26 August

We are at sea again having left Pago Pago in American Samoa this morning. We are on our way to the Northern part of the Kingdom of Tonga a distance of about 200 miles. We are going well at over 8 kts in 22 kts of breeze and should get in tomorrow morning sometime.
Current position at 1400H is 14 42.1S,171 20.2 W course is 230 degs M in moderate seas.
My internet went out last night before I could post some more information on our stay in American Samoa, so here we go. It would appear the American Samoa has had a bad rap from the cruising guides and consequently other cruisers. I'm not sure why that should be because it's most undeserved. Perhaps the guides are written by Europeans who are of the opinion that anything associated with America and Americans has to be inherently tainted in some manner. Too bad really because we found it to be quite excellent. The harbor is about the best in the South Pacific and considering that it is a busy commercial port it really was not quite as dirty as we were led to believe. Even the tuna canneries were quite unobtrusive in the prevailing breeze. There was no swell and the harbor was very safe and since we were tied up to the dock there were no dinghy drills (yay).
The island itself was spectacular with high mountains and jungles and crystal clear bays. Samoans were like gentle giants and almost everybody spoke English. Everyone was inquisitive but polite and we never heard anyone even raise their voice during our stay on the island. We did our traveling about by local bus which are really highly modified pickup trucks. Everyone is different and customized with amazing paint jobs and interiors. The one thing they had in common were massive sound systems with 700 plus watt amplifiers that played the driver's choice of music at volume levels that would make your ears bleed. Almost anywhere you want to go costs a dollar, so we didn't even bother to rent a car
We spend one very pleasant afternoon touring the east side of the island by bus and ended up in a restaurant/bar called Tisa's Barefoot Bar. We were the only ones there and we had an enjoyable lunch and a few drinks in a gorgeous, secluded bay and chatted with the owner about the island.
Other attractions were the "Cost-U-Less" which is a ware house store similiar to Costo with lots of familiar, American goods at very good prices. Much provisioning was done and we are set now until New Zealand.
The Admiral and I got our Sunday best on and visited the local Congregational church. The entire service was in Samoan so we didn't understand a word but the singing was exquisite. The congregants were very friendly and the pastor even gave the Admiral his orchid lei which was much appreciated.
All in all, American Samoa was a wonderful place to visit and we could have spent much more time here but Tonga beckons.
I'll post some photos of Samoa when I can.