The Samoan Islands

July 30, 2004

We recovered both of our anchors without problems this morning. Good omen! The major excitement of the morning was when Annette discovered two of the shells she had collected yesterday were still inhabited. She built a temporary habitat and asked the crew of S/V Gumbo Ya-Ya to return the kidnapees back to the shore. We cleared the pass at 1145 hours with about three and a half knots of current in our direction, so we were flying over the sea-bed. The large swells were waiting for us outside the reef and we headed towards American Samoa with 12 foot following seas and 22 knots of wind from close to a dead run. The day had rain showers on and off but nightfall brought us a huge full moon. You could almost read from it's light and the large swells, now draped in silver, continued to slide under the boat all night long.

July 31, 2004

Position: 13 45 S 165 51 W

1145 hours. Our run for the 24 hours was 166 miles. A good run but uncomfortable with the large following swell producing a corkscrew motion on DoodleBug. It's hard to sleep well when you are holding onto something at the same time. The Grib (downloaded weather) files show decreasing wind today and hopefully the waves will also go down. No ships seen - nothing but a huge heaving mass of water.

August 1, 2004

I am reminded of the line from the book, "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom", which begin - "And the sun rose like a drawn sword....". In this case it was the moon, lifting over the horizon, bloated and ruddy and bisected by a thin cloud. "Looks like the Burger King logo", says Annette. It is obvious that we have been away from American culture too long. We are completely out of beer and several other of the fundamentals of human existence. Tomorrow morning is American Samoa and super-markets!

At sunrise we sighted a sail over on our starboard side. The radio confirmed that this was the "Pacific Pearl" (great name for an Oyster 48) who had bypassed Suwarrow because of weather conditions and were now also heading for Pago-Pago. This was the second time we have seen another sail at sea in the past seven months.

At 1400 hours we were passing between the two chart warnings of active volcanoes. The sky was clear, no steam rising from the ocean, no dead fish, stink of sulfur etc. Annette kept asking about such things as Tsunamis and I finally noticed that she was also anxiously scanning the horizon. I tried unconvincingly to point out that if cruisers kept falling into great voids in the ocean caused by rising steam bubbles, someone would probably have mentioned it. We were in water depths of 16,000 plus feet and I noticed a warning on the chart of, "Breakers, position not confirmed". This was another phenomenon we decided to steer clear of. At 1800 hours we passed the uninhabited Rose Island. It looked like a huge dark cone in the distance, except where the sea had gnawed the base of the cone into towering cliffs. I assumed that our chart warnings of "seismic activity" and "Breakers in the deep ocean, were just nascent islands which would one day look like this.

During the night we passed the Manua Islands and even though we were ten miles away at our closest approach, we could see them clearly in the moonlight.

August 2, 2004

Position: 14 16.3 S 170 41.9 W

0800 hours we contacted Pago-Pago harbor control by radio and gave them an ETA of 1100 hours. The wind had dropped and we were now motor sailing. We passed into the harbor and tied up to a rough concrete "check-in" dock. While we were still adjusting our lines, two young men in uniform showed up from "Customs". They gave us a form to fill out, told us we needed five copies of our crew list for Immigration, Port authority, Agriculture and Health before clearing with the Harbor master. They left without even putting their heads below. Immigration showed up minutes later and stamped our passports. The young man said he didn't think anyone else was coming to the vessel but he could give us a lift to the port to the Agriculture and Harbor Master's offices. We took him up on his offer and he dropped us off at the back of a huge warehouse type building. A man in overalls came out. Do you have a crew list? We gave him one. This was the "Agriculture" inspection. The same pattern was followed by the other offices. "We need a Health inspection". "Do you have another copy of your crew list? We will give it to the doctor when we see him".

DoodleBug is now anchored at 14 16.3 S 170 41.9 W in Pago-Pago harbor.

August 3, 2004

Pago-Pago harbor has a fishy industrial smell from the tuna-processing plants here (about half of all tuna sold in the USA is processed here) but overall it probably smells better than Texas City, Texas. The harbor is ringed by volcanic hills covered in dense vegetation just like the other Pacific Islands we have visited. Perhaps the vegetation is a little more lush since it seems to rain more here.

We rented a car and began our reconnaissance of the grocery stores, since this will be a major reprovisioning stop for us. The food lockers aboard are showing empty for the first time since we left seven months ago. We corrected DoodleBug's beer problem and rented a DVD copy of "The Return of the King" before settling in to an early night aboard.

August 4, 2004

After a couple of pleasant days it has begun to rain. It really rains here - an annual average of 140 inches. Once you have decided that you are either confined to the boat forever, or that you are going to get wet, it really isn't too bad as the rain is warm. Since we arrived, we have been on a tour of ATM machines, library, internet cafes, grocery stores, hardware stores, video stores etc. etc. The laptop I have been using, died on approach to the harbor at a most inconvenient time, as I needed to print out some crew lists. I have a second back-up laptop but I had neglected to pre-install the printer driver and scanner software. I checked at one computer supplier for another laptop. They had a single laptop for sale - price $3,500. I fixed my old laptop.

Pago-Pago has an interesting ambiance. It looks like the other volcanic Polynesian islands but there is a distinct American flavor to the vehicles, road signs, businesses etc. Just at the time I was thinking that we might be driving through a section of Houston, Texas. I noticed a chicken walking in the roadway. Then of course you have Pacific breakers less than a 100 yards from the roadside. The people here have been uniformly friendly and helpful. They are also physically very large people both vertically and horizontally. You see a lot of casual clothing that could be from anywhere in the Northern hemisphere but you also see many men wearing a type of kilt / skirt / pareo. The government employees wearing a dark colored or navy blue version.

August 5, 2004

More errands. I replaced the main outhaul line with a line I had shipped from the USA to the Pago-Pago yacht club and I also replaced the brake shoes on the propeller shaft brake. The shaft has a brake on it to stop it turning when the engine is not engaged. DoodleBug has a folding propeller which allegedly folds out of the way when sailing (I haven't actually "seen" it do this) and you have to stop the propeller-shaft from turning, in order for this to be accomplished. The brake had been slipping of late and it is difficult to determine if this is a wear issue on the pads or oil contamination of the surfaces.

It is still raining. This evening we went to dinner at a local hotel restaurant called "Sadie Thompson". "Sadie Thompson" (played by Joan Crawford) was the main character of a play / movie called "Rain" based in Pago-Pago. Everyone we spoke to seemed to be at least a film director or movie critic - but the food was good and the there was a floor show of fire dancers and ethnic dancing. The fire dancers were OK but once you have seen one......

The girl performing the Samoan dance was very good. She wore a tapa cloth wrap and an elaborate head-dress / wig. The dance movements were unusual and had a Balinese flavor (as I imagine) - more oriental than Polynesian or Maori. The bushy red / blonde looking wig she wore, is supposed to be made of human hair collected from their ancestors.

August 7, 2004

It stopped raining! We took this opportunity to make a run to the post-office to mail souvenirs back to the USA (at domestic rates!). We have spent a fair amount of time trying to purchase a courtesy flag for West Samoa. By maritime law you have to fly a flag from the right spreader of the country whose waters you are entering. Some countries will impose a heavy fine for not having their flag. We have now given up and will just have to take a chance and buy a flag after we arrive in Apia, West Samoa.

August 8, 2004 thru August 10, 2004

We have spent the past few days mailing excess items from the boat (three trips to the post office), more shopping, more trips to the ATM, eating at restaurants, chatting with cruisers etc. We have been so busy we have not even had time to see "Harry Potter 3" that is currently showing at the movie theater. We plan to leave here on Sunday to arrive in Apea, West Samoa on Monday morning - an overnight run of around 80 miles. We still have quite a few things to get before we depart, so I will make arrangements to keep our rental car for a few more days. The car is interesting. It is a Toyota Corolla with just about every body panel dented. When you open the trunk the aroma that exudes makes me think that this was a Mafia company car and they kept a corpse in the trunk for a few months. I do hope this scent did not attach itself to the groceries we carried there.....

August 11, 2004

This morning I went in search of a place to refill scuba tanks while Annette did laundry ashore. Although we have a washing machine on board, we didn't want to use our shipboard water since the harbor is too polluted to run our water-maker. I had been given the name of "Mike" to fill the scuba tanks and vague directions on where his office was. On the way, I passed by the main video rental store and the whole place was swathed in yellow police tape - "crime scene - do not cross this line" type of thing. It looked like a multiple homicide at the very least, judging by the quantity of tape. Mike works in a office in the floors above. He said the only dive shop in town had ceased business recently, as they had been caught supplying about 50 tanks per night to a ring of Taiwanese lobster poachers. Mike had been the President of the local dive club but they had voted themselves out of existence a couple of days ago. Nevertheless, Mike said he had a couple of compressors and would refill my tanks. I mentioned the video shop yellow tape and he said it was piracy not murder. They had just been busted for making illegal copies of their videos. I had no idea there was so much criminal activity here!

Annette had finished our laundry and we set off in search of "the largest Ace hardware in the world". Well, it was large....but the wholeworld??? We left with a whole shopping cart load of "stuff". Later that afternoon we finally got to go to the movie theater to see "Harry Potter 3". Wonderful flick. Now we need the DVD version....

August 12, 2004

This morning we picked up our now refilled scuba tanks and then set out to search for the WW II guns, that were supposed to be located on the hillsides at the head of and on both sides of the harbor entrance. We had our trusty 8 year old guide book and soon found where the easternmost pair of guns might be. At the place we stopped, there was a utility truck with men working on the power-lines. We asked for directions and were told that the boy scouts had cleaned up the area and had removed the guns. Previous experience in Bora Bora had taught us that the locals don't have a clue, when it comes to their own island, so we headed upwards on the only likely track we could find. This took us to a spot now occupied by cell-phone towers and similar antennas (and a small cemetery !?) but with a fantastic view. There were the remains of several concrete structures but none looked like gun mountings. I wandered off and when I returned for the rest of my crew, I found Annette lying full length on the ground in her sun-dress, rescuing frogs from a water-filled concrete box looking thing. The frogs were about 6 to 8 inches long and appeared slightly dazed by the attention they were getting. I asked Annette if those frogs were the type that exude neuro-toxins from their skin and she said, "Of course"

We returned to the highway. There was a house on the opposite side of the road and we knocked on the door. The lady who answered spoke good English and affirmed that the guns had not been removed by the boy scouts and were indeed on their property. Her husband offered to show us the way. He stopped about one -third of the way up the hillside to pickk up a very sharp machete from a shed. The machete was used frequently to cut and hack a path through the thick growth until at last we arrived at the guns. They were a pair of 6 inch guns on a heavy concrete mounting with an attached bunker. Our guide jumped down into the gun platform and began to hack down the taro which grew almost chest high. He then wrenched open the door of the bunker and began to descend a flight of concrete stairs while we followed. Since there was nothing to be seen in the pitch blackness, he decided to do the Indiana Jones thing by bundling a handful of dried twigs into a crude torch and lighting it. Unfortunately the whole effect was spoiled by the fact that his cigarette lighter was out of fuel. We stood in the bunker waiting and watching this pyrotechnic wonder, while a steady stream of rats scurried past us and up the narrow flight of stairs. Nevertheless, Annette was delighted with the rats and thought they were cute. Our guide affirmed that his family had lived at that location for 58 years. I asked if people often came to see the guns and he just shook his head.

Having satisfied our need to see the local archeological sights and play with the local fauna, we headed off for lunch. Further along the coast to the east, we came upon "Tisa's Barefoot Bar and Grill". The sign said "Open" but there was just a pair of incurious dogs laying about. After some shouting (by us), Tisa appeared, offered us drinks and asked if we wanted lunch. The table was right on a clean little beach with a great view so we accepted his offer. Lunch was salad and rice with a swordfish steak topped with three or four large barbequed prawns. Excellent and probably the best restaurant meal we have had on American Samoa. Tisa said that his restaurant is frequently washed away by hurricanes but as it all just washes down the beach, they just walk down there and drag it back into position again.

August 13, 2004

Friday 13th. There are times when the creative juices are flowing and you pause to compose a quiet note or log entry. This is not one of those times. Friday was to be a busy day as we began our check-out from American Samoa. We were not planning to leave until Sunday but the relevant departments don't work on the week-ends, so a Sunday departure has to be documented today.

We had one errant scuba tank to pick up, as it had to have it's valve swapped out (the one that blew the over-pressure valve in the middle of the night!) but the exit procedures at the Port Office went fairly smoothly. Basically you just keep handing over money for mooring fees, service charges, harbor movement fees, clearance fees etc. until they say your done. You know this when you get a document titled, "Certificate of Clearance".

We had scheduled a trip and appointment at the fueling dock to take on some diesel but the wind had begun to pick up and was blowing from an unusual direction. We had had so much trouble getting an anchor down and hooked solidly in the first place, I really didn't want to have to raise it, moor up to a commercial dock with a gusting wind from the side and then have to re-anchor. We tried to raise the fueling dock by radio to cancel. No response. We drove over there in our rented car and finally got someone's attention to say we weren't coming. Back at DoodleBug we continued to pack away the locker contents that had escaped and were roaming around the cabin and also prepare our entry documents for Western Samoa. We had been invited to supper that evening by "M/V Never Never Land" and Annette had washed and blow dried her hair. The wind continued to build and gust but I didn't pay attention to it, until after a particularly violent gust of over 30 knots, I noticed that our dinghy with outboard motor was now upside down in the water. I started yelling for Annette to help and together we managed to recover the oars and hook a lift line on the dinghy. The fuel tank had floated away but was still attached by it's fuel line umbilical. We hooked the mizzen spinnaker halyard to the front of the dinghy, got it mostly out of the water and were attempting to turn it right side up, when another gust blew Annette from the back of the boat into the water. She always does stuff like this when she isn't getting enough attention! As she is an excellent swimmer and was not hurt, we continued our dinghy recovery efforts with Annette now in the water. The dinghy was flipped back and Annette was able to climb into it. With the entire yachting community as witnesses, I relented and helped her back on board DoodleBug. Together we got the motor off the dinghy and brought the dinghy on board the aft mizzen deck and lashed down. I told Annette she now needed her stomach pumped out.

Annette went to take another shower and re-wash her hair (!!) while I took the spark plugs (it's a two cylinder) out of the outboard and pulled the starter cord. Water gushed out of the cylinders. Bad thing. We cancelled our dinner date and I rinsed the motor with fresh water and sprayed the inside of the cylinders with WD40. The weather had now got my attention. I down loaded a GRIB file showing a forecast of wind direction, speed and air pressure for the area. The GRIB file showed a large low pressure system to the South of us producing the strong winds. It showed 35 Knots of wind way South but only 17 knots where we were, with the winds forecast as already dropping in speed and 7 knots expected by the wee hours of the morning. Comforted by this information, I passed the forecast to other boats in the anchorage and discovered that three other inflatable dinghies had also "flipped". The strong wind did not die down as forecast but continued to gust into the evening. By ten o'clock one vessel had called the local weather station and was told that present conditions were "light winds of 7 knots or less". We were actually experiencing 30 knots or more. Obviously we were not going to enjoy untroubled sleep tonight and prepared to mount "anchor watches" all night.

As the night wore on, The catamaran "Willie Flippett" began to drag anchor and they disappeared to re-anchor further down the bay. Next "Anjoli", our closest neighbor, began to drag anchor. I watched as they careened around the anchorage, several times appearing to be headed directly at us. Next "Gumbo Ya-Ya" began to drag and they took off on a quest for a better anchoring spot. While "Anjoli" fought their battle, I watched "Gumbo Ya-Ya" go from place to place in the anchorage, vainly trying to find a location that would hold an anchor. Finally after several hours, they managed to re-anchor in essentially the same spot they had originally left.

In all this time, I was sitting in the cockpit of DoodleBug with the engine key in the ignition slot and watching our GPS like a hawk, to see if we began to drag. There was an old wooden ketch on a permanent mooring nearby and we did not have very much room. None of the boats I have mentioned could do anything to help any of the others, since all of us had experienced capsized dinghies and flooded outboards. At around 0100 hours a gust of wind hit us broadside. The boat heeled with the force and I saw the wind speed indicator go to 43 knots. I felt the anchor let go and grabbed for the starter key for the engine. Before I could get the engine started, we were aground on a mud bank at the edge of the harbor. The boat was still heeling with the gusts but there was no grinding noise, so I knew we had missed the rocks. We could not reverse on the engine as the wooden ketch was directly behind us and close. We could not go forwards as we still had 40 meters of chain plus an anchor, that was now running backwards at an angle from the bow. It looked like the only hope was to run one or more kedge anchors at right angles to the vessel, to pull her off the mud, or simply to stop her from going further aground. But how to deploy anchors against the wind with no engine on the dinghy? With little hope of success, I laid out rodes for the kedge anchors, covered up the dinghy outboard motor to prevent it becoming saturated with spray and vainly tried to raise the harbor control on the radio. This was useless of course but Captain Ron on "M/V Never Never Land" came on the radio and asked what he could do to help. I couldn't immediately think of anything they could do but he said he was coming over in his dinghy to take a look. Meanwhile the wind is still howling 30 to 40 knots across the anchorage. Shortly after Ron arrived, I determined that we were at low tide and we had a couple of hours to set some kedge anchors before the tide would float us free. Ron suggested that he might be able to pull the bow of DoodleBug around into the wind so I could use our engine. I was dubious that this could be accomplished simply with a dinghy pulling an 18 ton vessel. The latter aground with a gale still blowing on the beam but it seemed like there was little to lose by attempting to see if the dinghy had any effect. We ran a long line to the dinghy from the bow and Ron began the attempt. He had a crew member with a hand-held radio in his dinghy for communications and I had Annette on the bow to handle the heavy lines while I operated the engine, bow-thruster (if the time ever came) and the remote for the anchor windlass - since we still had all that chain in the water. As Ron applied power, around came the bow, a shove of the throttle on DoodleBug and we were afloat again! Ron zigzagged through the anchored vessels, partly towing DoodleBug, which was still recovering her anchor as she went. He was asking on the radio, "Are you under control?". Naturally the radio was out of reach but the answer was definitely "No!". DoodleBug cannot be held directly into a strong wind with just the "auxiliary" engine. You need a sail to accomplish this. The tow line was disconnected from the dinghy and we then proceeded to drive through the darkness, trying to miss the unlit vessels, that were scattered thickly about. By using the dinghy as a tug-boat and pushing directly on the bow, Ron was able to get DoodleBug pointed directly into the wind, long enough to pass a line from our bow to the stern of "M/V Never Never Land". Ron's vessel is a 47 foot "Hatteras" power cruiser with a badly fouled anchor at the end of half-inch thickness chain. Ron was convinced that there was no way his boat would break free and so he went to bed.

Annette and I took turns staying up all night on "anchor watch" holding a very sharp dive knife to cut the line between the two vessels if "M/V Never Never Land" broke free. Around dawn the winds finally began to die down. I am still amazed that Ron's dinghy was able to accomplish what it did but to put things in perspective, our dinghy is large by sail boat standards and weighs 65 pounds plus another 65 pounds for the 9 horse-power outboard engine. Ron's "inflatable" dinghy weighs nearly 900 pounds and mounts a 50 horsepower engine. His Hatteras has a nice crane to lift it aboard.

At first light we re-launched our dinghy and attempted to start the outboard. No luck. I stripped the carburetor from the engine and sat in the cockpit cleaning and reassembling it, while we had our morning coffee. A second attempt to start the outboard was successful and we were now able to move around the anchorage and inspect the damage. DoodleBug had a huge mud encrusted tarpaulin hanging from the main anchor. We were slightly amused to see the tarpaulin was covered in prominent logos stating that it was the property of the Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA). The suckers can have it back! I towed it to the dock and left it next to the dumpster.

Our anchor now has the shaft bent by 20 or so degrees near the chain shackle but overall, no sign of boat damage. (I am writing this in Apia, West Samoa and have snorkeled under the boat today - no damage below the water line  except  paint missing on the bottom of the keel.) We left our safe haven as Never-Never Land's "tender" and re-anchored back in the yacht anchorage area. We leave tomorrow for West Samoa.

August 16, 2004

This morning Annette drove the rental car over to the agency and abandoned it in their parking lot, while I dinghied over to pick her up. We had been carrying a pair of small walkie-talkies since we left Kemah and had never used them before today. They did an OK job and I found a gap in the reef and brought the dinghy onto the empty beach at the deserted yacht club to pick up my bride. We prepared DoodleBug for sea and raised anchor at 1200 hours. We were supposed to have the Harbor Master's permission before we left our anchorage but we couldn't raise him on the radio. This was not a great surprise and we slipped out to sea in the pouring rain. The rain continued for the next hour until we could see streaks of blue sky ahead and soon sunshine. By looking over our stern we could see the billowing and rain laden clouds over Pago-Pago.

The run to Apia in West Samoa is around 80 miles and we planned to arrive at 0800 hours on Monday morning. The wind cooperated a little too well and by early morning we were off the coast of Upolu. We reduced sail to just the mainsail and in light winds our speed was reduced to about 1 knot, sailing away from land. We thought we could grab some sleep for two or three hours with the person on watch (me) just checking the horizon and the radar every 15 minutes. The second time I woke up, I noticed that the depth gauge was showing 20 feet and then dropped to 15 feet before going to zero. We were four miles or so offshore and the chart showed at least 150 feet of water below our keel! I started the engine and very slowly turned south and slowly moved away from the shallow spot. The depth gauge came back to life and showed expected readings again. I slowly turned back to the west and again the depth gauge dropped to the 20 foot mark. Again I went south (towards land) for nearly a mile before turning back to the west. This time there were no more surprises. What happened? An uncharted reef? There is a lot of freighter traffic along this coast - surely a reef at this location would be charted.

Sleep was hard to find after this and we sailed slowly along the north coast towards the Port of Apia. The wind was blowing from the land and we could smell flowers and sweet fragrances, although we were several miles offshore. We hailed the Port Control and received permission to enter the port ahead of the two large container ships that we were hovering in company with, so to speak. As we entered the harbor there was a brass band playing military marches along the dock. They may not have been playing for us but they should have been.

(logged later that day...)

Position: 13 49.7 S 171 45.8 W

0800 Hours, Position 13 49.7 S 171 45.8 W DoodleBug is anchored in Apia harbor in West Samoa. We dodged in here ahead of two very large container ships and consequently the "check in" dock was very much occupied. We had listened over the radio to a couple of other yachts requesting permission to dinghy to the port offices with their documents. These yachts had been waiting at anchor for several days for clearance. Based on the theory that the Port Authorities probably could not keep track of the boats who had received permission to do this, we also arrived at the Harbor Master's office via dinghy. We then did the usual tour of the town by taxi to Immigration, Customs, Agriculture, Harbor Master again. By 1030 hours we were officially "in" and headed back into town for brunch and beer. This was then followed by a nap back aboard DoodleBug. We're here!

August 17, 2004

Today we headed into town to run a few errands. We first had our pictures taken at the Port Authority offices for our "security badges". These allow us to enter the secure port area where we have been coming ashore and tying up our dinghy. The security badge would be more impressive if anyone had ever bothered to ask to see ours, as we have been entering and exiting without badges since our arrival. We next checked out the large grocery store directly across from the port entrance. Annette was thrilled to find soy milk for her tea (when she uses dairy, the wind blows the sails the wrong way). We then found the Internet cafe which is attached to an ice cream shop. I almost dripped boysenberry over the keyboard in my excitement.

We visited the Samoa museum nearby. This was a small facility but had some excellent and detailed exhibits of Samoan history and culture. We were still searching for a courtesy flag and the lady at the museum told us that we could buy a flag from the Samoan Treasury. We walked down to this building which holds their Reserve Bank - sort of like the US Treasury and told the security guards we wanted to buy a flag. They directed us to the 4th. floor of the building, where we passed our request on to a receptionist and then waited. We were shortly escorted into an office and the gentlemen said they had five sizes. He dug into his desk drawer and produced a sample. We finally selected a size and he then dug deeper into a filing cabinet and handed us a flag in a sealed plastic bag. The price was 50 Tala (about US$20). I handed him a 50 Tala bank note. He pulled out another drawer and laboriously began to fill out a receipt with three carbons. I was patient but since I had the flag and he had my money, as far as I was concerned, the deal was done. He finally got the names and addresses to his satisfaction and then announced we had to go to the cashier. This involved a ride on the elevator to the second floor, another series of offices and a five minute or so wait. Finally we were handed a fine computer generated receipt with the hand-written receipt stapled to the back. We accepted this gravely, thanked him and blessing all bureaucrats, we exited to the sunshine.

Since we have been in West Samoa, we have marveled at the cleanliness of the streets, the buildings, and the harbor. The people on the street and the officials we have dealt with have been uniformly friendly and the weather has been great. Lots of sunshine but a trifle muggy in the afternoon with humidity. The town has none of the industrial pollution of American Samoa yet there is an air of prosperity here with the stores, cars, restaurants, condition of the streets etc.

August 18, 2004

We took an island tour today with Green Turtle tours. The tour circumnavigated the whole island of Upolu, stopping at several waterfalls, beach hotels, restaurants etc. We spent an hour or so snorkeling the reef off a beach resort and later had a pleasant lunch at the Coconuts Beach Club and Resort (www.coconutsbeachclub.com). There is only one town on Upolu -- Apia with a population of around 35,000. There is about another 35,000 people scattered in coastal villages around the island but the only work and place to make any money is to be found in Apia. In all, there are more Samoans living in New Zealand, Australia and the United States than live on their home islands. The tour around the island showed us a glimpse of how the other 35,000 people live. The villagers have no means of generating cash. All monies they receive come from overseas relatives or a job in Apia.

The rest live by subsistence agriculture and fishing. As our tour guide stated, "there is so much food here, such as bananas, coconuts, mangoes, taro, fish etc. etc. anyone who goes hungry is stupid or lazy or both". The villages were spotless compared to other islands we have visited. There is trash pick up twice a week and all properties have an elevated wooden platform, which holds the trash bags away from rooting pigs or dogs. The traditional "fale" is an open sided building and most homes are of this type rather than the European style home with walls. The "fales" are open to the cooling night breezes but also open to everyone's view. As we drove along, we could see people sleeping on rugs or sitting talking, cooking etc. The lack of privacy might take some getting used to for a northern hemisphere westerner.

The homes in the villages are planted with colorful bushes and flowering shrubs and the practice of having family gravesites prominently displayed in the front yard is also used here. Our guide "Sam" said it is cheaper to bury relatives on your property, the property inevitably stays in the family and the departed are not forgotten. He said you may just take your cup of coffee in the morning and go to chat to "mother" or "grandfather". We have seen clothes drying on some grave-sites but Annette said my idea of putting a barbeque pit there was typically disgusting.

Around the Island many of the villagers had built guest "fales" in picturesque locations along the beach. You can rent these by the night for a nominal charge, although we were told when it comes time to eat, there will not be a choice of menu. The food provided will be good but traditional Samoan food. We met several New Zealanders and Australians who were traveling around the Island just staying at different "fales". This is a popular vacation spot for these folks escaping a Southern Winter.

We were apparently behind schedule in the latter part of the tour since it was conducted at high speed. We have since renamed these "Green Blur" tours. We arrived alive in Apia and headed back to DoodleBug. In all a very nice day.

August 19, 2004

I had ripped two of the three pairs of shorts I have on board. I had plenty of duct-tape and sail-tape but Annette wouldn't buy it and had given them to a seamstress to be repaired or patched - they only have to survive another couple of months! One of the highlights of today was picking up my patched shorts - US$4 for the repairs. We later stopped over at the local movie theater to watch, "I Robot". The movie was low imagination rubbish and a disappointment. Isaac Asimov must be spinning in his grave. The theatre was amazingly clean and could have been anywhere in the USA. Although they sold all sorts of chips, popcorn etc. they sold no candy. We didn't need the extra calories anyway.

In the evening we joined the crew of "S/V Olla" (The Swiss couple we had last seen in Isabella, Galapagos) for pizza and a fire dance show. The fire dancers were local amateur talent and I began to regret sitting so close to the front, as the first performer lost control of his fiery brand and it finished up in the audience. They had some traditional Samoan dancers who were both pretty and talented. They wore what looked like a rush mat wrapped around them. Annette asked later if it was comfortable to wear. We were not surprised when the girls said it was extremely itchy.

August 20, 2004

Olla had suggested we move our anchorage closer to them, as there would be less roll and they would be able to monitor DoodleBug with less effort, when we leave next Monday to tour the next island "Savaii". We raised our anchor and moved into the indicated spot but six attempts to get the anchor to hold failed. We returned to our previous location - three hours wasted. We picked up a rental car and drove up the mountain to visit the Robert Louis Stephenson home / museum.

Stephenson came to Samoa to live when he was about 33 years old. He had already published several of his best known works - "Treasure Island", "Kidnapped" etc. He supposedly had TB but was certainly a heavy smoker. He bought some property here and built a home but it was not clear from the information provided at the museum, if he tried to seriously operate a plantation or was simply a "Gentleman Farmer". He died in 1894 at 44 years of age. His home had been repurchased / seized or whatever and is now restored as a museum. It has indeed a fine view of the bay and beautiful grounds. Our next stop was at a temple built as the Baha'i House of Worship. Their literature says the temple is "designed as a symbol of unity for all creeds". The founder of the religion was Baha'u'llah who was born in Persia (now Iraq?) in 1817. The structure is in the form of a 9 sided dome, 92 feet high and 88 ' width with seating for 700 worshippers. The architecture was striking and the temple was laid out in meticulously landscaped grounds. The place was almost deserted when we visited and again when we passed by on Sunday morning. It reminded me a lot of the Oral Roberts complex south of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

August 21, 2004

We dinghied over to town for an excellent breakfast (Australian style = an English breakfast plus a steak) and then hurried back to DoodleBug before it began raining in earnest. This it then did and the skies opened. It poured down all day long so we laid around reading books etc.

August 22, 2004

This morning there was a small squall which hit the harbor. We were on deck when it hit and the boat ahead of us "Pied de Mer" began to drag towards us. Annette began to grab fenders from the stern locker while I began blowing the emergency horn. The crew of Pied de Mer popped up and got their engine started and their boat under control. We left our fenders on deck just in case. The weather settled down and we joined Pierre and Kathleen on "Olla" for a barbeque picnic at a waterfall on the other side of the island. When we arrived, the cascades were deserted and with the wine cooling in the river, we swam in the pool under the waterfalls. The water was clear and not too cold once you had taken the plunge.

August 23, 2004

Pierre from "Olla" picked us up in his dinghy this morning and deposited us ashore. We then drove our rental car to the ferry landing which is at the other end of the island, to catch the ferry to Savaii. We had to first pass through an "Agriculture Station" where a guy listlessly sprayed fresh water from a hose onto the vehicle wheels. Then we backed the car onto the ferry and sat on deck for the one hour crossing. Savaii is slightly larger than Opolu but is entirely rural with subsistence farming as the main pursuit of the people. The road that circumnavigates the island is about 120 miles in length and in almost perfect condition throughout. The local government pays a couple of road crews to mow the grass with weed-whackers within six feet or so of the tarmac and each house and villagers have planted flowers or flowering bushes along the roads edge. Some of the verges were outlined with white painted boulders, some with sea shells and as in Opolu, each home has a raised wooden platform to keep the trash away from the pigs, chickens and dogs. The effect is almost like driving through a park with almost zero roadside trash and smartly painted homes or "fales".

Our first stop was to the "Blue Bird" mall from which we needed to send a fax. The telephone store was closed for lunch so we had to wait an hour. We asked a policeman for a "good restaurant" where we had the most disgusting meal of the entire passage. Their doughnuts must be better I suppose. We visited a couple of hardware and grocery stores and purchased a paw-paw at the local market. The market sold little piles of brown grassy looking stuff, sitting on a tabletop, which upon enquiry turned out to be tobacco for "rolling your own" cigarettes. Near the village of Taga we turned off the main road to visit the Alofaaga Blowholes. They were impressive. There was some swell producing surf on the rocks at the cliffs edge but I was not prepared for the force of air and water that came through the natural blow holes. It was like standing next to a jet engine. We paid to have an elderly gentleman chant "big wave, big wave, big wave" and then throw pieces of coconut husk into the blow hole. These pieces were then hurled hundreds of feet in the air. Most gratifying.

At the town of Siutu we failed to find the "tapa making" demonstration that the map claimed, so pressed on to our overnight stop at the Vaisala Hotel. The proprietors consulted each other and after much discussion, agreed they could rent us a room. The hotel would have been plain, simple and OK about forty years ago, when it was built but the descendants of the original builders were not into maintenance. Nevertheless the room had a/c and we snorkeled in the shallow bay just feet from our room. We tried to buy beer in the bar and were told they had earlier run out and their new supply had just been delivered. It was not cold. An hour or so later the electricity for that end of the island went out so the beer still didn't get cooled. Supper was romantically by candlelight.

August 24, 2004

We continued our tour of Savaii by backtracking to Falealupo-uto to visit the canopy walkway. This involved a short walk through rainforest and then a climb up a tower among the trees and walk across an "Indiana Jones" style suspension bridge. This led to an immense tree and a stairway that wound itself around the bole and up into the canopy. The view was across the canopies of the rainforest, with the Pacific in the background and the volcanoes of Savaii on either side. I noticed that when the wind gusted, the tree platform we were on moved several inches. Further down the road we were entertained to see "Mose's footprint". He must have been really lost in Sinai if he left a footprint in Samoa. Two tala (about 80 cents) to take a picture. We took a picture.

We headed north for several miles along a gravel and sand road until at about the time we were going to turn around, we found the village of Falealupo and "Sunset Beach". We parked the car, woke the proprietor and settled down for a swim and picnic. There was a small store at the village directly across from the beach fales. I asked the girl if she had cold drinks, since I saw she had a refrigerator. No cold drinks. I said we needed cold beer. She asserted that the green house down the road, would have cold beer and set off in company with Annette. They arrived back later to say the house was locked and no-one around. The girl suggested coconuts. We agreed. Then she found out she didn't have any and commanded a local guy to scramble up a tree and get us some. She delivered 4 coconuts to us at 40 cents each and they were absolutely delicious. I still wanted a cold beer though.

The proprietor of "Sunset Beach" asked if we had lunch plans and offered to fix us lunch. We agreed and snorkeled the reef while his niece (the coconut lady) cooked lunch. Lunch was grilled fish, grilled Spam and rice and was by far the best meal we had had to date on Savaii. After lunch we continued our tour and stopped at a cave near the village of Peapea. The cave was a lava tube and had several colonies of swifts living inside. They chirped and expressed their displeasure at our intrusion until we departed.

We stayed at a hotel called "Stephenson's at Manase". The beach fale we rented had been damaged in the cyclone that hit Samoa in February of this year but had since been restored to nice condition. The fun part of the room was the shower, which was outside the fale (cottage) but contained within a black lava rock wall that enclosed just our fale. This was so you could swim in the ocean (feet away) and then shower off before coming indoors. There was no light when we took our showers at night and although there was plenty of hot water, we could hear "things" moving nearby. In the morning the soap I had left was gone. Later Annette found that the lava rock walls of the shower hosted a large crab population.

The hotel's chef was out "sick" and we ate at a nearby restaurant where they had excellent food and COLD BEER!.

August 25, 2004

We continued our clockwise circumnavigation of Savaii by road towards the ferry landing. We noticed a mountain road on the map that paralleled the coast road so we headed up this. The surface deteriorated to gravel and then to "double track" but was drivable without four wheel drive and had concrete drainages in place. We passed a saw-mill operation but little other sign of human habitation for the next 30 miles. The scenery was spectacular though, with jungle creepers hanging from the trees an overwhelmingly verdant underbrush. The only way you could make progress once you left the road would be with a machete. The mountain road eventually re-joined the main coastal road and we continued to pass through the clean little villages, while breaking hard for the various suicidal pigs, dogs and chickens.

During the one hour ferry ride back to Opolu, there was a television on in the main cabin and we caught a brief glimpse of the Olympic games.

August 26, 2004

Today we purchased diesel in jerry jugs and beer and non-dairy soy milk by the case. We ferried all to DoodleBug taking several trips in the dinghy and most of the day. This was hot work and we cooled off by diving under the boat to clean the barnacles off the folding propeller. We are starting to get the boat ready for our next departure.

August 27, 2004

Today we purchased diesel in jerry jugs and beer and non-dairy soy milk by the case. We ferried all to DoodleBug taking several trips inToday we purchased diesel in jerry jugs and beer and non-dairy soy milk by the case. We ferried all to DoodleBug taking several trips inTypical morning in Apia harbor. We are awakened to the sounds ofbwhistles and drums. The local canoe racing teams are out practicing for the big competition in early September. The "canoe" holds fifty or so oarsmen, plus a helmsman (with the whistle) and a boy in the bow with a drum. The drum is pounded non-stop in a fast rhythm, which I have been unable to relate to the actual speed of rowing. They pass quite close to DoodleBug on their practice run and Annette sits in the cockpit wearing a bikini and waves enthusiastically at them. The helmsman is deadly serious and scowls his disapproval, as a dozen or so rowers among his crew, take one hand off their oar to wave back or blow a kiss. Next the traffic is stopped along the quay and the police band marches out of a side road and then proceeds to march to the main treasury building, while playing various military airs on their brass instruments. After they have raised the Samoan flag at the treasury building, they march home again.

The police wear white helmets of the type associated with the "British Bobby", a blue uniform shirt and a dark blue lava-lava, plus sandals. Not quite a policeman in drag but you get the picture. Today we went to the Internet cafe and Annette cleared 1,150 e-mails from her account. 5 genuine messages and the rest was Spam. We shopped at the flea market and then had lunch at "Bistro Tatua". This was a pleasant little place, that would be at home in Santa Fe or in New Orleans. My "Eggs Benedict" was not very traditional in a Samoan sense but went well with the two "Mimosas" I drank.

August 28, 2004 - August 29, 2004

Lazy week-end. We rented another car, picked up some DVD's from a movie rental store, bought ice cream etc. On Sunday morning we had planned to hike up a nearby peak to visit Robert Louis Stephenson's gravesite. When we reached the trailhead, it was blocked with a chain and a sign saying it was closed on Sundays.

We had been given directions and a crummy map to a restaurant / motel called "Cloud 9". We thought we might as well try and locate it by daylight. This was like a treasure hunt. We missed the correct road by about a mile but none of the locals had ever heard of the restaurant. Finally we found a faded sign and drove a deteriorating road, higher and higher into the mountains. The bridges got shakier and in worse condition the higher we went. We finally arrived at a structure that we would have taken as deserted, except for a stream of smoke coming from an "umu" ground oven in the rear. The deck of the restaurant was poised over a steep drop and deeply cut valley running down to the coast. We could see Apia harbor but were too far away to make out the individual boats. We bought beer and watched the Olympic Men's Marathon on television, while the cooking in the "umu" was completed and they cooked us lunch. We were the only customers. Does it seem like all we do is eat and drink? They cooked us a couple of steaks garnished with vegetables from the ground oven. Our favorite was a parcel of young taro leaves wrapped around coconut cream and baked. It was somewhat like spinach and had a mild barbeque flavor with a delicious coconut center. We saw the Italian win the Marathon after the Brazilian leader was attacked by a demonstrator. And Europeans are against imposition of the death penalty?

August 30, 2004 - September 5, 2004

West Samoa celebrates "Teuila Festival" next week and we decided to stay here for the beginning of the festival. The week consists of cricket competitions, singing competitions, dance competitions, canoe racing, beauty contest etc. We have slouched around all week reading books, renting movies, shopping for souvenirs, eating at various restaurants and visiting with other cruisers. The port captain met with the cruisers and explained that we have to up-anchor and move out of the anchorage next week for the canoe competitions. The heats are on Monday 6th. with the final on Thursday. The pace of training has picked up, with the various teams practicing in the morning and again at sunset. They pass close to the anchored sailboats with the coach / helmsman whistling and shouting from the stern and the drummers hammering away in the bows. If you are trying to sleep late in in the morning - forget it!

We have been performing various boat chores and have also placed orders for duty free booze. The latter process is complicated but basically you go to the liquor store and see what they have. Then you write a letter to the chief customs officer asking for permission to buy the stuff. This letter is approved and stamped by the customs. You place the order with the liquor store and pay for it. You then hope they will deliver your order under bond to the port to be picked up when you clear out. This we intend to do next Tuesday and leave early Wednesday morning.

We will make a 170 mile overnighter to Niuatopatapu (irreverently referred to as "new potatoes") in the Northern Tonga group. This is a remote and underdeveloped island with almost no facilities but with beautiful and wild scenery, great snorkeling and diving etc. We plan to spend a couple of days here, before heading further south to the Vavau Group of islands.

September 6, 2004

Today it poured, bucketed and deluged rain. We have been here in Apia for several weeks and it has been sunny skies just about the entire time. Since the "Teuila Festival" (Teuila is a red flower) began today, they have been drenched. The 50 man rowing heats were cancelled. We had been hoping to watch from the deck of our boat, cool beverage in hand, as the various teams thrashed by. They have been practicing every morning since we arrived and have provided a good deal of entertainment. We wandered around the native crafts displays to see weaving and wood carving etc. but headed back to the boat before the grand march along the waterfront began in the evening. The various groups participating in the parade were assembling in their colorful costumes at their staging points. We had a supper invite from Alfred and Rosemary on "Ironhorse" but the rain clouds were gathering ominously. After a delicious supper, we emptied several inches of water from our dinghy. If the parade was held, we could not have been able to see it through the blinding rain.

September 7, 2004

We cleared out with Immigration and Customs this morning and collected our shipments of duty free booze. We discovered that our beer order had already been delivered to the customs house yesterday (they never mentioned it when we cleared out). We borrowed the harbor master's dolly and walked the several hundred yards to the Customs office. They finally admitted that they had our order and we followed a young officer to a nearby building and up several flights of stairs. I parked the dolly at the foot of the stairs and about one minute later, as we descended the stairs carrying crates of beer, the dolly was gone. This caused some consternation and we ran around the building seeking the thief. As we walked back up the stairs, I noticed the errant device tucked away beneath the stairs. Tidied away? Who knows. We loaded our four cases of emergency yachting rehydration fluids onto the dolly and were then escorted back to the dinghy, to make sure we didn't open up a bar on the way and begin selling the stuff.

We had checked the weather at an Internet cafe and had also downloaded Grib files from various sites. The various weather forecasts were all pretty much in agreement and called for 20 knot winds from the East for the morning, then dropping to 15 knots from the North and finally going to around 5 to 7 knots after 24 hours. This would give us a tail wind as we sail West along the North coast of Upolu and a fast beam reach as we turn South to Tonga. We would then expect a comfortable 15 knot tail wind for the night. By morning we might have to motor the last few miles but the passage through the reef at Niuatoputapu would be easy with light winds. Excellent!