November 11, 2007

Anchor Down in Tarawa
Early in the evening yesterday we got the "fat chance" I spoke of. The wind shifted back east, and dropped to under 15 knots letting the sea smooth out. It looked real good for a pre-dawn arrival at the entrance buoy. By midnight it got over the teasing, and went almost dead calm, then swung back north again. We were crossing between Maiana and Tarawa, where there is a strong current setting west. With good wind we could have bucked the current, or with no current we could have tacked due north, but with both we settled in for a long night and morning. At dawn we were 15 miles straight downwind and down current from the entrance, so started motorsailing. The wind conditions changed 4 or 5 times, but never really for the better, so it took us until noon to make the harbor. We were looking for a shallow anchorage, so went to an area close to the main wharf but near the beach. The water is a pale green, but so full of coral sediment that we can't see the bottom in 15 feet depth. So we picked a spot, dropped the anchor, payed out chain, and tested the set. It held immediately. Still, I always snorkel the anchor to check it, so as soon as we tied up sails I got in the water. We'd heard there were wrecked ships all over the harbor area, and could see several hulks rusting away on the surrounding reef and beach. But I was pretty surprised to find that I had neatly dropped the anchor into the open cargo hold of a sunken barge. Fortunately it wasn't snagged on anything, so I could lift it out and set it on the sand next to the wreck.
It took the afternoon to clear at customs, catch a "bus" to the other end of the atoll to clear Immigration, buy a few oranges, and get back to Sequester. The oranges are already gone, supper's on the stove, and the bed calls for an early date tonight. More news tomorrow. Ted