We made it to Fanning after 52 hours of leaving Palmyra. It is only 200 miles southeast but we had to sail 330 miles, avg 6.3 mph, first due east then tacking southwest but having to tack twice again to make a landfall. The winds and current would not cooperate at all. We got here on a Sunday night at 5pm and their three officials 'rented' a Hobie cat for $20 to come check us in.

They also requested $10 overtime pay for each for the 3 of them and asked us to come to shore the next day to finalize our paperwork. We came in the next day and paid another $20 anchorage fee for 3 months anchoring (which we don't plan to use completely).

Sailors: be aware that you need a Zarpe/clearance papers from your last port to enter Kiribati. Unfortunately we are now the third boat who has arrived here without a Zarpe and they are still determining what to do with us. We hear the choice is either pay $500 (later this fine went up to $900) to be declared legal and receive a clearance for the next port. We hear Christmas Island charges $100 vs. $20 for the anchorage fee and if we don't get the clearance from Fanning, we couldn’t visit Christmas so we'll just go back to Hawaii if there's a problem.

So our first impressions of Fanning: it has the beauty of coconut palms, a large lagoon and friendly people. It's nice to have a 3 month permit vs. a 7 day permit on Palmyra. We hear we can buy bananas, papayas and pumpkins but haven't seen them yet. We see people riding bikes so we want to get ours out and ride around. Michael on Fianna, the next boat over has been here for 5 months and says he swims in the lagoon all the time so that's good to know. Unfortunately, the island doesn't have flour so no one is making bread and their water catchment is questionable so we're praying for rain although we're fine for now.
As we started to talk about how to save on water again, I happened to come across my article that was published in Cruising World May 1997 called 'A Very Unique Water-Saving Technique.' I was paid $50 for submitting it to Bruce Bingham of Cruising World back in 1996 as we concluded our 8 year circumnavigation. I truly hadn't seen it for years! I just wrote the words but when it appeared in the Magazine, it shows the back side of a lady taking a shower with the sprayer which we thought was pretty funny and definitely something I wouldn't have sent in.
It reads:
Donna and Scott Hansen from Seattle, WA, have been using common spray bottles for all sorts of purposes aboard their J-36, Bluejay, especially since beginning their circumnavigation. How about saving lots of precious water by using spray bottles for a quick body cool-down on sweltering days, an alternative to sponge bathing, wetting and rinsing dishes when washing (the Hansens usually wash in seawater then rinse in fresh), rinsing toothbrushes, for hand washing, and cleaning the engine or other mechanical equipment. Donna says there are countless other practical ways of using mist instead of a solid stream under pressure. And Scott reminds us that spraying also saves an amazing amount of stored battery power. (Worth $50, right?)

Now that we reached Fanning Island, we started to think about being here in 1989 and see what we could remember. A tug boat rusting in the lagoon is still here! A barge that pushed us into some shallows is still here. We walked up to a house that looked familiar and which belonged to a Michael in 1989. His niece Disa lives there now and Michael in on Tarawa with an exporting business so we gave her our card and asked her to say hello from us. We asked about Alan, an Englishman whom we got to know back then. Unfortunately, we’re told he left 'in the night' for Samoa with $30,000 of the island's money. He was caught so that was good.
So we may spend the $5 for internet to update you at the end of our stay here but until then, we'll enjoy a tropical island that allows you to swim, surf and spearfish where you want and although we won't get many fresh veggies/fruit, we hope to get some and enjoy the laid-back lifestyle that the islands are known for.

For a picture, I'm still using one from Palmyra but it looks a lot like Fanning only 200 miles further south.