Underway to American Samoa

Too slow to fish, too fast to swim... We left this morning about 10:30 and are on our way to American Samoa. The forecast is for light winds and seas and we can confirm that. We've got our spinnaker up and are doing about 3 knots. We decided to leave while the winds were light to ensure a better passage than last time. We also have some old diesel to burn so we're not afraid to turn on the iron lung if need be.

During our two week stay at Suwarrow, I started taking inventory of things we might need to buy in American Samoa. It's amazing what the weather out here does to things that would otherwise last a lifetime, or at least a couple more years. Some things we need to replace...

1) Mixing bowls - we have these collapsible mixing bowls that I LOVE. But we wash our dishes in salt water before fresh water rinsing them and it has really taken a toll on them (along with the constant collapsing and un-collapsing). One of them has a big hole and the other one isn't far behind.

2) Clothes - while we hand wash them, they have to be hung on the line and sometimes they stay out there too long and get faded out by the sun. Then we wear the same thing over and over and over and it just gets worn out quicker than if we had a full closet to chose from. Not to mention, hand washing is no match against little boy stains...

3) Utensils - these don't wear out (although they can rust if I'm not careful), but we lose them. We tend to leave them at potlucks or on other people's boats and I'm embarrassed to say, a few have gone over the side while eating in the nets. We can only invite an additional two people over for dinner because that's all the forks we have.

4) Lures - aside from losing them to the big fish, they rust out very quickly. We should have bought more.

5) Grill - this is probably the most important one...it's lasted two years but desperately needs replacing. I'm still dreaming about the one we left behind in Tahiti...

6) My fancy washing machine (The Wonder Wash) - it's on it's last leg, literally. The thing is covered with duct tape, it's a wonder it still works at all. It's missing a handle and the top is cracked as well. To be fair, I'm pretty hard on it so my original raving review still stands. For $35, it was a great buy.

7) Sheets - Eeewww...is all I have to say about that. We shower less, wash our sheets less, sweat more... you get the picture.

8) Electrical cords - things like adapters for the TV, cables for the iPod, hard drives, booster antennae...the salt water and damp air are pretty hard on them. We're down to wiggling them this way and that, holding our head just right while singing jingle bells before we can get them to work.

This is just a small list of things that surprised me a bit. The list of big expensive things is way longer and way more stressful (also, much more predictable). I'm not even going to go there right now.

The good news is, we are headed to a place that can probably accommodate all of our needs. The bad news is that once we get to a place like that, our bank account seems to drain itself inexplicably. It's not going to help that I'm taking a quick trip home...I'm a sucker for Target and can't wait to go to Barnes and Noble.

But we're not too eager to rush into the fast life again...two weeks in Suwarrow is a perfect way to slow someone down (not that we needed it). So for now, we'll sit back, watch our spinnaker and enjoy our 10 knots of wind and ease ourselves into it.

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