Outside world…outside world… This is a wet and tired person. A wet and tired person. Do you copy?
I was allowed to play VHF operator as we left Fanning Island at 0800 on Friday 24 June, in an attempt to wave goodbye to the school children we had visited the day before. Sadly, they weren’t receiving. We waved anyway.
If you would like a mental picture of the island, close your eyes and conjure up a storybook memory of the quintessential tropical pacific island:you know the one – swaying coconut trees, a lagoon the most vivid aquamarine a human can imagine, friendly islanders, thatched-roof houses. Welcome to Tabuaeran (its Kiribati name).
As is the way of this wonderful world we live in, it is the people we meet whomake the lasting impressions. The island is 14km long with a population of around 2000, inhabiting seven villages. We were made so welcome, with greetings, fresh fruit, bikes to use, a boat for the divers to go back out through the passage to the ocean side, and left with trinkets of shells.
In return, Clive was able to assist Tyrone, the owner of the main export operation on the island. Tyrone is of Irish (father), and half Kiribati half German, parentage (mother), and runs a seaweed export company.
Seaweed is grown in the perfect conditions of ideal sea temperature and water flow, in the lagoon, where it is planted using sticks to grow against. It takes about a month to mature before it is picked, compressed, dried and baled up to be shipped out to China where it is used in the manufacture of cosmetics. I am missing Uncle Google on this trip: all these facts that will be fascinating to expand on.
Tyrone has family living in the UK and needed to send documentation to the immigration office there to assist his youngest son obtain residency. Can you imagine what a feat this is when you live in one of the most remote regions of the world, with the only formal outside contact being the Kwai, a ship which runs between Hawaii and Rarotonga, on a fairly intermittent basis?
The use of hard currency was only introduced two years ago and in fact, many of the islanders live entirely without cash. They fish, have a year round supply of coconuts and grow taro to provide their daily diet. There is no main generator – electricity is by means of solar panels. Life is very simple.
Clive was able to assist by taking a digital picture of Tyrone’s paperwork and emailed it off. A day later, Tyrone received a phone call to say that all was in order. This is a phenomenal achievement, made possible by the installation, only two weeks previously, of an internet and phone connection – and the serendipitous arrival of Sea Dragon.
Life can be a very interesting journey and none quite so interesting I doubt, as that of Monsieur Bruno de Lala. Bruno is a 60-year old Frenchman who left Bordeaux in 1979 to sail to Tahiti and never sailed back. His story could fill an entire book, but briefly, he ran aground on a reef on Washington Island, met Tabita, an I-Kiribati living there, married, had their daughter (17 years old), ran aground another yacht, settled on Fanning Island, had their son (now aged four) and their third child is due later this year.
He made a bashful expression when announcing the impending arrival of the next petite de Lala, and when I made a joke that Picasso was still in the fathering business at age 80, I swear he paled under his deep, walnut brown skin. Tabita is in her mid-30s we guessed.
Some of us had happened upon Bruno at the jetty and were promptly swept off to his home which quite truthfully, could feature in a Home & Garden magazine. It is astounding.
He has built a two-story house, with the bottom level constructed from the smooth, symmetrical stones found on the beach directly in front of his land, on the ocean side. The second storey, which forms their shared bedroom(s) and a deck, is made from wooden shutters which he had shipped in.
If he wasn’t a patient man when he arrived on this island, he must surely be now. Bags of cement from Christmas Island took up to eight months to arrive…
I have photos which tell it all, but I must tell you about our time with this raconteur. He was like a man shipwrecked (again?), who was not dying for water or food, but for conversation with outsiders.
So we sat and listened to his life story and enjoyed it so much, the eight of us returned that night, with BYO food and sat in his exquisite courtyard and listened some more.
The next day was my last chance to dive, so I went out with the A team to the ocean side and had a wonderful time swishing this way and that with the sea surge, having one last underneath-look at the wonder that makes up 70% of our planet.
That night, we prepared for departure early the next morning and had the last decent stretch of sleep for at least a week. We are now into day three of our expected six day sail to Honolulu and the weather has been pretty foul, up until this morning.
All is going well despite the fact the only dry thing on this boat is the no alcohol policy – I’m going back on watch – talk soon.

Cathy Romeyn

Light.

With the advent of sailing sea-farers built signal fires on the beaches to light their way home. Later on, when technology had advanced to the point where it was possible to leave something burning on deck for more than an hour without losing the whole ship, sailors used lanterns hung aloft to push back the night. The early signal fires were then replaced with lighthouses to warn sailors of unseen hazards in their paths.
Nowadays, ships use lights for any number of reasons, from signaling direction, tonnage, and type of vessel to indicating whether a ship is in distress. Prior to the development of dependable radios, semaphore lights were even used to pass entire message from ship to ship using Morse code.
The Sea Dragon is no exception. We have a full complement of running lights, anchor lights, and navigation lights, all designed to keep other vessels fully alert as to our intentions, and to prevent an unintentional rendezvous at sea. Since we’re also using the boat as a diving platform, we’ve got a stack of dive…

Sorry, half hour break to bring onboard a tuna. He’s a little guy, kind of looks like a skipjack. Filleted him up, because he’s going to be dinner, as well as science. Every fish we manage to reel in gets dissected, with their livers and stomachs going to the lab to be analyzed for the presence of plastic debris (you wouldn’t believe how much little plastic bits look like grub to a fish) as well as the existence of Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POP, which are indicators of pollutants in the water. I’m not the right person to ask about that, I’m just here for the diving.
…Which brings me back to the dive lights. Ours were generously donated by my bosses at Ocean First Divers, (thanks guys and gals) and have quickly proven their worth. The beauty of a dive light is not just the fact that you can take it deep into the ocean, but simply that you can take it anywhere near the ocean at all. Anyone familiar with flashlights (‘torches’ for our overseas friends) knows that they tend to fail miserably when brought in the general vicinity of salt water.

As a result, having these waterproof flashlights with upgraded LED bulbs instead of incandescent, has been a huge benefit for the entire sailing trip. We’ve used those lights to bring in a ship that was de-masted outside Rarotonga, acted as a lighthouse on islands whose electricity turned off at ten every night whether you were ready or not, and as spotting torches for coral bommies while entering unknown harbors.

Oh, and we occasionally use them for diving as well; night dives in Rarotonga, for peeking into massive coral canyons in Aitutaki, and most recently during our departure from Penryhn, when we had to send a diver down to check the anchor and eventually tie it off so we could actually depart the harbor before sunset. They’re pretty useful is what I’m saying. Now if I could only get them to make me a decent chai latte…
Until next time,

Chad

As of fifteen minutes ago, Bert has been at the helm for almost fourteen hours. In the time, he hasn’t once left to use the head, shower, or eat a meal, despite our best efforts to feed him. While we each took our turn at the wheel, Bert has been there, supervising our course corrections, silently glaring at the compass when we began to deviate beyond his approved heading, and occasionally tucking his head under his arm to take a nap.
Wait…what?
Bert is a bird that joined us during dinner last evening, flying behind the boat for a short period of time before deciding that we were headed his way. Noticeably worse for the wear, his left wing was missing at least half a dozen pinion feathers, which made his flight patterns somewhat erratic.
He came in for a landing on the clothesline that ran behind the helm, and then eventually tumbled his way around the deck before climbing the helm with his beak and settling just to port of the compass. We all figured he’d be off pretty quickly, but as the sun dropped down below the horizon he seemed more and more content perched right where he was. With every watch turnover we began to place bets on whether he’d be with us to Christmas Island, our next destination.
At 9:30 this morning, I tumbled out of my bunk (we’ve been on a pretty healthy beam reach this entire time so the boat spends most of its time ten degrees to port) to find Jesper at the wheel with an awake and alert Bert alongside. As I enjoyed my bowl of Tahitian Rice Crispies, which have a noticeably louder ‘Snap, Crackle’, but a rather mediocre ‘Pop’, Bert apparently decided that he wasn’t in the mood for grains, and would prefer something more in tune with his sea bird diet. In the classic Bert fashion that we have all come to know and love, he then proceeded to bash his way around the cockpit for a minute before flailing himself into the open sky. Bon voyage Bert.

Wife of our Chief Skipper Clive Cosby and logistical supporter Vale Sesto just won the Kona Marathon!

This just in from the Satphone…

“Vale won the marathon earlier today and broke the course record as well … thank-you for helping her get there. I am looking forward to some days away together and celebrating her amazing achievement, looks like i will fly over to Hawaii to join them after arrival. Cheers, Clive”

After an incredible few days diving, cycling, exploring and meeting some incredible people we are are up and off.
1815 23 June GMT
03 52.62 N
159 23.48 W
Sailing around the West coast of Fanning on passage towards Honolulu, Oahu.
POB 8
Please send more weather info.
Cheers, Clive

Just go this message in from Sea Dragon as the team is clearing their final landfall. They are heading north on a straight line to Hawaii. Sailing this next leg is particularly interesting as they move out of the deep equatorial tropics and into a 900 mile band of ocean that is known for three important features.

1) This is glorious trade wind sailing. There is no sailing on earth like the “trades” – so named for their relatively predictable winds that have carried merchant sailing vessels for centuries. Sea Dragon will soon hit a steady 15-20 kt NE wind that will power them at near full speed to Hawaii. Lets watch how this unfolds- Have a look at the picture below! Those “arrows” are wind indicators showing the forecast trade winds.

2) The ITCZ. Right about now, they are entering a band of intense but highly localized thunderstorms associated with powerful rising air currents. This is caused by the direct overhead sun (its Solstice on the 25th) heating the water surface. Big as she is, Sea Dragon will be like a ant trying to cross a busy street as giant thunderheads roll from east to west. Radar really helps here! Check out the latest NOAA satellite image below. Those deeply colored bands at the bottom are the actual convection cells (thunderheads) of the ITCZ.

3) Hurricanes. We are watching carefully for tropical storm conditions off the coast of Central America. We’ve had one Cat 4 storm already in the Eastern Pacific. They do sometimes turn due west and run towards Hawaii. We believe that Pele is good at deflecting storms away from the Hawaiian Islands…but often to the south. Right now, it looks very safe to cross the street.

Half-way between Japan and Cape Horn, Australia and Mexico lies Kiritimati Island, part of the Kiribati nation, center of the Pacific Ocean and current location of Pangaea Explorations research yacht Sea Dragon.

It is unusual in this part of the world to see another vessel, if one is found the emotions variously run between pleasure at seeing another and seething at the audacity of another to venture to the same remote spot on the planet. We warmly greet a Hungarian cruising couple a long way from home and look mystified at four large ships at anchor.

The island known to westerners as Christmas has a varied history; military occupations, nuclear testing ground, home to over five-thousand and sport fishing destination, the people are humble, friendly and shy, they have nothing and yet in this natural wilderness everything. The ocean has so much, man demands more; welcome the international fishing industry on a scale I have never seen before.

Off the coast of South America many months ago we witnessed ships anchored on the edge of the continental shelf lit up at night like cities working in numerous groups of ten or more harvesting Squid. Here Purse Seine fishing boats off load huge catches to mother ships for foreign markets; two Asian boats, two Spanish, are there no fish left in the Atlantic?

Ashore we are met by curious people who build their own homes, catch and grow their own food and have little else. What they do have is a large area of rich fishing grounds, a sheltered lee for anchoring and an airfield with international connections. Without their own mass scale fishing boats they sell the rights to others. In return they have an income and infrastructure, donated from faraway places that few here have heard of.

We await our Customs clearance, already two hours late early on a Sunday morning and I fear we may have a long wait. A Proa, as is the local design appears from one of the two sixty meter fishing boats that arrived during the night, the party pulls up alongside. Fortunately the paperwork has been pre-written out, the party has more fuel from the new arrivals; Cigarettes and Alcohol. The government sells fishing rights, the fishermen catch fish and the locals get to party.

Clive Cosby
Skipper Sea Dragon

The research yacht Sea Dragon is currently in the Pacific looking into the state of our oceans. Working with different scientific communities researching plastic pollution, water quality and marine ecosystems the project aims to raise awareness through education to create action to protect our oceans.

The project www.panexplore.com
Video from the South Atlantic Expedition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AROfHKpI0wg&feature=youtube_gdata_player
My blog http://banthebag-lifeinmotion.blogspot.com/

Departed Kiritimati/ Christmas Island 2025 18th GMT for Fanning Island 8 POB crew list as sent.

OMG – Customs Immigration etc all cleared on Friday as they ‘do not work weekends’, however yesterday (Sat) they came by and said the rules state 24hours and we had not left (even though this had been agreed) he insisted that I return the clearance paper. So they agreed to come by sunday 0700 as they had to clear a ship as well. We were all up and ready packed stowed and waiting 0700, 0800, 0900 at 0930 they arrived about eight of them, initially saying we had to come in and see them Monday morning, something was odd the customs guy could not talk properly, he was trying to light a cigarette, the others variously were holding boxes of Marlboro reds and bottles of spirits. They had cleared in the recently arrived Per Seine fishing boat! Fortunately the immigration lady sorted us out … we are on our way, hope it runs as smoothly in Hawaii!

Rarotonga:

If there’s one thing the Sea Dragon can do well, it’s collecting a group of wildly disparate talents together to create something amazing. Our time in Rarotonga was no exception; in the span of two weeks we had gathered scientists and surfers, photographers and philanthropists, dive instructors and devoted non-profits from around the Cook Islands, as well as from places as far flung as the UK, New Zealand, the United States, and Australia.

Keeping in mind the brief time we had on the island, we compiled a list of missions we’d like to tackle dealing with water quality, waste management, ocean plastic accumulation and studies of the local reef biodiversity. Mind you, this isn’t a team that has been planning for months; most of us had only met each other the day prior, when we gathered to discuss the project goals over lunch on the Sea Dragon. I couldn’t possibly list every project we were working on, so forgive me if I don’t mention your name here, but there were a few notable highlights.

Cam, temporarily outsourced from a New Zealand charity named Sustainable Coastlines, spearheaded beach cleanup efforts; he would end up running numerous side missions out to the remote islands of the Muri Lagoon, gathering evidence of ocean plastic as well as local discards. Jess and Steve, the folks behind the Pacific Island Conservation Initiative, coordinated with the locals and camerman Butch to produce a video documenting the cycle of the island’s water supply for the upcoming Lagoon Day.

Rachel, a PhD student from Scripps Institute of Oceanography supported by yours truly, began her six week project to document fish populations and benthic diversity among the islands of the South Pacific. She would be running line transects and counting untold numbers of fish and analyzing a massive pile of coral photographs over the course of her research.

Along with these projects, we were running photo shoots of the island from land, sea and air, engaging local school kids on board Sea Dragon, and interviewing local citizens for their perspectives on the reef health, water quality, and concerns over the impacts of tourism on the island. At any one point in the day, you could find three or four of our people working together, often multitasking between two or three different projects (in addition to their normal work, Sara from 5Gyres along with myself and our resident adventure photographer Justin, worked on a short film on the path plastic takes to reach the ocean), all with the goal of improving our understanding of this island we all instantly fell in love with.

By the end of the week, we had done it. A short film documenting the path of Rarotonga’s water supply was prepared for its premiere at Lagoon Day. Footage was completed on the 5Gyres project affectionately named ‘ProTiki’. We had compiled maps of the island’s pig farms, identified pollution issues, and interviewed nearly every Minister of ‘you-name-it’ on the island. Rachel had a stack of data and photographs she had to compile for the beginning of her study, and Cam had half a dozen bags of garbage he would get to sort through before returning to New Zealand.

With the return of our skipper Clive, and the tearful (just for the record: not mine) departure of Dale for a well deserved holiday, we were ready to set out on the third leg of our Pacific Island Survey; a two week survey of some of the most remote islands in the South Pacific. Next stop: Aitutaki.

Chad Koll

NB: Chad is the newest member of the Pangaea Team. He is a highly experienced former US Navy Diver and will be on board to Hawaii.