Leaving Angaur

Sunday was our last day in Angaur and when I awoke, I decided to go for another bike ride around the island. I took the same path as the day before, going south and following the road. Since time was limited and I wanted to stop at a few places on the north end, I biked quickly through the southern end without stopping. I made it to the northern edge of the airport in under thirty minutes before I stopped for a break. It was just as picturesque as the day before and it was another beautiful partly cloudy day. Biking ahead I stopped at the beach where we had gone swimming the night before so I could take a few pictures.

On my biking trip the day before I had used the mountain bike the Kregnows had brought with us. They had inherited it from past court counsel Meghan. On Sunday, LB had gone out before me with the good bike so I was riding one of the bikes we had rented. It was a good bike except that its brakes did not work. For the first two-thirds of the trip this had not been an issue because there were no hills and I didn't stop. On the northern part of the island there are a few hills that require brakes, which I knew since I had biked it the day before and used the good bike's brakes. Even with that knowledge, as I biked the northern road I started down a hill I should not have down without brakes. This was especially true because at the end of the hill on one side was rocks and then the ocean. Once I realized my folly I did what I could to slow the bike down, but I hit a rough patch and lost control. The bike and I crashed to the ground. Luckily I wasn't going that fast and that it was dirt and not something harder. I hit my left foot pretty hard, but fortunately my injuries were only cuts and scratches on my feet and elbows. The chain of the bike had come loose and I had to put it back on the gears before getting back on the bike. From there on I took it much slower and even the smallest of hills I walked. Never underestimate the importance of brakes on a bicycle.

Slowly but surely I made it back to the beach house. Some of the others were swimming at the beach, but I had to go clean my wounds. In this climate, cuts can easily get infected and disinfection is important. As I cleaned and bandaged my wounds, LB chastised me for going down that hill without brakes. It was time to pack up, so I gathered together my gear. Packing once again reminded us that we had brought way too much stuff. Once packed, we shuttled the bags down to the dock and loaded them onto the state boat.

Without the cargo that the boat brought with us to Angaur, we had plenty of room to spread out for the return trip to Koror. Unlike Friday, it was a beautiful day and we didn't have to avoid the rain. We got good seats on the top deck with a great view of the surrounding area. The boat stayed close to the shore as we circled around Angaur to the northeast portion before heading north towards Peleliu. The good weather meant clam seas and a smooth quick ride to Peleliu in a fraction of the time as it took on Friday. We ate a little picnic lunch as we passed the eastern side of Peleliu, pointing out a few of the sites we had visited like Bloody Nose Ridge.

It was smooth sailing until we unexpectantly slowed to a crawl and then the engines stopped. The Palauans all seemed to know what was going on, but as they were conversing in Palauan we were in the dark until LB finally asked. The state boat had run out of gas. We later learned this happens from time to time which was why the Palauans did not seem concerned. To get more fuel, they called down to Koror and had a speed boat dispatched with a tank of gas. That would take an hour, so we had some time to kill. I suggested to Dave that since we had the fishing rods and were stuck on the water, we should take the opportunity to fish. He agreed and we went to the bow and began casting. It wasn't an ideal spot to fish, but we were somewhat near the reef. Dave and I cast for a while and then handed off to LB and Ryan. Then the Palauan captain took a turn and hooked a fish. He was a very large man and the rod looked tiny in his hands, so it was quite a sight to watch him pull in the fish. He caught a beautiful grouper. Dave and I and others continued to fish but didn't catch anything else. It was a unique experience fishing from the Angaur state boat.

While stranded, we had a few boats, including the Peleliu state boat, stop by to offer help and/or ridicule us for running out of gas. Our rescuers finally arrived and they carefully maneuvered the gas drum onto the state boat and filled the gas tank. We finally got underway and headed north. I found a nice spot on the port bow and was able to lay out and relax on the slow trip home. Thankfully, the rest of the ride was uneventful and we made it to Koror around six, a little over five hours after we had left Angaur. We grabbed our stuff and drove home, joking about how we were returning to the "civilized" world of Koror. I made it home exhausted, tired, mildly injured, and dirty but very happy after a great weekend in Angaur.