“Heaps of Fun” in Majuro

In our efforts to report on the annual westbound migrations of cruisers through the South Pacific, we’ve met hundreds of wonderful sailors who are finally living out their dreams after years of anticipation. The one thing we can’t figure out, though, is why so many of them blast all the way to New Zealand in one season, rather than covering that distance in several seasons and seeing the islands at a more leisurely pace.

The standard answer to that question, of course, is that they are racing to avoid the South Pacific cyclone season. But as Rod and Elisabeth Lambert of the Sausalito-based Swan 41 Proximity have demonstrated, there are plenty of ways to stay out of the cyclone zone without going too far west. The couple — who left Mexico with the Pacific Puddle Jump class of 2010 — has recently been enjoying a stay in the Marshall Islands (north of the equator, and out the the cyclone zone), with plans to head south to Fiji in a few weeks.

What have they been up to? In a recent blog post, Rob writes, "We have been having heaps of fun. We borrowed a couple of bikes and took the 30-mile ride to Laura where we had a picnic with many Aussie friends. . . We participated in the International Women’s Day march and picnic (as honorary Kiwis). There were representatives from the Marshalls, the Federated states of Micronesia, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, Mexico, Israel, and of course, the Wontoks (relatives of the islanders who all speak the same language, i.e. One Talk). At the picnic, we manned the sausage-selling booth (sold over 150 of them!). One of our customers was no less than the president of the Marshall Islands! I served the food and Elisabeth took the payment. Nice!

"There is a sizable yachtie and ex-pat group here, so there is always something to do. Next weekend there will be a yacht race around the lagoon. It is alot like sailing San Francisco Bay here. It is nearly always windy, but the water is protected and flat."

Because the Marshalls are a U.S. possession, they have U.S. post offices to which many cruisers have parts and documents mailed. And many cruisers also find work here for a season while they’re waiting for the SoPac cyclone season to end.