Home of the Mieco Beach Yacht Club

Compass Rose skipper Robert Yapp with Ailuk Mayor Rufina Jack.

A number of small Ailuk Atoll canoes will be brought back to life thanks to the donation of a sail by Robert Yapp, captain of the yacht Compass Rose. Mayor Rufina Jack gratefully received the sail, which will be recut to fit the canoes, at Shoreline Wednesday morning. She presented the skipper with a model canoe made by one of Ailuk’s many craftspeople. The Mayor also presented the Mieco Beach Yacht Club’s Commodore Karen Earnshaw with a pair of ‘obon’ (wall decorations), thanking her for the help the yacht club has given the atoll over the years.

Start of the swimming race

Race winners Kyle and Alvin help support a very tired Kevin

Club members enjoy the fun and games.

Eugene and Tayne compete in the 'hole in the bucket' race.

The kids (well, mostly) tug 'o war.

Carrying tomatoes on forks firmly place between lips… tossing water balloons at each other… a tug of war between kids… it was all fun and games at Enemanet Island on Sunday. A great group of people sailed the four miles to the picnic isle with a fabulous potluck lunch to start the day. Then Events Director Yvonne Magee began the round of sports, with Alvin Page and Kyle Cothran ending up being the big winners of the day, having won numerous games as a team. Thanks to everyone who helped with the event, especially Yvonne, Prize Director Alexis Bilyard, and Vice Commodore Kathy Hutton and event sponsors Do It Best and Payless Supermarket. A big komol tata also goes to the Kramer family for hosting us on their island. The club’s next event is expected to be participating in the Bob Festival float parade on May 12.

Congratulations to all the yachts and their crews that took part in the five-race 2011-12 season. The winners were announced at the club’s recent end-of-season bash at the Marshall Islands Resort:
First: Seal, Cary Evarts
Second: De La Mer, Kevin Battams-Akast
Third: French Kiss, Pete Allen
Congratulations and thanks also go to all the Waan Aelon in Majel staff and trainees who raced this year!
The club’s next event will be a picnic rally to Enemanet Isle on Sunday, April 15.

Following the horrible weather last weekend, the fifth and last race is happening this weekend (Sunday, March 18). The skippers’ and crew meeting will be a the Marshall Islands Resort tonight, Friday. See you there!

Doug Agnew helps Sylvester Clement as Seal tows the canoe back to WAM. Photo: Karen Earnshaw

The Mieco Beach Yacht Club’s fifth race of the season was canceled just minutes before the start at 1pm on Sunday because of wild winds gusting up to 40 knots.
Three yachts and three canoes from Waan Aelon in Majel were on the course and ready to sail when the big squall blew in. One of the canoes, captained by Sylvester Clement, had a problem with his sail and hailed the yacht Seal, captained by Cary Evarts. A line was thrown to Sylvester, but it was difficult for him to steer the canoe and hold the line, so Seal crew member Doug Agnew put on a life jacket and swam over to the canoe to help. The canoe was then safely towed back to WAM. Commodore of the yacht club Karen Earnshaw announced that the fifth race will be held on Sunday, March 18 with the skippers meeting at the Marshall Islands Resort on Friday, March 16. All are welcome to attend the meeting, which will include the sale of club products such as T-shirts, flags and baseball caps, and memberships.

Vice Commodore Kathy Hutton

We had a great turnout for the Annual General Meeting at the Marshall Islands Resort on Friday, February 24, with lots of discussion and the election of new officers:
Commodore: Karen Earnshaw (reelected), a freelance journalist
Vice Commodore: Kathy Hutton, the Associate Director of Waan Aelon in Majel … the Canoes of the Marshall Islands
Secretary: Merilee Page, a member of the Seventh Day Adventist School
Treasurer: George McKenzie (reelected), Lieutenant Commander with the Royal Australian Navy
A number of people were nominated for other roles. These include:
Race Director: Cary Evarts (former Commodore), owner of Seal Marine
Quartermaster: Eugene Dujmovic (reelected), Marshall Islands High School student
Co-Quartermasters: Rinkey Hersey, Do It Best employee, and Tane Bilyard, Coop School student
Prize Director: Alexis Bilyard, newcomer to the Marshall Islands.
Marshallese Ambassadors: Rinkey Hersey and Junior Jack.
The new committee plans to meet on Thursday, March 1, with the upcoming race (Sunday, March 11) being on the agenda.

John and Kristy Totten receive food from Ailuk Mayor Rufina Jack. Photo: Marshall Islands Journal

“Ailuk has a food drought,” came the news a few weeks ago from Rev. Anious Kaious on the Mieco Beach Yacht Club’s single side-band radio ‘Yokwe Net*.
Club members John and Kristy Totten of the yacht Raynad heard the call and as they were planning on visiting some of the outer islands, decided to make Ailuk their first stop.
The Reverend was overjoyed to hear this and contacted friends and family in Majuro, asking them to gather food and deliver it to RRE Shoreline, Wednesday, February 15.
Mayor Rufina Jack and Reverend Hilai Kaious were among those at Shoreline to hand over the goods and thank the Tottens.
“We arrived Ailuk Friday evening loaded up with 3,300 pounds of foodstuffs,” reported the cruisers. “Turns out that the last two supply boats never made it, and they haven’t received supplies since September! We must have had at least 30 bags of rice, 10 to 15 bags of sugar, and 10 to 15 sacks of flour. The boat was definitely hiding its waterline by the time we finished loading.”
The voyage to Ailuk was brisk: “We had winds from 25 to 30 knots, gusting to 40, so even with the 12 foot seas, we averaged close to seven knots.”
The Tottens were greeted by the Reverend and his wife. “They gave us a traditional welcome of flower leis and shell necklaces, plus the sweetest drinking coconuts I’ve had yet.”
Since their arrival, John and Kristy have been enjoying the multitude of local canoes sail by their yacht. “Yesterday morning we have five outrigger canoes pass with the crews all calling out to us with glee as they are still distributing the food to residents on some of the smaller islands.”
The Tottens also presented a bag of school supplies and a soccer ball donated by the yacht club. “Even though school had been canceled due to the ‘famine’ lots of kids were hanging around the school playing with an old basketball, so were able to get a nice photo of the kids and the headmaster on the steps of their new school. As soon as the photo session was over, the kids rushed out to the concrete pad and split up into teams for a lively soccer game! That was really great to see. This will be one very well used ball.”
*The Yokwe Net is on HF 6.236 at 7:45am daily.

De La Mer under full sail.

One minute there was a clear blue sky, next the clouds were whizzing overhead and the wind was gusting to 35 knots with visibility down to 100 yards … then the sun came out again, then the big winds …. Warrar! These are not perfect conditions for holding a yacht race. Nevertheless, four yachts and four outrigger canoes headed out on the lagoon Sunday, February 19, for the fourth race in the Mieco Beach Yacht Club’s 2011-12 season. The catamaran Celsius played the role of committee boat with its crew recording the yacht Seal first over the start line and French Kiss first to the cross the finish line after sailing two laps of the course. This saw the boats sail from Marshall Islands Resort to the High School and then around all the moored fishing boats and back to MIR. On corrected time, the yacht De La Mer took first place, French Kiss second, Seal third, and Molly II fourth. The blustery conditions meant tht none of the canoes finished the race, despite their courageous efforts, and a number of them were rescued by the fishing Wasabi. On board was Pacific Islands Forum photographer Jason Chut, who has been photographic a kaleidoscope of Marshallese life in Majuro over the past two weeks. Check out the race results on the Racing page!