mail and projects
05 November 2012 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Sunny and some showers
Well the mail finally showed up yesterday. It actually came in by plane on Friday but it take s a while to get it checked in. Mail only comes in on Tuesday and Friday so Wednesday and Saturday are very busy at the Post Office. There are lines at the front counter and at the back door for bigger boxes. Lines everywhere. We got three boxes on our first try at the front counter. When we told the guy that we had gotten email confirmation at there were more boxes already checked in, hos response was "Come back Monday. We should have them checked in by then". Out the door we went and around to the back door. Got two more from them(not really big boxes). We headed for McDonalds to get on the internet only to find that there were two more boxes check in. So back I went. Got there at 11:58 while they close at 12:00. They found one and again said "Come back on Monday". What a great job.
When we got up in the morning, Tracy looked out the hatch and found one of the Princess Cruise line boats tied up to the dock. The Sapphire was in town. Once we got to shore, a whole bunch of white folks had descended on the town. They were everywhere. McDonalds was a sea of white folks with no tans. Every seat was taken. What are cruisers to do. Most stayed on their boats but a few had gotten to McD and gotten their regular seats. People were wandering around town sort of lost or wondering what to do. We stopped and talked to several groups of people as we headed for the Post Office and more on the way back. There isn't really much to do here that would attract a boat like this. Thousand of tourists. Apparently three got taken from the boat to the medical center by ambulance when the boat docked. It's a 29 day cruise starting in LA, then off for four days(and four ports) in Hawaii. Over to Samoa(one day) and then American Samoa(one day) and then onto French Polynesia with stops in Bora Bora, Moorea, and then Papette for two days and then off for LA again. That makes it about 18 days at sea. Not much time in port but a whole lot of time at sea.
We met lots of nice people but according to them the average age on board was in the low 70's. Lots of wheel chairs and walkers. I'll take Zephyr any time over that. At least when we took a cruise to Mexico several years ago, the average age was a whole lot younger.
Today was down into the bilge again. We'd gotten the replacement bilge pump switch in in the mail so in it had to go. We ended up taking everything out so we could get to the bottom to get all the mud and water out. There was just enough oil in the water to make what ever I touched, we slippery in my hands. Couldn't even hold a screw driver in my hands without using a paper towel. Out with the old(a couple of years old) and in with the new and the job was done. Of course, I dropped some of the screws I needed to take out down to the bottom of the bilge so I had to go clear to the bottom to get them back. I was upside down from my waist down. Gee what fun. I was sweating like a pig in heat and dripping everywhere. Oh, I was a mess by the time we got the job done. Tracy got the job of cleaning off all the oil and dirt from the pump and switch assembly. Yuck, what a job. It was a mess down there as all the water, mud and the galvanization that has fallen off the anchor chain ended up down there. Once it was done, I went outside to take off my shirt as it was dripping sweat all over the place and I didn't want to make more of a mess than I already had.
The afternoon was spent with Tracy at the sewing machine fixing the holes in the shorts we have been wearing for the last couple of years. She also made the flag for the Federated States of Micronesia. Didn't get one before we left the US but Tracy had bought the fabric to make our own. Creative girl that she is.
I spent it cleaning up my mess and putting away lots of my tools that have been out for the last couple of days as we fix things. By the time we took off for McDonalds for dinner(both exhausted) Zephyr looked a whole lot better.
Tomorrow back to the Post Office and then up to the Medical Center to see about getting all my prescriptions refilled. Sure hope they have lots of drugs in stock.