Samoa

"...Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill." RLStevenson

Apia's new cathedral

On Monday 24^th June two boats left Pago Pago, American Samoa, bound for Apia, Samoa, 86 miles away. They were a catamaran called The Lucky One and a sloop called Sal Darago. It was rough at the entrance to the harbour near the aptly named Breakers Point. The short, overnight passage required several sail changes as we passed between two islands and made our way along the northern side of Upolu to the port of Apia. At midnight, we lost a complete 24 hours as we crossed the International Date Line. Bye bye Tuesday. Hello Wednesday.  It was light when we arrived. The catamaran had threatened to overtake us but it stayed about half an hour behind us.

The tomb of RLStevenson

Apia Port Control told us to go to the marina. We tied up with the help of other yachties but had to move half an hour later, so The Lucky One could have a double berth. Our second berth was next to another British yacht called Serafina. I called Port Control on VHF 16 and asked them to inform Customs and Immigration of our arrival. Four hours later, we had been boarded by Health and Customs. We had to take a taxi to Immigration in town and clear in at their office. At the marina, we met friendly Sharon, the temporary manager, and arranged to stay for a few days.

The easy walk down

One highlight of our stay was our visit to the Robert Louis Stevenson’s house, which has been preserved as a museum. First, we walked up a steep path to the top of Mount Vaea, to see the tomb of RLS (those initials sound very familiar!) We took the gentle path down, which was quite a rough track in places, but lovely and shady. Afterwards, we had a guided tour of the museum led by Fina. She sang the epitaph on RLS’s tomb beautifully.

RLStevenson's house

We caught a local bus back to Apia. All the schools had just finished for three weeks’ holiday and the bus was full. No problem. Perhaps twenty of us squeezed on the full bus , with many sitting three to a seat and the rest standing. Polite teenagers offered us their seats. Others smiled and giggled.

The bad weather continued

Back on SD, there was an overpowering smell of dead fish. This was coming from the anchor locker. The fish canning factory in Pago Pago empties its waste into the harbour and the seawater on the anchor chain was festering in the heat and humidity. The whole 50 metres of chain had to be hauled out and soaked in a solution of bleach. The locker had to be scrubbed. I was happy to let Jeremy do this job! Then the weather turned nasty. Strong winds blew, heavy continuous rain fell and the swell beyond the harbour rose to 4.5 metres. No-one was going anywhere. Our short stay had to be extended to 10 days.

Making and wearing a lava lava (skirt)

A local taxi driver called Tai is usually around to help the visiting cruisers and take them on island tours. He took two of our cooking gas bottles and had them filled for us. We took our laundry to a local woman who lives about 10 minutes walk away and we found a decent supermarket called Frankies close by. There are also a number of restaurants.

There was much to do. Jeremy made new covers for two of our saloon berths while I researched entry requirements for Tonga, Fiji and Australia. Most of the Pacific islands require 48 hours’ notice of arrival by private boats, Australia requires visas as well. Fortunately, we had bought 3gb of WiFi from Sharon and I bought a local SIM card for my phone. We filled in all the required forms online and sent them off. We booked our flights from Brisbane to London and contacted The Boatworks near Brisbane to have SD hauled out and stored for three months while we return home.

As time passed, we realised we would have to change our plans so we emailed Tonga Customs to tell them we were no longer going there and we emailed Fiji Customs to say we’d be arriving later than previously stated. All time consuming stuff.

A taste of Samoa

We did find time to go to the excellent Cultural Village Show at Tourist Information, where we saw traditional full body tattooing, tapa cloth being made, food being cooked in an umu and we weaved palm leaves to make our own plates. We sampled fish, breadfruit, taro and coconut cream and were entertained with singing and dancing.

Traditional dancer with a full body tattoo

In the afternoon, we attended the official opening of the Clock Tower Boulevard and Waterfront, funded by grants from New Zealand and China. After the speeches, we were fed again and given drinking coconuts to refresh us.

The bar at Aggie Grey's

One evening we walked to the famous Sheraton Hotel, Aggie Grey’s. We had drinks in the spacious bar and had a look around this historical site.

On Sunday, 7^th July, the South Pacific Games 2019 begin here in Apia.

Today, Friday 5^th July, we cleared out with Immigration and Customs after paying our marina fees. Tomorrow, we leave for Fiji, a passage of 600 miles.