A canoe needs fixing

I came to this role in Kiribati with a job description, a sense of humour and little idea what I was actually going to do here. 

The title “salty dog” is not one that springs to mind when thinking of my interests but getting a canoe sea worthy is a task that has been put to me early on. To me the canoe (which was not in the water) looks fine, it’s painted nice colours and has this big outrigger bit on one side (as so do all the other boats here that aren’t called “better boat”). 

So I ask what’s the problem ? The canoe was built for the organisations members to go fishing for food and to generate income from selling fish but isn’t stable and safe enough for the people who are blind or wheelchair bound to use.

Someone must have decided that "tinnies" are beter than traditional boats

As expats here in a developing country we often go to our fellow volunteers or countrymen and women for ideas and sharing of stories and it didn’t take long to get assistance for the canoe. The local boat builder where a volunteer is placed offered to fix the canoe and another volunteers workplace in South Australia did a fund raiser to pay for materials and other costs. That was the easy part and happened before I gleaned an real understanding of what was meant by “pacific time”.  In the meantime the canoe made a great cubby house and gymnastics beam for the surefooted kids that really are children of the sea in this water locked country.

 

The initial plan was for the canoe to have the out-rigger removed, loaded onto a truck and be moved the 30 odd mile to North Tarawa along the well used and pot holed road to the boat builders. To my limited boating and transportation knowledge this seemed like a good enough plan. But with weeks turning into months and not being well versed in removing out riggers and booking trucks I was starting to wonder how and if this boat relocation was actually going to take place. 

But this is Kiribati, they are people of the sea and do like to consult widely and discuss such things and change their minds! So after much discussion at a committee meeting that takes place in a Mwanabea (grass roofed meeting place) it’s decided to tow the canoe from another boat that has an engine across the lagoon. So with lots of hand movements and translation I ask questions about the canoes safety, where we get a boat with an engine, inquire about weather conditions and as to who would actually do this ???? 

The people here are  very polite, they describe me as being “very curious” (I must remember this when back in Aust and I have a nosey parker wanting to know everything) but it is decided to move the canoe on Thursday of the following week. Ok, that’s only 8 days away, I go with that and feel pleased that there is at least a plan before I go to Fiji in several weeks.

About 3pm the following day I was greeting with “nei Leigh, the boat is here to move the canoe”. Great, now I have a boat with an engine and a very heavy canoe that needs to be carried about 200 meters via the busy road to the lagoon and lot’s of blind or physically disabled people to assist. No worries, a loud whistle and we have about 10 strong bare footed high school lads on their way home from school ready to assist. So it’s a quick phone call to the volunteer at the boat builders (who hadn’t yet been informed that the canoe was to be arriving next week), a guess at how long it will take to tow the canoe to him, a plank of wood handed over to make a rudder and off went the canoe. Just over an hour later the canoe arrived safely ready for its makeover.

Canoe with it's helpers almost to the lagoon ready to be towed

It’s a bit hard to say how long it will take at the boat builders to undertake the alterations and unfortunately the volunteer there has come down with dengue fever so things have slowed down. I am only a third through my time here so there’s still the opportunity to have this one ticked off the “to do” list by the end of the year.

She's in the lagoon

 

 

 Some of the traditional canoes have outboard motors otherwise it's paddle power !

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