Evening star., 1954-11-23


mile wide from still another is
land, Ofu. which runs a full
Q miles In the east-west direc-
ton / was sailing. My sailing
guide told me the channel be-
tween the islands led to a harbor
and q village. Whether q raft
could sail through 1t I would
have to wait to see.
! approached Ol0sega and
soon saw that the coral encircl-
ing it stood very high. AS at
Tau Island. ] peered at the
heavily wooded land. ! had de-
cided to do my best to land here.
Suction Pulls Raft.
The sea was running high:
the surf pounded on the reefs.
erupting as high as a house.
and then collapsed In white
channel, as closely as ] dared
probably within 800 yards. !
could see no opening. There is
always a suction toward the
reef at such q place, and I felt
It beginning to pull on my raft
when ! turned away.
I moved along the coast Of Ofu.
and looked at its steep sides.
wooded like the others. High on
the mountain, almost at the
peak, I saw smoke rising in two
places. It was the first sign I'd
seen that there was any life
In the Samoas. I saw no other
sign. And ] saw no way to reach
shore. Just west Of Ofu are two
very small islands called Nuu
and Nuu Silaelae. The sailing
guide said there was an anchor
age 800 yards southeastward of
Nuu, but of course ! couldn' t
sail along the south shore. ]
steered straight west. When ]
looked back, tremendous black
clouds stood above the ilsands
and ! knew there was another
stormy night ahead.
There was no harbor for me
and my Seven Little Sisters yet
But somewhere I'd find q beach
on which to nose up her bow
or a sheltered place to anchor
Tutuila, the next and last of the
America Samoas. is a big island
II miles long in an east-northeasi
direction. and five miles wide
It seemed a good prospect. Io
come a good many miles across
the Pacific. I reasoned with my
self, and shouldn't be concerned
about mere SIS miles more.
Sights TutuiIa.
That night brought a heavy
following sea and shifting winds,
and 1t took men a long time to
get the raft trimmed just right
She pitched heavily. BY the first
light of morning I saw the faint
outline of Tau behind me, but IL
soon disappear@. Ahead were
massive squall clouds.
At OILS am. that day, October
13, I sighted Tutuila about 2s
miles away and bearing a little
to my left. I set a course fol
it and at once sent q message
again giving my distance from
the island and requesting a boat
to guide me through the reefs
"All's WE'LL" Iadded. !
] then put my transmittel
away, disconnecting' the ground
wires and antenna and screwine
down the top. I saw no boat OF
plane looking for me. I did moi
believe this latest message hac
been received any more thar
the others. I made up my minc
I'd have to find my own landing
place.
It was only later that
learned the signal was picked ur
at the British island of Raro.
tonga, some $50 miles to the
southeast. I had no way oi
knowing that Rarotonga hac
alerted Pago Pago, the town or
Tutuila, where officials were JUS
then getting a search under
way.
Coast Is Precipitous.
Tutuila is a rugged island
with a precipitous north coas
and a wooded mountain ridg,
that rises several Thousand feet
About two o'clock in the after,
noon I had come very close
within perhaps 500 yards of tn
northern shore, and began fol
lowing it. AS I knew from m,
sailing guide, Pago Pago had ,
fine harbor-but on the soutl
shore. which ! could not reacl
without risking an almost Ger
tain wreck.
I sailed as close as I could T.
Tutuila's northern shore, look
ing for an opening in the reef o
some sheltered bay into which
could run. The wind and sc,
kept trying to push me off. bu
at some places I managed to ge
within 100 yards of the coral.
was so hazy that I could not pic
up any landmarks. even with m
binoculars. Besides, I had to Civ
my utmost attention to steering
/ After the long suspense, fel
| strained. AS I had many time.
I talked aloud: Please, vino
swing around a little: let up
little; let me pass that reef; lie
me see If I can get into tina
bay"
\ Wind Remains Strong.
The wind remained strong.
moved ahead. studying as bes
I could the white lines Of break
ers that marked the reefs. A
this time asked myself: Shout
] go on in against the shar
; walls and wreck my raft? If
: did. ! would lose everythin
aboard. The raft. and perhaps
too. would be battered. In m
mind 1t was more important t
) find that one good landing plac
I sought thar, fn ,.iclr oa,ri,,or IL,