Camping Trip to Bigeg
Several weekends ago while taking my friend’s 36-foot Catamaran Georgina on a shake out cruise we came up with the idea of sailing up to Bigeg to go camping. We chose Bigeg because my friend Eric’s girlfriend Cathner owns the southern half of the island. Bigeg is a fairly large island north of Ebeye and is part of the same atoll as Roi-Namor and Kwajalein. Eric keeps Georgina in Kwajalein for now though he has plans to sail her up to Roi eventually….
The weekend finally arrived so Sunday morning we loaded up Georgina with supplies and crew and set out. Our crew was composed of the following: Eric the owner and guitarist in our band, Cathner his girlfriend, Myla who is my honey, and our buddy Joe who is also our drummer in the band and a former professional surfer. It was a beam reach all the way there. We only used the jib and the motor. It is difficult for me to explain why we didn’t use the main other than to say the ladies liked spreading a tarp across the boom so that they could have shade. But we could have shaved a good amount of time off our sailing had we used it but my vote didn’t count as much as the ladies it seems. Nor did the owner’s for that matter. Still, the boat is a fast one and I can’t wait until we can take her out with the main hoisted.
After 5 hours we finally arrived at Bigeg. I had expected an island only a bit larger than your typical Gary Larson type island but Bigeg appeared to me to be about as large as Roi-Namor. Roi-Namor’s dimensions are 3 miles by 1 mile wide so that should give you an idea of its size. Eric has not yet bought a dingy for his boat so our method of getting supplies and humans to shore was to pull in as close as possible and carry the goods in that way. Neither Myla nor Cat are strong swimmers so us guys had to help them ashore. The island is entirely primitive. There are no structures of any type on the island other than a broken down lean to. Cathner had not been to her island in 20 years and considering she is only 28 now that is pretty much a lifetime ago for her. But her family told her that there were 2 water cisterns on the island. We looked for them but did not find them. Georgina does not have enough room in the twin cabins for sleeping at the present time so we took tents to sleep in. It took a bit of convincing on my part to persuade Myla to go. She had heard there were numerous flies and mosquitoes on the island and we were not disappointed on that account. I guess the mosquitoes were rejoicing at the chance for some change in their diet as they had a feast on me and the other campers.
Figure 1. Cathner and Bigeg Island from Georgina
After pitching our tents, we spent the remainder of the afternoon snorkeling and spear fishing. Eric and Joe were the two who chose to spear fish. I’ve always felt a certain reluctance to spear fish because the only known shark attacks here have been when guys have speared a fish and the shark wished to share the meal. Eric shot a parrot fish, which is one of my favorites here because I think it looks really cute. To show the difference in perspective people can have, the parrotfish is also one of Cat’s favorite fish but for a much different reason. I think in a previous article I mentioned the love the Marshallese have for fishing and eating fish. They will eat the entire fish with the exception of the gills and I don’t think they are real particular about whether it is cooked or not. We also brought hamburgers, chicken and sausage for our supper. We used a couple of grills that we brought along to cook our supper. At night we built a large bon fire using cocoanuts and palm fronds as fuel. Joe brought his acoustic guitar and he and Eric took turns serenading us with it. I tried to lend my voice to the song at times but Joe said my voice was a tenor, that is, I should sing ten or more miles away. He also made a comment that I should sing solo, so low he couldn’t hear me. He’s quite the comedian (I’m being sarcastic – though actually he is one of the funniest people I know when not making comments about my singing). There was a beautiful sunset that night so it was a wonderful evening aside from the bugs.
Figure 2 Georgina at Sunset
Eric originally pitched his tent in the jungle. Why I don’t know. But before too long he decided that it was a better idea to move his tent to the beach to take advantage of the breeze so I helped him move it. He and Cat made a nice porch with palm fronds and it was quite scenic. In the morning I noticed their tent had moved once again to a location further up the beach. Cathner related the story to me in the morning over breakfast that in the night the tide came in and their tent was in danger of flooding so they had to move it. As it was her sandals had been washed to sea.
That night I had nightmares all night about natives appearing in my tent and telling me I didn’t belong on the island and other similar dreams. Myla had nightmares that she was being kidnapped. I told Cat about them in the morning and she told me that at night she had first seen a woman “presence” and then later saw a man. So I am wondering if there are ghosts on that island.
Once gain to mention the different perspectives that two people can have on a similar experience, Myla did not quite feel the trip was as wonderful as I did and for good reason. She was suffering from diarrhea. Did I mention that the island was entirely primitive which is to say there were not only no flush toilets but there were no toilets whatsoever? It was a bad place to suffer from diarrhea. In the morning the poor woman was still suffering from it. But fortune would smile on her as a boat with a family of divers came up to dive off of Bigeg. I swam out to their boat and asked if they would take Myla home with them when they left and they were gracious enough to do that for us. After Myla left I spent my time exploring the island and beachcombing. I quite enjoyed it. By the time I got back Eric and Joe had finally woken up and were ready to start packing up to leave as it appeared that a storm was headed our way. The tide was lower so it was more difficult to take the supplies to the boat. We managed somehow though and the time finally came for our tearful farewell to Bigeg but Cat felt she wanted Eric to take her back there before another 20 years went by.
We made it back to Kwajalein in only 2 hours. I spent most of the time sleeping under the tarp (once again we didn’t hoist the main). But the part of the trip that I was awake for was quite enjoyable. Eventually we made it back to Kwajalein. Myla and I could not get on the plane back to Roi so we spent the night at our new friend’s home. They are a very nice family. The husband is Hawaiian and the wife is a filipina. Mela is from the island next to Myla’s and they both speak the same dialect so it has been nice for Myla and Mela to spend time together. I quite enjoy sitting outside talking story with her husband Joe (different guy from surfer Joe) and enjoying a cool beverage on their patio.
Figure 3 Our Crew from left to right Joe, Myla, Eric, and Cathner
One Response to “Camping Trip to Bigeg”
 Comment by Cat September 5th, 2007 at 7:33 pm |
Nice story. Those were some definite good times too. AND although I will have to admit that parrot fish does looks very cute and pretty, it is still one of mine and now Eric’s favorite fish to eat. hehehe I know I mean, but hey ‘I’m just an Islander’. |
