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.