Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - A Slice of America
28 August 2007 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Don
Pago Pago harbor is very dirty, smelly and noisy from the tuna canneries which operate 24/7. There is junk almost everywhere along the shoreline. The geography, however, is stunning. The bay is surrounded by precipitous mountains with lush, tropical vegetation rivalling the beauty of Moorea. The locals are the friendliest people I've met and they all speak English. It is sort of like being back home; There are lots of U.S. Government Buildings, Pizza Hut, KFC, and large SUVs for the large Samoans. There is even a National Park here which I hope to visit when boat projects are finished.
I picked up my mail and packages and everything seems to be in order. I see the stock market has not crashed, at least as of June 30. Now I need to install some electrical components to get the charging system up to snuff and then I can relax and see the sights and do some shopping.
All else is well onboard. I still have plenty of tuna despite giving away about 15 lbs. There are five other boats in the anchorage. Four left this afternoon for Western Samoa, now just called Samoa, and one arrived this evening with the hailing port of Chicago. I wonder what route they took to get here.