Because of some rain squalls that hit as we got back to the boat, we didn't leave as early in the morning as we had intended. When we finally got underway, we scuttled the plan for our next destination and decided to move just 15 miles west to another small, remote island; Johnston Island (named by an American in WWII). When we arrived at Johnston we anchored near an absolutely beautiful tropic island which was small, ringed with a beach, lots of palm trees and other tropical growth in the middle, coral reef all around.

Once again, the canoes began arriving from a nearby island with a village. However, unlike the people from Pam Island, they spoke very little English and looked to be quite poor. One of the women who had paddled out said, "we don't have anything for you, but we have need of food and medicine." They invited us to come to the village to meet the village leader. It is also necessary to ask their permission to park the boat near their island. I stayed on the boat and Steve and Manjula took the dinghy to the village. What they reported back was that this was a very poor village of only 30 people, all from the same family, and that they lived in grass huts. Once again, the village leader said that we were the only cruising boat to ever stop near their island. There were only two or three people who spoke even a little English.

It's incredible how things happen in life. We left Pam Island with more food than we could possibly eat and later the same day encountered a group of people whose greatest immediate need was food. So, the next morning we assembled as much food as we could, some stickers, and a medical kit from some of the surplus supplies Steve and Manjula keep on board. Steve and I went to the village and Steve gave them our gifts and explained all of the medical things he had brought to them. They were very grateful and I think were a little embarrassed that they didn't have something for us. So, they sent a couple of children off and they returned with two turtle shells for us to take. They know little about endangered species and catch turtles for food. Manjula was a little horrified when we returned with the shells!