Our first couple of days.
21 October 2012 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
cloudy with some rain.
It's now our second day here in Pago Pago(pronounced Pongo Pongo) in American Samoa. We sat all day yesterday watching and waiting to see if our anchor would drag. This harbor has a reputation as being one of the worst at holding an anchor to it's bottom. So far, our Rochna anchor had done a beautiful job at holding us in place. After about 24 yours of watching our spot on the chart plotter and only having the anchor drag alarm go off when the wind finally died last night and the rains started, we finally headed ashore.
We tied up to one of the local docks(got info from another cruiser) and started exploring. First thing we found out was that MacDonalds no longer offers free wifi. Bummer!! We got some info from another cruiser that was there as to where to go and how to get a card from BlueSky net that will get us onto the internet. Now it only works when you are at a "hot spot", not any where you go as it was in Fiji. It's $50.00US for unlimited use for a month. With that info, we walked up and down the street nearby where we landed and checked out some of the local businesses. Hardware store, grocery stores, US Post Office, etc. We also visited the local "market" to see what fruits and veggies they carry. It's just this side of none to be exact. If you like bananas, you would be in heaven. Not much is available as just about everyone on the island had a garden and grows their own. At least some of the grocery stores do carry some veggies that they get shipped in. We will survive but after Fiji, it's going to be a while before we get an honest to God salad again.
Onto the bus and off to get our wifi card. We waited at the store till our name was called and then their services were explained. Since we expect to be here about a month, the $50.00 card was the best deal. We each have our own cards so we can both "surf" when we are at one of the hot spots. I asked for a list of where their hot spots were and after about 10 minutes, they couldn't really come up with a list. It's just one of those "when you get some where, try and log in" kind of answers.
In the shopping center where Blue Sky was located was a Carl's Jr. restaurant. OMG, it was the best burger I've had in a long time. I had the jalapeno cheese burger. It was nice and hot and spicy. They even offer free refills on their drinks. McDonalds charges $2.00 for a medium cup of coke and refills are also $2.00. Carl's Jr. (even though it cost's a dollar for the bus ride here) sounds really good right now.
Once done at Carl's Jr., we took off for the largest Cost U Less in the South Pacific. Imagine Costco but not on steroids and you'll have Cost U Less. They have a ton more than the one we visited in Suva, Fiji. Prices are about 25-30% less that what we paid in Suva and the selection was great. Lots of things we haven't seen since we left the US. Stove Top stuffing, Idahoan Mashed Potatoes, Jello Instant Chocolate pudding, and even CORN TORTILAS (I suddenly see "chicken enchiladas in our future). We bought an 18 count of California Sunshine brand eggs. The cover is marked "Mainland Eggs, Shell Protected". Any one know anyway else to "protect" an egg other than to have it inside the shell where it belongs? We left Cost U Less with a bill of only $43.15. Not bad but we concentrated on "hard" to find items that we could carry as we wanted to avoid using a taxi that would have cost about $15.00 to get back to the dock. This is the first time we have run into a business since we started cruising that doesn't offer carrying bags for what you buy. The last Cost U Less would at the least sell you cloth bags but did have free plastic bags. Not so here, so we will either be taking our own bags or getting things put in boxes when we really restock our supplies and take a taxi back to the dock.
So we are now back on board Zephyr. The wind continues to howl around us and the DuoGen sits on the stern making some volts for the batteries. Tomorrow, Sunday, is a day of rest where just about everything on the island is closed so we will start in on some projects that cropped up during our crossing from Tonga(engine wouldn't start). Tonight, a movie or two.
Over night, we had more rain and lots more wind coming right down the harbor. So far this year, American Samoa has received over 86 inches of rain and it's in the forecast for very day that we can get a forecast. One of the mountains that surrounds the harbor is called "Rain Maker Mountain". It lives up to it's name. We will be heading back into McDonalds to use the internet and start getting things on order. Being Sunday, most businesses are closed plus there are no buses running so we will be sticking close to the dinghy dock.
It's nice to see that our effect on weather has continued since we got here. When we got to Tonga, they have had a drought for the past 3 months. Once we got there, they had torrential rains for several days filling all the cisterns. Since we have gotten to American Samoa, there has been rain everyday. Maybe it's not us, just where we are. Having had 86 inches of rain this year, maybe it's just natural. Meanwhile, we are looking for some tarps to put over the top of Zephyr.
We're now at McDonalds surfing and trying to get some parts on order. We don't want to spend a lot of time here and the sooner we get things ordered, the sooner thing will start arriving.
The photo is of the kids getting wedged in during the trip north. Blue leans against the wall while Snowshoe holds on for dear life in the bottom level of the cat tree. You can see his legs sticking out of the shelf.