Suwarrow and American Samoa

Suwarrow, Cook Islands:  July 31 to August 6th

The four day passage from Bora Bora to Suwarrow was wet, lumpy, and light winds. I am so very glad that I had pre-cooked our meals while in Bora Bora.  In order to arrive in 4 days we ended up motor sailing part of the way. We arrive at the pass in the early evening and must enter before nightfall. Just as we arrive a rain squall positions its self right over the pass. We take some time to lower our sails and we hear on the VHF of a boat that just entered. We contact them to ask the conditions and we are assured that it is no problem getting in. Soon we are in the calm lagoon with our anchor set.
Wow, are we really here? Suwarrow is a small atoll in the Northern Cook Islands. While it is an atoll it looks nothing like the Tuamotu atolls of French Polynesia. This island is lush with vegetation; the waters are so very clear, you can see 30 feet to the bottom, and the color! The most beautiful shades of blues I have ever seen.
Suwarrow is a national park, perhaps the only one in the Cook Islands. Two rangers are stationed here for the six month "season". They are responsible for the island and to greet and clear in the boats that arrive. About 150 boats pass through here each year. No passage boat comes here and no supply boats either. Sometimes a fishing boat will stop here but not usually. This makes it a very unique place. It is also famous as the island Tom Neale where he wrote of his hermit life here in the book "An Island to Oneself".
The Rangers are Harry and Charlie, they come to our boat the next morning to welcome us and check us in. They are very nice. There are about 15 boats here at this time. Several we already know. There is to be a happy hour on the beach that night.
The happy hour is a blast! Charlie loves to entertain everyone, and he likes to drink. It turns out that he grew up on this island and he expounds that what Tom Neale wrote is and I quote; "Buh Sheet "!  He and his family have lived on this island and he says Tom Neale did not live as a hermit here... well I don't know, perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle. Anyway we have a great time and meet some new people. We also catch up with an old cruising friend, Doug and Carla on Moon dance. We had met them in La Cruz Mexico as they were preparing to make their puddle jump in 2011. It was great to see them.
Later in the week we enjoy a potluck dinner on the beach. Charlie and two of the guys went fishing and caught tuna for the bbq. The cruisers bring the rest of the food. Charlie cooks the fish on a griddle over an open fire. After we eat Charlie and Harry sing a Cook Island welcoming song, Charlie gives us a dance demonstration (getting the ladies involved of course) and while Harry plays the guitar and sings, Charlie takes turns dancing with the ladies. Soon he is making speeches, telling us how much he loves this island and how he is here to take care of us, how he loves us all and how Tom Neale is full of "Buh Sheet"! It is a fantastic night, one that I will never forget.
The snorkeling here is utterly fantastic. Forget everything else I wrote and snorkeling this place is the best I have seen. The coral here is alive and colorful. The various formations and pinnacles are so beautiful. We snorkel the pass and I see a large (8-10 foot wingspan) manta ray gracefully "fly" by. And the fish, colorful parrot fish are everywhere.
A highlight of our stay here is a tour of Bird Island and 7 island. Charlie, for 5 liters of gas and ten dollars each will take you out in his boat. Bird Island is a nesting spot for thousands of birds. You are able to walk around. We saw many birds sitting on eggs. Also many baby birds, all very cute. On 7 island Charlie shows us the large coconut crabs that live there, they are very colorful, but scary looking. We take a nice walk around the island. After a lunch we go the reef for a snorkel. We snorkel through this coral garden full of pinnacles, columns and coral reefs. While there are not a lot of fish here to see the coral formations are unbelievable. I have never seen anything like them.
I tell you I could stay here for a month easy. But we need to move on and a good weather window is upon us. So with tears in my eyes (really) we check out and prepare for an early morning departure to American Samoa. Boy I really hope to come back here sometime....

GOODBYE BORA BORA

RAINBOW OVER THE SEA, A GOOD SIGN FOR A PASSAGE

WE ARRIVE IN SUWARROW

CRUISER POTLUCK WITH THE RANGERS OF SUWARROW, CHARLIE IS PICTURED HERE

CHARLIE ENTERTAINS US WITH STORIES OF SUWARROW

HEAD RANGER, HENRY

SUWARROW ANCHORAGE 

GETTING READY TO SNORKEL THE PASS 

BUST OF TOM NEALE AUTHOR OF "AN ISLAND TO MYSELF" OF HIS TIME SPENT ALONE ON SUWARROW

THE RANGERS CABIN

BIRD ISLAND 

CHARLIE HOLDS A VERY LARGE COCONUT CRAB

STRANGE CORAL LANDSCAPE ON ISLAND #9 SUWARROW

American Samoa August 9-14 

PAGO PAGO HARBOR

We arrived in Pago Pago harbor early on August 9th. We had a pretty good passage from Suwarrow, good winds and the seas were not too bad. We in fact had to slow down the last day as not to arrive in Pago Pago in the dark.
American Samoa is a Territory of the US, we use US dollars, everyone speaks "American" (also Samoan as a first language). There are seven islands comprising American Samoa the largest, Tutuila Island is where the Pago Pago Harbor is located. While it is an American Territory the people here are Samoan, and hold strongly to the traditional Samoan Customs. But they are also very proud of their American association.
Pago Pago is an industrial port with a large tuna packing plant on one shore. Large container ships and fishing ships use Pago Pago as a major port for the South Pacific and it has gotten a reputation with the cruisers as dirty and smelly place to stop. While the anchorage may have an industrial feel and yes it does smell sometimes we found the island to be beautiful and people the most friendly and helpful in our experience so far.
Also what American Samoa is known for is its great provisioning options. Things are CHEAP here. After the high prices in French Polynesia it was fun to go to a store and not get sticker shock. So our plan is to top off our supplies and hopefully find some of our comfort foods here. We are therefore very happy to see many of these items in the Cost U Less store. Similar to a small Costco, here we find cheddar cheese, chili in a can (yes we really wanted some), Trisket crackers, turkey sausage, Capt. Morgan's rum and the all-important peanut M&M's in the large Costco size bags. We are now set with junk food till New Zealand.
With provisioning done we decided to use the US postal service (yes, just like home) to send some things home. It is the same price as home; this will come in handy later. Then to McDonalds for a burger, coke and free Wi-Fi.

On Monday, with all our chores done we hire a taxi driver to take us on an island tour. Stone, our driver was born here but spent time in the states during his military career. The fun part about hiring a taxi rather than just renting a car is you learn so much more about the culture, and the people of the island. So along with the scenic drive we got a lesson on the Fa'a.
The Samoan social structure is built around the "aiga", an extended family that may take in as many as several thousand relatives. At the head of the aiga are the "matai" or chiefs who guide the communal economy, which to a large degree still exists. The matai is responsible for control of the family lands and property. It is also his (or hers either can be a matai) to care for the well-being of the aiga and to represent it in the governing councils.

Some say that the Samoans are among the last remaining true Polynesians, and cling their culture and traditions. This is called Fa'a Samoa (the Samoan way). Samoans are also a very religious group. As we drove though each village we saw many churches, each it seemed larger and prettier than the last village. We also saw a large gong like bell. Stone explained that each evening the gong will be stuck to inform the village that it was time for evening prayers. At this time the family would gather and pray. This lasts about an hour. Another gong signals the end. Sundays are devoted to church and families. No work is done and very few businesses will be open on a Sunday. As we have in other islands we took the opportunity to attend a service. We went to the very large Protestant church near the center of town. We were the only foreigners there and the service was mostly in Samoan. We were welcomed, and cared for. The Minister came to speak with us before the service and even welcomed us in his service and said a pray for our safe travels.

Another fun thing we did here was to ride the bus. The buses here are converted trucks. The back is made into the coach. It is made of wood with plexi-glass windows that are never closed. When you want off you just knock on the roof or seat back. You pay (2.00) when you get off. I have pictures of them in the photo gallery.

While our time here was short it was very memorable. If there is a cruiser reading this and is unsure if they want to go I say go. The fees came to about 150.00 dollars and I think that you make that up in the cheap provisioning and especially if you need any parts or supplies shipped from the US. And the people are just great.