Bye Bye Saipan........

Escapade posted 6/6/2013

Well, after a fun filled, very hot week in Saipan we have done everything, been everywhere and managed to order custom made davits to carry the dingy. The davits had a test fitting this morning and went back to the Pacific Marine workshop for the finishing touches. Tic and Anthony will be back at the smiling cove marina tomorrow morning for the final fitting. Then we have to shove off as our visa was a Parole Visa only good for 7 days and we turn into pumpkins sometime tomorrow night.
We've been around the usual WWII tourist sites and checked out a few of the beaches as well as provided the usual stimulus to the local retail economy. This is definitely a tropical Island and the rainfall is regular each day as well as heaps of sunshine so the vegetation in the forested areas is impenetrable. Also done a bit of drinking at the beachfront bar and sleeping.

Brian left us last Sunday morning after a three week sail and no-one has turned up to crew the next leg which is a pity as it looks like the most interesting. Having Brian aboard was a great help and I think he both had a good time and wished we hadn't had to rush so much to get him on to his return flight. We have picked out 3 or 4 tropical atolls as candidates for a visit and got the latest info on all of them via a blog site from a Cat called Downtime which went through the islands and atolls from east to west about a month ago. Check out places like Lamotrek, Woleia, Urithi and Chuuk. After a short stop at one or more of those we will continue on our way to the Solomons where Joey will look after the boat, while Felicity and I return to Melbourne to finalise the sale of our old house and move into the new one.

Cheers, Felicity and Robert