S/V Hoku Pa'a Photos - Kiritimati Part II, December 2005

...click on the small photos for larger versions...

Two types of house-building materials on Kiritimati are tin and pandanus/coconut. You can see how dry the land is.	From our anchorage, the view west consisted of thousands of miles of uninterrupted Pacific Ocean.	Freya and Barb are all dressed for Christmas!
Christmas Dinner was a joyous gustatory feast! We've almost forgotten that each wedge of tomato cost $1...	Traditional Danish Risengrød for dessert. Mmmmmm. No, the umbrellas in the drinks didn't keep them dry.	Two days after Christmas we attended a singing/dance competition at one of the maneabas. As a warmup, we played paddycake with the younger kids.
Barb & I were shanghaied into sitting on the judges' panel. It gave us great front-row seats, but meant that we had to sit through the entire 4 hour affair.	Each of the three villages performed five dances. Behind this line of dancers, the rest of the team drums and sings enthusiastically.	The dancers from the village of Banana wore skirts made from strips of old video tape. Interestingly, it was very rare for any of the performers to break out of their very serious demeanor while dancing.
Before each team performed, spectators would scurry up and spray them about the underarms with perfume and dust their feet with talcum powder.	One of about six tuna boats that stopped at Kiritimati, unloading its catch onto a cargo ship to take to S. America for canning. Note the helicopter on deck for spotting fish.	Contrast the flash tuna boat with this local ship, Nei Momi. This is Kiribati's inter-island people and cargo ferry, covering 1800 miles between Tarawa and other western islands, and the eastern Line Islands.
The day before Nei-Momi was to leave, passengers and their families waited for the boarding signal.	The fellow sitting on the flatbed is holding an IV bag for the woman in the striped headdress. She may have been headed for the hospital in Tarawa, at least a 10 day journey.	Freya seen from the pier. We were happy to have her as transportation, after seeing the alternative.
We needed to top up our diesel tank before leaving - using a hand-cranked pump that would be immune to power failures.	As we closed on Tabuaeran we were escorted by dozens of Frigate Birds.	The ever-curious Boobie Birds also visited. The non-forked tail is the easiest way to distinguish them from the larger Frigate Birds.
A pod of at least 30 dolphins played joyously around Freya for 20 minutes. Tabuaeran is just visible on the horizon to the right.

S/V Hoku Pa'a 1000 DeCosta Pl. Victoria, BC Canada  V9A 6Y3

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