Comings & Goings
Saying goodbye to good friends and welcoming new shipmates…
MONDAY, 03.30.09
This little cove on the southeastern side of Samoa is home to Tisa's Barefoot Bar, a favorite hangout.
0354: Change-Over
Well, we spent the day lounging at Tisa’s Barefoot Bar, but it was a fairly short run. I was back on board by 5 p.m. Took a nap and got up at 8 p.m. to head the airport. Samoa’s airport is quite an experience. There are only two flights a week from Hawaii and it seems when someone flies in or out, their entire family comes to meet or see them off. It’s hot and extremely crowded. There were some pretty sweet emotional moments as we made our goodbyes. As the team from Leg 1 filed into the security area, team members for Leg 2 disembarked.
The main waiting lounge at the airport in American Samoa is a busy place when the plane from Honolulu comes in, offloads, then loads back up for a return flight.
The airport features a beautiful Fale Fono, or meeting house, also found in almost all of the villages.
As far as I can tell, all personnel are on the island. We were joined on the WID side by Media and Communications Lead Liz Smith and Samantha Guse, a deckhand from Alaska who just managed to escape on a flight between volcanic eruptions of Mount Redoubt.
Tomorrow is fuel day. I have a meeting aboard Ted Waitt’s ship, and then I think a paddle with the local Yacht Club.
