July and August 2026

“Have a blessed weekend” was the greeting called out to me from a car load of Samoans driving past as I crossed the road in Apia. And that demonstrates the caring way that Samoans interact with visitors to their country. Teenagers greet you as you walk past them, little children ask if you are ok when on a walking track, young people will help you find the right bus, adults will stop and talk to you genuinely interested and wanting to make sure that you feel welcome. Even the officials who visited our boat to clear us in cheerfully gave us some information about finding our way here. 

A friendly sign as the officials leave after having checked us into Samoa

Fa’a Samoa is the Samoan Way, a framework that guides daily life, community responsibilities and moral behaviour. The family, including the extended family, is central, and the welfare and honour of the family are more important than individual desires. Brothers and sisters have a special relationship requiring brothers to protect and honour their sisters who in turn have a high moral and spiritual status. Each family is headed by at least one elected chief who manages the family land, resolves disputes and represents the family on the village council. Humble and consistent service to the family, village and church is expected, and other families are supported financially and socially during major life crises.

It did take us a while to relax into Samoa though. We had a big clean up job on Paseafique following a rough and wet passage from the Cook Islands. There was loads of washing, interior timber to wipe over, stainless steel to wipe down, and leaks to fix. And a few welcome visits to the market to replenish our fresh food. 

Samoa is not really a cruising ground and the authorities discourage it by requiring a cruising permit which allows you to visit the bays but not to go ashore. Consequently we spent all our time in the Apia anchorage which is roomy and has good holding. It’s a working port so not the most picturesque of places but we were quite happy there. 

We were very excited to hear that Phil’s cousin, Jason and his wife Sally, were going to be visiting Samoa on holiday while we were there. Jason was the MC at our wedding and so we have always had a close relationship. The four of us spent a leisurely day on Paseafique during which we enjoyed lunch together while catching up on family news.

Awesome to host Jason and Sally for lunch on board Paseafique

A few days later we hired a car and did some island exploring together. We had an interesting walk over an old lava flow that had gone right up to the cliff edge, and then swam in a collapsed lava tube. We enjoyed their company immensely and it was very special to share an insight into our life aboard Paseafique with them. 

A walk on the wild side of Samoa over the lava field

Lots of white water smashing against the cliffs

Amazing to see the solidified folds in the lava field

It was a long way down into the pool in the To Sua trench that had formed in a collapsed lava tube. This one had an opening into the sea so you could feel the ocean surge back and forth.

But we all made it down for a “refreshing”! dip

The Samoan Police have a rather unique daily ritual that starts each weekday at 8.45am when the police and the police band come marching out onto the street and make their way up to the government building to play the national anthem for the flag raising. Afterwards they march back to headquarters to begin their day’s work. 

A very impressive daily ritual by the police

We enjoyed a night at a cultural dancing show accompanied by a very tasty and plentiful traditional meal. The dancing was nice but average compared to others we have seen. However the fire dance component was very dramatic and spectacular. 

A dramatic end to the dance performance with five dancers twirling their fire sticks in unison

On the way home from the dancing, we came across this tattoo ceremony – these guys are being rubbed down with tumeric infused oil to help the healing of their new tattoos

We got to grips with the bus system and went on a couple of expeditions, including some museums and a delightful cave pool. 

Trying to work out whether our bus was among this colourful group

Inside an old wooden bus – apparently they are gradually being replaced in the interests of safety

The Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last five years of his life on Samoa. His house has been turned into a museum and so we spent an afternoon there learning about his life and imagining life in Samoa during his time there. It seems that the Samoans have a deal of respect for him and the way he went about his life in Samoa. He wrote a short requiem which is engraved on his tombstone and has also been set to music. At the end of the tour through the house, our Samoan guide sang this hauntingly beautiful song with such feeling that we were both almost moved to tears. The walk up to his grave was through some beautiful forest.

The impressive entrance to Robert Louis Stevenson’s house, and the large dining room where RLS entertained

The rather lovely walk up to RLS’s grave

Another pleasant location for an afternoon swim at the Piula Cave Pool

We waved goodbye to Sue and Steve and crew on Bonnie Doon -Sue had been very supportive during our unhappy passage from Penrhyn; and to Lisa and Clynton on Njorth Clan who headed off to Tonga.

Farewell to Bonnie Doon and Njorth Clan

Not long after they left a new fleet of boats arrived ahead of some strong winds forecast for a few days. We were very happy to see Gordie and Juliet on Matatoa arrived from Penrhyn as Gordie had been quite unwell from an infection following a coral scrape. It was good to see that he had recovered well. Margie and Rob on Silverwind also arrived from Penrhyn, as had Joe and Theresa on Freefall via American Samoa. Some new Kiwi friends, Sam and Ian on Ocean Whisper and Rob on Pou Hana, completed the group. It was fun sharing the anchorage together, bumping into each other on the way into town, sharing sundowners together, and dining out.

The Apia gang enjoying a night out together

Phil had another go at fixing the water leak in the dinghy with a degree of success but not so the outboard which had broken down -again. Phil, and the brains trust in the anchorage, gave it a determined go, including finding a spare part from a local, but in the end nothing would coax it back to life. So as well as ordering a new dinghy for us to collect in Fiji, we ordered a new outboard as well. 

Despite Phil’s best efforts, assisted by the anchorage brains trust, the dinghy remained with a collapsed nose, and the outboard could not be coaxed back into life

After three weeks or so, we found a very promising weather window for Fiji, and so we slipped into passage preparation mode and were soon weighing anchor again. 

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