Olimarao Atoll FM - A Northern Pacific Island Jewel and Uninhabited Too

Olimarao Atoll - DG Island Image from GE (=~1:25,000)

Olimarao Atoll - EEVS Precision Map (1:25,000)

After almost five years of EVS precision island mapping projects, countless comments from the curious and, most often, complimentary guests and thousands of hours of work aimed at making this website better...

1) I have struck a deal with a corporate "sugar daddy" that will pay me to make EVS and EEVS precision island maps as I see fit.

or

2) My wife finally put her foot down and instructed me to "shut it down"! I told her to back off and she left me for a younger, computer illiterate man.

or

3) I'm still making island maps, with my wife's blessing, and am still without a corporate "sugar daddy".

Okay, I'm at Option 3) and enjoying it. However, sometimes our complicated lives cause us to wish for profound simplicity. A place where one can get away from the pressures of "big city" living and spend a day making a single decision, that being to make no decisions.

By far, my most popular posts over the past few months have been about the challenge of locating and living on uninhabited islands. It started with my post "Thoughts - An Uninhabited Island and What You'll Need to Inhabit it 'Robinson Crusoe' Style" and continued with my post "Thoughts - How Many Uninhabited Islands in the World?". These two posts alone have generated over 1,000 page views. As the world's economies continue to struggle and the economically downtrodden victims hunt for ways out, a Google search of "uninhabited islands" will lead the desperate to my aforementioned posts.

Olimarao Atoll could be their Eden. The atoll is small, but affords one fairly secure anchorage near the large motu. The large amount of vegetation suggests an adequate supply of water, most probably in the form of a fresh water lens. The small size of the island might lead one to "island claustrophobia", manifest by a longing for continental security. However, according to the occasional yachtsperson stopping for a short stay, the island is beautiful beyond imagination. Could Olimarao Atoll be your Eden? More to follow...

Enjoy!

Bikar Atoll FM - Another Uninhabited Tropical Isle

Bikar Atoll RM (ARB-127)

Bikar Atoll (H.0. 6024) ARB-127

This is the second atoll within the Radak Group that I have mapped in EVS precision. The first atoll was Taongi and now Bikar. Using the maps contained in ARB-127 as inspiration, I have decided to busy myself with maps in this group of atolls. Bikar, like Taongi, is small with only 0.9 sq km of land area. The atoll does contain vegetation, a small forest dominated by pisionia grandis trees. Other than that, the vegetation is scrub size and lower. The atoll is a great nesting place for seabirds.

Bikar Atoll - Landsat Image from N-59-10_2000 (1-75,000)

Bikar Atoll - EVS Precision Map (1-75,000)

The Landsat image used as my base is cloud free and excellent in detail. I did my digitizing at 1:12500 scale, one not practical for viewing, but good for map making. The map took about 2-hours to complete.

Enjoy!

Oroluk Atoll FM - When This Old World Keeps Getting You Down...

Oroluk Atoll - Landsat Image N-56-05_2000 (1 cm = 1,500 meters)

Oroluk Atoll - DigitalGlobe Image From Google Earth (1 cm = 1,500 meters)

Oroluk Atoll - EVS Precision Map (1 cm = 1,500 meters)

Oroluk Atoll's nearest neighbors is 300 kilometers to either the east or west. If you want some alone time, this is your place. That is except for the eight to ten people tending banana and taro plants. I bet they would give you some space so that you might count the waves hitting the reef or the clouds in the sky. Or perhaps you might just "be".

Oroluk Atoll - From the Lagoon (AKK_319)

This is what the only habitable motu looks like from the lagoon. It is flush with trees and surrounded by sandy beaches. Somewhere in the trees are a few houses.

Oroluk Atoll - Fisherman's Goods (AKK_3352)

Some of the dwellings are covered with palm fronds. When you get tired of bananas and taro, you could go fishing. I am sure that this lagoon abounds in fish.

Oroluk Atoll - Homestead (AKK_317)

Don't you just love this image - a home buried deep in a tropical forest. No mail, no cell phones, no radio, no tv, no vcr, no dvd, just you and 21 hectares of your quiet place.

Enjoy!

Ebon Atoll RM - Fancy Map and Now I'm On Vacation

Ebon Atoll - Marplot Map (1:80,000)

This is the finished Ebon Atoll map I promised a few days ago. Sorry for the delay, but I am on vacation. With the post of this, all of my loose ends are tied up. Now I'm on vacation. So long until the first of August and, rest assured, I will...

Enjoy!