It is hot and humid; I must be in the tropics.

Day: 62 — Position: N17 56’ W166 37’
Odometer since Waikiki: about 2,077M
Distance to Northern Marianas: 1,220M
Sea surface temperature: 82.6F - 28.1C

OCEAN ROWING RECORDS AS RUNNING TOTALS
Solo career total in days by Waikiki: 925 now 987 (New World Record)
Overall career total in days by Waikiki: 1,009 now 1,071 (New World Record)
Solo career total in miles by Waikiki: 22,173M now about 24,192M (New World Record)
———
Overall career total in miles by Waikiki: 25,153M now about 27,172M
** Ralph Tuijn (NL) leads this with 35,635M

———oOo———

This morning, I am at a position 80M south of Wake Island. I included passages of Wikipedia information below about Wake Island courtesy of Jason Christensen (https://racingthewind.com). For more details on Wake Island, I suggest reading the entire Wikipedia entry.

Ever since the storm that knocked my rowboat down in the early hours of Dec 3rd, the winds remained 20+ knots and the sea state 12-14 feet. My daily mileage remained above 30M per day, too fast a pace if I should reach the Northern Marianas around Jan 20th. I must not advance into the Philippine Sea before February.

In order to minimize my daily mileage, I have not rowed since two days prior to the storm, remaining in the cabin on starboard tack ever since the same. Spending some extra time in Waikiki had much to do with timing my crossing, I am still working on that!  With the persistent ENE winds and swells still with NNE-NE components, I couldn’t deploy the hydrophone or my drogue to bleed some speed. Once the winds turn more easterly, I certainly will register a few 20M days to reduce my average pace.

The tropical heat and humidity have made my time in the cabin miserable. Yesterday morning I woke up past midnight soaked in my own sweat. I have not had a dry shirt on my back since the morning of Dec 2. One t-shirt already ruined and tore the other day. Other than suppressing my disgust, I wanted to have this second one last longer!

It was way past due for a much needed laundry and a rinse. Fortunately the winds were finally down to 19 knots yesterday and I took care of washing with the seas still splashing me a few times in the process. Fortunately my water maker is working well unattended unlike before Waikiki. I can remain protected from salt spray waiting over an hour while my water jugs fill with a steady stream of fresh water drips then take care of the washing, being exposed a shorter period.

Starting on Friday, the forecast is for winds in the mid teens and swells finally down to 8 feet. The seas will continue to quiet down over the weekend, giving me some respite. I can use some exercise by rowing, deploy the hydrophone, air the cabin to dry the holds and the mattress; some maintenance and housekeeping will be helpful.

Erden

——oOo——

WAKE ISLAND 

Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day on Oahu. During World War 2, the “Battle of Wake Island” was a battle of the Pacific campaign fought on Wake Island. The assault began simultaneously with the attack on naval and air bases around Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on the morning of 8 December 1941 (7 December in Hawaii), and ended on 23 December, with the surrender of the American forces to the Empire of Japan. It was fought on and around the atoll formed by Wake Island and its minor islets of Peale and Wilkes Islands by the air, land and naval forces of the Japanese Empire against those of the United States, with Marines playing a prominent role on both sides.

Approximately 100 species of corals have been reported at Wake Atoll, a number somewhat lower than those found at larger and less isolated neighboring atolls to the south. Fish populations are abundant with at least 323 species recorded, including large populations of the Napoleon wrasse, sharks of several species, and large schools of the bumphead parrotfish, all of which are globally depleted. Foraging populations of the threatened green turtle and resident populations of spinner dolphins are also found at Wake. 

The islands support a rare grass species, Lepturus Gasparricensis, and were home to the endemic Wake Rail until it went extinct during World War II. Wake supports 12 species of resident nesting seabirds and 6 species of migratory shorebirds; all of which are populations of regional significance. Black-footed albatrosses and Laysan albatrosses recently recolonized Wake; one of few northern albatross colonies outside the Hawaiian archipelago"

Wake Island (also known as Wake Atoll) is a coral atoll in the western Pacific Ocean in the northeastern area of the Micronesia sub-region, 1,501 miles (2,416 kilometers) east of Guam, 2,298 miles (3,698 kilometers) west of Honolulu, 1,991 miles (3,204 kilometers) is an unorganized, unincorporated territory belonging to, but not a part of, the United States that is also claimed by the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Wake Island is one of the most isolated islands in the world. 

With the annexation of Hawaii in 1898 and the acquisition of Guam and the Philippines resulting from the conclusion of the Spanish–American War that same year, the United States began to consider unclaimed and uninhabited Wake Island, located approximately halfway between Honolulu and Manila, as a good location for a telegraph cable station and coaling station for refueling warships of the rapidly expanding United States Navy and passing merchant and passenger steamships. The cable station was later established on Midway Islands since low lying Wake island tends to be swept by waves in heavy storms. On July 4, 1898, United States Army Brigadier General Francis V. Greene of the 2nd Brigade, Philippine Expeditionary Force, of the Eighth Army Corps, stopped at Wake Island and raised the United States flag while en route to the Philippines on the steamship liner SS China. On January 17, 1899, under orders from President William McKinley, Commander Edward D. Taussig of USS Bennington landed on Wake and formally took possession of the island for the United States. 

With limited fresh water resources, no harbor and no plans for development, Wake Island remained a remote uninhabited Pacific island in the early 20th century. It did, however, have a large seabird population that attracted Japanese feather collecting. The global demand for feathers and plumage was driven by the millinery industry and popular European fashion designs for hats, while other demand came from pillow and bedspread manufacturers. Japanese poachers set up camps to harvest feathers on many remote islands in the Central Pacific. The feather trade was primarily focused on Laysan albatross, black-footed albatross, masked booby, lesser frigatebird, greater frigatebird, sooty tern and other species of tern. Although feather collecting and plumage exploitation had been outlawed in the territorial United States, there is no record of any enforcement actions at Wake Island.

In his 1921 book “Sea-Power in the Pacific: A Study of the American-Japanese Naval Problem,” Hector C. Bywater recommended establishing a well-defended fueling station on Wake Island to provide coal and oil for United States Navy ships engaged in future operations against Japan. On June 19, 1922, the submarine tender USS Beaver landed an investigating party to determine the practicality and feasibility of establishing a naval fueling station on Wake Island. Lt. Cmdr. Sherwood Picking reported that from "a strategic point of view, Wake Island could not be better located, dividing as it does with Midway, the passage from Honolulu to Guam into almost exact thirds." Picking strongly recommended that Wake be used as a base for aircraft. He stated that "if the long heralded trans-Pacific flight ever takes place, Wake Island should certainly be occupied and used as an intermediate resting and fueling port." 

In the early 1970s, higher-efficiency jet aircraft with longer-range capabilities lessened the use of Wake Island Airfield as a refueling stop, and the number of commercial flights landing at Wake declined sharply. Pan Am had replaced many of its Boeing 707s with more efficient 747s, thus eliminating the need to continue weekly stops at Wake. Other airlines began to eliminate their scheduled flights into Wake. In June 1972 the last scheduled Pan Am passenger flight landed at Wake, and in July Pan Am's last cargo flight departed the island, marking the end of the heyday of Wake Island's commercial aviation history. 

The island has been used for strategic defense and operations during and after the Cold War. Given its remote location, Wake Island has served as a launch platform for military rockets involved in testing complex missile defense systems and atmospheric re-entry trials. 

On March 20, 1978, Undersecretary James A. Joseph of the U.S. Department of the Interior reported that radiation levels from Operation Crossroads and other atomic tests conducted in the 1940s and 1950s on Bikini Atoll were still too high and those island natives that returned to Bikini would once again have to be relocated. In September 1979 a delegation from the Bikini/Kili Council came to Wake Island to assess the island's potential as a possible resettlement site. The delegation also traveled to Hawaii (Molokai and Hilo), Palmyra Atoll and various atolls in the Marshall Islands including Mili, Knox, Jaluit, Ailinglaplap, Erikub and Likiep but the group agreed that they were only interested in resettlement on Wake Island due to the presence of the U.S. military and the island's proximity to Bikini Atoll. Unfortunately for the Bikini Islanders, the U.S. Department of Defense responded that "any such resettlement is out of the question." More on this in my next update…

Wake Island has no permanent inhabitants and access is restricted. However, as of 2017, there are approximately 100 Air Force personnel and American and Thai contractor residents at any given time. As of 2011, the billeting at the airfield supports 198 beds.

On January 6, 2009, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 8836, establishing Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to preserve the marine environments around Wake, Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, and Palmyra Atoll. On September 27, 2014, President Barack Obama issued Executive Order 9173 to expand the area of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument out to the full 200 nautical miles U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundary for each island. By this proclamation, the area of the monument at Wake Island was increased from 15,085 sq mi (39,069 km2) to 167,336 sq mi (433,398 km2).