in mid 2018 we sailed up from auckland thru port vila than onto Tarawa. we spent abit over 8 weeks there doing a fishin trial. engaged with the local fishing community from Betio with help from the Presidents Office, Fisheries department and the helpful people of tarawa. the idea was to trial our vaka as a mother vessel and/or support boat. the fishermen go out on a daily basis in the longboat running on a yamaha 40hp motor. they leave before sunrise and chase tuna all day till sunset than head back to Betio. the fishing grounds are between 10nm to 60nm away from Betio, once there they constantly on the move chasing tuna hence burning fuel and when days over theres no where or no chance of anchoring anyway, soon as you out of the lagoon the depth plummets to hundreds of meters into the thousands. in came Okeanos Messenger which provided a platform for the fishermen to store their catch on ice in 3 big fish bins, they drop off a load at around lunch hour than back out again for the afternoon and evening bite. in the meantime we relocate to a safe spot for the night where the fishermen come too at end of day, unload catch, raft up to OM and have a feed, relax for the night than out again early morning. this saved them alot of fuel, time and effort which in turn provided them with more money. i think the project was a success and we learnt alot in regards to modifications that need to be done to improve all around. very grateful to have done this project and mainly to help out in our own way. the people of tarawa are amazing, hardworking and are true survivors. with the limited resources they still smile and never complain. biggest thanks to all that made this happen, Govt. of Kiribati and the respective departments, all of you who helped us out in many ways we thank you very much. ko raba. may god bless you all.

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