Goodbye Tern Island

The old and new Tern crews

Launching our ride to the Searcher

Jimmy and I saying good bye to Tern Island in the background

Bye Tern!

Our ride back to civilization

First sight of land

A little fishing on the way home

Fishing at sunset

Success! 

Fresh Tuna

Living room on the Searcher

Galley

We all had a bedroom with our own bathroom! Pretty fancy

One of the many cabins on the boat

Dining area

Galley

The bridge

After 4 days of 10+ ft swells we finally arrived in Honolulu

Everyone was happy we were almost back, it was a rough ride.

3rd level of the boat

4th level of the boat where we spent most of the trip trying not to get seasick. 

A beautiful rainbow welcomed us back to the main islands. We passed through the rainbow, it was gorgeous.

Welcome to Oahu

The boat that usually brings supplies to Tern Island on its way to and from Midway.

How Sarah felt about returning to Honolulu (a little scared).

Finally back on land, we were all very wobbly for the next week

BFAL learning to fly

Last day on Tern, enjoying the day and watching the birds

Saying goodbye to our friend at the east seawall

So long albatrosses

One last sky moo

The hair do's were hilarious

RTTRs

Loving the hair

Mullet?

Last snorkel at Whale Skate

Bluefin trevally

silversides

Achilles Tang

Ornate butterflyfish

We took the clear water for granted

Terminal male spectacled parrot fish

Bluefin Trevally

Potter's Angelfish, a personal favorite

Our time on Tern finally came to end. It was an incredible experience that we will remember the rest of our lives. The friends, birds, seals, turtles, and fish were all amazing and we will truly miss all of them. The sail back to civilization was a bit bumpy with 10 ft swells. We were also all a bit woozy and sleepy from our seasickness patches. We slept most of the trip and when we weren't sleeping we were usually on the 4th level on the boat where the best view and fresh air was. The boat was lovely and the food was more than delicious.  Several seabirds could be seen from time to time along the trip and we had our final goodbyes. We gave our project presentations in the office the day after our return and they all went really well.  We will never forget our time on Tern Island. We want to thank all of our followers and viewers in 47 countries around the world!

1.       United States   
2.       Australia             
3.       Canada
4.       United Kingdom              
5.       Japan   
6.       Norway
7.       New Zealand    
8.       Slovakia               
9.       Denmark            
10.   Russia
11.   Switzerland
12.   Greece
13.   France
14.   Croatia
15.   Germany
16.   Kuwait
17.   Netherlands
18.   South Korea
19.   Brazil    
20.   Serbia
21.   Spain
22.   Italy
23.   Sweden
24.   Austria
25.   Iran
26.   Dominica
27.   Hong Kong
28.   South Africa
29.   Czech Republic
30.   Guam
31.   Bulgaria
32.   USVI
33.   Belgium
34.   Poland
35.   Romania
36.   Turkey
37.   India
38.   Egypt
39.   Estonia
40.   Portugal
41.   United Arab Emirates
42.   Saudi Arabia
43.   Peru
44.   Taiwan
45.   Thailand
46.   Fiji
47.   Chile

Tour of Tern Island

This is a map of our Atoll, French Frigate Shoals

Tern Island aerial view

Tern Island map

The way Tern Island looked in the 30's

This picture is from the 70's. Notice the lovely Iron wood trees, sidewalk, manicured lawn, and  tennis court.

This is the way it looks now. The side walk is cracked in many places and mostly covered in vegetation. The Iron wood trees are now stumps and the tennis court now serves as a catchment pad for rainwater. 

This picture is also from the 70s. Notice that the barracks do not yet have solar  panels, and there is no large bush  in front of the building.

This is a picture of what it looks like now. The Iron wood trees are missing but we now have a large bush and a palm tree in front of the barracks. 

 Tern Island also used to have a playboy club. The clubhouse was on the south beach area just below (east of) the tennis court. (Thanks to Jerry Murdock for the pictures and information!)

This is a picture of our courtyard (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

View from the kitchen (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

This is the common room before I painted the back wall. (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

This is the common room after some painting on the back wall.  We have a pool table, foose ball table, ping pong table, TV, large stash of movies, books, and games for entertainment. (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

The pantry. It is getting pretty empty these past couple weeks, but soon the Searcher will be here to bring fresh supplies. (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

The workout room, complete with TV for P90X. (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

The common room and eating area (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

Our fleet of boats, pictured here is the Eva and the Spam

We hoist our boats in and out of the water here instead of using a ramp. (Picture by Lindsey Kramer)

 Here is a basic tour of Tern Island. I probably should have made this post several months ago, but I was too excited about getting pictures of  the birds and fish. So here is where we have spent the last 7 months.