It was time to return to Majuro after spending a month in the States. We started our long return trip back to Monday on Monday and arrived on Thursday. It is not as bad as it seems.
Texas to California
We woke up in Boerne (San Antonio, TX) at the Melnar’s house. Matt and I drove the 1 hour 45 minutes to Austin. We enjoyed our last TexMex meal at Maudie’s before we went to the airport. We had a 3hr15min flight from Austin to Los Angeles where we arrived at 7:30pm. Finally, we collected our 3 bags totaling 150lbs and went to Kimberly’s house.
My sweet sister made a delicious meal for us and then we spent the next 3 hours repacking our bags. I had left one bag full of new stuff at her house. We had to make sure each bag weighed less than 50lbs. It was tricky but I managed to get each bag right in at 50lbs! Lucky me.
Kimberly took us to the airport the next day. We ended up having to pay for one extra bag each on United. A mere $200 to go with the other $300 in baggage fees we’ve paid.
Our flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii was 5.5 hours.
Honolulu, Hawaii
We arrived at 5:00pm, collected our 4 bags plus our 3 carry on bags. The Pacific Marina Inn sent their shuttle for us. We had just enough time to Uber to dinner on a pier. This is not a particularly nice place to stay, but they have a free shuttle, are close to the airport and have wifi.
The next morning we left the hotel at 4:00am. We could not check in online and we had a ton of bags so we wanted to arrive early. We were first in line but by the time the desk opened there were 50 people behind us. See photo below with the carts filled with coolers. Thank goodness we arrived early.
The flight to Majuro is 5 hours.
Majuro, Marshall Islands
We made it! Matt with our 7 bags weighing in at over 250lbs. I am so glad we made it back with all of our luggage.
Welcome to Majuro
Oh No!!
We get back to the boat and it is a HOT MESS!
- The waterline and bottom were disgusting and covered in growth.
- The inside was moldy and smelled dank.
This all despite the fact that we hired a friend to come to the boat daily.
It took me 2.5 days to go through our bags and stow the junk. Then I spent another day cleaning the interior of the boat.
We decided to go out to eat our first night back.
While we were at dinner a massive rain storm hit Majuro. Winds were blowing upward of 40-50kts, trees were blowing sideways, streets were flooded, and the power and internet went out. Gesh!
Of course we had a 1/2 mile to walk back to the dinghy and mile dinghy ride to the boat. We were soaked.
When we got back to the boat we discovered a massive leak over the master bed. Great. Everything was soaked through (sheets, pillows, mattresses, topper).
A trip to the laundry place was in order. Luckily they have decent machines and it only cost $8 to do 2 loads of laundry (wash/dry).
We have a washer machine onboard but our water tanks are low and it keeps drizzling outside.
We provisioned at two different stores to prepare for our upcoming voyage. Then we left for Enemonit.
Cleaning the Outside
We wanted to use our pressure washer and wash down pump to clean the anchor chain as it came up. We knew it would be filthy based on the waterline of the boat.
Unfortunately, the wash down pump didn’t start so we had to bring the chain up dirty. Not ideal!
We motor sailed the 5 miles to Enemonit, picked up a mooring and called it a night.
The next morning there was a horrible fish smell in the house.
We could smell the anchor chain – oh goodness! We quickly dropped all of the chain on the sea bed so we could clean it later.
It was time to clean the waterline and the bottom of the boat. I’m in the water at 7:30am and spend the next 2 hours cleaning.
I scrubbed the chain as it slowly came up. It took a long time and I was exhausted! I spent 4 hours in the water.
We prepared our passage meals, got out our passage safety gear and headed back to town to clear out.
Meal Preparation
One of the things we’ve learned along the way is that having pre-cooked meals prior to leaving is a must have.
Matt and I spent the better part of a day preparing and cooking the following for our 3 week trip:
- Pulled pork (perfect for tacos, migas, and sandwiches) (4 meals x 2 ppl)
- Gumbo (just add rice and it makes a healthy hearty meal) (5 meals x 2ppl)
- Butter Chicken (with curry) (4 meals x 2ppl)
- Pot stickers (great for a snack or light meal) (2 meals x 2 ppl)
- Eggplant Parmesan (1 meal x 2 ppl)
- Snickerdoodle cookie dough (just bake)
- Peppermint cookie dough (just bake)
- English Muffins
We have to eat through all of our meats, dairy (milk, butter, cheese, eggs), produce (fruit, veg, onions, potato’s, fresh garlic), nuts, popcorn, honey and any seed product.
None of these things are allowed into Fiji. So, we either eat it or feed the fish.
Checking out of Majuro, Marshall Islands
We returned to Majuro at the beginning of April 2025.
Be sure to read our blog post “A Magical Wedding.”
