Arrived in Abemama

We made it! We're now anchored off the village of Kariatebike on the island
(atoll) of Abemama. We made the trip in just under 7 days - averaging 5.8
knots, which is a great speed for us. In total we travelled 955 nautical
miles, a few more than the pass-to-pass distance of 907, as we had to gybe
back and forth of our course line after the loss of our whisker pole. A
great trip.

Winds were consistently 15-20 knots, although a bit lighter for the last two
days. The swell was irregular, and from 3 directions, the largest swell was
about 3 meters from the SE, but not close together. Easterly swell was about
1.5 meters and more regular. So the boat had occasional rolly periods, which
kept us (and our stomachs) on our toes. As a result, we didn't do much
emailing, with the exception of a couple of blog posts. HUGE thanks to
everyone who sent us emails in the last couple weeks. We really enjoy
receiving them and getting news from home - it really is the highlight of
our day. I'll work on catching up with our replies over the next couple
days.

Now that we've arrived, we'll have a quick nap. Our anchorage is (for the
moment) flat calm. We're about 1/2 a mile from the beach, as the coral flats
in front of the village dries at low tide. Apparently we can only go to the
beach during the 2 hours before and after high tide. No problem, today that
corresponds with dinner time...whenever possible, we like to celebrate a
passage with a meal out!

Oh, we found the 'spot' locater...so we can now send our position again. Not
very useful now, as I suspect we'll be pretty stationary for a while.
Friends of ours recently said that they like to stay somewhere at least as
long as the time it took to get there! Good philosophy, I think.

Our current position:
00 24N
173 54E

Over 1/2 way to Abemama

We are 390 miles from Abemama. 4 days. Maybe 3, if we continue kicking butt
at this pace. And in the last few minutes we crossed into the Eastern
Hemisphere.

The sailing continues to be good. Our overall average is still 5.8 knots.
We're very happy with that speed. The broken whisker pole means that we
can't go directly downwind on our course, and we've had to sail slightly off
the wind and gybe back and forth, adding more miles. At least the sails stay
full, and we don't have to endure as much slapping and banging.

All is well aboard Renova. Our stash of muffins that I baked is now gone, as
is the chicken curry John made. So now, we're cooking again. Well....not
sure if you can really call K.D.* cooking. But we did have steak and mashed
potatoes last night. Pretty deluxe. The Kiribati patrol boat provided the
locals with lots of chicken and beef, and they included us when the divided
it up into portions. It had been a while since we'd eaten meat that didn't
come from a can...what a treat!!

We're checking our email anxiously these days...eager to hear news of a new
baby for our good friends, G&D. It is times like this when we miss being
home!

Current Position at noon local time on August 28 is:
00° 50 S, 179° 59 E

A note to our family...sorry about the lack of 'spot' messages....we can't
find the spot gadget at the moment. But, we haven't looked very hard. We'll
continue to post our position online every two or three days.

*K.D. = Kraft Dinner, of course. Macaroni and Cheese.

Aug 28
Labels: Kiribati, passage

Kanton to Abemama - Day 3

We're having a wonderful sail. 15 knots of wind, pushing us along at 5.5
knots towards our next coral atoll, Abemama. There is a huge swell that is
coming from the south east, so we get a good roll once in a while, but
otherwise, the ride is very comfortable, and neither of us is feeling ill.
In fact, we both cracked open new books on day one. Super unusual for me to
be reading on the first day!

We're spending our days napping and reading. I'm already on book #2
(Wicked). Porpoises have just stopped by to check us out, but we must not
have been too interesting, as they didn't stick around.

Last night was another fabulous night watch. John woke me at 1:30 am for my
turn in the cockpit and I spent the next 6 hours gazing at the stars,
watching the horizon for boats (none seen), and giggling out loud while I
listened to Stuart McLean on my iPod. Oh yeah...and snacked on Pringles. It
is times like this that I think everyone should do a trip like this.

The night before was not one of those times. First, the whisker pole broke.
Then a block snapped off the traveller. Then a lifeline. And each one seemed
to occur right in the middle of a rain squall. Requiring us to both be on
deck, soaking wet, until we were fixed and underway again.

We look forward to the next few days. On this passage we'll be passing over
the equator back into the Northern Hemisphere. We'll also be passing into
the Eastern Hemisphere, over that important 180 degrees, where our longitude
will start to get smaller as we go west, instead of bigger, as it has until
now. This is usually the international date line, but we've been a day ahead
of home for the past few weeks, and the entire country of Kiribati has moved
the date line to ensure the whole country is on the same date as Australia.

Our position at Aug 26, 1:30 pm local time: 02°02 S, 175°45 W

Aug 26
Labels: passage, Kiribati, gear

Mass Amounts of Mass

Tiim's new house - and the location of Sunday Mass

After Sunday, us 'yachties' enjoyed a small glimmer of satisfaction, knowing we'd just attended our last mass! Church is a big part of the community here, and although important, it is a bit difficult to sit cross legged for
an hour or two, while listening to a foreign language! So, we weren't too upset when we thought we'd enjoyed our last mass.

As it turns out, the Catholic Priest for the outer islands showed up on the Teanoai (patrol boat) yesterday. So, we've been blessed with extra mass. One yesterday evening, after their arrival. Another service tonight. And yet another tomorrow morning, before we leave. Wow.

We're massed out.

But the cool part about tonight's mass is that we were able to witness the confirmation of Temwaniti and Enoki. The two eldest children in the village. Very cool to be part of something so special.

Thank You Kanton

Wow...After five weeks, we'll finally be moving on. Without a doubt, Kanton
has been the warmest place that we've been privileged to visit on this
voyage. The people have welcomed us into their homes and hearts. We've never
been without an interpreter, fish for dinner, some rusty relic to explore,
or a companion for tea. What an amazing place.

Tomorrow, we'll head to the beach one last time, to say goodbye to our new
friends. It won't be easy.

Takarei and her family

And most difficult of all...we'll also be saying goodbye to Eric, whom we've
been travelling with, on and off, for 5 months. In a few days he will also
weigh anchor, but his destination is south to Tonga. After spending every
day with him here, we're sad at the thought of parting ways.
We're already scheming about ways to return here in the future. Maybe our
next cruise? Maybe by air? There is talk of re-opening the massive runway.

A few of the vases we received

Next stop...Abemama. 900 miles to the north west - a downwind run. We expect
the passage to take 8-10 days. The island atoll is in the Gilberts - a group
of islands that also belong to the Republic of Kiribati. We hear that there
are two MP's on the island, therefore, it must have at least 1000 people. We
have an older cruising guide that says over 2000! Hurray. Do you know what
that means?? A STORE! We'll be able to re-stock on supplies. We've been
eating fish everyday, so most of our supplies are fine, but we are in
desperate need of eggs, flour and pringles.

Matangara

Coming soon to Kanton Island is the arrival of the Matangara...the big cargo
ship! It visits two times per year. And they are hoping it might arrive next
week. In addition to bringing heaps of food, an outboard motor, and other
various goodies, the ship will also bring a few more residents. Four
children will return here to be with their families during the school break.
Also, Davis' wife will be coming on the ship, after taking their small son
to Fiji to live with his grandfather (it is very typical for grandparents to
raise the small children).

We were hoping to be here for the arrival of the ship. But it has already
been delayed a few times. We don't know when it will leave Tarawa (the
capital), so we've decided to move on.

Labels: Kanton, Kiribati

Teanoai Anticipation

The whole community is anxious for the arrival of the Teanoai this morning.
The Kiribati patrol boat is scheduled to arrive today, on its return trip
from Christmas Island. They usually stay for a few days, in order to catch a
few fish to take home to their families. We're also excited. They have a
watermaker!!

This morning, I'm doing heaps of laundry, in hopes that they will be able
and willing to help us by refilling our tanks! It hasn't rained all week,
and things are starting to get a bit smelly around here.

Shell Collecting

Yesterday, when we went ashore, I found out that Temarive and Maria were
going shell collecting! HURRAY!! Eric and I quickly grabbed bicycles, and
went along. It was a full moon, so thus very low tides, and we found
ourselves wading on a shallow coral shelf looking for small (1 cm) white
shells that hid themselves in small nooks and crannies in the coral. It was
slow going at first, but we soon got the hang of it, and were pulling these
small, unsuspecting creatures from their happy homes, and depositing them
into our 4 gallon jug that I'd tied to my shorts. After an hour, I think I
had about an inch of shells in the bottom of my jug.

Today, Lucy and I went back and collected again!

Not at all in line with the yoga book I'm now reading that espouses
vegetarianism and the importance of karma. Yikes.

A Typical Sunday

Yesterday was our fourth Sunday here in Kanton. Wow. Over three weeks
already. Not sure where the time has gone, but we're still having an amazing
time.

So I thought I'd summarize a typical Sunday...

Today's church service was in Tiim's new house. They started the house
earlier in the week, and it is now mostly finished (building code is less
stringent here). We all assembled on mats of coconut fronds, and were able
to alternate between standing and sitting, which was a welcome relief from
the last few weeks with sitting room only. We're definitely not used to long
hours of sitting cross legged on the floor.
After the service, we relaxed with the parish, 13 people plus us 3, for tea
and chatting. Usually we get a bit of teasing about why we aren't singing
more. At least this week, we could sing one of the songs...it only had one
word - Hallelujah!

After tea, we quickly return to the boats to pick up our food, and I usually
change out of my church whites, into a more floor-coloured skirt. Then we
return with our food to the rusty warehouse, and settle in on the floor
where we chat for a few minutes while everyone assembles, or at least all
the men. John (not my John, rather, the teacher's husband) starts the
celebration with a welcome, the protestant priest provides a blessing, and
everyone claps three times to get started!

Us guests always eat first, as much as we've tried to delay! After we are
re-seated (with plate and spoon), the men attack the buffet table. The women
don't eat until all of the men are finished. This was a bit awkward at
first, but we're getting used to it. They also sit at the far end of the
warehouse, away from the circle formed by the men and guests, and seem to be
enjoying lots of laughs amongst themselves.

The buffet tables are heaped with food. All sorts of ramen. Who knew it was
possible to serve it in so many different ways? Here is a sample of this
week:
- fried ramen with corned beef and greens
- boiled ramen with chicken seasoning
- ramen with salted fish
- ramen with pumpkin

I know. Ramen Heaven.

This week, we brought along some of my chocolate chip cookies. They were
slow to move. At first. After all...they don't have cookies here. Not in the
stores. Ever. So...they are a definite foreign object. But Davis started by
tasting one. And then started telling everyone how terrible they were - not
very convincing when he had just stacked four more on his plate. Well, that
did it. Soon, all the men had cookies heaped on their plate. Sheesh. I was
worried that there wouldn't be enough left by the time the women and
children had their turn at the table. But it worked out well. Those who
wanted to, had a chance to try the cookies. And we laughed as we watch some
families hoard a few cookies and take them home. I guess we know what to
make for next week's feast!!

Because no one works on the Sabbath - Sunday is a relaxed day. We often
witness long naps. Or movie marathons, on the one TV in the village. But
this week, the men brought together the guitars, and they sang together for
hours. It was wonderful. Multi-part harmonies. They even wrote down a few
lyrics so we could join in. Can't wait for next week...

A School Visit

This afternoon, Eric and I visited the school. We were treated to three
lovely songs by the children. One was "Do Your Ears Hang Low"!! It was
awesome! We also spent some time crowded around a big world map, and
identifying where Kiribati and Kanton were, as well as Canada and America.
Then we took the kids across to Takarai's house, where we started up the
generator, and showed them a slideshow of images from Canada and USA,
including our families, our homes, and scenes from BC and WA including some
of the local wildlife! It was a great afternoon.