Back in Majuro after spending 2 weeks on the Okeanos – Foundation for the Sea canoe. Still processing the amazing trip to Enewetak, Runit and Bikini, site of some of the worst nuclear destruction in the world. It was a transformative journey to say the least, and pretty rough at times too with 20ft waves on the way to Enewetak.
Traveling by canoe meant facing a lot of fears that I didn’t know I had – fear of the open ocean, even fear of the canoe itself.
I realized later that I didn’t trust the canoe initially…I kept imagining these huge waves swallowing us whole. With Enewetak as the farthest atoll in the Marshalls, we knew the 4-5 day journey might be rough, but it was rougher than we even expected.
Days on the canoe passed with swapping life stories, staring at the horizon, watching the crew steer and change sails, spotting baby whales, dolphins, and flying fish, watching the line for a tugging mahimahi, tracing stars, wave patterns, singing ukuleles and eagerly awaiting the crews’ delicious meals (no spam here! Not that I would have minded lol).
Sleeping on a canoe was climbing down into a narrow hull where our beds were located and listening to waves slamming against you and washing all around you..it was like sleeping in a washing machine. I looked forward to my bed but couldn’t sleep the first night back without the echos of waves.
Taking baths on a canoe was all salt water baths to conserve our fresh water.. it meant tossing a bucket over the side of the hull while trying to ignore the huge ocean rolling all around you, and rubbing yourself down with coconut oil afterwards to stave off itchiness.
I was luckily sick only one day – dehydrated with a headache I woke up to the sounds of waves crashing all around me and the wind howling and Fijian crew member Iva steering the canoe, whispering to the ocean “Calm down. Calm down.”
All this until finally.
Land.
📷: Steve Holloway and Dan Lin Photography
“No Spam here”… Love it, like most you first appeared on my radar with your ‘lessons from hawaii’ vid. Glad you’re still working on things. Hope to see more in future. And will be singing your praises.
From one Micronesian to another😜