Day 176 Tough sailing

Dawn is barely visible through the rain which is coming down in torrents. Liahona is determined to move on to Suva and since we are using their anchor and nervous about our own windlass, we decide to follow them out of the pass and sail South.
Once we are clear of the lee of the island, the wind and waves pick up. The rain is coming down so hard it is hard to see more than a few 100 feet. The wind direction is still from the Southeast requiring us to tack in order to make headway toward Suva. We sail Southwest for an hour and then turn East Northeast for the next hour and then repeat. After 6 hours we have made only about 14 miles in our intended direction. Finally Andy wins the catch-a-wave-over-the-bow prize and we all decide we would rather sit at a bumpy anchorage than sit on a boat that is being tossed around violently. For lunch we had some granola bars because it was too rough to do anything in the galley so we can't imagine what dinner will be like. It is time for a right turn to the town of Levuka on the island of Ovalau off the East coast of Viti Levu.
The pass is wide and well marked but the harbor faces East and the shore runs North to South so it is open to wind from 3 directions (S, E and N). Although the waves are stopped by the barrier reef, the SE wind is blowing 20 to 25 knots. With the help of some hand cranking, the windlass works again and we drop the main anchor in 40 feet of water and then set a second anchor by taking it out in the dinghy. The shallow shore area is not far behind us but the two anchors do not move and we feel securely set.
Only one other sailboat (Moonraker) is in the harbor and we hail them on the VHF to ask about the security of the anchorage. They confirm that the wind is strong but their anchor has held them without problem for two days. At 1700, Moonraker calls back and invites us for a drink. They even volunteer to come and get us in their dinghy which we welcome since our little rubber boat is very wet when there is a "wind chop" in the water.
Luke and Max pick us up in a very plush Zodiac with a 40 HP Honda engine ($$$). They are wearing white polo shirts with the name Moonraker on them - usually this means paid crew. Once on board, we meet Graham and Janet the English owners and our genial hosts. We have a nice visit and exchange experiences, things we have seen and names of other boats that we both have met. They have been about 2 weeks behind us at most of the islands and know many of the same people that we have enjoyed.
Moonraker is a sight worth seeing. It is 78 feet long and has a beam (width) that must be almost twice as wide as Southern Star. The stateroom would make most luxury apartments look shabby. Appointed in white wood it is sparkling clean and nicely decorated with paintings and even a (silk) flower arrangement. It does not seem to rock at anchor and one could imagine we are in an expensive hotel or condo. The boat was built at the Kelly shipyard in Auckland, NZ in 2000 but looks absolutely brand new. Graham is the third owner having bought the boat two years ago in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. It is appropriately registered in the Cayman Islands.
After a nice visit, we return to our little kingdom for a welcomed spaghetti dinner.

Day 175 Makogai Island

S17º26 W178º57
We sleep fitfully because of the rough water in the anchorage and our concern that the anchor may not hold. At 0630 we are headed out of the reef pass and turn South toward Makogai Island. The plan is to sail for two hours, anchor at Makogai for lunch and then sail overnight to the Astrolabe reef near Kadavu Island.
As we proceed Southward, we find the wind has shifted so that it now comes from the Southeast. This means the wind and waves are 30º off our bow and we are in for a wet and bumpy ride. Liahona leads the way and we easily find the pass through the reef. By the time we drop the anchor, everyone is ready to relax a bit and leave the rough seas behind. We anchor off of another isolated beach - this time with no sign. The book says that Makogai was a leper colony years ago but now is an aquaculture research station. At about noon we see a boat with native divers heading around a point North of us.
For some time now, the windlass (the electric winch that lowers and raises the anchor) has been acting up and as we put the anchor down this time, it appears to be on its last legs. Something must be wrong with the electrical contacts inside. The combination of this situation and the rough seas outside the pass precipitates a change of plans. The two boats decide to spend the night at this island and wait out the wind and then go directly to the city of Suva on the big island of Viti Levu to try and get the windlass repaired. Suva is by far the largest city we will have visited (with a population of over 350,000) and we should be able to find the proper services for the windlass.
Although our anchorage is in an idyllic setting and the snorkeling is good, the wind is still strong and creates a concern about swinging on the anchor (being turned by the wind so the boat is closer to the shore) or dragging the anchor. Liahona is already too close to a submerged coral head to be satisfied with their anchorage so they pull up the hook and decide to motor around the point to investigate. A short while later they come back in their dinghy to report a much calmer anchorage in front of the research station. The windlass gives us one more effort and we follow the dinghy around the point.
Because it is very calm here and Liahona is safely anchored we decide to tie onto their stern and drop a small anchor that we can retrieve by hand from our own stern so that we do not drift into them. In this way, we use their main anchor and save the use of our windlass.
We have a pot luck dinner on Liahona with the curry that Mark made a few days ago along with a chocolate cake that Andy baked. Altogether a fine meal. The night is peaceful so we all get a good night's sleep.
My impression of Fiji has been changed markedly by these visits. All that I have read before this trip was about Polynesia but Fiji was never included as it is in Micronesia even though the same people populated both island groups. I somehow thought of Fiji as small and more isolated than Polynesia and the press coverage of the ongoing political turmoil gives one pause about visiting. What I have seen so far is quite a different story.
I had already determined that by population, land area and number of islands, Fiji is larger than the combined size of all the island groups we have visited so far. My impression of Savusavu and the island of Vanua Levu is one of a fairly modern place with reasonable infrastructure (roads, electrical service, telephones, Internet) and a beautiful and varied landscape. There is no evidence of political instability - no military vehicles, no overbearing police presence, not even any apparent tension between the Fijians and the Indo-Fijians. They all seem to work peacefully side by side. Even the seemingly restrictive land laws (only native Fijians can own land) leave enough freehold land to attract foreign investors who are building new resorts and wealthy Australians, Europeans and Americans who are buying land and building million dollar vacation retreats.
From a yachtie perspective, the place is a perfect spot to spend months exploring. The navigation is challenging due to the extensive coral reefs but with good charts, a GPS and enough time to be very careful, it seems possible to see more pristine uninhabited island beaches with clear lagoons than anywhere we have been to this point. Also, the people we have met are all very friendly and welcoming of visitors - as has been their reputation since they stopped eating their enemies a few hundred years ago. Everyone we have met speaks English and all the signs and official forms are in English as it is the only common language between the two populations.
From what I can see, I would recommend Fiji as a travel destination for anyone who wants the beauty of the South Pacific and who wants to be able to see it at an affordable price.

Day 174 Namenalala Island

We have the anchor up before 0800 and head out of the pass behind Liahona. The plan is to sail for half a day and then anchor for the night next to the island of Namenalala at the end of the Namena barrier reef (S17º07 W179º04 for those of you who track this kind of thing on Google Earth). The wind is a mild 10 knots and the direction is comfortably down wind so the sail is easy and uneventful. By noon we enter the pass in the boundary reef around the island and put down the anchor next to a narrow strip of white sand beach that sticks out from the thick rain forest covering the mountain behind. It would look like an uninhabited paradise except there is a sign on the shore that says it is private land and a fee-based permit must be obtained for use. Since we are not using the land, we must be exempt.
Not long after we have anchored, a dive boat from the nearby Cousteau resort puts down an anchor next to us so their guests can enjoy a peaceful lunch between dives.
The trees on the shore are a rookery for birds and are full of young white boobies. Overhead circle black frigate birds ready to steal from the mature boobies that are fishing nearby. Also hanging from the trees are black fox bats who will leave at sunset to eat fruit in the jungle.
We all jump in with our snorkel gear and enjoy the reef that fringes the island. Again, the colors are a bit disappointing but the water is clear and there is an abundance of small and colorful fish as well as some larger parrot fish, clams and conchs. Kurt discoves that 30 feet further out from our boat there is a boat on the bottom that looks like and old barge. The water is over 60 feet deep at that point so it is too deep for us to do much exploring by just free diving.
After snorkeling a bit we enjoy lunch and a nap to catch up from having gotten up so early. In the late afternoon we play water polo for a bit to get some exercise followed by welcome showers and dinner. Life is good.
We are a bit wary of the anchorage as the reef and some shallow coral heads are close so we do not want to swing much on the anchor chain as that could get us into trouble. As much as we might enjoy this anchorage, we will not be 100% comfortable sleeping here.
I reflect back on last night's eclipse and the comments of the young Indian woman named Dolly who works at the Copra Shed Marina. She said that Hindus are not permitted to view the eclipse. In fact if a woman is pregnant and looks at the eclipse, her baby will be born deformed. While Dolly considers these views to be groundless superstition she still does not plan to give the eclipse a look. It always amazes me how people in the 21st century will direct their actions by the ignorance of the past. When people had no explanation of events, they made up a story. However, when the real explanation finally became known the story persisted even though the facts presented a different picture. My education in the scientific method has had an indelible influence on me. "Hypothesis, experiment, observation and proof" seem so logical, it is hard for me to think in any other way. If the hypothesis is not borne out by observation, it seems hard for me to understand how people can accept it. One example and 100 exceptions do not make a proof.

Day 173 Lunar eclipse

We have decided to leave tomorrow so there are the usual things to do in preparation. There is a dock where we can park the boat and get a fresh water hose for a thorough cleaning. While Mark, Kurt and Andy work with the sponges and brushes, I get us checked out with Customs and do all the grocery shopping. The stores have most of what we need but the items are often in unfamiliar packaging and store locations so it takes much longer than I anticipated. The only thing I cannot find is ham as they are all operated by Indo-Fijians and, as I recall, HIndus do not eat pork.
After the chores are done it is time for haircuts so we rig an extension cord to the dock, sit on an overturned bucket and all get a #2 buzz cut. This is the shortest my hair has been since I was in high school. I will have to be careful in the sun as I have nothing to shade my scalp.
The boat is clean, we are clean and everyone is hungry so we head for a restaurant that has WiFi so we can get one more round on the Internet before we leave. We may be out of touch for a week or more so everyone wants to get up to date with their e-mails and their banks and post the newest pictures on their Internet sites.
At 1600, the marina has a free talk on sailing in Fiji so Mark, Andy and I sit in as a bearded Englishman who has lived in Fiji since forever takes us through his favorite spots and his opinions on what to avoid. Several places we have considered are on his no list, mostly because of the chance of possible unexpected bad weather near the extensive reefs. One island is off limits because the locals do not want visitors who might influence their culture. This is a big contrast from the fairly up-to-date Savusavu. At the end of the lecture, we get some maps and more detailed instructions for our intended route.
After a quick dinner, the crew adjourns to the yacht club for a dart competition and I hitch a dinghy ride to the Top-to-Top boat for a talk with Dario and Sabina. When they give talks in the schools, they discuss CO2 emissions and global warming and they wanted the benefit of a chemist who can edit their talk for scientific accuracy. We sat on the deck under the moonlight and talked while we watched a total eclipse of the moon that started at about 2000 and was still in progress when I finally went back to Southern Star at 2300. The moon was slowly obscured and never completely went dark but instead turned a very dark reddish color. I suspect this has something to do with the umbra and penumbra (our view was of the penumbra shadow) but I am not sure. In any case, it was very interesting to see and our view from the boat was perfect.

Day 172 Drive

Mark and Jim contracted with the owner of the restaurant to drive us to Labasa (pronounced Lambasa) - the larger town on the other side of the island. Tonda is originally German from near Bad Tölz. She is married to a Fijian and has lived in Fiji for 14 years.
The road leaves Savusavu and snakes over the mountain for an hour and a half. At its midpoint we pass a small national park that advertises a rain forest walk with a waterfall and pool for swimming. The waterfall is currently closed from landslide but we decide to take the 90 minute walk anyway. The path, funded by New Zealand, consists of a steep and narrow gravel track with wooden sides. The soil is a slippery yellow clay and would not be negotiable without the gravel. The jungle hangs over forming a canopy that blocks out the sun. This is fortunate as the day is hot and humid without the cooling effect of the sunshade. The pool is cold and clear and a welcome relief half way through the trek. Many birds can be heard but almost none seen due to the thickness of the jungle. This island has several bird species (like the orange dove) that are very rare and only found here.
Savusavu gets over one hundred inches of rain a year but Labasa on the North side of the island gets less than one fourth of that amount. The island looks a bit like Hawaii (for those of you who have flown over Hawaii) where the side of the island facing the prevailing winds is lush and green and the other side is grassy and almost arid.
At one point, we pass through a section of road that could easily be mistaken for Georgia. Both sides have been planted with pine trees. The bare earth side of the road is red clay and wherever there are low bushes and trees they are overgrown with vines (like the kudzu of the U.S. Southeast).
The north side of the island is filled with sugar cane plantations so it is the place where most Indo-Fijians live. Labasa is a hot and dusty town lined with shops that blare Hindu music. Tonda takes us to restaurant where she guarantees that the food is nothing special but at least "you won't get sick". After lunch, we wander through town just as the school kids in starched white uniforms are filling the streets. Here the languages are English and Hindu. Tonda correctly described the shops as having "a thousand different items of which you may want one".
On the way back to Savusavu, Tonda takes us to the home that she and her husband rent. The 25 acre property is directly on the beach and we arrive in time to see the tail end of the sunset. Two native caretakers prepare coconuts for us to drink and we relax on the black sand beach as darkness falls.

Day 171 Sailing

In Tonga you are not supposed to do any work on Sunday but unfortunately we are in Fiji so I spent the morning cleaning the fridge. The curry we spilled two weeks ago was actually quite pleasant compared to the two rotten eggs and the spoiled fish blood. Again, this simple task took half the day by the time the freezer unit had defrosted and I could get everything clean.
After that rather unpleasant job, I needed a swim so I joined the boys in a game of water polo. This is such good exercise (as Tim knows) that I feel more energized than tired afterward.
One of the boat captains organized a half dozen tiny Optimist sailboats for the yachties to use. These are square ended dinghies about 8 feet long with a centerboard, a small mast and a simple sail. The sailing is very basic but follows the same rules as any boat. The wind was not strong - which was probably good as the risk of capsizing was low. Low wind presents a different challenge as it hard to make headway. Andy was in one boat and several other yachties in the others as we all tacked back and forth across the anchorage. We spent over an hour testing our sailing skills and I felt pleased that I seemed to do well compared to the others.
We ended up back in the yacht club swapping stories and met a young couple who work on a dive boat. James is from England and Tara is Canadian. They joined us for dinner at a very nice local restaurant that has a live string band (guitars and singing in Fijian). It turns out that Tara also sings so at one point she joined the group and they moved aside and gave her a space. James had told us that she has an amazing voice but his accolades did not do her justice. The restaurant owner invited her back any time.

Day 170 Hiking

Yesterday's Internet link was slow as usual so I spent a bit more time today to complete the uploading of the remaining pictures. Just when I think I am done, I take more pictures that I want to share so I am back on line uploading more. This is made worse by the fact that we have long periods when we cannot connect so by the time I get an Internet connection, I have a lot of pictures.
I had arranged to go on a hike to the antenna with Dario and Sabina from the boat Pachemama (owned by Top-to-Top.org). Andy and I hiked with the Top-to-Top crew in Huahine and they attended one of our beach parties in Ra'iatea. They are traveling with their 2½ year old girl and their 10 month old boy plus volunteers from the Top-to-Top organization. On this occasion, the volunteer on board is a retired biologist from the Bern, Switzerland Zoo. (Dario and Sabina are Swiss).
We headed up the hill and at the end of a narrow path that pointed toward the antenna, we came into the yard of a house. A man and his 15 year old son came out and asked if they could help us. When we explained our destination, he pointed toward some steps and the son said he would accompany us and show us the way. At the top of the steps, the path got more obvious and as we headed up the boy asked if we would like to drink some coconut milk. A few minutes after we got to the top, he appeared with two green coconuts and a large machete. I watched with some trepidation as he hacked the end off the coconuts hoping that he was not going to lose a finger in the process. Sabina said that they had been served coconut milk several times and each time a small boy used a large knife but always with safe results.
The milk was cool and delicious and the meat of the young coconut was soft and sweet. The boy was proud to welcome us and help us. We have seen this kind of hospitality over and over again and I am always amazed. I would feel almost ashamed to think that this would never exist at home except I have heard some equally amazing stories from yachties about their experiences in the U.S. I remember Reinhard and Marlene from the boat Adio who said when they were in Alaska, some Americans even let them use their car for a week. I guess the welcoming attitude can be found everywhere

Day 169 Fame

In the morning we did some standard boat projects - Mark foraged unsuccessfully for a new nut to hold on the propeller (the old one is still there but badly corroded) while I dropped off the laundry, paid the check in fees to the three government agencies and refilled the propane tanks. These little necessary chores always take half the day.
This sounds a bit boring but most of the time I spent in a taxi with Dave, Linda and Isaac from Paddy West. I had met them briefly before but not had a chance to really talk to them. I find it interesting to listen to people's stories about how the got into sailing, what they did before and what are their plans for the future. I have not found a yachtie who has a dull life. Dave was a helicopter pilot flying "heavy lift" choppers for lumber operations and fire fighting. They lived in Australia, Korea, Sardinia and Zimbabwe and since they have been here at the anchorage, he received an e-mail offering him a job in Fiji. Like I say, nothing dull here.
After chores were done, I spent some time on the Internet catching up on e-mail and posting the blog and the newest pictures.
I received an e-mail today from Latitude 38, the sailing magazine, saying that they had published some of the photos I sent them on their electronic webmagazine. Check it out at http://www.latitude38.com/LectronicLat/2007/0807/Aug24/Aug24.html. Note this is probably not a live link so you will have to cut and past it into your browser navigation window.
There is also a paper version of Latitude 38 that can be found in any local marina or boating store (like West Marine) so keep an eye out and let me know if we are in print.

Day 168 Date line at Fiji

The 3 boat regatta of Southern Star, Paddy West and Liahona sail between Duff reef and Heemskeraq reef and enter Nanuka pass. Duff reef is famous to readers of the yachting magazines as last year a yacht with a man and his wife aboard ran aground in the middle of the night and had to be rescued. They had been sailing in rough weather for 3 days and fell asleep from exhaustion. They were awakened by the boat hitting the reef. Most yachties seems to know this story.
We cross the geographic date line at 0830 as we enter Fiji waters. This is a little anti-climatic as we had set the calendar ahead several days ago. If we had caught a fish at W179º59.99 and pulled it in at E179º59.99 could we say we had been dragging it for a day?
In the pass, we follow the South shore of Taveuni Island for most of the morning. Already we are getting a feel for the size of Fiji. Taveuni is one of the smaller islands yet it goes on for hours. Finally we round the point and the island of Vanua Levu comes into view. It is the second largest island in Fiji and Taveuni is dwarfed by it. Viewing it from the sea gives two impressions. It is heavily forested with a variety of different kinds of trees from palms to pines. Secondly, there are a lot of individual houses. These are not villages but large houses on the hills overlooking the ocean. Fiji may be a poor country (the lowest GDP per capita of any country we have visited) but there is clearly a lot of wealth in the hands of a fair number of people. Since Indo-Fijians cannot own land, these are either lease hold properties or they are owned by Fijians. The literature says that the Fijians are the poorer of the two ethnic groups so I wonder who owns these houses.
We finally arrive at the Copra Shed in Savusavu where they send a man out in a small boat to help us tie up to a mooring ball. The same boatman comes back 20 minutes later with 3 officials who carry out all the entry procedures except the payments needed. Since we have no local currency, we will have to go to the police station tomorrow and pay. The officials are all very pleasant and fairly efficient - maybe because we finally got smart and had some soda on board to offer them.
By the time we are moored, it is dark and we are starving so we head to shore to find a beer and a curry. It is not hard to find a curry since almost 50% of the 850,000 Fijians are Indo-Fijian (originally from India) and they operate most of the business since they cannot own land. The Indians were imported to work in the sugar cane fields because there was a law prohibiting native Fijians from that work. At the end of the day they end up with ethnic tensions, repeated coups and high unemployment. I would love to see Joe Bower's (Harvard Business School) analysis of Fiji and have him explain how they could have messed it up so badly.

Day 167 Slow going

The wind was very light today and we repeated many combinations of sail to try to make headway. Little by little, we fell back from the other two boats until by dark we were about 4 miles behind. Finally the wind picked up and we were able to catch up. Obviously, we do better under stronger winds.
By the end of my shift, the wind was really strong and we saw speeds above 9 knots which is unusually high for Southern Star. This was also accompanies by rain and squalls so you take the bad with the good.
The moon was half full and even though there was a lot of cloud cover, it was very bright outside and the sails of the other boats ahead of us on the dark sea was very striking.
Our beautiful Dorado gave us two more meals of which one was a very creative and delicious fish tacos. Our cupboard is empty of fresh foods so the fish was very welcomed

Day 166 Fish for dinner

At 0800 Fiji time our position was S16º15 W175º30 and we had travelled 104 miles since departure. We have a little over 200 miles to go until we reach Fiji waters and the plethora of reefs that we will have to negotiate. At that point, we will have crossed the geographic date line (our longitude will be in degrees East and will be decreasing as we travel West) and will have left Polynesia and entered Melanesia.
Fiji alone is larger than all of Polynesia (French Polynesia, Samoa, Cooks Islands and Tonga) in population, land area and number of islands. From what the guide books say, it could occupy a whole summer of sailing and exploring all by itself. Since we will be there only a short time I expect we will just scratch the surface.
Yesterday Liahona had three fish on their lines at the same time and lost all three lures. We had one strike on the pole line but when we reeled it in, we had no fish and no fish hook. The hook had been sheared off just at the place where it bends. Assuming that it was done by a large fish, it is just as well we did not try to catch it. Any fish that strong deserves to stay in the sea.
At about 3 PM we were discussing what we would cook for dinner when the pole jumped and we had a fish on the line. Mark reeled in a 42" dorado and our dinner plans were decided. Dorado is an interesting fish. When it is in the water it is either blue or green and the same fish can display both colors. Once out of the water it turns an iridescent golden yellow color and is quite beautiful. When it is on the menu it is called mahi mahi and is delicious in a butter sauce.
Otherwise the day was uneventful. The wind is very mild and the sea quite calm so we entertain ourselves changing the sail trim every now and then to try to get some speed out of the meager wind. Usually the result is an immediate increase in speed for about 10 minutes which makes us feel like we accomplished something even though soon after we are at the same speed we were before we made the changes. At least is is a constructive pass time.
During my watch, I could see the masthead lights of the other two boats in front of us. This is the first time we have sailed with other boats since the first day out of Mexico. After all the sailing with nothing around us, it seems a bit like we are not really at sea when there are other people within eyesight. It is a little like Daniel Boone's idea that when you can see the smoke from your neighbor's chimney, it is time to move. This is our ocean - what are they doing there.

Day 165 Departing Tonga

Position S15º45 W173º45 Niuatoputapu Island
We arranged to "buddy sail" with Liahona and Paddy West so we waited until everyone was ready before pulling up the hook.
In the morning, Ed and Jim from Liahona went ashore to install a lighting system for one of the islanders. The previous day Ed had hitched a ride with the man and noticed that he had no lights in his house. On board Liahona, Ed carried a spare solar panel, batteries, cable, switches and light fixtures so he decided to donate them and figured that they would not get installed properly unless he did it. By the end of the morning the job was done and I may have gotten at least part of the answer to a question that had been on my mind.
Why do the islanders go out of their way to welcome the yachties? There is no tourist trade on the island. There are no craft shops hawking handicrafts. There are no stores selling supplies. There are almost no services being sold - although I had heard of locals taking yachties on hikes and fishing trips for a very minimal fee. Sia works for the Tongan government so maybe it's part of her job to be welcoming but there is so much spontaneous and open hospitality I wondered what they get in return. Yes, they want their kids to speak better English and this is a way to get some practice and there is not much to do on the island so maybe this offers an entertaining distraction but is there more? When I thought about what Ed had done, several other observations came back to my conscious mind.
• When we first arrived, we saw a pit that had been dug near the shore with a sign that indicated it was for trash from the yachts. The sign went on to say that digging it was a project that Top-to-Top had done in conjunction with the local school. We had met the Top-to-Top folks in Huahine and this was exactly the thing their organization was out to accomplish.
• Dave from Paddy West had also gone to shore that morning to do some work on a VHF antenna belonging to one of the islanders. Apparently, it was not working effectively and with his yacht training, he was able to fix it.
I had also heard vague stories about repaired outboard motors and cars that had benefited from the knowledge, experience, tools and parts from various travelers.
When you live on an island where the official supply boat comes once every two months but capable and willing experts drop by every day, the smart thing is to welcome them and see what happens. My guess is that this is the cultural quid pro quo that had gone on for many years and it seems to work - and everyone benefits. This is a true win-win.
At noon, the three boats made their exit and headed West for Fiji. The sea was relatively calm and the wind was mild so the sailing was easy. At night a half-full moon appeared and we proceeded within sight of each other.

Day 164 Another feast

Sia called all the yachts in the harbor yesterday to invite them all to a free lunch on the motu (island within the coral reef). We were asked to bring desserts so Andy baked a delicious chocolate cake from scratch. At the lunch, three of the women asked him for the recipe. They could not believe he had baked the cake.
In the morning, Mark reviewed with us a variety of safety procedures. We had gone over these in Mexico but that was months ago and with the news of Just Desserts sinking, it was timely to do it again. We started with the positions of all the "through hull" fittings and the procedure to plug these if they spring a leak. Next was the operation of all 4 pumps and finally the procedures for sending out a "Mayday" and abandoning ship. The protocol for using the life raft is that you step up into it i.e. it is the last thing one does when all else fails. The boat's hull is the safest place to be so the life raft is only used when the hull is surely headed for the bottom. At that point, the "ditch bag" of emergency supplies is loaded into the life raft along with the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) that broadcasts an automatic Mayday with out boat ID to a satellite network. None of us expect we will ever have to use any of these measures but we feel better prepared having reviewed them.
At noon we joined the other yachties on the motu for a nice lunch with Sia and her husband Niko. Several of their kids were there as well as some older youths who had helped assemble the feast. Several of the dished were made from parrot fish that had been caught that morning on the reef. Everything was very good and Andy's cake was a hit.
We brought an American football along with us and engaged the locals in a game of catch. It is always fun to teach someone how to throw this awkward looking ball as the technique is not intuitive but once learned the result is very rewarding.
By mid afternoon, everyone had packed up and headed back to their respective boats. We had a quick swim and spent a quiet evening reading on the boat. We had done a book trade with Liahona and all of us were delving into the new supply. I finished a book called "The Mindful Traveler; A Guide to Journaling and Transformative Travel" by a U.S. writer who obviously had been greatly influenced by Buddhism. His main message was to be in touch with yourself and know why you are traveling. He made a good point that on a long trip, the reasons for your travel may change with increased travel. I found the book particularly interesting as it stressed taking time to think and contemplate as well as write down experiences and impressions as a way to clarify the thinking. I certainly have tried to do that to some extent in this blog but I have also spent time in solitary contemplation - a method stressed in his book. We have about two more months to sail and this is a good time to reflect on the learning acquired.

Day 163 Another hike

Mark and Kurt went with Liahona to check out the nearby motu (an island inside the coral reef) as a possible spot to snorkel. They took their spear gun to fish and Liahona took their hookah to facilitate the diving. When they came back at the end of the day, they had not speared any fish and the diving had to be cancelled because the wind and current was too strong.
Andy and I went to Niuatoputapu to see if we could find a hike. A woman named Sia had contacted the yachts on the radio earlier in the day to invite all the yachties to a free lunch tomorrow on the motu so we sought her out as a possible source of information. We found her house after asking some villagers and discovered a very sweet lady who spoke English very well. She and her husband moved here in 1996 and discovered that the island people did not do too much for the yachties (probably because of limited English) so they decided to try to provide a proactive welcome. She told us there was a good hike along the ridge that occupied the center of the island and her kids would show us the path. Two 11-year olds (one was her brother's son) and a 10 year old brother eagerly agreed to lead us. Her 11-year old son had won the English competition this year so she was also eager to have him accompany us and practice his English.
We set out up a dirt road that traversed through several plantations of taro, banana, yams, papaya and mangos. At the end of the road, a path led into a thick forest and soon we were scrambling on all fours up a very steep bank, holding onto the trees for purchase. After 45 minutes, we arrived at the first of several overlooks. From this vantage, we could see both sides of the island and the village containing the harbor.
We hiked along the ridge for most of the next hour and at one point we heard voices calling us. Before long, we were joined by three other 11-year old boys who were friends of our guides. The footing was slippery in the forest so all six boys shed their flip-flops and were walking barefoot proving the well-known fact that Tongans have feet of steel.
Over the next 45 minutes we came to several overlooks (read cliffs) with views of the other two villages on the island. The boys pointed out their school and several churches including the Catholic Church that they attended. Throughout the walk, they kept asking us if we were OK and if we wanted to rest. I felt their concern was very genuine and also found it unusual for boys this age.
At the end of the ridge, we came to a cliff. The boys asked if we were afraid to go further but we felt if they could do it, we could so we pushed on. The first vertical drop was scaled by climbing over the edge of a slippery ledge and grabbing the branch of a tree that grew from two stories below. By shinnying down the tree, we made it to the next level. Four more drop-offs followed and each one was a test of courage (or stupidity) and athleticism. No wonder they asked us if we were afraid. We were.
Finally four hours after we started, we emerged from the forest into the third town on the island. The boys took us to a fresh water spring where we had a much needed swim in the cool, refreshing water. They took turns jumping in from the side and we all had great fun.
On the walk back to the boat, we passed a small grocery store. Actually it was a house with one tiny room in the front with shelves and a meager supply of goods for sale. We bought sodas for the boys and some cheese puffs. The woman who ran the store spoke excellent English so we asked what we should give the boys for their help. She told us that we had already done enough for them and that the boys were remarking in Tongan how generous we were. During our conversation, she asked where we were from and when I said California, she told me her brother lives in Palo Alto. Of course! We travel half way around the world to find an isolated island in the Pacific with 900 people on it and meet a small shopkeeper who has been to Palo Alto. Why not? I had just finished a book and watched a movie that talked about coincidence so I was read for this one.
We finally returned to the boat tired and dirty but happy and enjoyed one more feast of fresh tuna. Life is sometimes sweet.

Day 162 Tonga Feast

We received a call on the radio that there was a fund raising feast on the island to raise money for one of the local churches. Almost all of the 10 yachts in the harbor turned up. The guide book says that a Tonga feast is not to be missed but visitors shouldn’t be surprised at the amount of food. Even with that warning, we were surprised.
On the way to the church we walked around some of the island. The Lonely Planet notes that Tonga suffers from never being colonized by a Western nation. They not only did not get the funding colonies normally get but they also missed the guilt money that countries get after they become independent. As a result, the nation has half the GDP per capita of Samoa and 12% that of French Polynesia. There are two unpaved and rutted roads that pass by three villages of very poor houses. Even though the street and house grounds are very clean, the presence of bony dogs, skinny horses and many pigs of various sizes gives the appearance of a rather poor country.
We passed by the school where a presentation was underway to promote the use of English. I took pictures of several signs indicating that English is viewed as the route to success in the future. What would the French think if this was one of their colonies?
The church ceremony was still underway when we arrived. It was obvious that the object of the fund raising was to build a new church. The congregation was engaged in vigorous singing and the pastor seemed like he was delivering a fire and brimstone speech although it was in Tongan and none of us (even Andy with his knowledge of Samoan) could understand it.
On the ground outside the church was a row of "tented" food trays with mats on either side. After the service, we were invited to join the congregation so we all took seats on the mats sitting "indian style". Behind or next to every "Palangi" (white person) was a local who spoke good English and gave us information on what we were eating. I had fish, lobster, chicken, yam and a wide variety of fresh fruits. On the tables were a dozen roasted suckling pigs as well as breadfruit, and dozens of other delights that I don't even know the name of. We all ate until we were stuffed, made our contribution to the church and stood up to leave. The woman sitting behind me was the pastor's wife. She said she was sorry there was not enough food. This must be a Tongan tradition as her comment was almost surrealistic. There was enough food for three more feasts. She said it had been prepared by the women of 8 families who started cooking at 6 AM.
Everyone was very friendly with big smiles even if they did not speak any English. At no time did I feel we were being fattened for another feast later in the day.
We returned to the boat where we had another good swim and later in the day sat down to another feast of our own from the fresh tuna. We had already given tuna steaks to most of the other boats in the harbor but every time I look at the fantastic red steaks we have I am awed by the bounty of the sea and by our fortune to share in it.

Day 161 Welcome to Tonga

Captain Cook called the Tonga island group the friendly islands because of the way he was treated by the islanders. Some years later it was discovered that their friendliness was a way to keep him there until they could decide when to attack and eat him. Nonetheless, the friendly title has stuck and the yacht guides do not report anything to contradict it nor do they report any great island feasts coincident with missing yachties.
The morning was spent doing maintenance on the windlass. This is a special electric powered winch that raises and lowers the anchor chain. Yesterday when we were in position to drop the anchor and pushed the switch nothing happened. After a bit of jiggling, the anchor went down as planned. Mark felt the electrical contacts were probably corroded so he disconnected, cleaned and reconnected them. There are many things on the boat that must work when you need them to and here there is no room for unreliable gear.
The check-in procedure was a bit protracted as some of the various agencies came to the boat and others had to be visited on shore. As a result it took several hours. This seems a bit of overkill for an island in the middle of nowhere with very few people but each nation must collect its fees for our visit.
In the afternoon we had a nice swim in the lagoon with the water polo ball as an excuse to get some exercise. The water temperature was a little cooler than other places we have been but for a vigorous swim it was just perfect. The wind and current, however, were quite strong requiring continuous swimming just to stay near the boat. We had not had a good workout for quite a while as we did not feel that either Pago Pago or Apia harbor were safe places to swim because of the questionable water quality.
Today was Jim's birthday so we went over to Liahona to wish him well. He had actually missed his birthday because of the dateline crossing but that did not get him off the hook from being wished well on being a year older.
After a delicious tuna dinner of sashimi and sushi, Jim and Wendy came over to Southern Star and we played cards until bedtime.

Day 160 "New Potatoes"

Niuatoputapu Island
During the night the seas built and the wind shifted by about 30º so that it was now directly from the East. This meant that our 180º heading had changed from comfortable to uncomfortable. Mark was unable to sleep in his cabin as Southern Star tends to pound into the swells when the wind is coming from forward of abeam (forward of the side of the boat) and this motion launches anyone in the forward berth.
By mid-morning, we made the decision to abandon Vava'u and head instead for Niuatoputapu which was West of us and could be reached on a more comfortable 220º heading. We informed Liahona and Panache and they also altered their course.
We were relaxing in the cockpit when suddenly Andy noticed that the line to the "meat hook" was taught. The meat hook is a 50 foot fixed line of 1000 pound test mono-filament with a 300 pound test leader attached to a red and black imitation squid with a single rusty hook. It would seem to be the most unlikely device with which to catch a fish. To lower the probability that we would bring in whatever was on the hook, Andy began to haul it in and then let it go slack so he could get some gloves. So far we had done everything wrong and we don't even know for how long we might have been towing the fish.
As he began to pull the line in hand-over-hand, we could see a yellow flash in the water. That meant either Dorado or yellow fin tuna. Mark got the gaff ready and as Andy pulled the fish alongside, we realized we had hooked the largest tuna that we had caught during the entire trip. By the time the steaks were harvested, they filled both of our largest pots.
We enjoyed a sashimi and grilled ahi lunch and marveled at the quality of the fish. The best sushi restaurant in Tokyo could not match our feast.
By late afternoon we could see the island of Tafahi which is 5 miles North of Niuatupatapu and more visible as it is a steep volcanic cone the rises abruptly 2,000 feet from the sea. This area of the Pacific is still seismically active and two years ago a cruiser reported sailing through a pumice filled sea 20 miles North of here. The sailing guide says there is an island that appears every so often after being created by an undersea volcano and then disappears as it is eroded by wave activity.
We arrived at Niuatoputapu just in time to make it through the reef pass before the sun set. The pass is well marked by numerous lighted posts but it is very narrow and the reef on either side is shallow and formidable. Had we been an hour later, we would have had to wait until dawn. There were already 10 other boats in the harbor but we were able to find a good anchorage on our second try.
We might have lost a day in the passage but it was more than made up for with our luck fishing and reaching the island before dark.

Day 160 We lose a day

Crossing the dateline
By political edict, Tonga is on the other side of the dateline from Samoa even though it is not really in the Eastern hemisphere. This was done to align it more closely with Fiji and New Zealand of which it has close political ties.
As a result of this anomaly, the fourteenth of August does not exist for us as we have crossed into Tongan waters.

Day 159 Goodbye Samoa

Whales in view
We departed Apia harbor on the island of Upolu, Samoa at 0930 behind Liahona and Panache (a single-hander from San Francisco) and headed West toward the larger island of Sava'i. As we passed North of Upolu, two pods of whales appeared behind Liahona. We saw spouts of eight whales and from the occasional backs we guessed they were humpbacks since humpback whales migrate here from Antarctica. As we rounded the Western end of Upolu we turned South onto a bearing of 180º that would aim us at Vava'u, Tonga.
The sailing weather was perfect with mild swells and wind from the Northeast so we could sail a "broad reach" (the wind coming from slightly behind us) which is Southern Star's most comfortable orientation.
Every now and then, we would hear radio reports from the two boats ahead of us. Even though we were in sight of each other for most of the day, each boat experienced slightly different wind and weather conditions. At one point, we encountered a squall that doused us with rain while the other boats were sailing in the sunshine. Such is the weather in the South Pacific.
By evening, the other boats had pulled ahead so they were out of sight and we were alone in the ocean. The moon was just a sliver above the Western horizon and set within an hour of sunset. With virtually no clouds and no ambient light, the Milky Way appeared as a bright stripe across the sky. Saturn shone brightly overhead and it was easy to pick out the red color of Antares and the constellation Scorpio of which it is a part. My birth constellation Sagittarius is also easy to see as it is right next to the tail of the scorpion. Also easily visible is the Southern Cross and the two stars, Hadar and Rigil Kentaurus, that point to the South Pole. From these it is also easy to locate the two bright stars Acturus and Spica. Knowing a few of the stars and constellations makes sailing under the dark sky feel a bit more like familiar surroundings.

Day 158 The village

In the morning we traveled again to the Baha'i temple to enjoy the choir and the ambience of the location and the grounds. Unfortunately, there was some confusion with the bus schedule and we arrived quite late. Nonetheless, we again enjoyed the visit.
Yesterday, we met a well known yachtie Capt'n Fatty Goodlander and his wife Caroline aboard their 38' Wild Card. Fatty writes a column for Cruising World magazine. He has written for this and other yachting magazine for years and because of his sense of humor, he is widely read. Fatty claims to have sailed for 47 years (he went to sea as a child aboard his father's boat) and is on his 4th circumnavigation. Fatty and Caroline came over to Southern Star to interview us and take our pictures - supposedly for an article he is writing.
Fatty, whose real name is Gary, began writing over 20 years ago and he has a thousand stories about his adventures. The good news is that he is indeed very funny so listening is a pleasure. Contrary to one's expectation, he is not fat. He was given the name by his friends in Chicago when as a teenager, he bought his first boat. The name "fat" meant lucky (like "fat city" means lucky in New Orleans) and he used it as a pen name so he could write for different magazines at the same time. Eventually the style he used under his pen name became more popular than those written by Gary so he now is Captain Fatty. For those who read Cruising World, you can look for the article and let us know if it appears.
Sean and Jennifer Myers aboard Soul's Calling wanted to do a charity project during their trip and Andy introduced them to the Peace Corps office here to see if there was anything that matched the local needs with their interests. The Peace Corps uses a small village in the mountains named Manunu as a training site for the three month culture and language introduction given each volunteer. The village is very isolated and contains about 200 people or about 15 extended families. They have a school building that was in very bad need of paint so the Myers family rounded up the paint and with the help of some Peace Corps volunteers they spent a day last week and painted the building. Today was the final Sunday for the volunteers to spend in the village and a celebration was planned. The Myers family was invited so they could be thanked and honored for their generosity and they were told they could bring some guests so Kurt, Andy and I joined them as well as Wendy's Mom and Dad (from Liahona). The celebration turned out to be a 2-hour long singing and dancing presentation held in the church. The voices were quite remarkable although a program half as long would have been plenty.
Most of the villages in Samoa are on the shore. Manunu is different as it has no view of the ocean but instead is surrounded by steep hills. Nearby is a stream with a waterfall and a pool for bathing and swimming. The houses are fale designs meaning there is a perimeter of poles that hold up a roof. The beach fales typically have no walls but these have walls to keep out the weather. Inside is one large room with mats on the floors and a few pieces of furniture. Most of the houses are in a circle surrounding a central grassy area with a church and other common buildings on one side. Everything was exceptionally clean and the landscaping was manicured, similar to the other villages we had seen. All-in-all, a very interesting experience.

Day 157 Route planning

Mark and I went to the big open air market in Apia and bought fresh vegetables for the trip. We were talked into buying a pumpkin by a woman at one of the stands. We initially said we were not interested because we did not know how to cook it and by the time she rattled off half a dozen delicious sounding recipes we had a pumpkin of our own. Mark had decided he would cook a curry for the trip and we felt if we did not find another use for the pumpkin, at least it would taste good in the curry. The market is surrounded by small shops and Saturday morning is a chaotic flurry of people. I like that environment but many people do not and Mark is one of those so we got our supplies and headed back to the boat.
The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing the curry. One other boat called us on the radio to ask what we were cooking. They said that whatever it was, it smelled delicious.
In the late afternoon, Mark and I attended a meeting with Liahona on Gato Go to discuss routes and destinations. Our original plan was to go from Samoa to Fiji but the others want to visit Tonga and had several suggestions about possible routes. Tonga is a series of island (about 180) so there are many choices. The closest is the island of Niuatoputapu, which the yachties call "new potato" which is about a one-day sail away. It is small and seems like a nice destination if you plan to spend a week but our schedule does not allow for that so we finally decided to make a two to three day trip to Vava'u which is farther South and more in line with our intended Fiji destination. Vava'u is a Moorings location so there are numerous navigation aids and the good and safe anchorages are all marked on the Moorings charts. Although we are not a Moorings charter, we understand they are generous with their charts and we can obtain one when we arrive.
Vava'u also has the reputation for being a sailing destination like the British Virgin Islands with islands close together making it possible to move from place to place within a one day sail. At each anchorage there are other yachts and good facilities. I guess we will see when we get there.

Day 156 Newspaper coverage

Rainy days are good for something and this one was no exception. There were a dozen chores to be done including catching up on the blog and doing some shopping in preparation for the next passage. Most everything is closed on Sunday in Samoa and Monday is a public holiday (Father's Day) so if we are going to leave on Monday we will need to get any necessary supplies today and tomorrow. I spent the day tying to track down a few last items.
The paper come out today and again on page 2 there was a half a page dedicated to Southern Star with a picture of Mark, Kurt and Andy giving a "thumbs up" in appreciation for the good police work and the support of the community. The front Page even had a banner that said "Yachties happy". We may be still missing a few items but at least we did not go without leaving a mark.

Day 155 Island tour

At 1030 I showed up at the Harbor master meeting to represent Southern Star. Most of the other yachts were represented. After a brief introduction, the Harbor master announced that on August 23rd, the new marina would be finished and all of the yachts would be requested to move from their current anchorage. If they don't move into the harbor where there is safe patrolled dock space with water and electricity, they will be charged the same for staying at anchor. The cost is not a lot but the incentive is certainly there to move. There seem to be two reasons for the move.
On August 25th, the South Pacific Olympic Games will commence in Samoa and there are signs of vigorous preparations everywhere including the harbor area. New docks are being built along with sidewalks and attractive lighting fixtures. The area will be fenced for security (they got the message) and other services like showers and toilets will be built within the next few weeks.
The second reason for moving the yachts is that they currently are in the same area where the cargo ships turn in order to get to the wharf. Right now, the large container and tanker ships must be pushed around by a tugboat. in order to get to the dock without running over our little crafts. (I'm glad they do it that way). Once the yachts are all in the marina, the area will be clear for the ships.
Throughout the island, we have seen new structures and facilities for the Olympic Games. Once completed, Samoa will be one of the nicest Polynesian islands we have visited in terms of facilities and infrastructure. It is modern, clean and safe with a tropical climate and scenery. While it may not have the luxury hotels of Bora Bora or Mo'orea, it has a lot of other attractions to recommend it.
While I was at the Harbor Master meeting, Mark, Kurt and Andy were meeting with the newspaper reporter to follow up on the story of the robbery. We wanted to set the record straight that although we had been victimized, the police had rapidly and professionally responded and most of our possessions had been returned. By the time I arrived, the pictures had already been taken and the reporter had left.
We had rented a car so the surfers could get to the beach and still had one more day on the contract so even though there was no rideable waves, we decided to drive along the South coast to see the area on the West side that they had not seen before. For me this was a real treat since I had been sick for the previous trips and had not really seen much of the island except the town of Apia.
The day was perfect and we spent the afternoon driving by pristine villages with traditional "fale" structures, manicured roadsides with decorative and colorful plantings (who maintains these???) and loads of school kids in formal school uniforms. Of course, the other guys looked more at the waves but I enjoyed the views and got a small feel for village life in this lovely island. I know the family structure is very traditional and almost tribal in nature but the "Samoan way" (fa Samoa) looks like it works - at least when viewed from 100 feet away at 35 miles an hour. It would be nice to get more in depth view but that will have to wait for a future trip.

Day 154 Golf

By morning, I felt better but still not 100%. Mark and Kurt were going off to surf again and I was very tempted to go along even if it was only to sit on the beach and watch. As I was preparing to go, Sean from Soul's Calling called and asked if I wanted to play golf with him and Paul from Gato Go. Even though I did not feel the best, I decided that a little exercise and fresh air would do me good so I joined them and we headed for a course that they were told was a "very good" course.
By the time we finished the round, Sean declared that this was the worst golf course he had ever played on. The layout was totally confusing, the fairways were in rough shape, the greens were the bounciest I have ever seen and the rental clubs had loose grips and chipped club faces. Of course, we had a great time!! The scenery was spectacular with views of the mountains, the rain forest and the sea. The people were friendly, the beer was cold, the air temperature was just right and the total cost was about $16 US including green fees, cart, caddy and rental clubs. We enjoyed each other's company and I hit some good shots in spite of the conditions. We wrote down our scores as we went and at the end, forgot to total it and even forgot to take the scorecard with us. That is the proper way to keep track of your score when you are playing golf in paradise especially when the person who tells you about this "great" course happens to be a bartender.
When I got back to the boat I learned that I had made the right choice. There was no surf as the wind and wave were battling with each other to defeat any surfer's dreams. They had had a hot ride in the car and a tour of the South island reef but were unable to find any rideable waves.
The news of Just Deserts was still weighing on us so we decided to have dinner on the boat and watch a movie instead of going out.
At 2230 we heard someone hail us and found a patrol boat next to us. They were letting us know that all of the yachts were requested to appear at the Harbor Master's office at 1030 the next morning for an important meeting. Andy said it was the "Samoan way" to think of these things at the last moment.

Day 153 Lost day

By morning, I ached all over and could think of nothing but sleeping. Kurt "sucked it up" and headed off to surf with Mark and Jim from Liahona. My next moment of consciousness was at 1330 when I finally woke up and knew I needed to get some liquids into myself. The immediate answer was chicken soup since I knew that cures anything. For the rest of the afternoon, I forced soup and tea down to try to recover. Every joint still ached and I imagined any number of alternative causes including the flue and dengue fever but after all was said and done, I think we had eaten some spoiled chicken on our barbecued chicken pizza. I think I will avoid that choice for a while.
There is not much to report about the day except I slept and ate chicken soup occasionally. I don't know if chicken soup is the anti-toxin for chicken poison but it seemed to work. Mark called around dinner time to ask if I wanted to join them but I only felt like sleeping longer so I declined. I seem to have lost a day in paradise but gained a day of rest and recuperation.
To put one more downer on the day, we heard the terrible news that the sailboat "Just Deserts" that we had met in Suwarrow had sunk just off American Samoa. Mike and Dawn were rescued but the boat that had been their home for the last 7 years was lost. There were only sketchy details but apparently Mike sent a "Mayday" at 0830 not long after they had left Pago Pago harbor. The boat was taking on water and he was unable to stop it so they deployed the life raft and waited to be rescued. A cargo ship took them on board and began towing their boat back to the harbor but before they reached safety, their boat sank to the bottom. I remembered Mike giving us a tour of the boat on which he had spent so much time adding all the little touches that he wanted to have to make it easy for him and Dawn to live aboard as long as they wanted. We also remembered every morning in Suwarrow when Mike's voice would come over the radio announcing "another day in paradise". We understand they are now on a friend's boat in Pago Pago harbor. The yachting community was shocked by the news.
Before our next passage, Mark wants to review once again the measures that are needed in the event Southern Star begins to unexpectedly take on water. For those of you that are not sailors, unless the boat strikes something, the only way it can take on water is via a "through-hull" fitting, i.e. some place on the hull where there is a designed hole like the fitting where the propeller shaft exits. Each of these is known and there is a safety procedure for plugging them if they begin to leak. Although the procedure is pretty straight forward, Mike was in essence "single handing" Just Deserts as Dawn did not participate much in the operation of the boat. If a part failed such as the hose that brings cooling water to the engine, water can enter the boat quite rapidly and a lone sailor must react quickly to get things back under control. At least on Southern Star, there are four of us who can team up and outnumber such a problem.

Day 152 Shopping

Downtown Apia
I was feeling a lot better and had not really had a chance to explore Apia before so I welcomed the opportunity to wander through the shops and see what was available. This part of Samoa is much closer to the 21st century than most of the places we have visited. I suppose Papeete in Tahiti is also in the same stage of development but somehow the tension between the French and the Polynesians makes it feel less developed in some ways. Apia, on the other hand, is full of Internet cafes, people talking on cell phones, new cars, modern buildings and a pace that is much like a small city in any part of the modern world. People are friendly, helpful and have that amazingly warm smile that is purely Polynesian. The stock in the stores is limited and the shopkeepers apologize for this as they seem quite aware of the items they are lacking. (This is another differentiating factor to Tahiti where there seemed to be a lack of knowledge of the items they did not have.) Samoa does not have a significant export economy (the joke is that their biggest export is their people) so importing the breadth of goods that one would find in the U.S. seems economically impractical. The economy depends heavily on foreign aid and on funds that family members send from their jobs in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S. Many people have been in New Zealand and can relate to the Western culture found there.
I spent quite a bit of time catching up on this blog as I had been a bit under the weather for a few days and did not do my normal writing. I also took some time to walk through the handicraft market where one sees the same items over and over. There are some beautiful things but the repetition is overwhelming.
The day ended with pizza at a place we had eaten before. This time the result was the worst I could imagine. By 2230, I began to feel very sick. Kurt also was not feeling well and we had both eaten the same kind of pizza. By midnight we were alternating between leaning over the side and visiting the head. I will spare the details but suffice to say we both lost a lot of fluid. Dehydration becomes an issue when you cannot ingest anything.

Day 151 Church

Prayers answered
At 0730 a policeman came to the boat to report that they had recovered most of our stolen items. He came aboard and showed us some examples in order to confirm that these were our belongings. Indeed they were. He then requested we come to the police station to reclaim the rest and even gave us a ride in his van.
When we got to the police station we found 90% of the items including the cell phone, iPods, the camera and the clothing items. Still missing was my watch and my USB memory stick which the policeman indicated may still turn up.
We were a story consistent with very standard police work i.e. "round up the usual suspects" and question them in such a way that one of them confesses. The actual perpetrator was apprehended on Saturday evening as he tried to board the ferry to the island of Sava'i. He eventually confessed and turned over the items he had in his possession. The policeman told us he was 19 years old and had a history of petty theft. He did not tell us how they got him to confess but we suspected that part may not have been pretty. Maybe we have been watching too many cops shows on TV.
Mark pointed out that this kind of effort would not have happened in most of the place we had visited so far. As he mentioned, in Mexico they would not have even looked for the bad guys but instead would have chided us to be more careful. It was not clear if the newspaper article had any significant effect but even if it was a catalyst for action on the part of the police, they did their job and did it well.
With lightened spirits, we headed off to attend Andy's church services at the Baha'i Temple. This is one of 7 such structures in the world and is a spectacular 9-sided arched dome. The Baha'i faith was born in Persia and believes in all of the major prophets including Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, and others. They read the scriptures from the major religions of the world and their service includes sections from many of them. Also, this congregation has a marvelous choir whose voices are amplified and blended by the natural acoustics of the building to produce a beautiful effect. We have heard Polynesian choirs practice in other places and they all seem to have an excellent and pleasing quality. We all enjoyed the service and it gave us an opportunity to meditate on the surprising events of the last few days.
After the service, there was a small gathering where we met a range of people including a man from New Zealand who is involved in trying to establish micro-finance on the island. Since I had just recently learned that Goodwill in the U.S. is also looking into this activity, our conversation was topical and instructive.
After the church gathering, we were invited to the home of Andy's host Samoan family to have lunch. We were driven by on of Andy's "brothers" and were welcomed into the home of by his "father" who is a second level chief and quite influential even at the age of 73. His is one of the small circle of chiefs who selects the top chief of Samoa. Also present was his brother who was visiting from his current home in New Zealand. We ate a traditional Samoan Sunday lunch including fish, beef, breadfruit, taro and various coconut and banana dishes. It was tasty but very filling because to the very starchy ingredients. After the meal we talked a bit but had to fight off the food-coma of the heavy meal.
Finally we returned to the boat and a welcome nap.
In the evening we joined with Jim and Wendy from Liahona for dinner at the Apia Yacht Club. Like most of the yacht clubs we have visited, this is not the St. Francis but rather a simple, open air, waterfront structure. The food, however, was good and very reasonable so we marked it as a place we would probably return.

Day 150 Sick day

Pictures in the paper
I woke up at 0430 feeling ill and spent the entire day in bed.
Mark and Kurt went with Jim to check out the surf on the South reefs and came back at mid-day to report that there was no surf. The wind and waves are coming from the wrong directions at the moment and any potential surf is "knocked down" by their interaction.
Andy came back to the boat in the afternoon with the Saturday paper. To our surprise, one-half of page two was take up by our pictures and story. Interestingly, our pictures conveyed the look of four very unhappy and upset people. I don't think we meant to pose that way but that must have been how we were feeling and it definitely came across in the picture.
The story also captured Mark's comments very accurately, even quoting him directly on his observations about the impact this might have on their tourist trade. The reporter's own spin included a subtle message about the pride of the island being damaged as well.
That evening, Kurt and Andy went to a club where they were recognized by people who expressed that they were sorry this had happened to us.
All in all, it was a surprising expression of concern that we don't think would have happened in many of the place we had been.

Day 149 Sliding Rock

Newspaper reporter
We tried to have a normal day in paradise with our friends from Liahona. We went to a beach and snorkeled for a while and later went to a "sliding rock" which is a series of 10 to 20 foot tall moss covered rocks in a fresh water stream where you can slide from one pool to the next. It was all fun but the robbery was still on our minds.
While we were playing, Andy was attempting to use his knowledge of Samoa to help recover our belongings.
By the time we met for dinner, he had been back to the police station a second time and had also been to the newspaper. As we sat down to eat, he announced that we were about to be interviewed by a reporter from the Samoan Observer. Mark provided our comments and a photographer took our pictures. At least people will know the feeling of a visitor who has been the subject of a theft. Mark was clear to point out that with the imminent commencement of the Olympic Games, the last thing the island needed was bad publicity about the safety of the island. The yachting community has such a good communication network because of the daily radio nets that the word would spread quickly and at least these visitors have options and might change their plans for a visit.
Andy seemed to think that this might help in the recovery of our lost items as it would alert not only the police but also the village chiefs who still hold a strong influence in the area of peacekeeping. In some ways, their influence may be even stronger than that of the police since very little happens in their domains without them being able to know about it.

Day 148 Robbery

Kai's birthday
Today, Kai from Liahona turned 11 so Jim (his dad) wanted us to spend a day with them doing things that Kai wanted to do.
Our first activity was to play golf on a very nice 18 hole course in the middle of the island. I have played golf a few times during this trip and it is a strange experience. All of the courses were so much the same as those in the U.S. that it was hard to realize that we are on an island in the middle of the South Pacific. Even looking around from the course, there is nothing particular that gives away its location. The palm trees are a familiar sight in California and the rest of the landscape here in Samoa does not reveal its location.
Kai did quite well and even won some money from us. Of course there was a small handicap involved but he hung in there and did well.
After golf, we picked up Wendy and her Mom and all went to a feast and fire dance (Samoan fiafia night) at the Kitano Tusitala Hotel. The meal was an all-you-can-eat sumptuous buffet and the dancing was both beautiful and spectacular. We all had a great time and were ready to collapse when we returned to the boat at about 2230.
The moment we entered the boat, we knew something was wrong. There were muddy footprints in the cockpit and in the cabin area things were in disarray. We always remove our shoes before boarding so footprints of any kind indicate something unusual.
Someone had been on the boat while we were gone and had taken items from all of us including backpacks, iPods, shorts, hats, my cell phone (actually Tim's cell phone) a watch, a camera, and several small items. We went back to the harbor office and reported the robbery and the police came to the boat to fill out a report. In addition to the loss of items, we had that "violated" feeling that one gets when your home is broken into. This was such a terrible ending to such a nice day.

Day 147 Boat maintenance

We had anticipated that we would be able to perform some scheduled maintenance items on the boat here since the harbor is calm and it is possible to get the necessary parts and pieces. We spent the morning working on the engine changing the oil, filters and belts. We also got the generator working again and did a major charge of the batteries.
In the afternoon, we joined Liahona for a drive across the island and a tour of the beaches on the Southern shore. Mark remembered the way to the Salani Surf camp where he went with Jordan and Tim so we made our way to pay a visit. Afterwards, we went further East where we found a nice beach for snorkeling.
Unlike the other islands we have visited, Samoa's inland areas are quite settled. There are cross-island roads, houses, plantations and even sidewalks in many areas. All the other islands we visited had perimeter settlements but the inland areas were virgin jungle and in some cases, so steep as to be uninhabitable.
Another feature of Samoa is that it has an active tourist industry so the people are not only friendly but very interested to be helpful.
Throughout the island, Samoa is preparing for the South Pacific Olympic Games that will start at the end of this month. We have not seen a schedule of the events but we have heard that Samoa expects to win in weight lifting and boxing. Judging from the look of the people, I would bet on them rather than against them.
The preparations include the construction of gymnasiums and swimming pools plus a significant restoration of the harbor area. New docks are being built and the waterfront area promenade is receiving a complete make-over. Even the industrial wharf area has a new coat of paint. Clearly a lot of money is being spent in anticipation of the visitors.
We finished the day with dinner on the boat and a movie.