It was underway day, well sort of. We did not go too far because we had ops to do around Tutuila. Tonight I can see the lights of Pago Pago and its surrounding villages from the weather deck.
In any getting underway situation it is hectic. Last minute requests or problems crop up on items that were working the day before or seem to have been overlooked. Anyway survived another one and its back to work and don’t even begin the countdown until I get home. I still have two and a half months to go before that happens.
But to think that when I left home, 2010 was only four days old and it was cold in the Emerald City. The Hawks had lost their fourth straight game and wound up 5-11 for the season. In phone conversations with “L” she always talks of the cold as she endures her second winter of her life. As soon as I arrived in Hawaii last month, I forgot about winter and concentrated on working in the tropics for the next four months. Then the rewarding stay with her family in Samoa as that will be one of the fondest memories I ever had so far in my sailing career. When I get home, baseball started for several weeks, tulip festival has ended in Skagit Valley, wearing short sleeves and enjoying the Pacific Northwest spring. Oh yes, in the mean time I need to do my taxes and with the speed the Internet is at tonight, I better start and finish it soon now as it may take that long for it to upload.
Prior to departing today, a Samoan priest stood by the gangway to administer ashes to the forehead for Ash Wednesday for those who wish to participate. I looked outside and it was distinctively Samoan as the priest had a white shirt with purple lava lava. Only in Samoa, either Western or American, you would see that. I would never hear of a priest coming by a departing ship to administer ashes on Ash Wednesday back in Hawaii or on the mainland. Religion, church and the belief in deity is very important in Samoan culture and everyday life. When “L” first arrived in America, she was shocked at the lack of religious participation. I had told her that she was living in one the most secular area (Seattle) in the country and that nearly nine out of ten people do not attend church where we live. When I first went to her village I did participate in one prayer session with her during “prayer time.” After that, I waited quietly in another room until it ended. “Prayer time” is every evening at sundown except Sunday (depending on local council rules) and usually lasts from ten to fifteen minutes. A matai member (member of the village council and usually the law enforcer) will blow into a con shell or the church will ring the bell. The bell would usually consist of an empty long propane tube container pounded with a hammer. You hear wholesale family participation in harmonic chanting and many times in conflict with their neighbors, not in hostilities but in different prayers and rhymes reaching for the same goal of daily meditation.
My eyes are drooping and I am tired. All the activities made the day go by quickly but the never ending process of documenting has yet to be completed. Since we are at sea I can get back to my normal routine and in the morning allocate an hour to complete administrative task of paperwork or in this case updating the documentation. In addition, there are many items left over from winter inport that were not completed that increases the size of the task list and generates more work orders. It is like this every year at the beginning of the season.
Mr. “S” who substituted for my regular partner did a great job at a short notice. I worked with Mr. “S” for years in Hawaii until he transferred to a boat that sails in Alaska. It was good to work with him again and after nearly eight years of working together this is the first time we did so sailing or rather rotating on the same ship. Good work Mr. "S" and thanks for filling in, doing a good job and all with a short notice.
Tonight we sit off the coast on the east side of Tutuila in American Samoa. Talofa from the South Seas and for my friends in cold country, keep warm and safe.
Manuia-po or bid you goodnight.
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