Time flies when you're having fun. That's how we're feeling, although we have also managed to do a few boat projects (true to the old saying that cruising is just doing maintenance in exotic places)! Tim got to surf a good swell last weekend, but this week was pretty slow for waves otherwise - just as well since Tim had a few cuts and needed to stay out of the water to let them heal. So we went fishing one day casting from shore Tim caught a beautiful jack crevalle which made great fish tacos and red curry. Other days we've gone in the dinghy, one day bonefishing in the lagoon, another day we went out the cut and around the island aways and fished for tuna - no luck but one did jump right near us. I'll have to post a picture - the yellowfin tuna they catch here are beautiful. The fishermen here catch these big tunas on their handlines (no rod and reel, just lines wrapped around a buoy, pulled in by hand), from their small canoes. It's amazing to us how they do it.
Unfortunately, they occasionally hook one that is too big and it drags them offshore. That happened last week to two fishermen who were apparently in a pretty old leaky canoe made for one person. Just before dark they were seen to be getting dragged offshore, and other fisherman told them to cut their line so as not to get caught in the riptide further offshore. The next day we heard they were lost, and then the day after that, we heard that the US Coast Guard was searching for them. Three days after they went missing a Coast Guard plane out of Honolulu went over the island and we got in contact with them on the VHF. They were on their second day of searching and ended up searching a third day as well. We helped relay local info, as the VHF radio onshore was not hearing the Coast Guard folks. Sadly, the searchers had no luck. It has been a bit scary to see how unprepared the island is for emergencies of this type. We heard a rumor that some folks went out in an aluminum skiff that night to search in the dark, and heard whistles, but got spooked and thought it was spirits so came back in. Granted, it was a particularly windy night, and I wouldn't have wanted to be out there in a small boat.
We are continually amazed by how giving and generous everyone here is. The other evening, while cleaning our dinghy onshore we met a man who was born here in 1959. He was very pleasant and offered to bring us some fish when his son got back from fishing (he had heard from the other fishermen that his son had caught fish). We said we would be interested in tuna if they had enough extra… So just after dark, we hear a voice outside the boat, and it is this man, delivering us about a pound of fresh tuna, and a beautiful large papaya. Earlier that day, the other cruisers in the anchorage, Claudia and Gunter, had baked and brought us a loaf of fresh bread! Not to mention the beautiful jewelry Claudia has made for me… Several days earlier, a friend from shore came out to the boat bearing gifts of lettuce and tomatoes from their new garden. It's overwhelming some days. I've become friends with one of the teachers here, Maria, and she has been making us all sorts of cultural gifts - shell necklaces, a purse woven from the pandanus leaves, a beautiful blouse in the Kiribati style, a pandanus hat for Tim, and traditional knives incorporating shark teeth and other fish bones. We try to give back with the stuff we brought, but wish we had more food to give… The island is now practically bare of rice, flour and sugar. Luckily, there are still plenty of fish, the taro, breadfruit, papaya, squash and sometimes bananas. Not to mention endless coconuts. Everyone is waiting for the cargo ship to arrive. One ship from Hawaii should come at the end of the month, but apparently will have a lot less supplies for Fanning that they need. The other local Kiribati ship should also be coming sometime in the next month, but no one know what supplies they will have when they get here. The problem is that the ships go to Christmas Island first, and there is not enough room for cargo for Fanning Island, or in the case of the local ship, everything gets sold on Christmas Island!
My friend Maria has also been taking me on tours of the island - one day to see the taro fields in the middle of the island, and the other day, biking several miles out to the farthest village to visit the primary school and meet the head teacher, Ntia (pronounced Nisa) who was very funny. It's been great to get around and see more of the island - it's too easy to hang out and stay on the boat and read and relax. We do plenty of that!
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