10/21/2009, Savaii, Samoa
BRICK HOUSE CREW SAVED FROM TSUNAMI BY BROKEN FREEZER
Our 2 year anniversary of Cruising got off to a shaky start. We rose with the sun to catch a bus from the north end of Savaii, Samoa, so we could go to the vegetable market then swim in a waterfall, all on the south east side of the island. There was a delay though. Patrick noticed the temperature on the freezer was too high and had to do something to save our frozen food before we could leave on our field trip. Two hours later, while screw drivers and electrical parts littered the galley, Brick House started vibrating. It was like a sail luffing. We were at anchor in a beautiful tropical cove, flat turquoise water and little wind. The owners of one of the other 2 boats anchored nearby were also on deck wondering what was going on, the owners of the other boat slept through it. Thirty seconds later the vibrating stopped. An hour after that, we were able to continue our morning and dinghy to shore.
Pulling the dinghy to the high tide line of the sand beach at the local hotel, we quickly learned that all tourists and any willing locals had been evacuated to high up on the mountain side. We were in the middle of a tsunami warning! We watched the water over the white sand recede as the ocean level on a tide post dropped a foot and a half. At that level we would not be able to motor back over the reef to get to Brick House nearly a half mile away. Then, within a few minutes, the water started coming in again. As the water rose to the red mark, the high tide mark on the post, we jumped in the dinghy and shot over the reef to the deep water where Brick House was anchored. Soon the last of the hotel crew was evacuated to the mountain, leaving just a few foolhardy locals, and us yachties, at sea level.
We did not stop at Brick House but shot to the other cruising boat which was anchored much too close to shore, on the other side of the cove. We needed to alert the still sleeping owners about the danger they were in. Any large waves would certainly break over their boat. They quickly re-anchored in deep water near us.
The local FM radio gave us some information saying that the worst of the situation was probably over. Soon the tsunami warning was lifted. We were safe but the guys on the other two boats grabbed their surfboards to catch the last of the big rollers breaking on the outer reef and curling into the deep water anchorage.
Its funny how in the US when a natural disaster happens, there is more news than ever...Here they cancelled the noontime news report due to the disaster. Scattered details started trickling in. By late afternoon the death toll in Samoa and American Samoa was up to 131 people. Many were found buried in sand. Most of the destroyed homes and cars washing out into the ocean occurred on the south side of the islands. Many villages were completely leveled. We heard also, that a 5 foot waved washed through Papo Pago harbor in American Samoa, sending water a mile inland. The entrance to that secure harbor is on the south side of the island. We have friends who were anchored in Pago Pago and other friends tied to docks there. We are very anxious to communicate with them and hear they are safe. Rebecca spent much of the day listening to news, talking on the SSB, and sending/receiving emails through SSB.
New Zealand Red Cross is taking donations to help with the situation in Samoa while President Obama is sending aid to American Samoa.
Now the north Cook islands are reporting damage, and 5 are dead in the northern island of NiueTapuTapu, "New Potatoes" Tonga.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, 29 September, a more complete picture of the devastation, on the other side of the mountain from us, will emerge.
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10/21/2009, American and Independant Samoa
Our visit to American Samoa - ie Pago Pago was a little different than most stops we have made to date in the Pacific...
After checking in, Patrick and I, without even saying it to eachother, silently boarded a ruckus bus with heavy bass music, and went straight to Pizza Hut...it wasn't even mealtime! Then for dinner, we had chicken mcnuggets, burgers, french fries, and Chocolate Sundaes at the golden arches of McDonalds. Needless to say, we pigged out more than once in American Samoa. My stomach hadn't ached like that for years.
After our "pigout day", we went grocery shopping for more than one bag of groceries- the first time since Panama. We shopped at the CostULess and got American steaks and hamburgers for our freezer, as well as boneless skinless chicken breast and big buckets of feta cheese, Blowpops, and Reeses Peanut butter cups. We went to local stores and bought swordfish steaks, and cereal. Cream cheese and sour cream, hard cheeses and snacks...it seems like everything we have done without for 6 or so months is American and bad for you. No wonder Americans (and American Samoans) are so BIG!
And plastic- I always thought America was ahead of the curve with environmental practices. I have learned how far behind we are compared to the rest of the world. Most countries we have been to in the South Pacific have recyclable bags or "bring your own bags" at grocery stores. Nothing is wrapped in plastic if another material can be used. Back in America, ie American Samoa, I am overwhelmed at how everything is plastic wrapped and bags in grocery stores are "no problem". And because of this, there is "no problem" finding plastic bags on the streets, in the waters, in the parks...everywhere you look. Most Pacific Islanders don't have this problem because plastic bags are so scarce.
In more than one way, it was like coming "home" here. FDIC signs on the bank teller windows, American flags hanging in yards, parks and busses, yellow ribbons tied around trees and fences honoring those in wars, US Post Office with the same PO Boxes and forms on the counters as the mainland. When we were done checking in with the officials I commented to one of them that it was good to be back in the USA! He corrected me that I was in an "American Protectorate". I asked another local about this, and she couldn't understand why the man had said this. They consider themselves full fledge Americans and are proud to be so. It was very interesting to me to see this very strong American identity and patriotism mixed with the traditional Samoan culture. One memorable example of this is from attending a "White Sunday" celebration. One Sunday each month all of the children from the different churches put on a show. It's attended by all the locals...I was the only cruiser there that particular Sunday. All of the children are dressed in white, and they sing and dance through a skit, mostly in Samoan language. It was very noticeable how the boys really let it all hang out. They danced with familiar Polynesian movements, as well as American rap music type moves...with enthusiasm and vigor. The girls barely move their bodies during the same song...all that they really move are their fingers.
The wind continued to blow for a week after we got there, often in the 30s in the anchorage. We kept a close eye on Brick House from various vantage points during the day around the harbor, but she never budged an inch. None of the other boats moved either despite the repuation for poor holding here. Our batteries also stayed charged all week, with constant wind and sunshine. We had the anchor alarm on at night for the whole first week, just to be sure.
One day we shared a rental car with Chuck and Joanie on SV Tender Spirit to explore the island. We saw fruit bats and beautiful overlooks in the rainforest on the east side of the island. They showed us where to shop, and we enjoyed lots of good conversation. Another day, we rode the musical busses all over the island to pick up supplies, as well as to simply see the whole of the island. Another day we hiked up a long trail in to the rainforests , where it indeed rained every 10 or 15 minutes, to the top of the mountain with awesome views of the harbor! I even had a HUGE fruit bat hover right near me...with its wingspan of nearly 2 feet sounding like luffing sails inside my eardrums. What an awesome creature - you have to see it to believe it...they look just like the giant monster vampire bats you see in the movies except they like fruit juice way better than blood. We shared our picnic lunch at the top of the mountain under a fale with numerous skinks enjoying our tuna fish sandwich leftovers.
With fast Wifi on the boat, we placed our orders to Amazon for books we have been wanting, boat parts, as well as camera lenses to replace Patrick's old mildewed ones. The US Mail system is great there and within 10 days we had everything we wanted as though we were having it shipped to Rhode Island. We better keep writing and snapping those pictures to pay it all off! The problem with cities and conveniences...you spend too much...and realize before too long that you had better leave before you think of anything else that you "need".
After 2 weeks of making new friends, and exploring this truly beautiful island and buying too much food, we were ready to depart to Independant Samoa. Hurricane season and an empty wallet pushes us onwards. Just when our wallet was at its emptiest, the officials wanted $165.00 to check out. Highway robbery. This is more than we had spent combined for the last 8 months of countries. (We had avoided the Cook Islands because its even more there). We complained to the harbormaster and wrote a letter to the editor which was published a week later. We totally enjoyed ourselves here, but that kind of fee will not encourage us to go back there next season. I'm not sure American Samoa cares OR minds that we there, which is some of the charm of the place. But it seems that most cruisers now, and even more so in the future, will likely travel on to Apia and skip American Samoa.
Our sail to Independant Samoa - I don't even remember it- must have been a calm 80 miles overnight. We arrived Apia, with again many familiar boats tied up at the marina there. Its funny how as time goes on, you know more boats thatn you dont, in each anchorage. Samoa is very organized in its check in procedure and within about 4 hours there had been about 5 or 6 officials on the boat, many of them with head colds that I promptly caught with a vengeance. One wanted a fumigation certificate but settled for a list of the ingredients on our handy dandy bug spray can that we keep at the companionway. I'm glad one of our tiny resident ants didn't bite him while he sat in our cockpit.
The next day about 10 cruisers got together and went on a taxi tour of the island. The taxi driver knew where to take us and I had my guidebook to read to the others about what we were seeing. It worked out to be very economical- I think about 15$ per couple for an all day tour. Again- a very beautiful island, and we saw a lot in a short while.
The dock was almost 20$ per day, which is a deal by Newport RI standards, but too pricy for us to stay long. We got our internet time in, went to the veggie market, and headed out a short 3 days later to Samoa's "big island"- Savaii. We planned to take a look at Apolima - a small island between Upolo ( Apia), and Savaii. I could not find on the internet a single account of anyone going there in a sailboat but my tourist guide suggested a "gem", so I wanted to go. If it didn't work out, there was asemi-exposed bay on the southeast of Savaii, not too far away that we could enter in time for sunset. Who knows, maybe we would love the reefs there and stay a week.
As we approached and I further examined that "Plan B" if Apolima didn't work out , we decided to carry on to the anchorage on the north side of Savaii where we would be more protected and be closest to most of the sights, with a good beach and reef to explore too. It turned out that this was a very good choice.
We anchored in beautiful Matautu Bay. The water was the warmest we have felt for a long time, and the reef was pretty. Turtles were plentiful and the beach was an easy landing. We were anxious to see some of the sights on the southeast side of the island so we planned a bus trip early for the very next day. Unfortunately when we woke up, we saw that our freezer had stopped working. Patrick worked quickly to resolve it so we could still take our bus trip. Then the earthquake happened....
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