The adventures continue to reveal themselves here in the isalnds. Craig and I have spent the past 3 days in Besio getting some business taken care of. Craig bought his r/t plane ticket home to CO for xmas. I nearly got all the items I needed to renew my work permit for another year. Getting things done in a timely manner when you are on "island time" is difficult. We did manage to buy a new bicycle for base camp with the two kids' school deposits who stole one of the bicycles. Some clouds do have a silver lining I guess. So, we're headed back to base camp with a new bicycle.

Also raided the hardware store for items needed to finish the blockhouse: hinges, screws, nails, and concrete anchors.

About an hour before sunset we pulled up anchor and sailed out of Besio harbor. The wind is around 18 knots and perfect for a good sail back to Abemama. It's about 68 degrees off our port. Boat speed pushing just over 6 knots. We're bashing a bit which makes it very hard for Craig to get any sleep in the forward v-berth.

We learned upon arriving in Tarawa that the senior pastor, Pastor Kapata, got himself into a bit of trouble. Seems he got liquored up, went for a drive and hit a tree. He spent the night in jail and now there is a pastor position open here in Tarawa. Some of us learn our lessons the hard way. Maybe he needed a vacation.

All the systems on the boat are holding up well and working the way they should be.

Oh, that reminded me of the following. We did have the alternator/water pump belt break on the last trip from Tarawa to Abemama. We were lucky it happened in the open ocean. That's not the kind of trouble you want when navigating a channel in or out of a lagoon. That could spell disaster. Which is why one should always be ready to deploy the sails at any time.