Matt and I spent 3.5 months in the outer atolls of the Marshall Islands. It was an adventure to “get away” and experience remote living. However, we were low on provisions, fuel, propane, and beer which means time to return to society.
We planned to return to Majuro around mid-to late February. This limits the amount of time we have to spend in this anchorage. You can read the reasons why we don’t like this anchorage here and here. But we have to endure the industrial anchorage in order to go shopping.
Uliga Anchorage
The main anchorage is incredibly industrial and packed with supply ships, tankers, derelict boats, and lots of defunct, rotting equipment near shore. It does not make for a scenic spot.
This is a far cry from the peaceful, scenic anchorages we’ve been in for the past 4 months.
Majuro Errands
We had a lot of errands to do in Majuro but tried to limit our time in the actual anchorage. We anchored at Eneko and Enemonit when we were not running errands. Here is our to do list:
- Fuel Station for both gasoline and diesel
- Propane depot to refill our propane tanks
- Markets for food, fresh produce, and beer
- U.S. Embassy to pick up Christine’s passport
- Bikini Island offices to collect our refund
- Rongelap Island Office to give her drone photos of Rongelap, Rongerik, and Alinginae
- MOCIA office to discuss updating the Outer Island Permit for them
- NTA the local telecom company to get our local SIM card activated
- Post Office to update the phone and names on our PO box account. Pick up parcels
- Police Station and Ministry of Finance to get a Marshall Islands Drivers License
- General Shopping: hardware, marine, miscellaneous…
Fuel
We mostly sailed between the atolls and did not use very much of diesel. However, we used a lot of gas as we took the dinghy to a lot of the surrounding islands inside each lagoon. Sweetie, our dinghy went through 35 gallons of gas and we returned with 7 gallons. $315 in Diesel ($5.25/gal) and $132 in gas ($6.60/gal).
Propane
Sugar Shack has (2) 4kg (8.8klb) bottles and (2) 9kg (20lb) bottles of propane. We use propane to cook, bake, and grill. It had been awhile since we filled our tanks and we were running low. We took the (2) 9kg tanks to be filled to the closest and most convenient place. However, when we arrived they informed us that they ran out of propane the night before. Ugh! So, we had to taxi over to the only other place called Marshall Energy Company. They filled our two tanks for $76 and we were on our way!
Provisions & Markets
We were so low on provisions. The boat was completely out of fresh produce, cheese, milk, eggs, butter, peanut butter, beer and snacks. No snacks! We had plenty of meats and pastas. We did not do a “full” provision run because we only have 6 weeks left on the boat. Matt and I are both coming to the U.S. so we did not want any food to go bad while we were away.
The one ship I won’t complain about…the Costco delivery ship.
U.S. Embassy
My passport expires in October 2025. It is not a big deal to renew your passport if you are living in the U.S. However, renewing it while living abroad can be a challenge. Lucky for me there is a U.S. Embassy here in RMI. I completed and submitted the application in October 2024. The new passport was ready for pick up in early December. However, we were hundreds of miles away from the embassy at the time. Against regulations, they agreed to hold my passport until I returned. So, when I returned in January, I scheduled an appointment to bring in my old passport to get a hole punch and picked up my new one! Excellent.
It sounds silly to renew your passport one year before it expires, right? Well, most countries require at least 6 months on your passport. It was too risky to get it in the U.S. with a short visit. There is no embassy in Kiribati or Tuvalu. And I would not have the full 6-months left as we entered Fiji. So, I had to renew a year early.
Government Offices
Can you believe I have errands with multiple government officials? Here is the list:
- Bikini Government Office: Matt and I paid $250 USD to visit Bikini Atoll for 1 day. We knew it would be unlikely that we would go for just one day. However, we had to pay for 1 day for the option to go. In the end, we were not able to sail to Bikini so we asked for a refund. To our surprise they agreed to refund us $200 of the $250 which we consider a win!
- Rongelap Government Office: The woman in charge of the permits is incredibly nice. We offered to take drone shots of her three atolls: Rongerik, Rongelap, and Alinginae. So, we stopped by to drop off a SIM card with all of our land and aerial footage. She was over the moon excited.
- MOCIA Office: This office is in charge of issuing most of the outer island permits (except Bikini and Rongelap). Chief Mabel, the woman in charge, asked if we would help her revamp the application. We’ve been working with them to perfect this new online form.
- NTA Telecom: I had to visit the main office to reactivate my local SIM card and load it up so I have connectivity while on shore. It also allows me to make local calls and have local businesses call us.
- Post Office: We have a “virtual P.O. Box” so we can receive mail and parcels here in the Marshall Islands. Did you know that USPS is the mail service in the Marshall Islands? Yep, the USA provides the mail service here. Anyway, I had to update our phone number and remove one of our cruising friends from our account. Plus we had lots of packages delivered from Amazon!
Drivers License
A new drivers license is not something I need, but rather something I want. Why? Well, why not? It is pretty easy to get a Marshall Islands drivers license. You go to the police station on Tuesday or Thursday and fill out a form. Then you go to the Ministry of Finance to pay a $20 processing fee. A quick return to the police station to show your receipt and take a photo. Five minutes later you have a colorful Marshallese drivers license good for three years!
Our blog posts run 4-6 weeks behind actual live events. We returned to society in early February 2025. See what it is like to sail between the island chains in the Marshall Islands.
