Spam
by Doug Hawley
In 2007, my
wife Sharon and I took a cruise around the
Hawaiian Islands, and then south to Fanning
Island in the Republic Of Kiribati – a group
of islands. The Hawaii trip detoured
two thousand miles (three thousand kilometers)
south of Hawaii to satisfy the Jones Act which
requires cruises to visit a foreign port for
compliance with USA labor laws. Applying
USA’s labor laws would increase the price of
some cruises prohibitively. That is
why many cruises which are primarily in the USA
may stop in Ensenada Mexico or a Canadian port.
Fanning Island had a deal with Norwegian Cruise
Lines in return for support from NCL, Fanning
Island allowed the ships to dock and had a
friendly welcome to tourists. NCL
cruise ships don’t go there now. The
people of Fanning were taken from the Gilbert
Islands to the east to produce copra from
coconuts. Many are of the Baha’i
faith.
Fanning is a small atoll with no elevation over a
few feet or a meter or so. Because of
the Coriolis effect wind is mostly west to east,
so huts are built so the opening faces East. The
temperature doesn’t change much. The
low elevation makes Fanning particularly
vulnerable to rising seas from climate change.
I soaked in the warm waters inside the atoll for
pure pleasure while Sharon took a cultural tour. My
pure pleasure was interrupted by stepping on a
rusty Spam can. For reasons unknown to
me, Spam is a popular food in the South Pacific,
but the odds against me stepping on a rusty can
were still large. The only medical
care there was a nurse with little equipment. I
walked over to where she dug the sand out with a
needle. Dummy Doug had not worn his
shoes while going to the nurse, so I had to get
my shoes, go back and painfully have the sand dug
out again. I worried about tetanus
until we got home days later.
Subsequent to the cruise, we heard from other
people who were on a cruise which got part way to
Fanning, but had to turn around to Hawaii because
of a medical emergency on the ship, so it could
have been worse. We got to Fanning,
and other than my fear of dying before getting
home, enjoyed it. I don’t eat
Spam.
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