Day 310, Year 1: To the Top of Mt. Alava
Date: Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Weather: Sunny, Hot, and Sill Very Little Wind
Location: Pago Pago Harbor, Tutuila Island, American Samoa
Our daughter Heather wrote today saying that we should share with you how Samoa has always been a part of our sailing lives. I had never really thought of it that way, but once she mentioned it, I realized she is right. When Mark lived here as a young man, coming directly from the ocean-less mid-west, the island life here surely enchanted him. He heard the Samoans tell of the first white men who came to the islands. They referred to them as papalagi. This translates as “skybreakers” or “skybursters”. When the first white men came, to the islands, all the natives could see were the white sails cutting through the sky -breaking the sky. The name stuck and now Samoans refer to all white men as palagi. When we got our first sailboat, she came with the name Yarely. This means “stable sailor” and that sounded like a good thing, so we didn’t change the name. Our second sailboat was named F-stop. It was owned by a photographer and we just couldn’t see sailing around with a boat by that name. It is bad luck to change a boat name, but we did it. I had heard Mark tell the story of the “sky-breakers” and I was fascinated with that image. So our second boat became Skybreaker. I have to admit that I envisoned that boat entering the harbor here in American Samoa, the land for which she was named. But we are here . . . not on that boat, and I don’t think anyone could see our white sails when we came in because it was raining so hard/ but those white sails did break through and we are here. For Mark and me, two people who have always wanted to be “skrybreakers”, arriving here was very special.
And then I got another e-mail from Linda Stuart wanting to know what in the world Dorade boxes might be. I mentioned that I was sanding them, but didn’t mention what they are. If you are not a sailor, I know you have seen pictures of big sailing vessels. There are always big air vents on boats, sometimes looking like big horns. Sometimes these vents sit on wooden boxes, and these are the Dorades. On our boat there are six stainless steel cowl vents that bring outside air into the boat. On Skybreaker, the vents sit on wooden boxes. These boxes cover a special drain system that lets air, but not water, into the boat. These boxes were designed by Olin Stephens for a boat named Dorade . . . thus the name. I finished sanding them on Monday and started varnishing yesterday. They are looking good once again. Actually, they still looked good at first glance, but unfortunately there were places on each box where the varnish had cracked. Therefore, I had to completely sand each of them back to raw wood and start the 14 coats of varnish from scratch. I’m on varnish coat #3, so I have a few days of varnishing to go.
This morning Mark and Glenda and Derek from “Scotty” and Bryan from “Thistledown” all hiked to the top of Mount Alava. Mark had been to the top of Alava before when he lived here, but the trip to the top then was by way of a cable car. In the ’80’s a Navy plane hit the cable during a celebration and broke it. It has never been repaired so goint to the top today is by way of a 3 mile trail. Actually the trail is a very rough 4-wheel drive track that is maintained by the National Park service and used by the engineers going up to maintain the television transmitters at the peak. Though it was just a “walk,” it was a strenuous and sometimes muddy walk that left all four of them dirty and tired. The view from the top was terrific. They could see from one end of the island to the other, but they were not able to see Upolu in Independent Samoa nor the Manua islands as they had hoped. Either it was too hazy or the mountains on this island simply blocked the view. Despite that, the views were dramatic and all returned with a sense of accomplishment and some more great memories. While coming back down the mountain the discussion was whether a shower or a beer was the highest priority. After showers all gathered on Windbird for a few beers and to learn more about each other. As usual, the camaraderie with fellow cruisers is a large part of the fun.
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| 060823 Day 310 American Samoa–Hike to Mt. Alava |
