Perhaps the fact that Kosrae is so far from anywhere, I've chosen the above photo to represent Kosrae. We traveled from the Solomon Islands and crossed the equator (just Scott & myself) to find Kosrae.

Of course, as we approached the island the winds, waves and clouds increased, so we sped up a bit to get into the anchorage before dark.

It all looks so simple in retrospect (and also when it's someone else's boat). You can see our track in the photo of our chart plotter on the left. We started to go into the recommended leading line and then when things didn't look right we adjusted about a half a mile to the south. We actually asked a couple of men fishing on the reef if they would lead us to the anchorage. It does seem silly in retrospect, but many of the marks did NOT have a top indicator flag on them, so it wasn't immediately clear what was supposed to be port and what starboard.

Anyway, we got in safely and were surprised to see a few other yachties in the anchorage. They came over and gave us the lay of the land.

We're right off of the wharf at Lele. If you enlarge the above chart we anchored, NOT where the boat is, but directly west of Lele Island beyond some sunken wreck and obstructions, so you understand that we were not anxious to get caught on those things after going so far.

AND here we are, ready to call it a night as the sun sets behind the sleeping lady. You can see the anatomic peaks just in front of the dark clouds on the left.

There was one very nice resort on the island that caters to yachties and runs a dive operation. One can visit the restaurant by kayak or dinghy, but we preferred to hire a taxi! You must cross a raised walkway both coming and going. It's not too bad arriving, but one of our yachtie friends had a hard time returning to the taxi after imbibing 180 proof rum!

Now we could have come by dinghy and avoided all that balancing act. The restaurant is set in the middle of a mangrove swamp. You can see the new mangroves shooting up in the above photo.

Kosrae also has some old ruins from about 500 to 1450. I'll include a few shots, but the basalt buildings from Nan Madol in Pohnpei are more spectacular.

These structures are amazing. They have been damaged by earthquakes and tsunamis throughout the years, but they still tell of a colossal building effort. I get the idea that the Saudeluer Dynasty that built these walls placed a tremendous burden on the local people to move these huge stones into place and build this fortress.