Yeah! We are safely anchored at Christmas Island. It took us 15 days, but we're here! The crossing remained calm - too much so for a little while. We had about 3 or 4 days of the "doldrums" where we had to motor more than we wanted, but would certainly choose that over too much wind or rough seas. Happily, our equatorial crossing was under sail this time - about two thousand miles to the west of where we crossed it the first time. We are trying to get used to the heat - we both now have some heat rash. I don't remember that happening on the way down. Sure hope it clears up fast! Sadly no more fish were caught on the trip. It is amazing how few fish there seem to be along the equator - we had the same issue on the trip south! King Neptune must have warned them all to steer clear of lures!

We arrived on Monday morning and were surprised to find we are the only boat here. We were also surprised to find out it was really Tuesday and our clocks were an hour behind! Christmas Island, also called Kiritimati, is in the country of Kiribati (pronounced Kiri-bas!). Kiribati has 3 island groups - the Gilbert Islands, the Phoenix Islands, and the Line Islands. Christmas is a part of the "Lines," named so because they are so close to the equator. Apparently Captain Cook landed on this particular island on December 24, back in 1777, hence the name! The line islands are several hundred miles east of the other groups in the country - looking at them on a map, you wouldn't even think they belong together. The capital, Tarawa, is in the Gilberts and on the west side of the International Date Line. I guess it must have been difficult for the government to deal with different parts of the country being on different days, because they decided that although the Line Islands sit at about 157 degrees longitude (far from the 180 date line), they were going to be on the same day of the week as the Capital. When we leave, we'll get our day back!

Christmas Island is the world's largest coral atoll. The surrounding water is a gorgeous turquoise that is so clear, we could see the anchor settle itself on the bottom in 40 feet of water. The anchorage is outside of the lagoon, and there is no way to beach land the dinghy through the surf. To get ashore, we tie the dinghy to a ladder that hangs down from a big concrete pier (they call it the jetty). Getting out of the dinghy and onto the ladder has been a bit of a challenge, but so far so good! Once the ladder is scaled, we walk down the pier to the main road. The harbor master is close to the pier, but customs and immigration are a few miles down the road. With Glen's gimpy ankle and the sweltering heat, we have been catching one of the little "buses" to get to the main town, London. For one Australian dollar (yep, we're now on our 9th currency!), you get to get into an aging, overstuffed mini-van and be hurled down the road. The good thing is, the buses will stop to pick you up anywhere along the road and then deposit you where ever you like. The bad news is they all have music (and not our type!) playing so loudly, that your ears keep ringing long after exiting! Today after finishing up our check in (they couldn't find the stamp for our passports yesterday!), we had lunch at one of the few "restaurants" on the island, then went for a sightseeing trip on one of the buses. I should mention that the Chinese food we had was yummy, and it was interesting that anything with lobster in it was less expensive than dishes with chicken (which they were out of anyhow!). Sightseeing was interesting as well - salt flats, and more salt flats! We didn't make it all the way to the end of the road, though, so maybe we'll see something more exciting tomorrow!

Unfortunately, our water maker died today. We had some parts sent to Fiji and Glen had it working well, but it seized up and quit this morning. This afternoon has been spent trying to get the pump apart to see what could be done. In the process, two bolts broke and even if we could replace them, the bearings are shot. This puts us in a very bad spot! There is no easy way to bring water from the island to the boat, and even if we could, it would have to be boiled. We're going to have to go into major conservation mode and hope for some rain! We're going to investigate having a new pump sent to us at Fanning, but it doesn't sound like there are freight or mail deliveries very often. We'll probably have to wait until we get to Hawaii. :(

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King Neptune.... We're back! To Lat. Zero, Zero . Zero Back to the line where you are the hero!

It was April Fourteenth, Two thousand and eight 'tis been a year and a half since our last equatorial date!

We've been good little shell-backs, we hope you agree As we've sailed in the south on our Dorothy Marie.

The Marquesas, Tutamotus, and the Societies Hauled out in Tahiti for some rudder work? Geez!

Rarotonga, in the Cooks, and then Beveridge Reef on to Niue's sharp limestone that gave Glen's nose some grief!

Vava'u, Ha'apai, and Tongatapu - we loved all Tonga's groups, But the time... it just flew!

So we headed to New Zealand, for the cyclone season with an unplanned stop at Minerva - bad weather was the reason.

After six months with the Kiwis, towards Fiji we sailed Our friend's boat, Elusive, was lost and our dear George said, "I've Bailed!"

Viti Levu, Mamanucas, and the Yasawas were a ball While George got a transplant and Genny? A complete over-haul!

From Fiji's Vanua Levu to Niuatoputapu in Tonga, Then on to Samoa where things went a bit wrong - uh! :)

While in Apia on 'Upolu our boat started to shake, then four big tsunami waves followed the quake!

We left beautiful Savai'i thirteen days ago Have had a wonderful crossing and now, Don't ya know?

We're back to pay tribute to both you and your court we'll splash some champagne both starboard and port.

With so many great memories, we are now homeward bound Back to our loved ones and put on feet on the ground.

But King Neptune, Don't worry! We've more dreams to fulfill. We'll be seeing you again. Our best wishes, until!

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Hi there! We are now about half way between Samoa and Fanning Island. It's day 8 and everything has been great! :) We can certainly tell we are getting closer to the equator with the heat and all the rain squalls, but it has been fairly smooth so we can't complain. The rain feels so good and refreshing - we often sit out in it to cool down! The only negative we've encountered is having to reef sails as the squall gets close, then letting them right back out again as soon as it passes. It seemed like there was one every hour or so yesterday and last night. Glen's a sweetie and does most of the work - I just tail lines, hold the flashlight, and hang on!

We have continued to sail as much as we can, although we have had to turn the motor on occasionally when the wind has died completely. We haven't made our goal of 100 miles per day, so it will probably take us another 7-8 days to reach Fanning. It may even be longer if we hit the doldrums closer to the equator - we had many an hour of "bobbing" when we were heading south (hard to believe that was 19 months ago!). We're still thinking about our equatorial crossing ceremony heading north - not sure we could top our southbound fun. We do still have a bottle of almond champagne on board for the event, though - King Neptune does require a toll!

Surprisingly, our days seem to slip by quickly. After whatever projects need tending to (and thankfully there have been few this trip, KNOCK heavily on wood!), we take turns napping - feels like we are always a tad sleep deprived. To keep a good load on our wonderful newly rebuilt generator, we run the air in the back cabin while charging the batteries and running the freezer. That's the best napping time! We also read a ton (just finished a fun book by Dick Francis - a new author for us), keep an eye out in hopes of a whale or other visitor (I am still sooo hoping to see a blue whale before hitting home!), and play a lot of games. I am so sad to report I have lost my "Cribbage Queen" title, but am still the Rummy Tile champ! Our only real "obligation" of the day is our 03:30 UTC check-in on the HAM radio with the Pacific Seafarers Net. Since we're not buddy boating, it feels good to have someone keeping a watch for us each day. These volunteer men record position, course, speed, weather and sea conditions for lots of boats every day. We so appreciate them! They would know what to do if something happened and we quit checking in (we hope at least!). The check in finishes about 5:00PM for us, so that is when I decide if I can actually cook a real dinner, or have to use one of our precious few canned meals. We've only had one so far this trip - not too shabby!

We had a hitchhiker for about 36 hours over the past two day! A beautiful bird (no idea what kind, but we do have pictures!) kept trying to find a way to land on the boat. It took it about 45 minutes to finally find a place it felt comfortable landing (on top on one of the diesel jerry cans!!), but then settled in for a nice long snooze! Not sure of its gender, but we were calling it Isabel. She didn't seem to mind the rolling of the boat, the snapping of the sails, or us constantly checking to see if she was still there. She was a welcome visitor! Glen and I can chat and chat and chat, but let's face it... after 7 days of only each other's company, we were both happy to "chat up" the bird! She left a couple of times, but came back shortly and we were so sad when she gave up an attempt to land during one of the squalls last night. Always hard saying goodbye to yet another friend!

Glen has caught 3 fish, but unfortunately only landed one. A nice mahi mahi and some other type got away, but we did have fresh skipjack tuna for dinner last night. The tackle box came out today and some serious lure changes were taking place, so we're hoping for something even better soon! One of the hand lines got wrapped around the rudder, so getting it free will be one of our first tasks if we hit the doldrums. Glen tried to get it free by climbing down the back ladder, but no cigar! Luckily it isn't causing any trouble, so it can just hang for now.

We hope all is well with everyone back home. We can't even believe it is getting close to Halloween time - who's having a party this year?!!! Heartfelt condolences to Glen's nieces, Laurie and Leslie, on the loss of their father - we're sending you big hugs!

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