Leaving Angaur

Sunday morning I arose later than usual after a deep sleep. I moved out to the porch and had a bite to eat and listened to the waves roll in. Back in Koror, I live next to the ocean, but the lagoon protects us from waves and we never get to hear the gentle rolling waves. I relaxed on the porch and listened to Alanna and then Jirka play Alanna's guitar. Nobody was in a big rush to do much of anything, so we just hung around the porch.

The CAT guys went out for a little while, but by mid-morning they began packing up their gear. They had room on their boat and offered to take Phil, Jirka, and I back to Koror with them. Their boat is much faster than the state boat and we jumped at the chance. We packed up all our stuff and began carrying it down to the dock. Some of the state government guys helped out with their truck which was good because the CAT guys did not pack lightly. We said our goodbyes to Carolyn and Alanna and departed Angaur.

The CAT boat is the size of a dive boat, but it has a few neat gizmos like a GPS mapping systemt to guide the driver. Not far from the Angaur dock we came across a group of dolphins. They popped up right next to the boat and we slowed to watch them swim by. We turned north and sped across the calm open water to reach Peleliu. A smooth ride and a beautiful day made for an excellent trip through the rock islands. We headed up the west side through German Channel and into the islands. After we passed Big Toi, we took the scenic route through the tiny islands that was fabulous.

On the way, we stopped by a few small islands that formed a small channel so we could snorkel and spearfish. Jirka and Phil had their spearguns and went out hunting while I was content to snorkel a new area. It was great spot and had some interesting coral. I swam down the little channel being careful to avoid the few jellyfish that were the stinging kind. Further down the channel there were a few beautiful coral outcroppings populated by fish. During the swim I found Jirka and saw that he had speared a small black fish.

Back in the boat we sped back to Koror and docked at Neco Marina. Even with the snorkeling stop we were back in under three hours well ahead of the pace of the state boat. Next door to Neco the Survivor crew is busy building a large staging area for the production. They insist on calling it "Big Fish Inc." as if they are fooling anybody about their identity. We unloaded the boat and one of the CAT guys gave us ride back to our cars. I drove home happy and tired from a long weekend in Angaur.