain lies to the east and the Ralik, or Sunset island chain lies to the west. The chains lie about 125 miles (200 km) apart and extend some 800 miles northwest to southeast.  So, travelling between them requires some distance sailing.

The trade winds are typically east or north east and during the months of December-March average wind speeds of 18-25kts.   Sugar Shack typically likes winds in the 12-15kt range which may not seem like much of a difference.  However, you add a squall or gusts and then all of a sudden you are in uncomfortable conditions.

The seas average 2-3 meters (6-9′) and we prefer the seas to be flat to 1m. Of course it also is important to note the intervals between the waves and they can range from short to decent (3 to 9 second).  We will consider a passage with 2-2.5m seas if the intervals are 6-9 seconds.  It will mean a choppy passage, but “doable.”

Overall, these are not our “ideal” conditions.  But if we want to explore the outer atolls it is what we have to deal with to see these new places.

Our Marshall Islands Sailing Plan

We arrived in Majuro in late September and spent a month trying to obtain our permits, reprovisioning, and waiting for a good weather window to depart.  We had high hopes of visiting several atolls in a short 4 months. 

9 Island Cruising Permits were requested for the atolls listed below. We received permission to visit all of them except Kwaj.

  1. Maloelap:  Large collection of WWII remnants
  2. Wotje: More WWII remnants
  3. Ailuk: Known for its locals continued use of authentic canoes for transport
  4. Likiep: Rich history of European owners & tallest point in RMI
  5. Rongerik, Rongelap, Alinginae: Prettiest and most remote atolls
  6. Bikini Island:  Nuclear weapon testing site
  7. Wotho:  We would use this as an emergency weather stop
  8. Kwajalein (Kwaj): U.S. military base off limits except for formalities
  9. Namu: We would use this as an emergency weather stop

Our plan was to sail North East through the Ratak Island Chain stopping at Maloelap, Wotje, Ailuk, and Likiep.  Then we would cross over to the Ralik Island chain stopping first at Rongerik (uninhabited), then Rongelap, Alinginae and then Bikini. 

Unfortunately, our timing was off and we ended up not being able to make it to the Bikini atoll.  Which is probably for the best as it cost $250.00 USD per day.

Getting Back to Majuro

It is very difficult to find a weather window back to Majuro as it is east.  The tradewinds are coming from the east.  Sailboats don’t sail directly into the wind.  We had to come up with multiple plans to get back and the one we select will be based on weather at the time. 

Plan A:  Sail direct to Majuro from Alinginae.  Only if a rare weather window occurred.

Plan B: Sail from Alinginae to Likiep (110 miles), then to Majuro (206 miles), Unlikely as it is east.

The blue arrows indicate the typical trade winds. Sailboats don’t point into the wind.    

Sailing Conditions

As many of you know, I get terribly sea sick despite sailing over 60,000 nautical miles across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  So, we are constantly looking for good sailing conditions which include winds at 12-16kts and seas below 1 meter.  Usually, during season, the seas in RMI are 2.5-3 meters. On the “better days” they are 2 meters across long increments.

We tried to pick “low wind” days which caused us to have to motor more than we were used to but provided better conditions.  Often we got some pretty spectacular sailing conditions.

Sailing with the parasail

Our blog posts run 8-10 weeks behind actual live events. 

If the conditions suited, we would troll with 3 lines and one teaser out.  We caught several small fish that we released and one pretty large sail fish (released).

A pair of beautiful yellow fin tuna hopped on our hooks during our passage from Likiep to Rongerik.

Sailing Back to Majuro

We were blessed with an incredible weather window.  We had to leave Alinginae a lot sooner than anticipated.  However, we had true NE winds, with more north than normal tradewinds.  In addition, we also had somewhat low seas at 2-2.5 meters.

The trip is about 400 miles from hook to hook and should take us 2.5 days.  We anticipated a beam reach and a nice sail. 

We made the trip back to Majuro in 54 hours.  Read about this passage on our last blog post.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This particular blog reflects our time in the Marshall Islands over 4 months of cruising between October 2024-February 2025.

Living off the Grid

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After living onboard Sugar Shack for the past 8 years you’d think that we’d be used to living off the grid. We certainly have stayed in very remote places like Gambier, Vanuatu, Tonga, Easter Island, and Juan Fernandez Island.  However, we have never lived “off the grid” for more than a month. 

The above remote locations would get supply ships every 3 months so there was some produce coming into the islands.  There was always a place to dispose of your trash. In addition, a few places had locals who had beautiful vegetable and fruit gardens.  So, we were “roughing it” but we were not totally off the grid.

So, what does it mean when I say we are “living off the grid?”  We left Majuro, the main island in the Marshall Islands in late October 2024 and did not return to civilization until mid-February 2025.  Four months “off the grid” with no where to dispose of trash or recycling. Three months without fresh produce, milk, and eggs.  And we spent 2 months without snacks.  Are you getting a clear picture of this?

Shopping

That is a word I’ve learned to envy.  I thought I had provisioned our boat for a four month journey, but boy was I wrong!  Eggs are super precious and hard to come by even in Majuro.  When you buy a dozen eggs you will most likely find between 5-6 of them are bad.  So even though we left with 36 eggs, we ran out after 2 months.  Probably my fault as I am a huge baker and most of my recipes call for eggs!  We also ran out of milk and all of our fresh produce (carrots, cabbage, bell peppers, onions, potatoes, and cheese) in our 2nd month.

We met a local who ran a small store out of his house on Likiep. Lucky for us, he just got a shipment from Majuro after being empty for the past 4 months.  He sold me a dozen eggs and powdered milk.  And our friends on Totem came direct from Majuro to spend Christmas with us and they brought us 2L milk, 2 dozen eggs, cabbage, carrots, and a little cheese.  A wonderful Christmas present for us!

Starting on our 3rd month, we ran out of snacks including (chips, crackers, cheeses, nuts, breakfast bars, etc…).  To be honest that sucked!

Now don’t go feeling sorry for us as we have plenty to eat!  We knew we would be living off the grid so we packed two freezers full of meats including chicken, pork, fish, burgers, ribs, and some frozen vegetables.  We also bake lots of items including pizzas, english muffins, bread, cookies, rolls, focaccia, and more.

What Was Left?

By the time we head back to Majuro we had shut down one freezer and our frigerator only had drinks (tea, water) and condiments. We were out of all fresh produce, eggs, milk, snacks, cheese, and butter.  Really limited as to what we could make and bake.

Disposing of Trash

As we explore the outer atolls of the Marshall Islands, we have to find new ways to stow garbage.  We visit Maloelap, Wotje, Ailuk, Likiep, Rongerik, Rongelap, and Alinginae. None of these atolls have processes to dispose of trash.

Living off the grid means you have to be very creative when it comes to your trash and recycling. Well, truth be told, there is no recycling in the Marshall Islands.  We divide our trash into paper and cardboard goods, cans and aluminum, glass, and plastic.

Now, please don’t freak out when I tell you what’s next.  Under any other circumstances we would dispose of everything properly.  However, the locals in the outer atolls do not have any way to dispose of their own trash let alone visitors rubbish.  And there just is not room on our boat for 4 months of trash.

We stuff large plastic containers (juice bottles or peanut butter containers) with smaller plastics (cheese wrappers, foil, etc…).  When I say we “stuff” the bottles, we really stuff them, using a stick to push it all the way down to fill it to the rim.  We had dozens of these containers packed full.

Burnable Items

On every island we found these beacon stands that are part of the FADs (fishing aggregating device).  We took a wide one and modified it.  Matt cut out holes toward the bottom to let oxygen in and we used them as fire stations.  All of the paper (toilet paper, paper towels, cardboard) is easily burned.  We placed the beacon near the water line and low tide.  This ensures that we leave no trace or ashes.

A close up shot of the personal incinerator.

Glass and Aluminum

Matt squishes all of the cans and aluminum using a heavy duty vice.  We stow the crushed cans until we return to Majuro.  I think we had well over 100 crushed cans.

For the most part, we stashed most of our glass containers on onboard.  However, once, we removed the lids, and shattered the bottles. This was done while we were out in the middle of the ocean (not in the lagoon).  This was a last resort as we ran out of room.  But we did return to Majuro with a giant bag of our remaining glass bottles.

Summary

Again, please be gentle on us as this was the first time we lived off the grid for this long. We truly had no other course of action. Normally, we live to protect the environment and do all that we can to keep her clean.

It can be easy to judge when you sit at home with a bi-weekly trash and recycling pickup.  But when you are out in the middle of the ocean on a small island with no way to dispose of your trash, you do the only thing available to you which is to either burn it or toss it in the ocean.  We’d prefer not to have our trash floating in the ocean which eventually ends up on the very islands we enjoy visiting.

Hopefully this gave you a little idea of what it is like to live off the grid.  Truth be told, I hope we don’t have to do this again – for this long.  I am good for a month, but four months seemed a bit too long to me.

Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events.  We were living off the grid from October 2024-February 2025.  Did you read about what we have to pay to have internet access in our last blog post?