CRUISE VIGNETTES 14 , Enna G

SHOPPING
There were a few stores, including one that sold items made by the “natives.” We bought several hand-crafted items, such as trivets and coasters, made of fiber or reed of some kind, with small shells around the outside edge (we use them all the time). Also a rather flat basket made of the same stuff (we have it hanging on a bathroom wall), about 21” by 16” by 2” deep, also with shells all around.

ANCHOR
As we left the ship, near the dock I spotted an old rusty anchor (maybe 6 feet long, 500 lb., that’s a guess of course) hidden in sand and weeds, and I told Emmy that when we get back from our drive around the island, I am going to try to buy it and take it home on the ship. When we returned from our couple-hour rental car trip, the anchor was gone! It had lain there for how many years, and now within hours of my seeing it, it was not only gone, we could follow the mark in the sand, made by a tractor dragging it toward the ship.

Now we found that the cruise director and his wife had this anchor in sight for months, (the Enna G. came here about once every two months) waiting for their new home to be completed in northern California. And this was the day they decided to take it home with them.

Yes, we know the next question, “What were you going to do with an anchor at your home in the desert?” We don’t know either, but it would have been unique! I did see tons of anchor chain laying around near the harbor, but could not find a small length to take home with us.

SHIPWRECK
At one place during the trip from the Marshall Islands to the Caroline Islands, we passed a place with a lot of shallow water. It looked like islands a few feet below sea level, rather than a few feet above. At one place there was a large wrecked freighter ship sitting, almost laying, on one of the shallow reefs. It had been rusting away for many, many years, and will continue to do that for many more to come.