“Sailing..........takes me away..........”
I think that’s how that song from way back when goes. It was a good day for sailing as we woke up to great weather and good winds. With our main sail hoisted and our jib unfurled, we were finally underway, bidding farewell to the Marshall Islands.........well to Majuro and its surrounding areas at least. Before we could begin any of our scientific research we had to be outside of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of The Marshall Islands. The EEZ is a zone within 200 miles of any country that is reserved strictly for that country only. So no fishing, drilling for oil, ‘weird science’, or anything aside from transiting is allowed in these waters, unless it is being done by that country. I’m not sure if you’ve ever seen a map of the Marshall Islands but the place is HUGE! There are islands scattered all over the place and with over 2000 of them our trek outside of the EEZ would not be in a timely manner.
It took us four days to get outside of Kwajalein which was 441km northwest of Majuro. Kwajalein, the largest atoll in the world, is 283km long with coral reefs enclosing its boomerang shaped lagoon of 2,173.8 sq. Km. That’s a lot of island! Although we were right outside of Kwajalein it was not visible to us. Throughout the trip the only time we would spot land would be departing Majuro and entering Japan. Two days later we made it to Bikini Atoll, an uninhabited island in the Marshalls used as a nuclear bomb testing facility. From 1946-1958, 23 nuclear blasts in the atmosphere shook Bikini atoll, at a cost of $91 billion in today’s dollars, leaving a legacy of contamination, cancer, leukemia, thyroid problems, miscarriages, “jellyfish’ babies, and irreversible genetic damages (Micronesia Handbook, David Stanley). After making it 200 miles past Bikini we officially began our research.
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