We are officially the first (and as of right now the ONLY) people to have stand up paddled all the way from Koror to Peleliu. We paddled nearly 30 miles on Friday, May 22. (Our route is shown in white on the map below.)

This is something we've thought and talked about since we arrived here 7 months ago. We knew it would be quite the challenge and quite crazy to many, but that hasn't stopped us before. The weather conditions had not been just right until Thursday of last week. Part of our daily routine on this tiny island nation, is to check the weather, the tide schedule and the ocean conditions. On Thursday we saw the numbers and words we'd almost given up on ever seeing. Wind from the Northeast at 5-10 knots, seas at 3-4 feet, partly cloudy with isolated showers. And the tide times . . . high tide at 5 a.m., low at noon and then high again at 6 p.m. Everything was right, so we knew we just had to give it a try.

This is the most unbelievable place ever. I know - you think I'm going to talk about the ocean life, the corals, the amazingly clear blue warm waters, the perfect stand up paddling conditions, and the totally unique picturesque Rock Islands. But NOOOOOOOO. That's not it at all.

For a few days about a month ago we were teaching Fuanes' wife Lani to drive. We've donated a chunk  of our boards, paddles and other gear to them to start their own business here: Stand Up Paddle Tours. When we leave, we plan to give them our car as well, so they can pick up their paddling guests. For that to be useful, Lanie needed to become a licensed driver, something she's never really needed to do.

Our friend Debbie arrived a day ago and she has never snorkeled or been on a stand up paddle.  Well, here is proof that Debbie enjoyed her day paddling today...

Debbie was standing up paddling away today, the weather was great - a few clouds and not too hot!  Snorkeling was an adventure as well...  Check her blog for more in the days to come...

So, we've just returned from Thailand and the Philippines.  Wow, what a trip!  Since we are now back in Palau and still on dialup, I can only upload a few pictures, but the videos of the whale sharks are amazing!  Sorry I can't share them with you. :)

These gentle giants live at an Elephant Conservation Sanctuary.  They have all been rescued and live happily now a bit north of Chiang Mai.  Here they are at bathtime...

Just returned from a great trip to Angaur!  Could be my favorite island so far here in Palau - peaceful, beautiful, relaxing...

We hopped on this state boat/barge on Friday afternoon, expecting to return on Sunday, but after the 4 hour trip, we found out that the boat was rescheduled and not due to return until Monday...

My dad came for a visit last week. He's not much of a water guy so we didn't do any stand up paddling or snorkeling, but we did do stuff. Here are just some of the highlights.

First we got a boat ride  from Koror, through the Rock Islands to Peleliu. Godwin, of Dophin Bay, is a great driver, guide, and all around good guy. We dropped us off at Giant Clam Beach while he took the rest of the folks on board over to Jelly Fish Lake for a swim.

Last week we arranged for a boat to take us and our buddy Fuanes out to the Rock Islands for a bit of paddling. Shauna and I hadn't ever been to the Western Lagoon so that's where we headed first.

We paddled around Soft Coral Arch and Natural Arch. The winds weren't as kind as we had hoped. They were kicking up the water a bit.

We took a trip to Yap over my birthday weekend.  Going to Yap is definitely taking a step back in time as you will see from these pictures.  At the very end is a link to a video, so make sure you get to that point as it is VERY cool. :)  Or at least, we think so...

Here is where we stayed at a place called The Pathways...  If you got to Yap, this is the ONLY real option - unless, of course, you want to stay in  a place that resembles Motel 6 but with a fancy name and high prices...

Oh yeah... some fishermen from the Fuanes' village caught this baby just out where we went paddling yesterday.  Kinda freaky... I'll post a video your children shouldn't watch a little later and update this post if it actually uploads. :)  So, until then, have a look at some pics...

Here are a few photos of two different turtles we saw passing through Pillbox Channel today in Palau.   We were out standup paddling another great day in paradise.  We hope you join us soon!  Here is a very short video (like 3 seconds since we have dialup) of one of the turtles passing by us...

Turtle Video