Touring

Eric (SV Secret Agent Man), Dom, John and I had a fabulous tour around the island with Tiali. We saw the To Sua Ocean Trench, some great falls, beautiful beaches, local homes, a Bahaii house of worship. After a day in the car...we were exhausted...but happy!

Tomorrow, we leave marina comforts for the less developed island of Savai'i. We've been granted permission from the Prime Minister's office to tour around the island for one week.  

Christmas in Samoa

Dom is here!! He arrived late on Monday, with a pack FULL of goodies from
our wish list, and odd treats sent from friends and family. Thanks to
everyone who filled his bag, especially Amy, Dave, Mum, Murray and Celina!
We are now happily fixing the outboard, eating chocolate and conditioning my
hair! Ahhh...the simple pleasures!!

We spent his first day exploring town and seeking the Prime Minister's
permission to explore some of the outer anchorages. Today, we hope to tour
the island with our taxi-driving friend, Tiali.

Marina living...

They have a new marine here in Apia. Only a couple years old. Nice cement
docks. And you MUST tie up here. There is no longer any anchoring permitted
in the harbour. They even send out a boat to greet you, guide you into your
berth and help you to tie up. And...there is drinkable water (hurray) and
electricity (220v - not so handy for us). And of course, there is a nightly fee...which adds up quickly.

Marina living is pretty good. We were put into the slip right at the bottom
of the ramp to shore, so we have met everyone here. Not many cruising boats
here - a couple of empty sailboats, and a few fishing charter boats.
Everyone has been super friendly. And for the first time in memory, we're
the largest boat, for the moment. Weird. So we've been having quite a few
dinners aboard Renova.

Here we are enjoying musical performances from Alec (fishing guide aboard
Southern Destiny) and Shawn (local from across the street). Dom and Eric
also provided musical entertainment for the evening!

Siva Afi

We have been lucky to arrive in Apia, Samoa in time for the 10th Annual International Siva Afi competition. Siva Afi is fire dancing. So for the past three evenings, we've enjoyed first the seniors qualifications, the juniors, and the finals! There is big stakes for this competition. The winner receives $3000 tala...almost 3/4 of the average annual income!

The shows were incredible. It was difficult to take photos, but I'll try to process some of the small video clips in the coming days.

Here are John and I, sporting our lava lavas...the sarongs that are commonly worn by men and women in the Samoas.

When was the last time...

That you had to bring in a flat bed truck in order to take home the fish you just caught??


Well, I have to admit that I've never had to call in a truck for my fishing exploits. In fact. All the fish I've ever caught (in my life) would probably fit into the trunk of my Civic.

SO...that provides a bit of context for this...

I'm sitting in the boat, cleaning the galley (guest is coming, remember), and this is what I see out the port hole!!

 

Without doubt the biggest Marlin I've ever seen. The young guy, Ryan, caught the fish.

It took him 2 and a half hours to bring it to the boat. And then they had to drag it to the marina, as they couldn't bring it aboard. Whew. It weighed 198 KILOS!! It was a Blue Marlin. Beautiful. Amazing. Humongous. And Sad.

A Birthday Party!

La Familia threw a birthday party for Liva's 2nd birthday, even though we were a few days late. Grandma and Grandpa were visiting, and with several other boats, we had enough people to warrant cakes and ice cream!! Hurray.

Here we are...singing Happy Birthday in English and Norwegian!

Arrived in Samoa

We arrived in Samoa this morning, after an overnight sail under a full moon from American Samoa. The port control met us in the harbour and led us to a berth in the new marina. Throughout the day, we've been visited by Customs, Public Health, Agriculture and Immigration officials.

We are currently snuggled into the Apia marina, our first marina since Mexico!! Our position is 13°49.6 S, 171°45.5 W

Our friends on La Familia are also here, and Secret Agent Man has just arrived. We're looking forward to exploring! But first...we'll catch up on some zzzzzz's.

Canton Vid

We've really enjoyed our time here. Met tons of new people. Most of the folks in the anchorage have been here for a while, and have good stories to tell. Barbarella shared with us their story and video of the 2009 tsunami here. Wow. And several of the boats were here for this year's cyclone. We also had the opportunity to talk with cruisers who spent 4 months at Canton Island. We hope to go there, so it was fabulous to hear their impressions, and get their feedback on what would be useful things to take for the community (bic lighters, innertube patches, gasoline and fabric!).

They also showed us their video on Canton. It was fabulous, feel free to have a look:

Thoughts on American Samoa and Pago Pago

Some quick thoughts on Pago Pago...

• incredibly friendly people
• conservative culture - long skirts and sleeves are the norm
• very religious...multiple churches on every block. Most people go to church everyday, and maybe even multiple churches. 
• when the wind is just right, the smell from the tuna factory is...well...ripe
• check in and out was easy for us.$65 total. 
• Shopping was American prices. And surprisingly...all American brands. wild.
• Huge unemployment here. Tough economy. Major employers are the tuna cannery, and the police/military/gov't. 
• Lots of garbage. Everywhere.
• Love the lavalava (sarong-style skirts worn by everyone).

We're on our way this afternoon for an overnight sail to Samoa. (Used to be Western Samoa or Independant Samoa). We're going in tandem with Secret Agent Man, and looking forward to seeing La Familia. Aparently, we'll be tying up at a marina! Wahoo!!

Mt. Alava

Another climb to the top! This time, Mt Alava provided a nice climb to its peak along a deserted service road, to the radio tower at the top. There were also the rusty remains of an old cable car that used to transport tourists across the harbour up to this point.

Pago Pago Harbour - with Pago Pago village on the right and Fagatogo village on the left. Renova is the 2nd boat on the right.

Pago Pago Harbour

The descent would have been a fabulous MOMAR adventure race course! It was steep, with ladders and ropes to guide us down the slopes to the village of Vatia. We had wobbly Elvis-legs by the time we reached the bottom of the village.

Just a few of the 783 steps on the descent

It was Sunday, when swimming is frowned up, so we sat in the shade of a tree, while we hoped for a car that would come by to give us a lift back to the other side of the harbour. After 20 minutes, two wonderful ladies drove by and were more than happy to drive us back to the boat, giving us important economic and culture lessons of Samoa along the way!