American Samoa, Western Samoa, Wallis and Fiji Islands

Photo slide show for this section is at: http://www.cometosea.us/albums/albums/Circumnavigation%20Slideshow/CaliforniathroughPhilippines.pdf            

And start at Slide # 134

Savusavu Bay, Fiji, October 3rd. '05

The radio is playing "It's gonna be a bright, bright, bright sunny day...". It's about time. In the last 10 days I have hardly seen a patch of blue sky; just continuous showers and dark skies. You will see a change in the photo album, less scenery more people. The shift to more focus on fellow cruisers also has much to do with the fact that the further you progress together the stronger the bonds grow. I envision that I'll be a centenarian by the time I'll have revisited these new friends at their land bases in Europe and in North America. But that is turning out to be the unexpected high light of this adventure. In my first ports of call, in the Marquesas, I saw dinghies going back and forth from boat to boat and I felt a little outside of the action. This most likely was due to the fact that many of these boats had already met up in Mexico or, for the Europeans, the Caribbean. Now the groups are larger and mostly concentrated on shore at one or two favorite hangouts. And it is easy to join the group as a singlehander. My languages also enable me to join various groups. Yesterday I had dinner at a table with three German couples and another German S/Her. The previous evening I sat at a table at the Copra Shed drinking beer with 10 French cruisers. Once I leave Fiji I will be starting to lose contact with most of the boats. The majority will be heading South to New Zealand or S.W. to Australia. A few will be stopping at the southern islands of Vanuatu and New Caledonia.

In the prior report I was getting ready to leave French Polynesia at Bora Bora. A strong southern wind, "Muramu", was blowing on Bora Bora and my anchorage was very close to the lee shore. I had planned to load the bicycle back on the boat at the gas dock but the waves were too rough to safely tie up. In the attempt to lift the 40 year old bike from the dinghy to the transom, I lost my balance and the choice was me or the bike. It was a sad parting. It had served me so well on this trip as well in the previous 39 years. But possibly it was meant to be because the rust was starting to become a safety issue with the brake cables, steering, etc. I will look for a replacement in Vietnam. The last two days to Pago Pago were rough. Frequent rain storms and strong winds. I arrived just before the Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately I can think of very little good to say about Pago Pago, except that the people were kind and friendly. It is the dirtiest city I have ever come across in the many countries I have visited in my life time. I had heard of some of the negatives but it was worse than I could have imagined. The bay is filthy from the garbage that floats down the streets and creeks. The power plant is ear deafening. The fish processing plant smells awful. They have one of the highest rainfalls in the area. The main reason I went there was to receive a package from Lisa, in particular the digital camera replacement. It is being claimed as a good stop for shopping in American type super markets. The prices were o.k. but the selection in Apia was much better. And by the time you pay the exorbitant customs and harbor fees in Pago Pago you'd be ahead by skipping this hell hole for Apia.  I did get to meet several fellow cruisers in Pago Pago who I have seen since in subsequent anchorages. Hans and Sunny on "Seute Deern" a German-Korean couple from South Africa. Berndt Mansholt and 19 year old son Daniel on "Nis Randers". He has an excellent  web site with frequent updates at http://www.wirhauenab.de/    They are from Oldenburg, Germany. The four men crew on "Jolly Celeste" from the Hamburg area. The owner Thede Doerscher from Nindorf, crew Gerhard Troemer from Seelbach, Black Forest, and two younger crewmembers Wolfgang from Wuerzburg and Thomas. I have very much enjoyed their company in Apia and here in Savusavu. The "Jolly Celeste" is a Hereshoff design  gaff rigged wooden schooner. Thede built it entirely. I have several pictures in the accompanying photo album. I have fond memories of Danny Robert of "Sequoia" who is refitting his boat in Pago Pago to sail back to Fiji. The Rooney family from Ardsley, Pa., Beth and Joe and their five kids from 6 to 16, on "Leprechaun" took up an entire pew at mass. I have not seen them or heard of them since Pago Pago. Beth and Joe were both pilots and met each other on the flight deck of the "Constellation". Glenn Andert on "Learjet" became a single handler when his lady friend jumped ship in Pago Pago. In the week that I was awaiting the package I never saw an American Samoan on a bicycle in a canoe or even walking more than a short distance, in sharp contrast to the other islanders. They have the worst diets with a very high rate of obesity and diabetes. On a jitney ride one fat mama just about squeezed me through the wall of the bus. One afternoon I hiked up to the highest peak overlooking the bay. There are pictures of the climb on the previous album at www.cometosea.us/albums/Tahiti . I saw several of the flying fox bats and fruit bats.

Apia was very nice. And many of the cruisers stay there for an extended period. It is a good place to get to know the rest of the boats anchored in the Apia bay because just about everyone uses the showers and dinghy dock and cafe/bar at the rowing club. The city is nicely laid out from the bay with an attractive board walk. I enjoyed the weekly traditional song and dance show, with buffet dinner, that is put on by the personnel of the landmark Aggie Grey hotel resort. There were a number of French boats. First of all the catamaran "Perle des Iles", with the owner Pascal and crewed for him, from Papeete where the Dufour ex-charter was bought, by the couple Richard and Francine. When I was in Raiatea the boat had a for sale sign on it. They sailed it from there with additional crew, Anthony, Odile and Benedicte via Suvarov to Apia. I met up with them again in Wallis and they are here with me in Savusavu. They also have become good friends. A very nice love affaire has been blossoming between French Benedicte of "Perle.."and German Wolfgang of "Jolly Celeste", both in their late twenties.  Benedicte ended up sailing with the Germans from here to Tonga and she will rejoin the catamaran crew in New Caledonia. A 27 footer with Patric and Linda and a forever breaking Navik wind vane, like the one I ditched in California. A steel boat from Reunion with Jerome and his family. Both boats arrived here a couple days ago. "Blue Note" a Jeanneau 34 with Lidia and ?. And another couple whose names I can't recall. There were at least two Danish boats in Apia. "Anaconda" who I had met already in Pago Pago and " Northern Star" with Mogens and Anne Holten. I had met them in Papeete.  "Gaia" is a home built pretty Junk rigged schooner from the Toronto area with the Dutch Canadian couple Jim den Hartog and Helen den Dekker. I believe they are off to the Marshall Islands with a number of other Apia boats.  Long time cruisers in this area, Jeff and Debbie Heartjoy of "Sailor's Run" were in Apia. They are from Fillucy Bay, not far from Gig Harbor. "Nora", originally from Victoria B.C., with a Newfoundland mother and daughter, Alice and Tara, and Tara's North Australian boy friend Mike. They left yesterday from Savusavu.  The sail to Wallis was a mixture of little to no wind to strong wind conditions. I tried to get in early on Sunday morning to be able to go to mass. But it took me a while to find an anchorage. The popular anchorages are all exposed to the predominant easterlies. I ended up in the lee of a small uninhabited island, Nukuatea, inside the Wallis lagoon. But by the time I had the anchor down it was mid day. Later that day I discovered that it was Monday rather than Sunday. I had assumed that the dateline ran down the 180 degree longitude. But there are some exceptions where the date line is bent out of shape. Wallis, Tonga and part of New Zealand pushed into the eastern side of the dateline, ahead of 180 degrees. I had this small island all to myself. Close to the coral shelf and a white sandy beach. The next morning I anchored off the little town of Gahi on the main island. There were two more boats. "Centennial 2000" from Toronto area with Ken and Jean Powell, on an Amel Mango. They are also buoyed close to me here now. And "Aquila" with Frans and Lenneke Nooij. They were surprised to be answered in Dutch from an American boat when they came along side. They had befriended a Wallis family and we ended up going over to their home that evening for an outstanding barbecue. I hitchhiked to the main town, Mata Utu, to check in with customs. The "Perle des Iles" was anchored off the shore. This is where I met Benedicte and later Odile. Odile is the aunt of Patrick, on the 27 footer that was in Apia. She had sailed on the small boat with Patrick and Linda to Raiatea. Odile, on meeting me in Mata Utu told me that she had heard about me. When I asked her if it was good or bad. She replied : " Mais non", they tell me that you are the "Americain qui parle vachement bien francais". That made my day. "Vachement" is difficult to translate, it is slang and obviously has to do with "cows" but the closest would be something like "outrageously". The story between the owner and the crew of "Perle des Iles" had now become a bit complicated. The wife of the owner, Pascal, threatened divorce unless he gets his butt into Noumea on the double. The crew tells him they cannot make the boat go any faster. Pascal, when he bought the boat, had zero clue on sailing and navigation. Now the wife decided to send two sailors from Noumea to Wallis to take over from Pascal's 5 men crew. They took a look at the boat and called her back that the boat lacks the equipment for them to sail it any faster than Pascal's crew. She got the gendarmes involved. In a two hour telephone conversation from Noumea to Wallis the gendarmes manage to soothe the stormy seas. Richard laconically explained to me that the motto of the French Gendarmerie is "En service de la population". So, then she ordered Pascal and her two hired guns to report back to Noumea. Their flight was scheduled for that Saturday. But they did not make it out of there till last Tuesday because Wallis had a tempest in a teapot over the weekend. There are two political factions on Wallis. Each headed by a King. One faction supports the taxation of property and to allow sale of property to non Wallisians. The other is dead set against it. They feel that this is just a plot to take away the land from the land  rich but cash poor Wallisians. The French prefect threw him self behind the first faction. The first faction had an aging king and they decided to install a new king last weekend. Faction #2 decided that was not to be and they threw up road blocks, Thursday a week ago. This was settled with a contingent of peace keepers sent in from Noumea early last week. Pascal and his wife's mercenaries managed to get out of Wallis last Tuesday. Faction # 1 did not install their new younger king. Wallis is a beautiful island. In contrast to the earlier stops, Wallis is fairly flat and is ideal for agriculture. I found it to be more French than French Polynesia. It was very expensive.  I left Thursday, September 22nd, for Fiji. "Perle des Iles" left right behind me. In the afternoon rain storms were blowing through. But the night was reasonably clear with a nearly full moon. But the next day the clouds and rain storms and wind whipped up again. And from then till Sunday's arrival here the wind hardy ever dropped under 30 knots and went up to 40 knots. It was a long exhausting noisy ride. There was just no way to try hand steer the boat gently off the breaking crests because of the rain and the exhaustion it would cause. So, the boat kept on crashing with loud noises, off the crests. It was nearly impossible to get some sleep. It was a great relief to tie off to a mooring buoy here, in Savusavu Bay, last Monday morning. The positive side of this very unpleasant voyage is that it has given me reinforcement in the capabilities of the boat and my skills. But the dark stormy rainy weather continued, till to-day. I was starting to wonder if I'd be needing to find a tanning booth. To-day I hope to recover the FJ$75 (=US$50) overtime penalty I was charged last Monday. I had arrived off Point Cousteau near Savusavu on Sunday afternoon and anchored with a number of other boats there. The regulation is that you need to proceed directly to a customs port within 24 hours of entering Fiji waters. Customs had apparently taken the names of several boats that had been anchored there before Monday. My argument that I had done this for my safety because of the weather did not go over. But the next day the same officer walked up to me and suggested that he'd write a letter to me that I were to answer to try and recover the FJ$75. That certainly was a kind gesture of this officer. There are close to 30 boats here; several semi permanently. Many are leaving to-day because of the improved weather. The Copra Shed is the main hang out. It is a renovated old wharf building with the Yacht Club, restaurant-bar, internet cafe, marine and liquor store, laundry facilities and showers. In addition there is the Waituee Marina, a smaller set up, who also have about the same number of mooring buoys available as the Copra Shed and also has a bar and happy hour, laundry, shower. I am on a Waituee buoy and find the three ladies there very kind and helpful.  "Curly" an Australian who runs the "Bosun's Locker" has an 8.30 a.m. cruisers VHF net and the "Rag of the Air" on SSB 8173.0 is run from near here and with "Curly"'s participation. Last Wednesday we went on a bus tour to the town of Labasa. This is on the N.W. side of this island of Vanua Levu. It is the center for the sugar cane growing area. The market was particularly colorful and interesting. I sat and drank Kava with three Hindi young men and was taught the art of rolling Suki cigarettes from their local tobacco leave and tree bark for the wrapper. Kava is a traditional drink here and used at most ceremonial occasions. It is brewed from the root of the Pepper tree. It is not an alcoholic drink but a mild drug, it has a calming affect. It takes a while to tolerate the taste. It looks like dark dishwater. I have learned a few Hindi expressions and Fijian. The Hindi have hung on to their language and traditions even though the majority has never set foot in India. Prices here are very reasonable. About twenty five percent of what I was paying in French Polynesia for food and services. It hardly pays for me to cook here because you can get a good meal for under US$5. The list of boats here would be too long. There was one new Dutch boat, "Vierde Dimensie", with Sjef and Ermi de Keizer from North Limburg. Yesterday I shared a taxi with Cindy from "Simplicity" to mass. She and her husband Paul are from upstate New York. The R.C. church was built in 1897. The 7 a.m. mass was mostly attended by the students from the boarding school on the church grounds.  I will try and take off very early to-morrow for Vanuatu. Depending on conditions my intentions is to not call at Port Villa but to head for the northern islands and the port of Luganville on Espiritu Santo and then continue on to the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Look for the next edition in about a month or more from that region.