Pago -Pago American Samoa

[carstenb]

hi all,

has anyone been to pago-pago lately? From what we read, the harbour is filled with trash (poor holding) and the waters are foul. Additionally there are a couple of fish canning factories that foul the air.

or is this all part of the past?

carsten

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by carstenb

hi all,

has anyone been to pago-pago lately? From what we read, the harbour is filled with trash (poor holding) and the waters are foul. Additionally there are a couple of fish canning factories that foul the air.

or is this all part of the past?

carsten

Not been there for 6 years but it was as described.. had to re-anchor 3 times before we got a good hold.. hauled up vinyl flooring and a car bonnet the first couple of times.
Doubt the canning and processing plants have gone.. half the island seemed to work at them and the beaches at the outer end were littered.
That being said I did like the island and people.

[Greg4cocokai]

Was there eight years ago and yes there’s lots of trash on the bottom. Fishnets rice packs lots of stuff to fill your anchor. My friends got washed up a mile in land in a tsunami

[AiniA]

We had to anchor half a dozen times before getting a good hook, got a lawn chair once and a rice(?) bag another but eventually found a solid piece of ground. There also were a few moorings averrable but no idea about their quality. it is my understanding that one of the fish plants had closed down and we did not have any problem with smell or offal from the other - we did anchor quite a bit further in the bay past the plant. We enjoyed our stay there ~3 weeks.

It is also useful stop if you need to buy any boat bits, we placed an order with Defender and got it about a week later - the freight planes comes in one day a week (Friday?). Shipping costs were quite reasonable and there was no duty if you have boat papers - the locals pay something on all imports. Remarkably the American chain hardware store offers the same prices on specials as in the US.

[jmschmidt]

Hmmm...seems not much has change in the last 40 years.

[Dr. Sea]

Does anyone have any recent information?

[boatman61]

Escape From Pago Pago – Blue Water Sailing

Amazing what one can find in 5 seconds on Google.

[Jim Cate]

Is it reasonable to think that Pago has cleaned up the bottom? Big and expensive job... I doubt if much has been done. Reducing new contamination is a viable undertaking, remediating old crap less so. Too bad there are no alternative anchorages for yotties.

Jim

[Dr. Sea]

I read Boatman's link to "Escape from Pago Pago." Good story. American Samoa sounds good except for the Pago Pago harbor itself. It's a shame that the main harbor is so polluted and junked up. Other anchorages may or may not be allowed for yachts. What about Samoa, formerly Western Samoa? Are anchorages better there?

[Eleuthera 2014]

Pago Pago is a certified dump as witnessed 3 months ago. Add to that ridiculously priced Customs fees and you have good reasons to avoid the place.

Stayed 1 day and left again.

GL

[SSgtPitt]

Google must be closed for Veterans Day. What a shame, otherwise Boatman could find us more answers.

[Tetepare]

Bottom of the harbor is full of junk

Canneries open and close with the winds of politics. They do stink

Beautiful island otherwise and worth a visit