Society Islands, French Polynesia to Line Islands, Kiribati (Leg 11)

( December 2022)

Thursday 1^st we left the boat mid morning to hike up to one of the peaks of Maupiti, which as mentioned last month is like a mini Bora Bora. In the heat it was quite hard going and we took regular stops to catch breathe and have a drink. Much of the hike was under the shade of trees and shrubs, but apart from a few places, it was steep. In fact, the last 15 minutes or so involved pulling ourselves up on ropes, but the views from the top were spectacular – all the turquoise hues and clearly visible barrier reef and the pass made it all worthwhile. As always, coming down was tougher on the legs, but much quicker. Once down, we decided to go to a great restaurant that was very busy with locals, including 3 uniformed police officers with guns and tazers at their side ( makes you wonder what on earth could happen on these tiny islands that would warrant the use of those weapons!) and 2 of the 3 were enjoying a nice cold beer . We had a great meal as well as 2 large beers each that slid down very easily indeed after our climbing efforts 😉 Not sure if we’ve mentioned the cost of food and drinks here, but just for 2 simple steak and chips meals and 4 beers, we got very little change from 5000cfp ($50US). When we got back to Imagination mid afternoon, we both jumped in the water to cool off before making the most of the situation and having a couple of early sundowners.

We wanted to go and look for the Manta cleaning station again on the 2^nd but before we got there, we came across 5 of them swimming near the drop off in the lagoon. We stopped the dinghy engine and threw out the anchor and the Manta’s changed direction swimming straight towards us and then hovering a few feet away, obviously very inquisitive, trying to figure out what we were. Before we could get in the water though, they swam peacefully away and we couldn’t find them again. Even so, it was another lovely encounter. In the afternoon we both went in the water to clean the hulls. It’s unbelievable how quickly they get covered in green weed at the waterline and beneath…slimy growth, laden with tiny sea creatures that seem to really enjoy clinging onto hair, rash vests and ears! The water was quite murky too, so it wasn’t the most comfortable place to be and there was a strong current which made it even more of a challenge. Nevermind, at least it’s exercise.

On the 3^rd, we got up at 5am, had breakfast and got the boat ready for anchor up at 6am. The plan was to sail back to Raiatea, but the wind direction wasn’t in our favour at all and the sea was fairly rough at times so after tacking we decided to head to Bora Bora for the night, arriving there at 18.05. It was far nicer prepping dinner on a mooring buoy rather than bouncing about all over the place. Earlier in the day the socket on our Port side inverter had melted, meaning our 220v supply on that side was cut off. The next morning, we were on our way again by 6.10am and the conditions were much more pleasant. We made it to Raiatea by mid afternoon but not before we realised that the 220v failure meant a partially defrosted freezer in the Port corridor. Thankfully we were able to save much of the food and the defrosted stuff we had for dinner! Shawn spent time after arriving rewiring the inverter to an alternative input, so normal service has resumed.

Monday morning ( 5^th), we went ashore to visit the Gendarmarie to find out about the clearing out procedure ( ie, Customs and Immigration) as we want to leave soon. The officers were very pleasant and we were told we could do the paperwork there and then for the 8^th. We have done a lot of clearing in and out over the years, but never have we had to fill in so many forms. After checking them and our passports over, we were told to post a stamped copy of one of the forms to Tahiti ( we had to do this on arrival in July too) and return on the 7^th for the finalised clearance papers, so we went off to find the Post Office before having a quick takeaway sandwich and then doing some provisioning and purchasing of diesel. We don’t know what to expect in our next destination, so we decided to stock up while we can. Further provisioning was done the next morning ( it’s more difficult when it’s just the two of us – fewer arms to carry bags!) with the afternoon spent blog writing and catching up with emails/messages and sending off pre arrival documents for our next destination before we leave tomorrow. We decided we would leave as soon as we had clearance rather than wait another day.

After doing a few video calls to family and last minute messages etc on the morning of the 7^th, we went ashore once again to collect our paperwork from the Gendarmarie. It’s weird that the building is enclosed by a high fence and you have to buzz through and explain your reason for being there before they let you in. This morning, getting in was more difficult than on Monday..our French isn’t good and the person who answered didn’t speak English. Eventually though the gate was opened and we were able to go and collect our completed paperwork. On the way back, we walked past a drop in Covid Vaccination clinic. Ally was due a booster and thought she’d ask if they were able to administer one even though she is a visitor. There were several people sitting outside waiting their turn – for many services here, they use a “take a ticket” system which works really well. Ally went in to make enquiries and spoke to a very friendly young doctor who asked a few questions and then proceeded to happily and very painlessly give her a booster free of charge. Ally did feel a little guilty on leaving with a plaster on her arm having to walk past all the people waiting patiently outside, it really wasn’t her intention to jump the queue! We still had some FP currency left so decided to blow the lot on goodies that we don’t normally indulge in and they should keep us going for some time 🙂 As soon as we got back to Imagination, we made preparations to leave and the anchor was up for the final time here at 11.05.

Over the next 10 days we sailed 1237nm and time travelled forward by 24 hours having crossed a date line and the equator back to the Northern hemisphere. The crossing was pretty uneventful as far as wildlife sightings go mainly because apart from 48 hours which were windless and calm, the remaining days were filled with rough seas, average wind speeds of 25 knots and very frequent large waves washing over the decks and through leaking hatches and windows into the galley, saloon and bathrooms. We have discovered over the years no matter how hard you try, you can never make a boat fully watertight! The only saving grace was that we had minimal rain and mostly gorgeous blue skies, which begged the question…where is this wind coming from? Conditions like this make it difficult to do anything and activities of daily living become a massive chore….just going to the bathroom is an experience. You are pin balled along the corridor and then as you sit and contemplate the anxiety is real as you wonder whether or not a wave will break over the decks, dumping a ton of sea water on your head through the leaky hatch! And making dinner is on another level of stressful – thank goodness for our forward planning in pre preparing and freezing meals that just require time in the oven or warming through on the hob. On the 14^th of December we skirted by Malden Island, thinking we may drop anchor there for a while to rest in quiet waters before continuing on. This island is 5nm long and uninhabited. It was used as the testing site for Britains first H bombs and is now a protected area for breeding seabirds. As we approached, it became evident that it is low lying and barren apart from a couple of trees and a few derelict buildings and so would not offer much protection. In it’s lee, the ocean did calm down, but there was no protection from the wind and so we decided to reduce the main sail a little before carrying on, changing direction slightly and bringing us off the waves slightly so rather than crashing over the top, we were crashing along them instead. It was slightly more comfortable but not any drier! 3 days later on Sunday 18^th December ( don’t forget we jumped ahead by 24 hours), we arrived at Kiritimati ( Christmas Island) in the Line Islands, Kiribati with a pod of small dolphins leaping and swimming ahead of us as they hunted for their breakfast. Just a few miles before, Shawn decided to put out the fishing line for a while and a little later we caught the biggest fish we have ever caught – a 24.4kg Wahoo….that’s heavier than your economy checked luggage allowance!!

In the local language, ti is pronounced as ‘s’ and so it is pronounced Krismas, Kiribas. Christmas Island in Kiribati ( not to be confused with the other Christmas Island near Australia) is not actually an island, but an atoll and it has the biggest land mass than any other atoll in the world. It is part of the Line Islands chain which is also the only place in the world to be 14 hours ahead of GMT! Captain Cook was here on Christmas Day 1777 having discovered it the day before, which is how it got it’s name and for those of you who are familiar with Jimmy Buffett, he also flew here several years ago just to spend Christmas Day here and wrote the song, Christmas Island! Being an atoll, it is flat with a couple of inlets to the central lagoon either side of the motu, Cook Island . The pass into the lagoon is notoriously difficult to navigate through as it is very shallow and gets silted up and so the suggested anchorage is outside the atoll, oceanside. We were looking forward to doing the formalities with regards to Health clearance, Customs and Immigration soon after arrival so that we could relax and catch up on some much needed sleep. Instead, we had a day of waiting to hear back from the authorities about when they would want to come on board ( as that’s the way they do things here, rather than crew going ashore). In the meantime, we got on with household chores to get Imagination spick and span again after 10 days of using the saloon as our bedroom, dining room and living room. When they did get back to us late morning, we were told that Customs and Immigration were happy to clear us, but that the Health Inspector said that the country was closed and that 2 yachts were denied entry last week. A heart dropping moment after 10 days at sea! We stipulated that we had checked and read that Kiribati opened to travellers in July and that we had visited their Government website and completed and sent off the necessary pre arrival paperwork to the stated email address before we departed FP. The policeman said he would contact the health authority and ask them to check that documents had been received and that they could go ahead with our clearance. Very late afternoon, the policeman got back in touch to ask which email address we had sent the documents to…it appears they had been looking in the wrong place. As it was late afternoon, we knew we had no hope of hearing anything more today! The following 2 days were spent going around in circles talking to different people about our situation by the only means of communication we have with Christmas Island – VHF radio. Information was not forthcoming and our calls mostly went unanswered and we became more and more frustrated with the situation. We had no internet so couldn’t do any liaising or searching online, but we did have our satellite communication system which meant we were able to enlist family to do searches for alternative phone numbers and email addresses for us so we could be proactive in helping ourselves, having already exhausted the email addresses and phone numbers we already had access to. 72 hours later, on the 20^th, we finally managed to speak to someone in the Ministry Of Health (MOH) office who was able to help a little, but not enough. There were 3 solutions as we saw them : 1) Authorities here phone through to MOH in Tarawa, the country’s capital, to ask if our papers were received and permission given to clear in 2) Provide us internet so that we can look for any correspondence from MOH since our departure from FP, having sent the pre arrival paperwork before we left 3) Look at the hard copies we have of the paperwork and do health check and PCR if necessary before granting clearance. But for some reason it wasn’t as simple as that. Amongst all the cruising notes Shawn had put together over the years of planning, we found the details of a local couple who were willing to be contacted by cruisers if they need any assistance. The response was swift and Timei ( Simei) went above and beyond in his efforts to help our situation, immediately leaving his home and going into the village on his motorcycle and spending hours waiting around to personally talk to the Police, Immigration and the Health Inspector on our behalf, but sadly to no avail.

In the meantime, another smaller catamaran arrived with a lone sailor, Robin, who had sailed across the Pacific over the last 43 days from Mexico. He was hoping to spend several days here to rest, but on hearing about our difficulties he decided to leave a couple of days later and go on to Tarawa ( Kiribati’s Capital). We emailed his wife in France on his behalf to let her know he was ok as he doesn’t have satellite communication, made him some fresh water and some fresh bread before he went on his way.

Our last ditch attempt to clear in here before admitting defeat was to email the Minister of Health (thank you to Ally’s sister, Claire, for finding the email address for us!) …and all of a sudden we were receiving emails from various people, one of which was a yacht services provider, Beretati, based in Tarawa. Over the following days, he met with health officials there to discuss what was happening and we were eventually told we would be able to clear in here. It was the usual drawn out affair but at 3pm on the 24th, having negotiated the shallow pass, touched bottom a couple of times and then anchored in an even shallower lagoon, 7 days after arriving we were on the dock of the main village, London, taking a lateral flow test performed by 2 health officials in masks, gloves and gowns in the open air, at the back of their vehicle in 15kt winds. Not surprisingly, having been on board just the 2 of us for the past 17 days, the tests were negative so we could now progress to Customs and Immigration. After returning to Imagination and more VHF radioing, Shawn picked up Police, Immigration, Customs and Health personnel from the dock at 6pm to come onboard to complete the clearing in process. They were all thoroughly nice guys who seemed impressed with our persistence over the past week – stubbornness we told them, not persistence, which they found rather funny but whichever it was, they were happy and relieved for us and thankful that they could hopefully start welcoming tourists here again! We apologised for taking them away from their families on Christmas Eve, but they were very gracious. Once the formalities had been done and they had finished their soft drinks whilst chatting to us, we all wished each other a Merry Christmas and we gave them each a big portion of Wahoo, some chocolate ( I know!!!…our most prized possession!!) and a few sweeties to share with their families as an expression of our gratitude to them. They went away very happy! 7pm on Christmas Eve, we were officially cleared into Kiribati! What a relief.

Earlier that afternoon we were visited by Australians Jake, Arlene and their young daughter MJ in their pontoon boat. They had seen us arrive last week and then go through the pass to the lagoon earlier today and thought they’d come and say hi. They arrived here on a charter flight 7 months ago as Jake is working here to improve the fresh water supply in order to facilitate a government population growth programme. There are currently 7000 ish occupants on this atoll which they want to increase to 20,000 over the coming years to relieve the overpopulated capital! Flights to/from here are still suspended, even inter Kiribati islands, unless for a very valid reason ie bringing in pre vetted people for work etc. Since Covid, all supplies, mainly from Asia it seems, are delivered by ship every 3 months and fresh produce are in extremely short supply. Jake and Arlene’s story put us in mind of a book that was left behind for us by a former crew member, Anthony, ”Sex lives of Cannibals” written by a guy who along with his partner, spent 2 years on Tarawa in the late 1990’s. If you are interested in remote island life, read it! We really enjoyed it, but it has nothing to do with sex lives really and nor are they cannibals……we hope! lol

Christmas Day in Christmas Island on Imagination was a wonderfully chilled day after the stress of the last week. Shawn rang his family, we watched a Christmas movie ( Deck the Halls), partook of several Sicilian Lemon gin drinks and had a mid afternoon Christmas Dinner complete with stuffing and Yorkshire puddings ( thank goodness for our extra provisioning in FP before we left), crackers and Christmas hats ( which Shawn really enjoyed lol).

On the 26^th, after Ally had made her phone calls home ( it’s their Xmas Day today), we were keen to go ashore and have a look around. As the first tourists here since Covid lockdowns began, Ally was a little anxious that the locals wouldn’t be happy about us being here, but the reverse was true. Everyone seemed very happy to see us, waving, saying hello and having a good look as we walked along the streets of the main settlement, London ( Ronton). Having blonde hair and white skin, plus Shawn’s blue eyes make us stick out like sore thumbs! Our main mission today was to find Timei to thank him in person for everything he did to try and help us. As we walked along the dusty roadside, we came across a church on the opposite side with a large open sided building ( Maneaba) in its grounds with lots of people in colourful costumes and headdresses gathered around the perimeter. We went over to try and find out what was going on and we were told by a guy dressed in yellow and white that it was a singing competition. We were both so excited to hear that and asked if we could watch for a while. With that, we were shown into the building and ushered through the rest of the guys “troupe”with everyone clearing the way whilst welcoming us and smiling as we went. We were shown to seats at the very front, right behind the judges table and next to 2 nuns with all the groups sitting on the floor around the edge of the building. There were probably around 300 to 400 people there. The proceedings started around 10 minutes after we arrived, with everyone standing up whilst the compère said a prayer ( in the local language, I-Kiribati) and then they all broke into a short but beautiful song. Oh my…..that sound was just incredible, not unlike the Polynesian singing, and every hair on our arms and the backs of our necks stood on end, and our eyes welled up. All Ally could say was,”oh, wow”, with a huge grin on her face!! Every group that took part, each with a different coloured costume, represented churches in the villages and consisted of a leader (with a whistle), guitar and ukulele players and singers. Some performed standing up, but most were seated for their performance which included arm and hand movements and the singing of local Christmas songs. Some groups were huge, whilst others only had 10 or so members, but they all took part and all did their absolute best. It was such a privilege for us to be able to witness this event that was not put on as a display for tourists nor to make money, but was a yearly event clearly thoroughly enjoyed by everyone who was there. We were treated to regular drinks and also invited to take some hot food that the group we were sat with had prepared. The nun that was sat next to Ally explained what was happening as it all unfolded and in the intermission, Miss Kiritimati took to the floor to talk about the projects that UNICEF and the company Jake is working for ( can’t remember the name) are involved in and the importance of WASH ( washing, sanitation and hygiene) and to try and encourage parents to install toilets at their homes to provide privacy and hygienic conditions (for their daughters in particular) and to reduce “open defecation” which is the norm for a high percentage of households here and a serious risk to health. Seeing and learning about the places we are lucky enough to visit certainly brings it home to us how easy we have got it at home and on board Imagination. These people, with what little they have, were happy to welcome new comers and share their food and drink with us. What wonderful humans they are.

As the competition was nearing it’s end, we thanked everyone for their gracious hospitality and their kindness as we made our way out to continue our quest to find Timei. After walking for another 30-40 minutes, we found his guest house ( Lagoon View) and before we could even call his name, he was coming out to greet us. He didn’t know we were coming but his wife saw white people outside and told him and he knew it would be us. He was so excited and pleased to see us and very happy we had finally been cleared in. He invited us into what is normally the dining room of his guest house where he explained that he runs a very busy sport fishing expedition business that specialises in bone fish and big crevalli, but since Covid he has had no guests. He and most locals rely heavily on the tourism trade and they are more than ready to welcome tourists back, but the Member of Parliament for Kiritimati and the Health Inspector are keeping the island closed. We’re not sure if we are the only ones allowed to clear in because we made a fuss or if we have started what will become the opening up of this Island, only time will tell, but we hope with all our hearts these islanders can get their livelihoods back very soon. We had told Timei that we had some fish for him in our freezer that we wanted to give him by way of a thank you and so he gave us a papaya and said he would meet us the following morning and bring us some coconuts. As we walked back, we went along the beach ( having bought some beer) and passed by Jake, Arlene and MJ’s house. They built their amazing home themselves and it is in the perfect spot. We sat chatting to them for a while before heading back home for the evening.

The next morning, Timei was there ready and waiting for us when we arrived ashore at 9.30 and we exchanged “gifts” before saying our goodbyes. We went to talk to the Police about leaving here on the 29^th for Fanning Island but he said we can only do the formalities 24 hours in advance. Yachts are not allowed to just go cruising wherever they want here. They have to have permission from the Police, Customs and Immigration to visit specified islands and on arrival at those islands the crew need to report to the Police there. Whilst walking along the road, we were approached by several young boys who wanted to show us the sailboats they had made out of empty beer cans. They were really great and the boys were more than happy to pose for a picture. How sweet that they wanted us to see their boats. When we left them, they happily headed back to the waters edge in the lagoon to continue their yacht races and we went onto the beach on the ocean-side and did some shell hunting before returning to Imagination for the afternoon.

On Wednesday the 28^th we returned to the Police and then onto Immigration and Customs to do the paperwork for us to sail to Fanning Island. All of the officials we dealt with were the ones who had come on board on the 24^th and they were super friendly and chatty and the whole process was very quick and simple. Afterwards, we met with Arlene and MJ who came on board with us to move Imagination from London across to the other side of the pass, passed Cook Island to an area called Paris. Jake met us there as he’d been over there surfing and in our dinghy, we followed them on their pontoon boat into a very pretty but very shallow lagoon area having to get out and walk the boats through the shallowest areas. We relaxed on the beach, munching on crackers and dip before enjoying the water and looking for shells. After an hour or so, with the tide going out and therefore the lagoon getting even shallower, we all went back to Imagination where we had a hotdog lunch and watched 6 or 7 Manta Rays swim by together before our 3 friends left to go home.

We left Kiritimati at 9am on the 29^th December and had a very pleasant downwind sail over the next 32 hours, covering 166nm, arriving at English Harbour, Fanning Island at 17.20 having come through the pass with a strong current on our nose. Like Kiritmati, Fanning Island is actually an atoll with a very shallow lagoon, but unlike Kiritimati, is was not used as an operations base for nuclear testing (by the British in the 50’s and US in the 60’s), and it is much prettier. Having tried to contact authorities prior to anchoring to announce our arrival, we eventually made contact with the Police who had to borrow a VHF radio in order to respond to us. The officer welcomed us to Fanning and we were asked to make contact again at 09.30 tomorrow and he would try to borrow the radio again for that time.

As advised, we tried to make contact with the Police on the radio the next morning but got no response, so at 11am we went ashore having previously explained our intentions on the radio to anyone listening, in case the Police were having radio issues. There were many islanders on and around the wooden pier when we arrived as a ship had arrived from Tarawa that was offloading supplies and lots of passengers. Whilst not as friendly as Kiritimati ( Christmas Island), the locals were not unfriendly, just a little more reserved and we did get some smiles and hello’s/mauri’s. We asked for directions to the Police station which were happily given to us by a lady at the end of the dock. It was easy to find and not far from the dock and the Policeman was quite chatty with his broken English and told us he is from Tarawa and has been here for just over a year. When we finished the official business, we went for a walk to look around this pretty place and having stretched our legs for half an hour or so, Shawn’s stomach was telling us it was lunchtime so we returned to Imagination to eat. There were no obvious New Year celebrations ashore and all lights on the island visible from Imagination had gone out by 9pm and we were in bed by 10.30pm…….that’s how we roll on New Years Eve! 😀 We hope you enjoyed your celebrations, wherever you were and whatever you were doing x