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.