=20 Abaiang, Kiribati, One degree north of the equator December 22, 2015 (Posted from Majuro, April 2017) Abaiang, Abaiang. A destination to linger at, not a port of call on the way to somewhere else. I longed to stop awhile somewhere. Till then our journey had consisted of three or four day ocean passages between atolls. No sooner than we=E2=95=92d put the anchor down we were straight into provisioning, fueling up and watching weather for the next leg. But Abaiang was one day=E2=95=92s sail from Tarawa, the main island of Kiribati. It had no main port, or supermarkets or gas stations. A place just to visit. *** The previous morning we upped anchor and followed our path back out through the coral of Tarawa harbour. Despite the forecasted wind not arriving we motored north equipped with letters from Immigration and Customs giving us permission for a ten-day stay at Abiang, an atoll just north of Tarawa. A puff of wind skittered across the glassy surface prompting David to put out the spinnaker and turn the engine off. The wind toyed with us for a moment then dropped to 1.5 knots. The spinnaker drooped so down it came. Motor back on as we had to get to Abaiang on time for high tide to have enough depth to go through the pass into the lagoon. We had five hours to make 20 miles. We had crew. On our truck outing around Tarawa we=E2=95=92d fallen in love with our driver Tietau and his wife Meriin. We=E2=95=92d visited their very simple little house in Betio, home to their large extended family, and shared Kiribati food with them. It transpired that Merriin=E2=95=92s parents lived on Abiang, along with her much missed five-year old son. When we offered them a ride up there for Christmas they jumped at it. *** =E2=95=A5We are moving away from the equator,=E2=95=99 I said with delight. =E2=95=A5We may have to use a blanket at night,=E2=95=99 David quipped. Yeah right, I thought, as another rivulet of sweat ran down my back. The blankets were staying stowed till we got back to Fiji the following year. We put Tietau to work grating coconuts and in no time he produced three jars of rich cream. He paused for a cigarette then David had him back straight on the next task. =E2=95=A5Your job is to catch us a fish,=E2=95=99 he instructed. Tietau happily obliged and played the line. I went forward to join Meriin on the bow. She was feeling a little queasy. She told me,=E2=95=A5I woke up this morning and said to Tietau =E2=95=98We=E2=95=92re going on the yacht today.=E2=95=92=E2=95=99 I was delighted that they had been excited as us about the prospect of travelling with on Navire. =E2=95=A5My parents don=E2=95=92t know we are coming,=E2=95=99 she said. =E2=95=A5And they certainly won=E2=95=92t be expecting us to arrive on a yacht.=E2=95=99 She was looking forward to seeing her five- year old son who lived on Abaiang with his grandparents. Long oily swells passed under the hull, but my stomach behaved, as it had all the way from Fiji. I=E2=95=92d had two months of no seasickness over several ocean passages. Now I just needed to nail sleeping well at sea. Headsail up, headsail down, motor on, motor off, the hours passed. =20 I spotted the low profile of Abiang on the horizon. All the islands in the area were less than three metres above high tide. But no one we spoke to seemed particularly concerned about rising sea levels, but there was plenty of evidence of it happening with significant amounts of seawall building activity going on. I longed for a good nights=E2=95=92 sleep. I knew Abiang would be calmer than Tarawa, less fetch likely. But I hadn=E2=95=92t solved the bug problem. At this stage I didn=E2=95=92t know how tenacious the bloody things were and that four months later I would still be trying to eradicate them. The culprits were like very large fleas. That night I caught two on my body, bloated with blood. *** The deck was too hot for us to eat breakfast outside. We had to be careful not touch any of the brass trim on the deck or it burned our flesh. I looked at the clouds on the horizon, peppered with squalls. We could do with one now, I thought, I would stand naked on deck and get drenched with fresh water. But the squalls passed us by. The sea was the deepest royal blue. So calm I could see perfect reflections of the puffy white clouds scattered along the horizon. I checked the fishing lines. Mmmm, looks like pasta for dinner, I thought. The engine rumbled on. Sweat trickled into my eyes. The water in the pass was so clear it looked very shallow. We kept checking the depth gauge to reassure ourselves the bottom was indeed several metres below us. Anahata, one of our fleet, volunteered to go through first and wove her way through the coral bombies, the rest of us following close behind, heading down to Tanuau at the southern end of the atoll, Meriin=E2=95=92s parents=E2=95=92 village. It was very shallow near shore so we had to anchor a long way out. We all dived in for a swim, first one in weeks not having wanted to risk our lives swimming at Tarawa. Chuck declared us the Polar Bears Club =E2=95=A8 maybe a North American thing, as swimming at Xmas is in mid-winter. The water is glorious. We finished the day with drinks on Free Spirit. Now that=E2=95=92s the cruising life. After a blissful calm night=E2=95=92s sleep, not being eaten by insects for a change, Chris from Anahata came by in a dinghy providing a taxi ride to shore. Before we even hit the shore Merriin was on the beach to greet us. We hugged like old friends. Wow, this place was super traditional. Every structure was made of local materials, thatched rooves, cooking fires, and even a sleeping platform out over the tide. No corrugated iron, water tanks, barely any modern building materials. =20 David We were ushered along a couple of logs to their over-water bungalow, recently completed. This was a thatched platform suspended about ten feet above the water, carpeted with pandanus mats and cooled by the breeze. Constructed entirely from local materials, lashed together with coconut fibre twine, it was utterly romantic. Just like the bungalows at Likiulikiu without the crisp sheets. We'd seen structures like these at a high end Fijian resort which, with the addition of crisp sheets and a mattress, were let for $NZ2200 per night. Janet On shore we met Merriin=E2=95=92s mother and father, the father had a little English, the mother none, and her gorgeous five year old son. Our arrival was obviously expected and lunch was served immediately. We sat out in the hut on poles above the lagoon. Crayfish arrived, crabs, fried fish, local sweet kumera, fresh coconuts to drink, and the ubiquitous rice. We imitang (white people) ate first, as custom dictates, with our fingers. We learn =E2=95=98kangkang=E2=95=92, delicious. We joked and laughed and the waves crash on the shore under us. We didn=E2=95=92t notice the wind building. We start making arrangements. Merriin explained that they have their Christmas meal on Christmas Eve day and go to church Christmas morning. We had been trying to work out a way we can return their hospitality. I asked if it was okay if we brought food to share to a meal, and Merriin shakes her head. But Lauri is more persistent and explained =E2=95=A5We haven=E2=95=92t got room to host a meal for you on any of our boats but could we bring a meal in on Christmas Day.=E2=95=99 =E2=95=A5Yes=E2=95=99, said Merriin, =E2=95=A5but only if we can supply the plates and do the dishes.=E2=95=99 No argument from me on that score. Back at the anchorage, Navire was bouncing. So much for a period of respite, I wanted tranquility, just a few days, please. *** I sit here in the cockpit and type. Just had a shower in preparation to go to Free Spirit for belated Christmas strategy meeting with Lauri and Berringer. God I=E2=95=92m sweating already. Navire is bucking on her anchor. This is not a good anchorage in this wind but we are committed to Christmas here now. If the wind continues from the north we=E2=95=92ll go and join Clara Catherine at the north end of the lagoon, several hours away. I want peaceful days and nights, calm swimming, no noise of wind, or concerns about dragging. No points for guessing what the weather did=E2=95=94 =20