We have developed a reputation for cruising the pacific under sail without assistance, and Pago Pago (hopefully) was our final challenge. Our entrance into the harbor was text book. The lee shore anchorage boasted 25 knots of breeze, intermittent squalls and poor holding. We rounded a moored fishing trawler gracefully maneuvering the boat upwind to deploy the anchor. Anchor down and sails under control, we drifted back to set the anchor. Executed beautifully, there was only one catch (or lack thereof): the boat kept drifting.
We re-engaged the jib, sailing on a backwards drift and tactfully dodged 3 other boats. 230 ft of chain on anchor #1 and 180ft of chain/1" nylon rode on anchor #2 finally settled us into 20 feet of water as the hook caught an unmarked mooring line. We ended up dragging ¾ of the way across the anchorage. All of the other sailors are still unsure of whether the Broken Compass is crewed by luck or skill (sometimes we are not quite sure ourselves). Whichever the case, they presented us with a coconut award for surviving yet again. The boat is now berthed safely in the Pago Pago marina as shown:
Pago Pago harbor is in American Samoa, which is a territory of United States. What this means is they have the same government set-up and congressional representation (although they do not vote in Washington DC). The government here is extremely corrupt. They receive over $300 million annually in subsidies from the US government which is disappears amongst the various organizations. The island is far from paradise. Besides offshore tuna, reef, and the occational friendly turtle, American Samoa traded clear water and marine life for industry and plastic. Trash and pollution are just a way of life.
The NFL linebacker breeding ground reputation has been confirmed: they are HUGE! The people here have coined a phrase, "Eat like a Samoan." McDonalds even packs on extra beef patties to the double quarter pounder because supersizing is not enough. Corruption, pollution and size aside; Samoans are generally a carefree and welcoming people.
The 11 mile island offers mountainous terrain surrounded by coral reefs. There are a few good hikes which we explored in the first two weeks. Makai particularly enjoys chasing mice, geckos and the invasive king toads on the shaded paths. The majority of the land is privately held by villages which limits exploration of the island. We were deterred from one path by two men with shotguns who not so politely informed us we were trespassing.
We have spent a lot of time mingling and saying farewell to friends we accumulated throughout the pacific. Our main project here is to fix the engine which hasn't worked for 8 months now. Bret is flying to Mexico for a cousin's wedding. He will continue to Pennsylvania to visit family and friends. I will work on the boat with Makai to overhaul our rusted diesel engine (wish me luck!).
I'm wondering about your "pollution" comment. American Samoa has two wastewater treatment plants and conforms to all EPA regulations for clean drinking water, stack emissions and marine discharges. (you don't piss over the rail at night I hope). Western Samoa, Tonga as well as most independent Pacific nations meet none of the stringent federal rules that apply to American Samoa. You've had your typhoid and Hep B shots I hope. Because you're going to need them around the Pacific. Or maybe dad bought you medivac insurance. Enjoy swimming in the raw sewage effluent in Apia harbor and elsewhere. Enjoy reef snorkling while you are here because a combination of overfishing, and chlorine bleach poisoning have killed off the reefs of Samoa long ago. Same with rain forests; loggers cut them down decades ago.
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BusyCorner
Like A broken compass American Samoa may not yet be finding North, but like The Broken Compass there are forces guiding it in the right direction. The harbor is cleaner now than it was 20 years ago. Small islands cannot hide from their problems where larger industrialized countries have closet space to throw dirty laundry both in terms of environmental degradation and corruption. If we admit our problems we can fix them. I have desire and hope that we can slightly change the course of this heading. Thanks for visiting American Samoa. Upon your departure all was calm, then the sky opened up in light and tears, then the wind started howling you might make it to Tonga by dinner time!
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