The capital of the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) is the big city of Majuro which is located on the Majuro atoll in the Majuro motu.  So, there is no mistaking its name (me smiley face).  We can technically clear into the RMI at either Majuro or Ebeye which is located in Kwajalein (Kwaj).  However, it is far more convenient in Majuro as this is where the majority of the boats handle the formalities.

The anchorage is full of cargo ships, passenger ships and large fishing vessels giving it a very industrial feeling.  There are several private vessels spread across the two anchorages, but of those 3 are derelict, 3 are for sale and 11 permanent residents.

It is definitely a new experience for us.  It is not the ideal picture of paradise, but the water is clear, we are close to town, and we have a few friends in the anchorage.

We are on a mooring because this is a super deep anchorage.  Lucky for us several moorings are owned and maintained. 

Fueling the Boat

How does a super small country in the middle of the Pacific Ocean get fuel?  Twice a month, the fuel barge, Sophia comes for 1-2 days to re-supply the large Mobile fuel tanks with diesel and gasoline.  I am surprised she doesn’t come more frequently as there are a TON of cars on this very tiny atoll.

We used so much diesel to get here that we had to refill our tanks. We have (2) 400 liter tanks and we had used more than half to motor 5.5 days out of the 10 day passage from Vanuatu.  The problem is that there is no place safe to dock the big boat close to shore so we have to do this all by jerry cans.

We have (10) 20 liter jerry cans which means we will have to make multiple runs.  The other problem is that there is no gas station close to the dinghy dock.  Lucky for us, our friends on Uno Mas were able to borrow a truck and they let us tag along on their fuel run.

We go to PII (Pacific International Inc.) to pre-pay for the fuel, then we drive 2 miles down the road to the PII fuel station where they fill our jerry cans.  Any overages are paid in cash.  We then have to haul them back to the dinghy, then transport them up from the dinghy to the boat.  

Matt sets up the filter and pump and he pumps the diesel from each jerry can into the two tanks on the big boat.  Then we take our empty jerry cans and repeat the process.

Provisions

There are several good options for provisioning (shopping to my land-lubber friends).  Payless is the most convenient and closest to the anchorage. Plus the pricing is a little more reasonable.  I say a little more reasonable as prices are similar to Hawaii prices (expensive).  There is K&K Island Pride which offers a great variety, EZ Price Mart offers a lot of American brands and several Chinese stores.  

The problem is you have to watch out for weebles or bugs in your dry goods (flour, sugar, coffee, mixes).  I bought two items, opened the carton to store them and found them infested with weebles.  They both went straight overboard.

You can even find an Office Mart and Copymasters for school and office supplies too.

Around Town

Top left photo is the view from a new restaurant called Tide Table located on the 5th floor of a building.  The top right is a new basketball court built by the Taiwanese, bottom left and right are the public library and museum.

There is a fairly large cemetery, college, and lots of stores along the road. 

Handicrafts

A few of my friends join me for a day of handicraft  admiring and shopping.  There are a lot of woven items including: purses, wallets, floor mats, wall decor, Christmas ornaments, and jewelry.  I am lured toward the hand crafted canoes with woven sails that are simply divine.  However, they were way out of my price range so I just admired them.

In RMI, only Marshallese are allowed to be buried here.  Most locals bury their family members in their front yards.  However, for those who don’t have families or are from the outer atolls they are buried in the cemetery located in the center of town.

The U.S. Embassy

My passport expires in October 2025.  I can try to renew it during the short 2 week period I am in the states, or I can try to renew it from Fiji (but that would force us to go to Suva where the U.S. embassy is located and we don’t like that anchorage), or we can renew it here in the Marshall islands.

I contacted the good folks at the U.S. embassy and they were so responsive and very helpful!  They only have passport appointments two days a month and unfortunately I just missed it.  So, I had to wait almost 3.5 weeks for the next appointment.  But in the meantime, I filled out the application, took my horrible non-smiling passport photo, and got the exact amount of cash.

You cannot go inside the embassy building without an appointment. All very strict and formal.

As you can see, this is not the island paradise we are used to.  However, every country needs the necessities and Majuro provides just that for the many locals who call RMI home.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred in early October 2024.  Our last blog post shared a little history on the Republic of the Marshall Islands.