Samoa. The friendly islands and some sad news.

Date: 12th August 2033.

Location: Apia, (Western) Samoa

First of all the photos from lovely Suwarrow.

Customs and Immigation - Suwarrow

Man and coconut tree.

Astra, Cloudy Bay and Mehalah at anchor.

On the beach.

Back to our 5 day passage from Suwarrow to Samoa. After a failed autopilot and broken lazyjack we finally arrived in Samoa, formerly Western Samoa, at 5am last Sunday morning. It was dark and squally and we don't like to approach a new harbour in the dark. We followed the red light of a fishing boat for 10 miles in towards land before we realised it was actually a navigation marker onshore. That's what the night time does to your senses. Anyway it was an easy entrance and we quietly anchored behind Cloudy Bay and crashed out for a few hours.

Well I say it was Sunday morning but just an hour or two earlier it was Saturday! The day went forward by one day and inexplicably the hour changed from -11UTC to +13UTC , not -12 to +12? It seems it is all to do with the fact that Samoa, still a member of the Commonwealth, looks west to New Zealand rather than east and they wanted to be on the same day as NZ. Crazy! Also they used to drive on the right but because LHD vehicles were too expensive they changed that too so they now drive on the left and can import cheaper, second hand vehicles from NZ. There are still plenty of leftover LHD vehicles around too though which makes for interesting driving.

We arrived to much celebration. A long cavalcade of cars, pickups and minibuses blaring their horns and sporting large Samoan flags cruised along the waterfront. The reason? Samoa had just beaten Tonga, their big rivals, in a rugby match.

Finally it feels as though we are in the Western Pacific but even so we still have 2,300 miles to sail westward before we get to Australia. That's the equivalent of another Atlantic crossing. The Pacific Ocean is enormous.

Here's where we are now.

Samoa, pronouced Sahhmower, is an independent country lying just to the west of American Samoa which we passed north of on our way here. I guess if we've heard of it at all it is because of their rugby team. Actually it consists of two big islands and three smaller ones. And no doubt about it Samoans are VERY proud of their country. Proud, friendly and laid back would be my assessment. Consequently it was no surprise when it took us almost two days to check in. Health and Port Officials came to the boat first. Then we moved into the small marina and waited for Immigration, Marina, Customs and finally Quarantine to come in. Forms, forms, forms but finally we were checked into the capital city of Apia.
Day 1 was spent doing the usual stuff. Sally covered washing, gas and diesel while Gill and I found a doctor who prescribed more antibiotics and cream for my infected foot and a note to give the hospital for a PSA test. Of course the hospital had run out of test kits. We both visited the bank too for some Samoan currency, bright and welcoming. Such a contrast to the drab, uncolored US dollars we have become accustomed to. New SIMs for our phones also provided good value at 20Gb for 15 tala (around £5).

Apia is big enough to have one of everything but small enough to walk around too. Taxis are everywhere unlike in French Polynesia and everything is so cheap compared with the countries further east. How do they do that when everything has to be imported? No idea.

Yesterday we did a tour of our island, Upolu, which was OK. The usual waterfalls, caves and volcanic scenery. One evening here saw us at a traditional Samoan evening of entertainment - soft dancing, energetic dancing and fire dancing. Quite an event!

The waterfront is busy all the time. The world five people in a canoe long distance championships start on Monday and there are teams here from around the world including Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and even the UK. Not to mention all the Pacific island states. And each morning too the Police band and officers parade to the government building where they ceremonially raise the Samoan flag and work can commence.

But the highlight was the two days we spent on the other large island, Savai'i. Savai'i is the third largest island in the South Pacific after New Zealand's two islands. It is a recent volcanic island, the most recent eruption being in 1905. It comprises many small craters in the centre surrounded by a narrow strip of flatter land. There are fringing reefs around most of the island and blue, blue water. We hired Henry a larger than life Samoan to taxi us across. He hammered along the coast to the ferry only to find he didn't actually have a ferry booking. With the boat due to leave for the hour long crossing to Savai'i at any moment something must be done. Several bright coloured notes were exchanged and we inched closer to the boat. But then the boss got involved and we had to reverse away again. Thwarted, we thought as we parked in a small carpark. But no, Henry rang a friend on Savai'i and we dashed onto the boat as foot passengers! Henry waddled on behind us. Waiting for us when we landed was his friend with his minivan.

First we went to what our girls would call 'the tat market'. Very few tourists but much stuff you don't need. Cheap, non cotton paraeos (sarongs), cheap necklaces and a few carvings. Not much to see here. On the edge of the market four or five men were sitting on benches round a tin bowl with small bowls bobbing around inside it. Turns out the guy wearing a yellow workman's bib was the chief and we were about to be welcomed with a kava ceremony. After some words of welcome we were given a small bowl of kava which we were to drink in one go and say "manyua" (cheers). Then Sally said some nice thank you words and then we were free to continue. Was he really the local chief? Who knows but for the four of us, Gill, me, Sally and Glen it did feel pretty special. Then it was off on the tour. Everywhere there were churches painted pastel colours and schools, especially infant schools, associated with them and pigs, yes pigs. Smartly uniformed children played on the lush manicured grass or sat under whatever shade they could find. All along the road were small colourful houses each with at least one fale or meeting area - open buildings with a concrete floor. Some would have chairs or bed rolls laid out. All very perfect. We stopped at a couple of waterfalls, had an amazing, massive mango ice-cream but best of all was the amazing coconut cannon blowhole. My coconut won the how high will it go contest!

And then as darkness fell we arrived at our fales for the night. We each had an open hut with mosquito net and roll down sides looking over the ocean. Night time arrived with a lovely sunset followed by a traditional Samoan meal of root vegetable, fish, chicken and coleslaw at Henry's brother's house. Breakfast next morning at the fales was communal. We met a New Zealander married to a Samoan lady whose great grandmother was born in Hull where Gill is from. Another coincidence. The New Zealander had started an organic beef farm on Savai'i after his retirement. A shame we couldn't stay longer here but we had more waterfalls and caves to explore before returning to Upolu on the ferry.

Evening comes.

Ruth and Gill - Two Hull Girls.

Our fale.

With my PSA test still not on island we are preparing now for our next passage. 350 miles SW to Tonga. We leave tomorrow on a pretty good forecast. With luck it will be a fast passage.

Oh, and it looks like we have a new autopilot brain. Patrice on Astra came for a goodbye drink this evening and he has just upgraded his leaving his old one available. He gave it to us for free! That's how works. Last week we gave Cloudy Bay a fuel filter for free. Next week someone will give Patrice something for free. What comes around goes around. What an amazing community.

Then we went to the local fish restaurant for a 'breaking of the fellowship' meal. Tomorrow we are off to Tonga, other boats are going direct to Fiji. Our favourite waitress was there. She was very emotional - obviously she had enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed her. We will all miss Samoa. A surprise package a bit off the usual route for yachts. Suwarrow and Samoa have been two places we have to keave before we are really ready. Fond memories of them both.

Finally some sad news. Since the last post my cousin Peter has passed away suddenly. And regular readers will be very sad to hear that Jack, husband of Fizzy and dad to Tori, Peter and Ant finally succumbed to stomach cancer after a long fight. Jack was my best sailing buddy and we always planned that he and Fizzy would be with us on this adventure.

Suwarrow - Paradise in the South Seas

Suwarrow to Samoa: 1st August 2023

We're off again on another passage. This time from Suwarrow to Samoa.

It's Day 2 and I figured you had had enough of the daily passage reports for now (I know I have) so I'll tell you about our time in Suwarrow instead. But the really cool thing about this passage is we will lose a day! We should leave US Samoa off to port let's say early on Saturday. I think we also lose an hour there too (we are currently UTC -10). But 80 miles further on is Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa, and there the same day will be Sunday!! If losing hours is difficult to get your head round, just imagine losing a whole day. Anyway that's all to come at the end of the week.

Suwarrow. Where to start. It must be one of the most beautiful places in the world. This blog is sent to you from the ocean so no pics yet I'm afraid. Most years the chosen route west from French Polynesia would take you direct to Tonga possibly with a stop in one of the tricky Cook Island anchorages on the way. [Dave Wilton, I'm sorry about all these place names. They were as confusing to me as they are to you just a few months ago]. But with El Niño the nasty east going Lows out of New Zealand are tracking much further north so a few boats such as ourselves decided on a more northerly route. There was a lot of noise in the cruising community about whether we would be allowed into Suwarrow, one of the northern Cook Islands. Officially it was forbidden but rumour had it if you arrived they would let you in.

And so it proved. We timed our arrival perfectly. Ahead of us after 700 miles were what appeared to be a few isolated patches of low lying land. In fact they were small islets rising from the fringing reef. We called Glen (Cloudy Bay) who was already inside and he gave us a few hints on how to pass through the reef. We entered, turned to starboard and dropped our anchor in 10m of water avoiding coral bommies (oh no, not those again).

"Blue mono, blue mono, this is Ranger. Do you copy? Welcome to Suwarrow. Please come ashore at 10am to complete entry formalities". As our dinghy engine(s) are both dodgy Glen took us ashore. There's just a tiny dilapidated concrete dock with Rangers aluminium boat anchored nearby. And a small sign amongst the pristine coconut forest. Birds, boobies and noddies were wheeling overhead, upset at our disturbing them.

A narrow path wound its way past an old hammock and a couple of swings, emerging at a small wooden building with an open area. Here were arranged a table and chairs. This was Immigration, Customs and Biosecurity all at one table! We were welcomed to Suwarrow by Rangers and soon to be husband and wife Harry and Jo Ann. Lovely, gentle Cook Islanders they spend 6 months of the year alone on Suwarrow counting birds, maintaining security and managing the few visiting yachts. They told us of the sharks (lots and don't throw food waste overboard as it encourages them), the manta ray cleaning station, good snorkelling spots and just to let them know if we needed anything. What a welcome.

And so followed an idyllic few days. Initially 5 boats most of which we knew and then just us, Glen (Cloudy Bay) and Patrice and Stephanie (French on Astra). Glen had a working dinghy and we had master chefs Gill and Sally to cook so we developed a symbiotic relationship with him. We walked round the island, swam and snorkelled the amazing reef just offshore. If I lay in the water with my mask half in and half out of the water I could see the oh so healthy coconut palms and the shallow healthy reef both at the same time backed by a clear blue sky. Just magical. Suwarrow is a nature reserve and for me it was everything that The Galapagos wasn't. 1. It was hard to get to. The nearest next land was over 400 miles in any direction. 2. I felt welcomed and not taken advantage of. 3. I felt at one with the environment here.

Bizarrely Stephanie on Astra the French boat had been a dresser of famous people in her previous Parisian life. On board she had 150 haute couture dresses. Sally and Gill went for a surreal fashion show with the hope of picking up some bargains. No chance. They came away empty handed.

Soon though it was time to leave. A storm was predicted for the end of the week and I need to be somewhere for my PSA test early next week. One option was Pago Pago in US Samoa but we've opted for the quieter Samoa a few miles further on.

So here we are poled out on port tack on a lovely downwind day. Just caught a small wahoo we threw back and in 35 minutes it's my watch. Time to go.



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