Sailing nightmare in Marshall Islands: Report of the illegal behavior of the Mili Police and of the Mili Major

This is email I recieved a week ago from my italian friend Paolo Grazzini, who is  sailing around the World the same like we do. So I decided to publish it in our blog. I thought story like that happend just with russian girls, but seems it's not.... 
so here is his mail: 




I gently ask Cary Evarts to make an official report to Chief of the Police of the Marshall Islands Republic and to the President of Marshall Islands Republic.
I also ask to all the sailors in BCC to spread the following events in the sailing community.

A great thanks to Ms Liz Rodick for her initial help and especially to Mr Cary Evarts, without his involvement this nightmare would probably be still on his way.
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In the last four years and half I sailed in many countries like Morocco, Tunisia, Cabo Verde Islands, Caribbean, Trinidad, Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Niue, Kingdom of Tonga, New Zealand, Fiji, Tuvalu and Kiribati.
Despite some things I heard about some of these countries I have never had any kind of problems in any of them, with officials or with normal local people.
Mili (Marshall Islands) is the only place where I had a so dangerous, frustrating, paroxysmal, kafkiana situation. I had the worst feeling in all of my sailing trips so far.
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After clearing out we left Majuro, 3 people on board, to sail to Fiji. After 1 day one person (Sonja Schmelter, German) started to get a lot of pain from a health problem, in fact she had a shoulder operation 12 weeks ago and during the way, with the strong movement of the boat, she realized that it was dangerous for her sail to Fiji.
At the moment we were few miles from Mili Atoll so we decided to stop and ask for help there.
As we entered in Mili Atolls throught the Tokawa Passage we anchored in front of Tokawa Island and we went immediatly on shore to report the fact.
Onshore we met the police man of Tokawa Village and the oldest men of the family that owns the island of Tokawa. The police man doesn't speak english but the owner of the island (very nice and helpfull person) does so he translated to the police what we were reporting.
At the time I also gave to the police 50 USD (entry fee) since we needed to stop in Mili water to get Ms Schmelter back to Marshall as soon as possible.
But when I asked for the receipt he told me that he is not able to make the receipt and if we want the receipt we should go to see the Major of Mili Atoll on his island and pay there. So he gave me back the 50 USD and when I asked how I could contact the Major to advise we were going to visit him and pay to him he told me that he was going to call by radio the Major to say that we arrived and wanted to pay for entering the lagoon.
We also asked which was the best way for Ms Schmelter to go back to Majuro and they suggested a motor boat that was coming in the following days to collect the Copra.
So the day after we went by Dinghy to the island that the police man pointed out to us to see and pay for the major. When we arrived there was no one on the island. 
So we went back and we met again the policeman and the owner of the island telling that we couldn't find anybody in Burrh-island that we understood to be the Major's island. They said that this was the wrong island so they came on the boat and they showed us on the map of the Gps the right island (Jobenor) that is about 5 miles upwind from Tokawa. So we decided to go there by boat and not by dinghy. But the policeman told us to go onshore in Tokawa Island to wait for the Major who was already on his way to meet us there.
So about 8.30 am we went on shore waiting for the Major.
Since about 12.30 he had not arrived we went back to the boat to have lunch and wait for the Major.
Around 13.30 a boat arrived with 3 policeman, without the Major. All the policeman came on board without asking any permission and without explaining anything.
Once on board the chief of Mili police (he lives in Enajet -islands) told me that we had to pay 10.000 USD because we came inside the Mili Lagoon without reporting it and without permission.
I tryed to explain the health problem that Ms Schmelter had and that as we arrived we went immidiatelly onshore to report it to the policeman and that the police man told us he was calling by radio the Major to advise him and report our arrival and our problem.
The chief of the police said that nobody called the Major and that if I was not going to pay 10.000 USD we had to wait the boat police from Majuro coming the day after to take me to the jail.
The behaviour of the chief of the police was really unpolite and he was not even listening what I was trying to explain.

When I said for the ten times that we came inside Mili lagoon for health reason he answered that it was not his problem and that we had not to enter anyway and that I had to pay 10.000 USD fine or go to the jail. It didn't matter if someone is in pain ore even dying on the boat.
He told me that untill I pay or untill the police boat from Majuro arrives, the 2 crew members have to go onshore and sleep in the village and not on board. 
I tried to explain that all this was against international law but he said that he doesn't care, only thing whats important was what the Major and he tells us to do.

Luckily I've got a satellite phone on board so I called a person I met in Majuro, Liz Rodick, General Manager of EZ Price. She had lived there form many years and very gently was able to contact the Mili Major (that at the moment was in Majuro and not in Mili Atoll how the Tokowa policeman told to us) explaining what happened. Finally, thanks to her, I could speak by satellite with the Major that asked me to pay 75 USD (25 USD per person) to be in the Mili water and asked also Ms Shmelter to be visited from a doctor in Mili since he wanted a medical report for the health problem of hers.
So I payed the 75 USd to the chief of the police (that didn't give me any recipt but the 2 crew members were witness of this payment) and Ms Shmelter went ashore to meet the doctor that made a report confirming that she has to go back to Majuro and back to Germany for her health problem.

Medical report from Mili Doctor

Finally at 19.30 we finished.
The day after Ms Schmelter went on the boat that arrived for the Copra and me and the other crew member we sailed from Tokowa to the North East Passage inside Mili Lagoon. In fact at the end of the discussion with the police I asked them if it was safe to use the North East passage to go out from Mili Atoll, since for going to Fiji it's better because is more east and the wind is South East.

When we arrived close the the pass we found that the waves were quite big to go out (the passage is faced to the wind) so we anchored 0,5 miles just South of the Passage in front of the reef and we checked the weather forecast again that reported less waves in the following days.
Since I didn't want to risk, for safety reason I decided to wait one day for smaller waves to go out from the pass.

The day after at 7 am suddenly I heard someone jumping on the deck of the boat.
I was really scared and I went out to see what was happening. There I found 3 policemen already on the deck who started yelling to me us still staying on the atolls.
One of the 3 policemen was the chief of the police who I payed the 75 USD according to the Major.
I could not understand what was happening so I asked them what was the problem.
The chief of Mili Police told me that I was there illegally because I didn't have to stop in the lagoon.
I tryed to explain that we came to the NE passage (like he knew because we talked about that the first time we met) and we stopped just before to go out because the waves were too big and that we were trying that morning to go out of the pass since the waves looked smaller. 
He said that we could not go out because we were illegal and we had to pay 10.000 usd fine.
At that time I was really concerned and surpised, so I tried to explain to him that we had already the same discussion, that we payed 75 USD and that we stopped just South of the NE Passage because the waves were too big and for safety reason I could not risk to take the boat out day before. Dangerous for the crew and for the boat.
He answered that I had not to stop and that it didn't matter if it was not safe to go out of the passage, I had to go out anyway.

I tryed to tell him that I cannot risk the life of the other crew member and mine but he answered in a very unpolite way that it was not his problem.

So he told again that I had to pay 10.000 usd to leave. So I tried to call again the major (witch took over 2 hours and about 50$ worth off satellite phone time!) and he told me he wanted to meet me on my boat in Enajet, so I agreed with him that I meet him later on the same afternoon in Enajet-island (his island) as he was supposed to arrive from Majuro by his motorboat.
But I tried to explain that Enajet is not safe for anchoring because is open to the wind and has big waves and its not charted properly. So I could have gone with the police boat and with my dinghy.
He answered that it is safe for the boat and the police will take care of the boat.

So, just to try to make everything easier I decided, even risking to sail in uncharted part of the Atoll, to move the boat to Enajet since finally at 5 pm we were going to meet with the Major and talk and solve the problem.
When we tried to take up the anchor the windlass stopped working. So I told to the chief of the police that it was better to go by dinghy and by police boat. He told me that they could take up the anchor by hand (3 policeman).
I told him that 100 meters of chain and 35 kg of anchor are really heavy and it can be dangerous for the people. 
He told me that he decides so they started to take up the anchor manually with 20 knots of wind.
After 1 hour of working one police man hurt himself on the leg with a small cut.
So the chief of the police decided to go toghether to Enajet by dinghy and by the police boat to bring the guy to the doctor and meet the Major at 5 pm.

At that point thechief of the police asked me in a rude way 300USD for the fuel of the police boat.
I asked why and he told me that it is like this because he says that and that I have to pay to him 300SD immidiatly for the fuel and other 300USD for the doctor.
I told to him that we are going to meet the Major and we will talk about that with him because this doesn't sound fair.

We left the boat at 1.30 and finally we arrived in Enajet about 3.30 pm waiting for the Major.
I left the boat in the anchorage close to the passage, in front of the reef (big waves with high water) with the second crew member on board, Ms Maija Kujala from Finland.
She was worrying to be alone on the boat since she is new on boats and she doesn't know how to manage a boat. I told her not to worry because I was coming back before dark since at 5 pm I was meeting the Major so I was going to be back before 7 pm.
It has to be noticed that Ms Kujala has Epilepsy that can produce an attack if under stress.

At 5 pm the chief of the police told me to call the Major by Satellite so I did and the Major told me that he was not coming today and that he will have come the day after. So I told to the Major that I was going back to the boat by Dinghy and I was coming back the day after again to finally meet him. He told me that I had to stay in the island, sleep in the village and wait for him.
I tryed to explain that I could not leave the boat with a person on board that is not able to manage the boat and especially I told him that Ms Kujala suffers of Epilepsy and that from the island there also was no way to be in contact with her and talk. I told him that like captain of the boat I am responsable of the boat and of the crew member.
He told me that Ms Kujala will be fine alone and that I had to stay on the island and wait for him for the day after.
I prayed him and tried to explain that we cannot leave Ms Kujala alone on the boat for the night and that I am responsable for the boat and for Ms Kujala and I told to him that if he wanted one policeman could have come with me to the boat and sleep on the boat and come back the day after to meet him.
He told me that it was ok if two policeman would have come with me to sleep on the boat.
Since I was really worrying about the boat and Ms Kujala I told him that it was ok. So he told me that the chief of the police and Mr Wildt (Minister of Justice) were coming with me to the boat before dark.
So the chief of the police told me that we were leaving with my dinghy to go to the boat about 6 pm.
In the while I called Mr Cary Evarts from the Sailing Yacht of Majuro that is always very helpful with all the sailors.
I tried to explain the situation. Mr Evarts called by phone the Major and the Major told him that we had a problem since we sailed out of the atoll and we went back again. I told to Mr Evarts that this was not true and that the police has even never told me that, since it is very easy to disprove since we have the effective route on the GPS and it is clear that we moved the boat from Tokowa to NE Passage INSIDE the lagoon.

the route we did inside the Mili Lagoon from the Tokowa anchorage to the north east passe

Mr Evart told me that the day after everythihng would have been clarified and just go to the boat with the policeman.

But in the while the chief of the police disappeared.
It started to become dark so I started to worry.
Mr Wildt took me around the village to look for the chief of the police (the village is 100 people) and we could not find him.
At his home the son told us he was not there. And we could not find him in the whole village. Of course everybody was speaking Marshallese so I could not really understand what Mr Wildton was asking to the villagers.
I told to Mr Wildt please to find him or to ask another police man to come with us.
We arrived at this stage about 9pm, so 3 hours after the time we were supposed to leave with the chief of the police.
But Mr Wildton told me that we had to wait for the chief of the police to come with us.
So I told to Mr Wildt that I was going to the boat by dinghy because I was very worryed for Ms Kujala on her own on board and not beeing able to contact me as the portable radio VHF didnt have enough power to reach the boat.
I told him that he was welcome to come with me alone or with a police man but that I had to go.
So I went to the dinghy but suddenly 5 people stopped me moving the dinghy and they tried to damage the pipe of the fuel to prevent to use the motor. Two of them tried also to stop me by holding me back.
I told them that they could not do anything of what they were doing and they didnt have to touch me or the dinghy.
I told them that the Major told me that I could go back to my boat and to Ms Kujala with 2 people of the village.
But they sayed that the Major had changed his idea and now he wanted me sleep on the island and it does not matter what is going to happen to Ms Kujala and to the boat. So at that time I figour out that the chief of the police was in his house sleeping from long time.
I started to ask them why nobody told me anything and nobody was answering. They were just laughing of me when I was telling that I was worry about Ms Kujala and please to come with me. Two of them sit down on the dinghy to prevent to me to move it.

So I called back Mr Evart explaiing the absurd and illegal situation.

After a while I called him back and he told me he had another phone call with the Major and that finally everything was sort out I was finally allowed to go away and leave.
So I called the Major and he asked me to talk with one of the policeman. After that they finally let me go.
So I went back to the boat by dinghy in the night (10 PM) for 15 miles in the lagoon upwind (20knots of wind) with big waves.
The waves were very big and I had an injury to my face against the steering wheel of the dinghy since in the night you cannot see the waves coming.

my face after I arrived on the boat

Luckily I got to the boat (I cannot think if the outboard motor has stopped working). It was 11.30 pm
I found Ms Kujala worryed. She was very stressed because she didn't have any news from 10 hours and she knew I was supposed to come back to the boat before dark. Also the waves were big since it was high water and strong wind so she was worry about what to do do if the anchor was going not to hold.

After all that I decided not to spend even one minute more in Mili Atol so I worked to fix the windlass and I left the Atoll as soon as possible before the Major changed idea again and sent the police to the boat to stuck it again.

We did the NE Passage in the night, risking the boat and our safety. Luckily the boat is strong and safe so after one hour we were out of the pass.

The behaviour of the police and of the Major is not only unbeliveble but also illegal for at least the following reasons:
- Money extortion
- Kidnapping
- Putting in danger the life and the safety of the people
- Putting in danger the boat
- Not respecting international laws for boats for safety and medical reason
- Not respecting the foreign territory that is represented from the boat with a foreign flag.

Besides I cannot believe that even the Major didn't respect his words two times and he didn't care that a sick person was risking to have problem.
Besides all the people in the village laughing about my desperation about Ms Kujala alone on the boat in the night without any news and without knowoledge about the boat.

They are proud to consider themselfs Christians.

I do not need to talk about the cost of all the satellite phone calls of the 2 days (around 350 USD) and that the policemen took 2 sunglasses from the boat and that I had to give to one of them some dollars for the cigarettes.

But the worst thing was the feeling that they could do to your person and to your boat what they wanted without you can do nothing to prevent it, it doesnt matter if they do something illegal or if they put you and the boat in danger.

Even you cannot believe that they are enjoying the situation and they are laughing at you. 

I posted new photo album - Vavau Group, Kingdom of Tonga!
Enjoy!
https://picasaweb.google.com/downtimecat/VavauGroup?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Vavau Group, Kingdom of Tonga

Our sail across from Nuie was uneventful with light following winds and a few rain showers. We tried fishing on our way across but did not have any luck. We radioed ahead and customs, immigration, and the heath department were waiting on the dock to clear us in. Clearing into Tonga was much easier than on our last visit here and Daria for some reason did not even need a visa this time? May is the beginning of their high season here and we were only the 13th boat to clear in of the 170 or so expected boats for the season.


Steve hit the ground running and had a plane ticket bought for Saturday which could not come soon enough for this X-High seas sailor. His new dream is of a cabin firmly settled on a mountain side.

We were able to get internet at the Mango Café and had a nice dinner while sharing stories of the passage with other sailors that had arrived.

The Vavau Group is the northern most part of Tonga a country that lies roughly 200 miles north to south and consists of several island groups and hundreds of smaller islands.

The main town sits on the NW side of the harbor and looks a little shabby. The wharf is where they unload containers and supplies. Next to that is a huge shed where the vegetable market is held daily. The main staple is taro root, sweet potatoes, bananas, coconuts, and limited amounts of fresh veggies. This season's vegetables were hit hard by a recent cyclone so there was not much to choose from. Next is the local craft market where you can buy locally woven baskets ,carved whale bone necklaces and a native grass skirt Daria just had to have.

We gave away some toys and kids were very happy and we whatched them playing with them for the next few days.







If you continue walking to town there is a small fish market along the seas wall where the local fishermen have their igloo coolers full of just about anything that swims on the reef. It is kind of strange to see the colorful fish that swam with you on the reef with all their beauty laying here dead on ice.

Tongans's are very friendly people and appear to have a minimalist lifestyle. It would be hard to find a car here with out a dent in every panel or less than 100K miles on it. Saturday fills the streets with all the locals who are in town for the supply boat from New Zealand. There are several grocery stores that have their dust covered goods on cluttered shelves. There are no prices marked and I think everyone pays a little more or less the same? But I think we pay more?

We spent a little over a week in the surrounding islands with our friends Bob, Bob and Debbie on Braveheart. One of the islands we went out to was one owned by a couple Ben a& Lisa who left San Francisco 7 years ago to sail around the world and fell in love with Tonga 5 years ago and bought and island. They are in the process (a very slow one) of building a home on this little piece of tropical paradise. We all had a potluck and poker game (Bob won!) along with Kim and James off "Doin It" who also seem to have fallen in love with Tonga and are having a hard time raising the anchor to leave.

 The next day Braveheart and Downtime set sail for another island and were able to dive in some calm weather. The diving here has some really good coral but lacks structure to hold fish, so we were not able to catch lunch on our dive.

We had some great dinners aboard Downtime and one night Daria made a amazing roasted leg of lamb with roasted pumpkin and potatoes. Another night Bob brought over some roasted pork and we had taco night and made fresh tortillas in the tortilla press my son Pete Jr. bought me for Christmas. Another night we had pizza night and we made one of ours first homemade pizzas. On the way in from the dive site we snagged a Skipjack tuna by the tail and had a fresh cevichi appetizer.

There are some amazing caves along the shores of these islands and we to Super Dink on an adventure to see them. We found two that we could fit into and see the limestone formations and the arched ceilings with skylights into the jungle above. Most the islands seem to just rise up from the ocean depths and have sheer walls that drop strait down hundreds of feet below the surface.

We spent a little over a week In Vavau and decided to go to our favorite part of Tonga the Haapai Group.



Until then, Live your dreams!! Peace!! Pete & Daria

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New photos!

Some pics from our tour around Nuie!
https://picasaweb.google.com/108162907007041572386/Nuie1

Two days on Nuie

We are sailing for Tonga after a short break on Nuie with following winds and seas. Downtime feels like a baby cradle compared to out last trip rolling along downwind at 6 to 7 knots.
We spent two days in Nuie a 100 square mile pinnacle of land that rises up out of the depths of the ocean. It is amazing that just 1/2 mile off shore it is over a mile deep!
We had just a few things to repair on Downtime and on Sunday Steve paddled the kayak to church while Daria and I relaxed in the calm anchorage. On Monday I went for a dive with Nuie Divers and they took me to two really cool cave dives along he shore, The first part of the dive was like swimming over the moon since all the corrals were scrubbed clean during the cyclone of 2004 a storm that battered the island with huge waves that even destroyed many home and building sitting 60 feet above sea level!
Most the island is made of limestone and where water seeps through over the ages dissolves the rock forming these spectacular caves. They both had entrances about 20 feet below the surface and a 200 foot winding tunnels to get into them. We had flashlights to find our way in and saw schools of fish hiding in all the nooks and crannies along the walls. It was breeding season for sea snakes and there were heaps of them swimming with us! These snakes are 2 to 5 feet long and are poisonous! The good thing is that they are non aggressive and have a mouth that is too small to bite a human. They are just curious and come swim right up to you until shoo them away. They are making their way into the caves to lay their eggs, since they can not lay eggs in the water. They go into the cave and climb up on the jagged walls and after laying their eggs they simply plop back into the water.
These are the darkest caves i ever dove in and when you shut off your light it was pitch black! Hmmm take a minute in your mind and go for a swim in a pitch black cave with sea snakes all around you....a little creepy!
On our way between dive sites we encountered the local talent, a school of spinner dolphins and I jumped in with them holding onto the boat and they swam along side me as we motored slowly forward.
While I was diving Daria and Steve went on an island tour with one of the locals Steve met at church. Nuie is a beautiful island that at one time sustained over 5000 people but now there are barely 1500 living here. There have been attempts to teach the natives to farm and ranch but no sign of any of these activities were going on. In my mind growing at least fresh fruits and vegetables in this tropical paradise would be a no-brainer. Nuie is owned by mother NZ and appears to give most of this nation government jobs and plenty of subsidies. While we were there the supply ship was unloading and at least 40 men were involved with this two day process. Customs and immigration had a few full time staff to clear the 30 to 50 visitors a week(the only plane comes in on Friday)
But all bureaucracy aside we found the people here genuinely caring and friendly and enjoyed every minute of our short stay here.
I am sure Daria has lots of pictures to post when we find internet in Tonga, until then please be
patient.
Sailing along to Tonga, Downtime and her crew

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Land Ho!!!! and another fish story...

Nuie!!
On our last post we were 48 miles out and still being tossed around like a cork in a 55 gallon drum!
When we were 26 miles out we hooked a submarine or a REALLY huge fish!! the 2000 feet of line never slowed down as it screamed off the Shimano 60 TLR!! We finally turned the boat around and started chasing this monster that had my favorite bait in his mouth. The line went slack for a second and then SNAP!!! The beast broke the 200 Lb. leader! It had to be one huge marlin!!

An hour later we had another "Fish On" but luckily this one was much smaller in the 200 pound range. Thankfully we were able to let this beautiful fish go and fight another day because I REALLY did not want to eat marlin for the next three months!

Niue

                                                                              We were tied to a mooring ball by noon and were able to clear in with little hassle. We used a couple hundred gallons of fresh water to put the pounds of salt we had been collecting on our way here and by 5 steaks were smokin on the grill. The trip will not soon be forgotten and we are happy to finally be somewhere warm with clear blue water under our keels.

Pedro is paddle kayak to clear in

We will spend a few days here in Niue diving and then it will be off to Tonga! 

Downtime and her crew

Day 8

Hello from Downtime day 8
We are down to 48 bottles of beer on the wall just 48 bottles of beer! The winds have finally calmed and are down to just 20 knots with 3 to 5 foot seas and we are just 48 miles from our destination!!
We are still flying a triple reefed main but have the jib all the way out pulling us along at 8 to 9 knots on a beam reach. We will have covered a little over 1450 miles in under 8 days, some kind of record for this sailor! This is the 2nd longest leg I have sailed on Downtime and lets face it 8 days is still too long to not see land!
We had continuing rain squalls all day yesterday with crazy seas. We would be sailing along and then it was like the chaos cycle was pushed and things got really rough and then 15 minutes later it would moderate. Squalls came through like clockwork all day and the cockpit was no place to be unless you needed another set of soaked salty clothes.
The way I see it is that if you can make a passage like this and not hit shore and run like mad away from anything floating then you are a sailor! It was just another one of those passages like back when I sailed to Bermuda and lost two crew when we tied up. They both swore that if they got back on the boat they were going to DIE!! It will be interesting to see if Steve still wants to go home and buy a boat and sail the Pacific? And to all you wives out there...if Hubby wants to buy a boat send him this way for a week and we will make sure he "REALLY" does!
Day 8 was a good day for Downtime with only minor breakage, the only thing was a batten (20 foot fiberglass rod) started sliding out of the sail cover I just had repaired in NZ.
We should be tied to a mooring ball and cleared in by noon and I am sure wont take long finding our way to land and do what sailors do best, find a bar and tell lies! ARG!!!!
Watch out Niue here we come!
Peace!! Downtime and her crew

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