Dinghies and Buses

 Will it ever run again?

We reached a significant milestone on Rutea today when Ruthie and I got the outboard running again.  The raw water impeller failed (it was only 10 years old!) when we were in Bora Bora but the spare that we had on hand was the wrong part and we could find no replacement.  This means we’ve had to row our dinghy everywhere or count on the generosity of other cruisers to give us a ride.  Not only does our dinghy row poorly but we’ve had issues with oarlocks.  Ask me about our sad oarlock stories some day over a couple of cold beers. 

All the important stuff . . .

Yesterday we did a major provisioning and we were working out the details over the radio with another boat.  When Pete on Down Time, heard our dilemma, he chimed in to shuttle us back to Rutea when we had finished our shopping.  We took the bus to the Cost-U-Less store and after spending far too much and loaded with huge boxes of food, we hired a taxi to take us back to the dock.  We called Pete as he told us to but he didn’t answer.  Lucky for us Bob on Braveheart had been lurking on our conversation and came in his dinghy.  There wasn’t room for all of us and the food too!

 Corie and Lars on the bus

With the dinghy repaired, we’re now free to move about the ocean again.  Even though we’ve been here nine days, it seems like we haven’t scratched the surface of exploring the place.  The bus system here makes it so easy to go places plus they’re an adventure in of themselves.  There are hundreds – maybe thousands of buses – on this small island.  They are all independently owned, operated and decorated.  Most of the chassis for the buses are either Toyota pickup chassis or for the larger buses, perhaps a full-sized Ford truck chassis but the coaches are made locally out of wood.  Most have plywood seats and vertical seatbacks – they’re wide enough for two skinny people or one Samoan.  Many of them have a DVD player at the front of the bus and rock concert videos are popular.  The outsides of the buses are often painted wildly or sometimes have a more polished warning about drinking and driving.  Most of the buses have names with something in Samoan the most common but others will have religious sayings and some will have the names of cartoon characters.  The drivers honk their horns often and it’s not unusual for a driver to get off their route to drop a passenger off at their home or work.  You pay when you get off the bus and the fare is always $1.00 regardless of how long you’ve traveled.  We have found the drivers to be pretty safe but with a 25 MPH speed limit for the entire island, it not likely that someone would get carried away.

'420' Baseball Cap on the Bus Driver

We’re thinking about heading to Western Samoa on Wednesday or Thursday.  Our guide books and the anecdotes from other cruisers have been positive.  Plus, I’m getting ants in my pants.  We’ve enjoyed Pago Pago but it’s time to move.  Plus, we need to make our jump to New Zealand in about 10 weeks and there are lots to see before we head there.

Pago Pago Isn't for Everyone

Alice

Things aren’t necessarily easy for cruisers here in Pago Pago.  Take our friends, Rolande and Angus, aboard the cutter, Periclees.  They just arrived late yesterday afternoon from Suwarrow Atoll, where we saw them last.  Angus bought the bare hull of Periclees and did all of the interior, rigging and systems himself.  They’re from Canada and have been out sailing for quite a while.  While we often keep to ourselves, Rolande and Angus are very popular and seem to have a ‘date’ almost every night.  From our point of view, Pago Pago would be almost perfect for them yet they left the harbor within 24 hours of arriving.

Last night was rough for them.  At 0300, they were reanchoring their boat as the wind had picked up and was gusting to the mid-20s (not unusual).   They made several attempts and finally seemed to get their anchor to stick but I know from experience that it’s hard to get a good night’s sleep after your anchor has dragged.  The thought will haunt you relentlessly, “Will it drag again?” as you struggle to capture some elusive sleep, all the while knowing damn well that you’re up for the balance of the night, regardless of how many justifications you come up with that you’re secure.  This morning, Periclees abandoned the idea of anchoring and grabbed the only mooring in the bay that was available. 

There isn’t much information on American Samoa for cruisers but what little there is is shared.  In that information is a mention of the moorings but cautions that there is no known maintenance on them.  So now Periclees is kind of between a rock and a hard spot:  Their anchor won’t hold and they’re attached to a mooring of unknown security.  Besides that, the mooring is very close to Alice, a rusted hulk of a small tuna seiner (about 100’ long) that looks like it hasn’t been sailed for years, that’s tethered to it’s own mooring.  Now Periclees is between a rock, a hard spot and Alice.

A group of us went out for dinner tonight.  Besides Rutea, there was Aeolis, Savannah and Down Time.  From where we were sitting, we could see Periclees leaving the harbor and we understood, without saying anything to each other, how they must have felt, leaving a destination without provisioning, exploring or relaxing.  Perhaps they’ll have better luck in Apia on Western Samoa.  We wish them fair winds and calm seas.

American Samoa

 

Rutea in Pago Pago

Ruthie has always been very adept at delivering less-than-ideal news. Most of the time, she'll find some positive thing to say first before she drops the hammer. It was slightly different at 0500 this morning in that there never was a negative situation, only something that I forgot to take care of before I went to my bunk. Ruthie had specifically given me instructions to select a route into Pago Pago, which I had done. Except that I didn't look far enough east and, sure enough, we found an area that I had ignored and we had to divert about 3 miles out of our way in order to clear a spot with only 30' of water.

But Ruthie was judicious when she told me, "It looks like we can sail again and shut down the engine." (Always a good thing.) Then she says, "I found the shallow spot on the chart I wanted to avoid. I want to route us around it - should I change the route on the chart plotter or just divert with the autopilot?" Since I had been awake for a while, I got out of my bunk, got dressed, donned my harness and made my way into the cockpit. A light breeze was filling in from the north and it would be the first beam reaching we had seen in a long time. The main was already fully hoisted so I unfurled the genoa and almost instantly we were doing 6+ knots per hour with the engine idling in neutral. The seas were flat calm and it was sailing at it's finest. The lights of Tutuila Island - the largest island in the American Samoa chain and where Pago Pago Harbor is - could been easily seen. While Ruthie sipped her cup of tea and I gulped down my cup of hot cocoa (I haven't had a cup of coffee since early March), we were treated to a beautiful sunrise. As we sailed parallel to the south side of the island, a pod of dolphins swam along side. I hailed the port captain on the VHF radio and requested permission to enter the harbor which he granted along with a warm welcome.

Exploring Fagatogo

The island itself is densely covered with palm trees, banana trees, breadfruit trees, etc but is not as steep or dramatic as the Marquesas. The entrance into Pago Pago Harbor is about in the middle of the 18-mile long island, on the south side of the island's east/west orientation. The harbor entrance is very wide (easily enough room for little Rutea and the enormous Iver Exporter, a huge tanker that was entering at the same time) and clearly marked. The harbor takes a sharp dog-leg to the west at the northern end and that's where the tuna fishing fleet is moored and the canneries are located. We could see the streets were busy with car, truck and school bus traffic. We tried to hail the port captain again but he was busy with the tanker that was pulling in so we proceeded to the area where the yachts were at anchor. Pago Pago doesn't have a very good reputation for good holding ground and after five attempts to set our anchor (one time the anchor came up with an old tire fouling it) we finally got it to grab, albeit closer to some other boats than we would like. By this time the wind was blowing between 20 and 25 so it made all the chores a little more of a challenge.
Being slightly anxious about our anchor holding, I decided to go into town to check us in by myself. Plus, since we still have no outboard for the dinghy, rowing in the windy conditions would be difficult and the additional weight of another person would just make it that much harder. About 600' feet upwind from Rutea was a little grass-covered picnic area and I tied the dink up to a tree there and walked into see the port captain.

The check-in cha-cha had me visit five different offices but it gave me a chance to see a little of the town. Small and busy, some parts new and some in disrepair, I was able to walk the entire length of the town in half an hour. The center of town is the commercial dock where the containers are off-loaded, sorted and shuffled, and where the work is done to the great piles of fishing nets. Teams of men, working and sweating in the sun, are weaving the bobbins of cord through the house-sized mounds of nets. The fork lifts that lift the containers buzz around like so many bees, their diesel engines screaming. People I pass on the street are friendly and it seems that everyone acknowledges one another with a nod or a greeting. I bought some fresh fruit at an outdoor market (our boat being without any fresh produce for several days) and dripping with perspiration, made my way back to the dinghy.

Our friend Lars on Twister had arrived just moments after we did (even though he had left Suwarrow two days ahead of us) and came by to visit in the late afternoon with a cooler full of very well iced Vailima beer. A Samoan-made lager, the Export brew could almost pass as an ale and we enjoyed Lars' generosity and the refreshing drink very well. Since the wind had died to almost calm, we rowed back into the picnic area and found a nice restaurant for dinner, our first meal out in nearly a month. The stark contrast between the primitive Suwarrow with it's two small buildings and no streets to the harbor of Pago Pago with it's bright street lights and a row of large diesel engines near where we're anchored that provide electricity to the island was not lost on us as we rowed back to Rutea. Still, there's much to be discovered here.
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At 8/6/2011 2:43 AM (utc) Rutea's position was 14°16.32'S 170°41.77'W
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Farewell to Suwarrow

Having barely had our fill of fresh coconut water, grated coconut meat, coconut pancakes, banana pancakes and fish from the lagoon (Parrot fish, Grouper and Tuna) we have torn ourselves away from this beautiful and isolated Atoll of Suwarrow and are heading west towards American Samoa.

How beautiful? Pelagic blue water blends into aqua water and laps onto a white coral sand beach. Behind the beach are coconut palm trees with brilliant green fronds, hibiscus flowers and Tamanu trees. In front of the beach is a coral reef with blue, purple, green and white coral and tons of tropical reef fish including the humuhumunukanukapuaa. While snorkeling one day we were lucky enough to see a Manta Ray with a nine foot wing span! The Suwarrow Yacht Club sits in the center of the island where the Park Rangers, James and John hold court. The building is wood with a tin roof and open on all sides. There is a cook station in the back with a propane stove as well as an outdoor cook station for grilling fish. The only furniture is a very large table with benches all around which hosts many pot-lucks, lazy afternoon conversations, musical jam sessions and serves as an office for checking in/out of the Cook Islands. Several steps away is the cement building where Tom Neale lived for nineteen years as a hermit, although he was not the only one to live this way on Suwarrow.

How isolated? Well it takes the Rangers three days to get there by a large power boat from Raro (Rarotonga). Last year when the Ranger's single side band radio conked out, their headquarters forgot to pick them up at the end of the season! Finally a fishing boat picked them up- three weeks late! Once when a former ranger was feeding the sharks and had an overzealous shark take a chunk out of his side, it took a helicopter five days to get there, pick him up and get him to Samoa! James was once visited by a young man who wanted to see the tree his father tied him up in (twenty feet off of the ground) when a cyclone came through and waves started washing over the island. He wanted to make sure it was as big and safe as his father had told him! No cyclone warning system here other than lick you finger and stick it up in the air....

Other than swimming, snorkeling, bird watching and meeting people from all over the world- what made Suwarrow really special was getting to know the two Cook Island Rangers. They are both full of stories, can live survival style off of an atoll, and are full of facts and figures about Polynesia. They are extremely protective of the atoll and have found a way to share it with the yachties without compromising its' fragile environment.

The squally weather with dark skies reflected our feelings about leaving as we sailed out of the pass yesterday morning. As we passed shark cove and waved to James, beautiful, fat rainbows arched over the atoll also reflecting the way we felt about another over the rainbow experience. Strong winds the rest of the day helped us make good time our first day out towards Am Samoa! Today the skies are sunny, the sea is again pelagic blue (and calm) and we have a beautiful ten to fifteen knot breeze. The spinnaker is flying off of the port beam and Rutea is gracing the swell at about 6 knots.

It's hard to imagine what is ahead of us! There is very little written about Samoa for cruisers and I only started reading what little info I have a couple of days ago! What I do know is that there is shopping and we are down to our last two onions and some very sad carrots! Beyond that- we expect it to be different and we will keep you posted!

R of Rutea
13.43 south
166.21 west
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At 8/3/2011 9:40 PM (utc) Rutea's position was 13°38.55'S 165°56.17'W

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En Route

To American Samoa! Current Position as of 8/2/11 at 3:17 UTC is 13 degrees 21 minutes south and 164 degrees 00 minutes west
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At 8/3/2011 3:00 AM (utc) Rutea's position was 13°20.96'S 163°58.41'W

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Big Day at Suwarrow Atoll

For the past two days, the wind has been blowing at a steady 20-25 knots and our weather reports shows the seas in excess of four meters. Several of the boats we know have been in transit from French Polynesia and we've been sympathizing with them over the single-sideband radio. It's been rough out there.

Yesterday our friends on Sudden Stops Necessary, a Beneteau 38.5, came in and anchored near us. Both Chet and Glenda (owner and crew, not a couple) seemed nonchalant about their crossing but they were very happy to be here. This morning on the VHF radio, I heard Songline calling Lardo and though they couldn't hear each other well, I could hear them both. They asked about the condition of the pass into the lagoon at Suwarrow (it was pretty good, despite the 25 knots of wind) and if they should get permission from the warden who lives here to enter (can't - they don't have a radio - come on in!). Lardo arrived first and anchored just off our starboard bow. Songline arrived about an hour later and proceed to motor around in circles, trying to find a placed they liked to drop their anchor ("You're making me dizzy!" I said to them). At the same time Songline was going around in circles, Periclees was trying to free their anchor chain from a coral head so they were going around in circles, too, except just off our starboard quarter. While all this was going on, Gigi arrived from their passage and started looking for a place to anchor as well. At first, they were standing by while Songline was making the decision but I guess they got tired of waiting and motored over to where we're anchored. I suggested that they go ahead of us to about 12' of water, drop their hook there and drop down on 60'-70' of chain - the only drawback would be if the wind clocked out of the west which is extremely unlikely to happen (these easterly Trade Winds are very persistent). They tried that but wound up too close to Sudden Stops Necessary so they pulled up their anchor and went searching elsewhere. Mean while, Periclees and Songline are still going around in circles. Angus from Periclees jumped in the water to see where his anchor chain was and swam over to us - "What's Songline doing?" he asked.

Gradually, we got everyone settled and yet still another boat enters the lagoon. This time it's Grommet, a large ketch that we've never seen before but several of the boats in the anchorage hail them on the radio and offer welcomes. There are now 18 boats in the anchorage - the most since we've been here. I kayaked over to Songline to shake their hands and welcome them. They talked of 20' seas that were steep and confused. On the other hand, they said, Jimmy Cornell says that it's always a rough passage to Suwarrow. Jimmy Cornell! We hadn't even thought of looking at his book before we left Bora Bora! He's the author of World Cruising Routes, kind of like a bible of when to go almost anywhere in the world on a small sailboat. Maybe it's a good thing we hadn't looked it up before we left - we might never have gone!

I finally got the battery equalization routine figured out (combination of a defective regulator and our battery bank being too large). Ruthie is in the middle of polishing all the stainless steel while Corie is putting a coat of wax in the deck and cabin top. I'm working on putting a coat of wax on the hull as after almost 5,000 miles it's looking pretty shabby. Our pace on our respective projects is relaxed, usually only for an hour or two each day. We're getting some negative feedback from some of the other boats in the anchorage as they now feel guilty for not doing the same thing. However, if we were to put it off much longer, the oxidation gets so bad that it takes twice as long to get the same results. It's easier to do it now plus this might be the most beautiful place in the world to wax a boat.

It looks like the winds might be decreasing around the middle of next week so we're thinking about leaving then for American Samoa - about 450 miles away. I think we'll all be ready to move on by then.

My very best to everyone.
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At 7/31/2011 12:52 AM (utc) Rutea's position was 13°14.88'S 163°06.48'W

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The Far-From-Normal Normal Routine

We have been extremely lucky with the systems we have on Rutea, of which there are many. We have a complex electrical system and buried in that is a complex electronic system which includes computers, navigation equipment, radar, etc. Our plumbing system is much simpler but a key component of that is our watermaker and although we have the simplest model available, it still has three different pumps and four different valves. Of course, we have a powerful propulsion system (the main engine) and a diesel-fueled generator (which is actually part of the electrical system). Our refrigeration system has two separate compressors and gets a real workout here in the tropics. In addition to that, we have the sails and rigging which are a system unto themselves. Some of the cruisers I know spend an inordinate amount of time trying to keep all of their systems running. We've been luckier than many.

Still, systems need to be maintained and things break. Sometimes it's as straightforward as changing the oil and sometimes it's a completely mystifying problem that keeps me awake at night. For example, we have a massive battery bank on Rutea that's comprised of eight batteries that are typically used in golf carts. If we were to draw one ampere per hour, our battery bank wouldn't be dead until 1,040 hours had passed. Granted, a one amp draw is nothing and between the refrigeration, radio, stereo and other components that might be in use at any given time we can easily be drawing 30 or more amperes per hour. However, for some reason that I have yet to figure out, our batteries are now draining at a much faster rate than they have been and it's got me preoccupied. Normally, I wouldn't post technical issues on our blog.

Life here at Suwarrow Atoll is pretty simple. A big event for the day is when a boat arrives or departs. This tiny community was tittering about the delivery skipper and his crew that arrived one morning, got incredibly drunk that night and was asked to leave by the warden the following morning. They left in pretty rough conditions with other cruisers reporting seeing the small boat roll from side to side as they made their way away from the atoll. That would not be fun with a bad hangover. Yesterday we walked at low tide out to a small islet that's a nesting area for thousands of birds (80,000 birds was the last count but we wondered - how do you count birds?). Last night a group went back out to the same reef hunting for lobster and we could see their flashlights beams bouncing in their search. Tonight there's a pot luck dinner and the eleven boats that are here will pitch in to feed all 29 people, including the wardens.

The winds are due to fill in to about 25 knots and the seas increase to 4 meters. There are several boats heading this way from Bora Bora and it sounds like they're going to have a rough passage. We're keeping in touch with them on the radio. Once the weather gets calmer, we'll probably jump off for American Samoa as our supplies are starting to get low (we're almost out of beer!) and there's some parts we're having shipped in that we'd like to get our hands on. Plus, it's just getting time to move. A big thank you to all of you who have taken the time to write us - it's great to hear about what's going on with you. We wish everyone good health and much happiness.
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At 7/28/2011 7:17 PM (utc) Rutea's position was 13°14.87'S 163°06.48'W

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