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Maloelap’s Beautiful Motus

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Maloelap is known for its WWII artifacts but there is so much more to this beautiful atoll.  We discover several stunning motus including Enibin, Airik, and Bwokwankin.  

Enibin Island

We planned to stay on Taroa (the main island of Maloelap) longer than one day, but we had these weird westerly winds that forced us to leave.  We motor sailed across the lagoon (about 14nm) to the western most motu called Enibin.  There is no real “anchorage” and nobody living here.  Looks like a good spot to hang out for a day or two until the weather shifts.

We enjoy a beautiful and leisurely walk around the island which took us about an hour (2nm).  This was one of the rare opportunities where we could walk barefoot and or just in flip flops.  Usually we need true “shoes” to traverse over the coral and rocks.

The weather shifted south so we decided to head to the southern motu of Airik.

Airik Island

Airik island is located in the far south end of the Maloelap Atoll.  It has a few WWII artifacts as well (but not nearly as much as Taroa).  We anchored off the reef between Airik Island and Makar island. 

The image below shows Makar island and part of the reef that we are anchored in front of.  Makar is “uninhabited” but it does have one small “hut/house” which we believe is more of a weekend getaway than a residence. 

Airik has about 20 families living on the lagoon side.  Supposedly there is a small clinic and a school here but we did not adventure inland. It was strange because nobody came out of their homes to greet us so we couldn’t ask permission to walk around the village.  As we walked the 2 mile beach, one person was cleaning the stretch between his house and the beach  and said hello to us.  Totally different vibe than the previous Pacific island countries we have visited.

None the less, Airik is beautiful with a long beach dotted with beautiful palm trees.  We did come across this huge piece of metal (see Matt below).  We think it is part of the shipwreck “Danver”.

The Danver Shipwreck

The “Danver” shipwreck is a large iron hulled sailing vessel that is scattered across 30 square miles.  It is 29.5 meters long, with a 5.8 meter beam and sits “upright” in a max depth of 5.1m in the stern.

You can see part of its iron mast below.  Evidently the iron windlass, rudder, and anchor chain (still in the anchor locker) are still visible as well.  However, we went  to investigate at “low to mid-tide” and could not get close enough to the wreck to see it (too shallow).

The shipwreck has an unknown origin.  Some think it is a Spanish merchant ship circa WWII that the Japanese scuttled.  There is not much damage to the ship which leads historians to believe it was scuttled rather than sunk.  The chunks or piles of metal in the bottom photos are the remnants of the Danver Shipwreck.

Behind the Danver is another ship that is 32 meters long, sits upright, and is in 21 meters of water.  This ship can only be seen by diving (which we did not do).  Supposedly, this ship still has an anti-aircraft gun mounted on the bow and intact portholes with glass in them.  Would be cool to see.

There is also a Zero airplane (Mitsubishi A6M3 model 22A or zero) with one engine and bullet holes in the propeller somewhere out on the reef as well.  We did not find it.

We had a beautiful rainbow sunset on our last night.  It is so rare that we get to see the entire rainbow – such a special treat!

Bwokwankin Island

For such a funny name this is such a stunning motu.  There are 19 “adult” palm trees, dozens of teenager palms, and dozens of infant palms.  So, we call this palm tree island as it is easier to say than Bwokwankin.  This island is located on the east side of Maloelap.

During low tide, you can actually walk the entire sandbar as it stretches from Egeriben Island to Eien island. A long narrow stretch of beach!  The total walk being close to 4 miles each way!

We took “Sweetie” ashore and walked each direction over several days.  Super pretty with a slight breeze.  It was covered in rocks, coral, and pebbles – not the soft sand we had hoped for, but still beautiful.  I found a skeleton of a puffer fish and of course I cropped out all of the trash that lands on the windward side.  Lots of floats, shoes, and plastic bottles unfortunately (bottom left photo).

Walking in the other direction we circumnavigated two islands.  The lagoon side had a wee bit of shade, sandy, but no breeze.  The windward side had a nice breeze but you had to traverse over lots of rock, coral, and reef.  Always a trade off.

Lots of birds on this island and several crabs wanted to take us on but we refrained from starting a fight with them.

We really enjoyed our solitude in these three islands within Maloelap Atoll and are so grateful we had the weather to visit each of them.  But it was time to head back to the main island of Taroa to do our WWII remnant tour.

Taroa part II

We return to Taroa because we scheduled a tour of the WWII remnants on the island.  There are lots of pigs running around (along with cats, dogs, and chickens).  We enjoy some refreshing coconut milk and they tell us about their copra farming.

We mentioned earlier that the local policeman asked Matt to fix his outboard which he did.  Then people started coming out of the woodwork asking Matt to fix their generators.  At one point we had 2 on the boat and another 2 on shore waiting for him to repair.  Lucky for us he was 5 for 5 in the repairs.  We were rewarded with fresh caught lobster.  

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  We were in Maloelap during the the end of October 2024.  We discover tons of WWII remnants that we shared in two different blog posts.  Here is Part I and here is Part II.

Maloelap’s WWII History

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Our first outer atoll in the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) is Maloelap.  We are so excited to get out Majuro to experience true Marshallese life and culture.  Our passage was relatively easy with very light winds, no swell, and a half moon up at 12:30am. We were able to sail the first 13 hours (66 miles) and then we lost the wind at 2:30am.  We turned on one engine and continued our slow trip for a safe arrival at the pass well after sunrise.  From anchor to anchor it was 106nm and it took 21 hours.

This coral atoll consists of 71 motus or small islands and lies in the Ratak Island Chain.  If you were to add up the total land area you will find that it is only 9.8 square kilometers (3.8 square miles).  However, the enclosed lagoon is 972 square kilometers (375 square miles).  The total population across 5 islands and several villages is said to be just over 400 people.

The main village and the administrative center is located on Taroa Island.  This is where we head to first to pay our respects to the mayor and/or his representative.   You might recall that we had to get permits from each mayor of every atoll we wanted to visit.  We provided our estimated dates, length of stay and reason for visiting.  All but one permit was approved.

We were blessed with a beautiful rainbow as we entered the pass and as soon as we dropped the hook the local policeman, Arry greeted us.  He asked for our permit and then promptly asked if we could help him fix his outboard.

Maloelap’s History

The German Empire claimed Maloelap, along with the rest of RMI in 1885.  However, after WWI, the island came under the South Seas Mandate of the Empire of Japan.

The Japanese first started building on Maloelap around 1935 after her withdrawal from the League of Nations.  They established weather and lookout stations throughout RMI.  Taroa, the main island on Maloelap quickly became the center of the Japanese military.  They built a 4,800′ airstrip (originally called WWII Japanese Runway “A”).  A second 4,100′ airstrip was built on the neighboring motu called Kaven.

Back on Taroa, the Japanese command centers, ammunition depots, hospital, laundry facilities, water and fuel tanks, built bunkers, barracks, hangars, service shops, a large pier with a crane, two small work docks, a channel and anchorage pillars. In addition, they built a large power station on nearby Pigete island which supplied Taroa with power via a 3 mile long underwater submarine cable.

The Americans were surprised by the infrastructure that was secretly built by the Japanese.  It was a full-service Naval air base.

WWI in Maloelap

The U.S. captured and took control of Majuro and Kwajalein (the two main islands in RMI).  Then the war came to Maloelap on the morning of  Feb. 1, 1942 with two raids.

The first air raid totaled five Grumman F4F “Wildcat” aircraft with two 100-pound bombs each. Between Feb. 1942 and Aug. 1945, U.S. aircraft dropped 3543 tons of bombs and U.S. ships shot 453 tons of shells onto Taroa (a very small atoll, yet a fully functioning naval base for the Japanese).

The attacks became more regular and then the supply lines were cut off to Taroa and the Japanese soldiers were left to starve to death.

Only 34% of the garrison survived (1,772 of the 3,097 souls).  The survival rate in Maloelap was the worst of all bases in the Marshall Islands.  Air raids, diseases, accidents, suicides, and starvation killed most of the soldiers and many Marshallese.  

Since the war, many, if not most of the buildings, planes, guns, and still remain on the island.  However, the vegetation has completely taken over and time has had a severe impact on the remains.  

In the photo below you can see how much erosion has occurred on this island.  The entire island of Eoon-epje is now gone or submerged (even during low tide).

The WWII Remnants on the Southern End of Taroa

We start our WWII explorations on the Southern end of Taroa as it is right in front of the boat. Taroa was connected to Eoon-epj island by a 700′ long, 20′ wide causeway which had a narrow gauge railroad track ending at a terminal point.  This terminal point is still visible today by a lone pillar.

We also find (2) railway cars and some random pieces of the railway track.

On one of our adventures I even found an old Japanese glass fishing float.  Sweet As!

Bomb and Bullet Casings

I was disappointed that we had not found any bomb encasements or shells on our tours around Taroa.  And then we walked the Southern End of the island and hit the motherload!  We found several pieces and a few intact bomb encasements.

We also found a lot of ammunition shells.  These are actually pretty big.  We found tons of fragments and about two dozen empty intact casings on the reef.

This is a sample of my silly husband having fun exploring. Top left he is pretending to be part of the whack-o-mo game.

There is a lot of history, historical artifacts, and places to explore.  We will break up the Maloelap atoll in several different blog posts so stay tuned.

Coming up:  We explore Japanese bunkers, the sunken supply ship Terushima Maru, coastal guns, zero airplanes, pillboxes, water tanks, command center, radio buildings and more.

Interesting websites:

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events. We arrived in Maloelap toward the end of October 2024.  Very cool sunken treasures in Enemonit: DC-3 plane, (2) Huey Helicopters, and a ferry – check out the blog post.

Christmas in a Remote Atoll

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It is always hard being away from your family and friends on special occasions like Christmas.  However, we always try to make the best out of every opportunity and this year was extraordinary.

We decided to stay in Likiep longer than planned for two reasons.  One: our friends on Totem were coming from Majuro and they were bringing us a small bit of food (eggs, milk, some produce) and a few parcels. This might not seem like a big deal to you because you can run down to the local store.  However, Matt and I have been away from “stores” for 2 months and have not had fresh produce, milk, or eggs in almost 2.5 months.  So we are super excited about our pending delivery (and seeing our friends!).

Two: we’ve met several super cool locals and really wanted to celebrate the holiday with them.  

Christmas Cookie Extravaganza

My grandmother had a tradition of bringing the family together for cookie baking day. I loved it!  Not only because I love to bake but also because it just brings such joy.  So, I have tried to continue this tradition every year.  I would invite my friends over to help me decorate (as this is truly my least favorite part of cookie baking day).  We always had so much fun, usually with wine and always with great company and tasty cookies.

It is a little harder to host cookie baking day on the boat, but I’ve been able to continue the tradition.  This was the first year that I had no friends around to invite over so I was “stuck” doing all of the decorating myself.  So forgive the sugar cookie designs.

It took me 3.5 days to bake 200 Gingerbread cookies, 150 Sugar Cookies, 100 White Mice (or Mexican Wedding Cookies), 2 batches of toffee, and 100 chocolate brownie peppermint bark cookies.

I then assembled 7 Christmas boxes and filled them with a variety of cookies.  It was so fun sharing them with the locals!

Decorating the Boat

We have such a small space but I always add some Christmas cheer.  

Christmas Church Services

My friends on Totem (Jamie and Behan) attended church with me at the Holy Rosary Catholic church.  RMI flew in a priest from Majuro (who is actually Fijian) to provide the services.  Fr. Maurice is lovely and reminded us how much we missed the Fijians! 

Most of the service was in Marshallese, but a small portion was in English.  It was so nice to see everyone dressed up, most in green and red clothing.  We recognized a few of the songs (the melody) and were able to sing along in an English version which warmed my heart.

After services we all gathered for a Christmas photo.

The chapel was decorated with love and presented a beautiful setting for the service.  I just love the giant clam shell for the Holy water.  

They had the most beautiful nativity set on display.

The Christmas Feast

Several days of preparation, 6 kitchens, and every family were involved in preparing for the Christmas Feast held at the community center.  We (Totem: Jamie and Behan and Queen Jane: Kate and Jordan) showed up and were met with smiles.  They placed beautiful floral leighs around our necks and escorted us to the guest table of honor at the front of the hall.  We sat amongst the priest, the senator, the head of the Cappelle and deBrum families and other special honored guests.  It was very unexpected and a complete honor.

The program included speeches from Paul, the acting mayor Paul, Junior (PJ deBrum) the head of the deBrum Family, head of the Cappelle family, the senator, and several others.  Fr, Maurice gave a welcome and closing prayer.  And in between, they gifted each child with a present, sang many songs and performed many dances to entertain the village.

The very large feast was served on handwoven baskets and included chicken, ham, hot dog, breadfruit, potato salad, rice, cookies, brownie, coconut water and juice.  They served the guests at the tables first, then everyone else stood in line to get their plates.  Pretty amazing that they were able to feed 140 adults plus all of the children!

Present Time

The Christmas presents were piled high.  One for every child.  Each child was called up to receive their gift and then everyone celebrated their blessing.  The deBrum family gifted us a beautifully woven crown, a necklace adorned with shells, fresh coconut oil, and some coconut “hooch”.

A few of the children came up dancing and earned a very large round of applause!  It was really amazing and heart warming to see the pure joy of the other kids celebrating their friends as they received their presents.

What a truly a magical Christmas holiday.  It was a huge privilege to be honored and loved by all of the locals on Likeip.  What a blessing.

This blog post was inserted , out of order, to coincide with the holidays. I am sure you understand.  Our blog posts will resume in the new year in the order we explored.  In our last post we explore that absolutely amazing treasures in the sea in Enemonit.