Solomon hailed us on the VHF and told us that we were not allowed to go ashore or deliver the aid package, per the officials in Pohnpei. In fact we are not allowed to stop in Nukuoro, rumored to be hardest hit by the king tides, to drop off our aid package for them either. I wonder what the people on these islands think of this ruling? Is it in their best interest? No one is in danger of starving of course, the Pohnpei supply ship brought aid in the second week of January to both islands, far more than our modest contribution. Yet beyond formality, I can see no reason for the red tape. None of these islands grow any of the products we bring, so any contamination is fairly far fetched. Having been through quarantine in 30 countries I doubt post Pohnpei delivery of the aid package would look any different than pre Pohnpei delivery.

As it is, with the winds strong from the northeast, we will likely fail to fetch Pohnpei and end up blown off to Chuuk. We will spend three to four days at sea rather than three one night trips with stops in the safe harbors of Nukuoro, Ngatik or Lukunor (depending on the wind) and then Pohnpei or Chuuk (depending on the wind).

I fear that it is us, the developed world that these countries use as a template for their formalities. These far flung islands are only a country because we made them so. Heavy handed customs, immigration and quarantine are status quo in the USA, and perhaps with some reason, though even her own citizens dislike the bureaucracy. Perhaps small countries look at us and say, "ok, that's how you do it". Yet, should a country that can barely get a supply ship once a quarter to its outlying islands have such overhead? Does it really serve a purpose? These people survived for hundreds of years without such oversight. The capital would have no communications with them at all if the EU and others hadn't donated radios and solar systems. Is any criminal hampered by the bits of paper filed 400 miles away? Illegal fishing certainly goes on unchecked. Are there other ways the FSM could invest her funds, rather than toiling to ensure that cruising yachts can seek no refuge on the 1,000 mile trip north from the Solomon Islands, nor deliver aid to islands who's resources have been damaged by climate change?

I think that, in many ways, trying to be like us is the biggest problem with many island nations. They are not like us. Kapingamarangi has no port, airport, internet, phone or other connections to anywhere. To communicate with someone here you have to use the post and on this end it is delivered about once every three months. There is nothing to infiltrate and protection measures seem to be a bit overzealous. Perhaps as the world gets smaller the artificially imposed national boundaries represent the only way a small group of islands can participate in the global playing field. Who knows.

I hope that the FSM considers enabling the people of Kapingamarangi to receive yachts from the south in the future. It would create a valuable cultural exchange, bring benefit in trade to Kapingamarangi and provide a safe harbor for yachts on an otherwise unnecessarily long passage. If Palmerston, Cook Islands, can manage yacht check ins these folks certainly can.

After the bad news we set out to retrieve Angelique's kedge anchor. It got Angelique off the reef and At doesn't want to leave it behind. I don't blame him. Eric and I went out in advance with Hideko and At following on their dinghy. We had a lift bag and lots of other gear to do a proper search and recovery. As we waited Eric and I dropped down with the dinghy on a 50 foot tether to drift out the ebbing pass. The vis wasn't great on the ebbing tide but the pass is amazing. We saw white tip reef sharks, lots of fish, a big school of barracuda and amazing coral structures. The current was a light 1 or 2 knots.

Once At and Hideko arrived we headed out to the position of the grounding. We made an initial snorkel search and then a scuba search but after a couple of hours we threw in the towel. It should have been easier to find. Our fist fix was wrong and our second was radioed in from Dia back in the anchorage. We are going to do some more recon, looking over track lines and such and try again tomorrow or the next day. Conditions should be good for us to depart in a couple of days so we are on a deadline.