Fanning Island/Tabuerean - General Info
NOTICE:
Post-Pandemic, Fanning Island is still not operating as a port of enty and inward clearance must first be made at Kiritimati.
Yachting Protocols
Although international borders re-opened on 1 August, 2022, a yacht arriving here on 3 August, 2022 reported being denied entry.
Description:
Fanning is one of the island atolls in the Line Island Group with a maximum elevation of approx. three meters (10 feet) above high tide. It is a useful stop if proceeding to Hawaii, some 1450 kilometers (900 miles) away. The island is situated directly in the ITCZ.
Position:
03° 51.31’N, 159° 22.00’W (pass)
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Related to following destinations: Fanning Island/Tabuerean, Kiribati, Line Islands
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Arrived at Fanning Island March 2024 from Hawaii / Palymra Atoll – Denied entry – must go to Christmas Island first.
Reported 6 August, 2022:
SV Ten Gauge (Canada) made landfall at Fanning a few days ago on 3 August, 2022, having sailed down from Hawaii.
We came through the pass into the lagoon at 13h30. We heard no responses to multiple hails from us to Fanning Radio on the VHF. We anchored 200 meters from the dock at Paelau village and tidied up, waiting and calling on the VHF every 15-20 minutes.
At 15h30 the village barge came out with four uniformed officials and an operator, all masked. From a distance the leader said that I didn’t need to bother putting out more fenders, as they would not come alongside. They stood ten meters off and one of them spoke to us, saying “You are not allowed to be here, you must leave”
I responded that we could leave, but that we had understood from the Kiribati official government website that after 1 August Kiribati was open to international travel. His response was only to repeat that we had to leave immediately. “You must go out through the pass, right away”. There was no response to anything that we said or asked, other than a similar repetition of the instruction to leave. Zero pleasantries, a purely non-ambiguous instruction.
So we left.
Other than the fact that we got a few smiling waves from school kids in the distance, this is all we know about Fanning and we’re en route to US Samoa.
I should note that the Senior Customs official for the Cook Islands informed us the same day that Penrhyn remains closed to yachts coming from any direction, on account of Covid. Suwarrow also. The only place a yacht can currently enter or visit the Cook Islands is at Rarotonga.
Thank you for all that you continue to do in attempting to keep up to date with shifting goalposts and frequently contradictory information from seemingly reliable sources. Challenging times!
Al and Lucinda
SV Ten Gauge
We visited Fanning in April 2015 and stayed three weeks. The island is situated directly in the ITCZ. The anchorage is on a lee shore in most conditions including a few lows that rolled through with winds up to 40 knots. We found the holding good but others dragged in the blows. I think it was a matter of what you caught on under the shallow sand.
We didn’t find a way to get the big boat to the windward side. Although we made it in the dinghy.
The people are very friendly, happy and humble. Most lack basic sanitation and most lack clean drinking water. If you are headed this way please bring with you drinking water sanitation equipment to hand out. The LifeStraw ($20/each) would be an excellent choice. Even better would be the LifeStraw Mission that filters out viruses. Rain catchment and storage gear would also be good.
It was difficult to see the locals drinking out of their polluted groundwater wells and many were ill from the polluted water. Many local families would benefit from having clean drinking water. If you only bring enough for a few pregnant women you will have succeeded. Soap would also be a good gift.
The island is beautiful and so are its people. We would go back again, although next time we’ll have the right gifts to hand out.
Cheers,
Lewis & Alyssa
s/v Eleutheria “Ellie”
http://www.ridethetrades.com
Posted on behalf of SY Sargaço from Brazil:
In Fanning, authorities tried to charge us the extra cost for no reason. Fanning authorities were even worse than Christmas.
Cruisers usually anchor inside the lagoon in front of the village English Harbor. But when the wind gets stronger than 20 kts E or SE, it turns into a uncomfortable anchorage with a lot of current. We heard about some boat dragging’s stories.
A nice tip is to look for Bruno. He is a French sailor, he settled down in Fanning 30 years ago. He is married to “Tapeta” a lovely a local women who speaks Kiribati, English and French. They run a small and charming hotel, and they are very interesting, warm and welcoming people. Theirs bungalows are built in local style and they provide also very good meals. It is amazing the way they prepare delicious food out of a very limited variety of resources. Very natural, healthy, tasty and not expensive at all.
Once the boat supplier (S/Y “Kwai”) comes only 3 or 4 times per year, goods are limited in varieties. We brought some delis (lentils, beans, olive oil, tomato sauce, wine, rum, pâté, cheese) they were very happy!
Bruno will be happy to give some anchor tips, help fixing things or just chatting. He advised us to anchor in the north side of the pass when the wind became stronger and it worked very well.
There is an old barge beached and you can tie the boat to it. At low tide we have a clearance of 2.2 meters. It is comfortable, well protected and Bruno can explain how to reach there (see attachment).
Once again, apart from the local authorities, we really appreciated contact with Kiribati people. Very smiley and nice people.