Gilbert Islands, Kiribati to Marshall Islands (Leg 13)

(February 2023)

One year!! Can you believe it? One year has passed since we started our journey around the globe and we have visited some utterly gorgeous places, made some fantastic memories and spent time with new friends and old along the way. We have also had some sad and challenging times, but the year ahead is an exciting one with some wonderful locations coming up!

On the 1^st February, we were still in Abaiang having arrived here on the 30^th January. We spent the day making bread and then cleaning Imagination’s bottom….again! The water was beautifully warm, but unfortunately we weren’t in there to have fun. The hulls were thick, and I mean thick with green and black growth and had whole colonies of stalked barnacles…more than a 1000 of the blighters!!! There is very little, if any, of the self ablating anti-foul paint left which we put on in Carriacou at the end of 2021. This means that scraping and cleaning the hulls will have to be done on a much more regular basis…ggrrreat ( as former crew member, Marc Coll would say! Lol) The next day, we took a 6 mile dinghy ride along the lagoon coast to visit Aonobuaka Catholic Church that we had been told was very pretty. We anchored the dinghy just off of a small beach and obviously disturbed a little lad who was just about to take his daily poop, having just crouched, naked on the nearby rocks ( as mentioned in a previous blog, open defecation is still the norm for much of the population) – poor boy. Being further away from the main village, even fewer visitors come here and so we felt a little like we were intruding on the people living there as they went about their daily lives, which because of their dwellings and way of life, is very exposed. Despite that, we were greeted with friendly faces and the children were particularly interested in us. Maybe because some of them had never seen white people before having so few visitors here and even less due to Covid! We reached the church and it was indeed very pretty having been built with shells inset into the concrete but unfortunately it was in a very bad state of disrepair. Whilst taking photos, a group of boys were very interested in Shawn’s camera and so he spent some time showing them the pictures he had taken. We then went for a walk to the ocean side coast and it was not just littered, but piled high with garbage and discarded footwear and clothes. It hadn’t been washed up from the sea, it was all above the water line. Such a shame, but it is the way of life here – out of sight, out of mind and it is the same throughout Kiribati. It is so hot ashore with no breeze so after having lunch back on board, we were both back in the water to cool down and clean the hulls above the waterline between the hulls.

Friday the 3^rd, we sailed with headsail only across the lagoon, dodging any shallow bits and we anchored by a small island named Manra just as the thick grey clouds came over and rained on us. It wasn’t great weather to go ashore, so we remained on board for the rest of the day. Being across the other side of the lagoon away from the protection of land meant that the persistent strong winds we have had recently (20+ kts) made it a more rolly spot to be in. Thankfully, the following morning the sun had returned so we packed up some coffee, lunch and beer and went across to the uninhabited island and found ourselves a spot in the shade before going shell hunting and taking pics. We had a really lovely time chatting, floating and relaxing even if Ally did very stupidly burn because she “forgot” to put any suncream on!

February 5^th, we motored very slowly and carefully through the very hazardous area between Manra and another small island, Teirio, which is closer to the pass as we would be leaving soon. After making triple chocolate brownies from scratch on the morning of the 6^th in preparation for Shawn’s birthday in a couple of days, we went ashore to have a walk around. This island has 3 inhabitants who run a small local style resort and who are desperate for tourists to start visiting again. Derek is from Norwich in the UK and he came here working for the government over 40 years ago. He fell in love with Kiribati and it’s people and never left, so now he shares this island with his Kiribati wife and their young daughter. We chatted for 10 minutes or so before we went for a walk along the rocky spit. There is a yacht on it’s side on the stony beach that belongs to Derek’s son-in-law who bought it from a Norwegian guy who had sailed it here and then fallen in love with a local lady and had no need for a boat any more. Some of the stories you hear doing an adventure like this are incredible. Derek’s son-in-law is not a sailor, but thought it seemed like a good idea at the time, so the boat was left on anchor when he went back home. It has since broken free of it’s anchor 3 times, with Derek refloating it and trying to secure it each time. This time, he feels it is safer where it is although he also mentioned getting it back on the water when he can get the help he needs to do it.

When we got back to the boat, we had our first try of a strong beer we had bought in Tarawa. Kiribati do not make their own beer, but import various brews from Korea and China. Huster, from China, is 16.3% and the taste was so strong we had to dilute it with Sprite. It definitely has a pleasant kick to it hahaha. After lunch and preparing Imagination for departure, the anchor came up at 3pm for our 100nm, 22hr sail up to another Outer Island, Butaritari. The anchor went down at 13.05 on the 7^th and once all the usual packing up etc had been done, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on board, resting and watching tv. The next day was Shawn’s birthday and we spent the morning on board with Shawn catching up with birthday messages and calls. After a special bacon and egg butty brunch we went ashore to find the Police Station to hand in our permission paperwork before going for a walk. This atoll gets a lot more rain than Tarawa and Abaiang and as a result, is extremely green and lush…it is simply beautiful. Beautiful in it’s simpleness. We were welcomed with such warmth once again and came across the World War 2 wrecks of landing craft and an aeroplane….quite eerie looking at them wondering what the stories behind them are. We got back to Imagination in plenty of time for a few birthday drinky poos and for Ally to prepare a Roast Lamb dinner complete with Mint sauce and Yorkshire puddings (normally served with a beef roast, but Shawn requested them, and it was his birthday, so…?!)…a favourite of both Shawn and Ally and an absolute treat. If we had checked out the price of the lamb before going through the checkout though, we never would have bought it!!! But, we are both glad we didn’t and it was too late to say no!! 😀

On Friday 10^th Feb, we went ashore again and this time walked the other way. We needed to find somewhere where we could recharge our mobile phone credit to buy more data. As we walked, we were welcomed and asked by a a 16/17 year old chap where we were going. He was obviously going home after playing some kind of sport, all hot and sweaty, but he tried to explain to us where to go for credit. Although years ago, Kiribati was a UK overseas territory, English is no longer widely used but is taught in schools from year 6 upwards ( all the younger children seem to know to say “hi” and one even told us “i love you”, but don’t think he knew what it meant! Lol), but this young man’s English was sufficient enough for us to understand we needed to go 3 stores down. The stores/shops here are not obvious. They are small buildings that blend in with the other local dwellings. You cannot enter them to browse. You approach the kiosk window and ask if they have what you are after…..which in most cases here is “no”. They only had a few canned goods, cooking oil, water and some rice. Being a lush island, they are able to grow fruits and provisions easily and the culture is such that if one family has a glut of something they will trade for something else from another family. Noone goes hungry here, that’s for sure. Having freshened up and changed, the young man caught us up and very kindly escorted us to where we should go for our top up and thank goodness he did as we would never have found it without him, that’s for sure. This country is so refreshing in that total strangers are willing to help out without wanting anything in return, all with a friendly smile…..this mindset/culture is just beautiful. During our walk, we passed by a couple of primary schools/preschools that had very inventive ways of making old tyres and bikes into playground apparatus and the outer boundaries were very prettily decorated with empty instant noodle wrappers and we had the wonderful experience of having what appeared to be a school bus (which was basically an open backed lorry laden with kids of all ages) pass us with everyone shouting and waving. This is such a different world…..a happy, simple, contented world!

Mid morning on the 11^th, we did a 4 hour headsail only sail across the atoll to an uninhabited island, Natata and the following morning we took our stuff ashore along with a couple of beers, to explore. This time, Ally wore a t-shirt ( her back was a mess after burning several days ago – so foolish) as we discovered the remains of what could only have been a dolphin, circumnavigated the island shell hunting and knocked a Pandanus fruit out of the tree before big, black clouds threatened to spoil the day. We went into the bath warm water with our backs to the rain and enjoyed our beer drinks as the weather passed through. We then thought how silly we had been for not bringing more beer and some lunch, so we left our gear on the beach whilst we returned to Imagination to pick up supplies! But, we had forgotten take the key to the padlock securing the saloon which was still in a bag sitting on the beach. Long story short, we had to be inventive to gain entry in order to make lunch and pick up beer to take back with us. The remainder of the day was spent in relative oblivion in the shade of coconut trees and in the warm, shallow surf. A perfect day and what this trip is all about!

On the 13^th we sailed back to Butaritari village and had dolphins with us for a few minutes as we crossed the lagoon and the following morning the anchor was up by 9am. We were hoping to sail to Abemama which we had estimated to be a 36 hour sail South ( SSE), but it became evident fairly quickly that due to the wind direction it was going to take longer to get there and then the East to West current became a massive problem and so, having already passed Tarawa, we decided to tack back and go into Tarawa again and give up our fight against wind and current directions. Some time before this decision was made, the winds had reduced somewhat and so Shawn wanted to pull out the reef in the mainsail. When he went forward, he noticed that the bolt holding the boom onto the mast had sheered off and the mechanism that holds the two together ( the goose neck) was finely balanced whilst no pressure was on it and so the sail configuration was kept as it was to prevent any further damage whilst supporting ropes where secured to stop the boom from dropping onto the solar panels if it were to dislodge completely. We arrived back in Betio, Tarawa at 17.40 on 15^th Feb and the next day we had a mission ashore to try and find either a bolt of the correct diameter to go through the goose neck mechanism, a 16mm drill bit, or a work shop that could expand the hole through the mechanism that would allow us to use the old bolt from the previous fittings we had there. The hardware stores ( of which there are several in Betio) did not have the bolt size or a drill bit that would do what we needed, but everyone tried their hardest to help and come up with alternatives and suggestions. Just up from the wharf where we leave the dinghy there is a coconut processing plant that produces coconut oil, animal feed and soap ( the smells as you walk by vary from repugnant to divine!) and as a last resort, Shawn went in to ask if they had any equipment that could make the bolt hole in the goose neck big enough. They happily took him to a workshop area, located what he would need and left him to sort it out himself. Being very grateful to them for helping us out of a tricky situation, we wanted to leave payment of some kind, but they were having none of it. How awesome and kind is that? When we returned to the dinghy, we were informed by several of the guys that “hang out” in the wharf, that there is a cruise ship coming in on Saturday – the first since before Covid, and the whole island was very excited and busy getting ready for it’s arrival. We are so pleased tourism is starting to recover in these remote places. On the 17^th, after much pushing, pulling, lifting, levering and manoevering over 2 or 3 hours, we were able to reattach the boom to the mast!!

Even in the remotest of places we visit, we still have the usual household chores to do and maintenance which is better and easier done when we have no crew on board. On the 18^th, we watched the cruise ship arrive mid morning and listened to drums and brass bands playing and the shrieks of laughter of local kids enjoying the water from the dock in front of us. We have since learned that the ship is on a world tour that guests can dip in and out of, or do the whole thing and we also learned this is the only cruise ship that comes here….just the one …and we’re not sure if it’s a yearly visit or a complete one off. Ally made fresh pasta using a machine we have had onboard for well over a year and Shawn made some fibreglass modifications in the cupboard in our corridor to stop water from our shower leaking into it. We used that opportunity to remove everything from the cupboard ( including the pasta machine!) and have a good clean and sort out! Unfortunately, the fibreglassing didn’t totally stop the leak and so more work was done in our bathroom over the next couple of weeks. What a treat it will be to have a completely dry cupboard that has basically had a leak since the very beginning!

The weather wasn’t fantastic over the next few days even though the wind had died and the anchorage was very calm for a change. There isn’t much to do in Betio and the water is nowhere near clean enough that you would want to swim in it, so pottering on board with the occasional trip ashore for shopping purposes has been the order of the day with a goodly dose of tv watching and snack munching. On the 22^nd+, though, we arranged to meet Beretati in the morning who was going to assist us in purchasing 200 litres of diesel. Whilst it was cheaper to buy it by the 200l barrel from KOIL rather than go to the rival filling station ( our first choice, using our trailer, but Beretati wanted to help us out) which is just across the road and both just a few seconds from the wharf, the extra $40AUS would have been worth it for the time it took to get the barrel from the yard to the wharf, open it ( which proved a challenge in itself!) and then pump the fuel, using a pump attached to the battery of Beretati’s car, from the barrel into our jerry cans! We also didn’t get the full 200 litres as the fuel at the bottom of the barrel was disgustingly dirty and contaminated with water. The wharf is not an easy or pleasant place to tie up in a dinghy…there are just a couple of large bollards, or else you need to tie to trees or rusting vehicle remains and then take your life into your own hands as you scale the side to the top. One side of the wharf is easier than the other and of course the one where we had to tie up to get the fuel was the trickier side! The tide was going out ( and the tug used to manoeuvre the larger boats had got stuck on the mud slap bang in the middle of the entrance…embarrassing!) to expose slimy, stinking, slippery rock and whilst transferring the first jerry can fill back to the dinghy to take back to Imagination to decant into the fuel tanks, Ally managed to slip and slide onto her butt with several people looking on! Thankfully, the culture is such that no-one laughed, only expressed concern for her well-being as she composed herself and climbed into the dinghy with shorts and legs thick with crud!! Bet they had a good laugh when we left the wharf though!! What is it about humans that makes other peoples misadventures so funny?! To make matters worse, when we were transferring the fuel into the storage tank, an airlock meant Ally got absolutely covered in diesel….just not her day!! As a side note, we gave our folding bicycles to a grateful Beretati today, complete with crash helmets, spare parts and pump. We just weren’t using them often enough and in the salty environment on deck, they were just rusting away. We’re glad someone can make use of them – he has 10 children aged from 19 down, so we are sure they will get plenty of use!

Thursday 23^rd we had rain that continued on and on and on, so another morning of cleaning ensued, this time the saloon and the cockpit, followed by tv and snacks (for Shawn) and catching up on blog and travel diary with a beer for Ally! Late afternoon, Shawn decided to put our water catcher out and we even had a couple of flashes of lightening and rumblings of thunder whilst he was doing it! Obviously Ally couldn’t help as she was busy taking photos/video!

We were going to meet Beretati on Friday morning so that he could take us to clear out and leave at lunchtime, but the forecast was for more rain so we arranged to meet him in the afternoon instead, so at 14.30 on the 24^th we were ashore again. In total, it took us over 3 hours to clear out – another unnecessarily long winded process. Our first visit to the Port Authority to pay our port fees was unfruitful as the only guy that does the calculations was “absent”, so we went on to Immigration which is in another town, Bairiki?? about 5 miles away. We had a wait of up to 45 minutes there while our paperwork was processed and then went 5 miles back to Betio to clear with Customs had where we had another wait to be processed. Being 4.15pm on Friday afternoon, we were the only people there, so not quite sure what the hold up was as we had been told they were waiting for us when Beretati phoned ahead. Then it was back to the Port Authority where the accounts guy had turned up and who sat picking at his bare feet and belching as he entered details into his computer. Another guy in the office chatted to us while our fees were calculated and he was very interested in our journey. Shawn was handed the invoice when it was completed and printed and the “only guy who can do the calculations” had done a spectacularly bad job of it and had worked out our bill to be $266AUS – he had got a number of details wrong in the information he had inputted and we had been billed as a ship. Once he had redone the calculation with the correct details it was $30AUS. Much better!! Having said our goodbyes to Beretati, we stopped off the say goodbye to 2 Russian guys who have been our anchorage companions. They invited us onboard the 72 foot monohull where we had a beer and chat together before we left to return to Imagination. Constantine and Vadeem have been in Kiribati for 6 months and are leaving for their next destination next week.

08.50 on the 25^th, our anchor was up and we were on our way to the Marshall Islands. The persistent strong winds we had been experiencing over the last several weeks have subsided and we have had some very still, hot and sticky days despite the rain, but we chose today to leave as the winds were increasing and as we left we had 17kts and relatively flat seas. We got to see a massive pod of dolphins pass diagonally in front of us from Port to Starboard, most a fair distance away, but the last stragglers passed by just in front of our bows….every time seeing these creatures is a treat, even if they are just passing by! We had 3 days and nights of very comfortable sailing, even if the wind did diminish for a while which meant slow progress, but during the afternoon on the 28^th and over that night, we had stronger winds and also some rain, too, but at least it increased our sailing speed. As is common for this area, the weather predictions for wind speeds and direction are very unreliable and so you have to just go with what you get. Going into the night on the 28^th, our ETA for Majuro, Marshall Islands was late afternoon on 1^st March.