Day 291, Year 1: Getting Ready for the Passage to American Samoa
Date: Friday, August 4, 2006
Weather: Rain Mixed With Occasional Sunshine
Location: Avatiu Harbor, Rarotonga, Cook Islands
I don’t have much to report today. We spent the entire day getting ready for the 750 mile passage to Pago Pago (pronounced Pahngo Pahngo), American Samoa. We still are not quite ready, but no later than 10 AM tomorrow we should be on our way.
The winds have settled down some and reports indicate that we should have 15-20 knot winds from the southeast for the next few days. The key word here is “indicate”. Who knows what we will really have, but if we do have the predicted winds it will be a downwind sail. Not the best, but a lot better than some other alternatives, so we’ll be glad to take it if that is what we are given.
Mark had to make a few trips to the gas station in town today to get diesel. He took the four jerry cans in, filled them, came back, filled the tanks, and then went back for more. Together we baked bread, made salmon cakes, grilled chicken, made mashed potatoes, and a few other things to make sure we have food to eat if the passage is rough. We have learned that I just can’t cook on one leg in heavy seas, so we are prepared to eat things cold if necessary. We also did research on the Samoas and Tonga and did a little more specific planning for the next month. Our son Justin, and my niece Lynn, are thinking of visiting us in either Samoa or Tonga, and it is difficult to figure out how to best get them here. We will send them what we found out in our research today and hope that they can take it from there. We decided not to go to the final night of dance competition tonight as it was late when we finished. We still have a few details to take care of in the AM, but for the most part, we are ready for departure.
I’d like to thank Bill of s/v Compania who wrote into the website with exercise suggestions for my leg. I think the power of the internet in terms of connecting people is fantastic.
