The Republic of Marshall Islands (also known as RMI) is located in the North Pacific about 800km (500 miles) north of the equator.  It is made up of two parallel island chains.  The Ratak (Sunrise) island chain in the east and Ralik (Sunset) island chain in the west. 

These island chains consist of 29 atolls and 5 islands spread across over 800 miles from the Northwest to the Southeast.  Roughly 97.87% of its territory is water which makes it the largest proportion of water to land of any sovereign state.  The total land mass is just 181 square meters (or the size of Washington, DC).

RMI is located in Micronesia, which literally means “small islands.” It is a group of coral atolls and islands in the North Pacific Ocean about one-half of the way between Hawaii and Papua New Guinea.

Being mostly atolls, the highest elevation is a mere 10 meters (30′).  The total population in 2011 was 53,000 people with over 27,000 living in Majuro and 15,000 living in Ebeye (Kwajalein).  That means that less than 11,000 are spread out over the remaining 27 atolls and 5 islands (of course many of these are uninhabited).

The main economic driver is the production of copra and fisheries.  However, over 60% of the GDP is provided by the U.S. under the Compact of Free Association.  Which basically says that the U.S. can use these islands for military use in exchange for subsidies (lots and lots of subsidies).  The average worker makes $4.00 an hour including government officials, police workers, and sanitation.

The United States, Japan and Taiwan have diplomatic missions in the Marshalls.  So, you will often see signs “donated by” the country who donated the funds.  The problem is the countries donate the funds to build the buildings but not the funds to maintain them. So, often you will find derelict buildings left to rot because there are no funds to maintain them.  They just get more funds to build a new building, rather than maintaining the existing buildings – it makes no sense.

History

Japan occupied the islands at the beginning of WWI in 1914 but then the U.S. kicked Japan out and took over the islands during WWII.  Then between 1946-1958, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll and Enewetak Atoll.  The fallout from the nuclear explosions is immense.  Many displaced Marshallese have severe health issues that have been passed from generation to generation.  The atolls where the tests took place are still uninhabited to this day with contaminated soil and sea life. See this website for more fall out on the nuclear testing.

In 1979, the U.S. gave the Marshall Islands independence and recognized its constitution and president.  The Marshalls are one of only four atoll nations in the world and are also one of the world’s youngest nations, independent since just 1986.

The United States provide defense, subsidies, and access to U.S. based agencies such as the FCC and the USPS.  The American dollar is the main currency and we can receive mail, packages, and deliveries from Amazon!

The U.S. Army occupies Kwajalein (also known as Kwaj) which surrounds the world’s largest lagoon.  They use this as a missile testing range even today.  Our country pays dearly for the right to inhabit this atoll – to the tune of $37 million annually.

The Anchorage in Majuro

We arrive in the Majuro atoll, which is a very industrial lagoon covered with at least 30 large fishing vessels (20-30m long), several cargo ships, and various private yachts.  Not exactly what we imagined. Of the 16 sailboats, only 5 are transient (like us they are “visiting”), 3 are derelict and 3 are for sale.  Many Americans have sailed here and have zero plans leave.

The amazing thing is the water is crystal clear.  We can see our mooring, the fish, and the abundant jelly fish in the water.

Ashore are several grocery stores, a US Post Office, museum, public library, and several restaurants.  We spend a few weeks getting to know the “lay of the land”, doing a little shopping, applying for inter-island permits, opening a PO Box (so we can get mail and parcels), and eating out.

We join the local yacht club, Meico Beach Yacht Club which offers discounts at a few places and free moorings at two of the neighboring motus on the north coast of Majuro.

Majuro, the Atoll

Remember, this is an atoll. An atoll is a ring-shaped island, including a coral rim that encircles a lagoon. There are usually coral islands, motus, or cays on the rim.

You have a small strip of land where everyone lives and on one side you have a lagoon and the other side you have the North Pacific Ocean.  The top image shows the atoll of Majuro and the bottom right shows the island of Majuro which has two towns Uliga and Delap.  Everything is squished onto the motu of Majuro (which is the far right motu of the atoll).

We have walked up and down the streets between the two towns of Uliga and Delap.  It is about 2-2.5 miles one way along the single main road with no side walks.  The cars are fairly polite, but the dogs (sleeping under the cars) will try to bite you.  So, caution must always be taken.  In addition, when it rains, which has rained a lot, the streets flood.  So, the only place to walk is down the center of the road with the cars.  There is good reason why nobody walks in this town. Most people just take a shared taxi for $2/pp.  But we like to walk so endure it all.

Cover Photo:  The cover photo shows Sugar Shack at anchor in front of the town of Uliga.  We have all of our canvas up as we attempt to keep the house cool.  It is a feeble attempt but it does help keep it a few degrees cooler.  Have I mentioned it is super duper hot here!  So very hot with little breeze and we have NO aircon on the boat.  And we can’t jump in the water because it is full of jelly fish.

Permits

In order for us to sail to the outer atolls we have to obtain inter-island permits.   Well, evidently we have to receive permission from the local government of every atoll we want to visit.  We visit the MOCIA (Ministry of Culture and Internal Affairs) office to complete 9 applications each with various associated fees that are paid to the local mayor upon arrival at the atoll.

Typically, we don’t like to have a schedule or a set plan.  However, we are forced to come up with an outline of a schedule and plan in order to get the permits.  We can only get the permits in Majuro and we do not plan to return here until we clear out of the country in March.

So, our “rough plan” is to make a giant circle around the two island chains.  We only have 3.5 months to explore so we have to manage our time at each place.  

The Plan and Schedule

We will spend roughly two weeks at each of these atolls: Maloeap, Wotje, Likeiep, and Ailuk.  This will be a slow northwest journey starting at Majuro and ending at the most NW atolls.

We will then head to Rongerik, Rongelap, and Alinginae where we will spend 1.5-2 months. If we can, we may stop at the famous Bikini Atoll where the U.S. detonated 23 nuclear devices between 1946-1958.  

From here we will search for the elusive weather window back to Majuro.  Evidently, during January-March it is very difficult to sail in this direction.  We may try to go straight to Majuro or we may try to go to Wotho, Kwajalein and Namu (which are south) before heading east to Majuro.  We applied for permits to all of these atolls to keep our options open.

Kwajalein is a military outpost and we have to find a sponsor to be able to visit this unique atoll.  We are searching for one with the hopes of being able to visit.

Best laid plans in sand during low tide….which means it can and probably will all change.

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog post occurred during the last week of September 2024.  Check out our 1300 mile passage from Vanuatu to the Marshall Islands in our last blog post.