Chapter 15

Rota was the same as Guam ... only smaller ... and less traffic ... and fewer people ... maybe Rota wasn’t anything like Guam. Rota wasn’t all that far... 47 nmi (nautical miles) and the wind was in our favor.

West Harbor Marine could and would supply us with diesel but ... Kohatsu, the diesel engine and implement supplier, would sell us fuel in refillable seven gallon yellow plastic jerrycans at half the price ... and we could keep the drums. Even better, they delivered ... so. Instead of refueling our tanks, we bought the 24.5 liter containers and lined the bulwark safety lines with them, nicely lashed in.

The girls headed for the street markets and bought local. While at the dock we washed the vegetables in fresh water and hung them in bunches and netting cradles for the passage to Saipan. I avoided Tinian.

Tinian was where the silverplate B-29 bomber Enola Gay, carrying the Bomb, flew off to join the history of the war. We might not be New Zealander born but the “No Nukes” attitude found a place in my heart. I had no idea I was political ... imagine my shock.

Seventy three nmi north of Rota is Saipan, our next destination. Since 1978, the island has been a municipality of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Saipan was an assault. There were others that the US bypassed leaving troops stranded until the surrender. Oh ... there were skirmishes here and there well into 1946 and even a few in ‘47, with casualties on both sides but they were beat and knew it.

I had a good reason for the extra fuel ... the next port of any use was Iwo Jima.

There were islands between Saipan and Iwo ... but three of them were smoking ... active volcanos, and the rest were abandoned. At least according to the Federal government. The ones that had water had people, but no services. We might have proa coming out to meet and barter fresh but there weren’t wharves or fuel storage.

Iwo was Japanese and a shrine. They had fuel and would sell ... but I expected no bargains.

After that came the Bonins. The Japanese spent a significant percent of the gross national product preparing the Bonins for the American invasion that never came. Instead of fighting our way through the massive defenses, we walked ashore after the surrender. That’s not to say we didn’t use the place for target practice ... we did.

Ogasawara has a magnificent harbor, but there is no air service. Ogasawara must be visited by boat ... in this case, a ferry. The island is a beaut. The city is classy. The tours are in Japanese. We speak it. Not perfectly but we can get by.

We were offered jobs teaching conversational English. But ... and there is almost always a but ... we didn’t have legitimate degrees. They were still interested but at half the price.