The day we arrived in Tarawa, some of the officials who came to our boat were dressed in black, despite the intense sun and tropical temperatures, in support of Domestic Abuse Awareness day. We were reading in the Marshall Islands newspaper, that 80% of men and 60% of woman feel that hitting your wife was an acceptable practice…and the justifications for doing so included burnt food, and not cleaning the children or house well enough. Domestic Violence seems to occur throughout the world. It’s good to see that even third world countries like Kirabati try to do something about it.

Securing the cruising permit was simply an overnight wait, and an interview with the customs boss as to why we wanted to go to so many atolls. We explained that we had loved our previous visit to Kiribati, adored the people and culture here, and wanted to learn and see more. He was happy to hear our positive words and granted us the permit as long as we returned to Tarawa to check out. We were granted the same permission from Immigration, along with a 4 month visa, at no charge. We listed Abiang, Abemama, Kuria, Tabiteuea, Onitani, and Maina as the atolls that we wanted to see, they ranged from 25 – 225 miles away. Many of these atolls were to windward so our destinations actually depended on what the weather allowed us to do.

We spent two days in Tarawa gathering food and a few supplies.
Then one evening, another yacht in the anchorage announced that Japan was just hit with an earthquake and terrible tsunami and all the Pacific islands would be hit with the same tsunami in a few hours. Immediately the yacht Mr. John and us picked up anchor and headed out the harbor into deep ocean water for safety. We had a close call in Samoa with that tsunami. We saw the pictures our friends yachts washed up on shore in Pago Pago. We take a tsunami warning seriously.

Since we had papers in hand to go to the outer atolls, we kept on going. In the morning we arrived at Abiang, 25 miles to the north of Tarawa.

We never felt the wave, but it is said that there was only a 1 foot surge in Tarawa. The people of Abiang had heard the warning on the AM radio. There is no safe “high ground” on an atoll. The villagers gathered in their maneaba, a large village gathering hut, and waited and prayed till something happened. By morning all any one lost was sleep.