Pacific Odyssey - Leg 5

Early this morning we arrived outside of Guam and hove to till our pilo=
t arrived just before 0700hrs.  He approached in big seas in a small power =
boat and upon seeing us decided that we were so beautiful he didn=92t want =
to scratch our hull while lying his boat alongside in a sea.  He radioed th=
ose =91higher=92 than him and received permission to just lead us closer in=
 until seas settled and he could come alongside easier.  He was very friend=
ly and thrilled to bring in such a different boat than what he was used to,=
 usually Japanese fish boats.   His English sounded like ours!  It was some=
what strange to have someone so like us in physical characteristics leading=
 us in, talking like we had more in common than what we=92ve been experienc=
ing for 7 months . . . it=92s difficult to describe.  Our shipping agent Bi=
ll Thayer is away until Saturday, but he has a fellow named Mike working fo=
r him who was on the dock with Customs officials, to welcome us.  So far he=
 has been incredibly willing to help us out in any way, a wonderful welcome=
.  We know Bill way back from our first offshore when he was shipping agent=
 for us in Honolulu, and up until last offshore, we still dealt with him ev=
ery time we were in Honolulu.  It will be good to see him.  The Customs off=
icials looked very smart and =91official=92 in their uniforms, holsters, ra=
dios etc . . . also something we=92re not used to.  They were wary of stepp=
ing the 2 feet from the dock to the ship and called for a ramp, which in th=
e end nobody used.  I had to remember Palmerston, where the little boats bo=
bbed frenetically up and down in the swell as it was tied alongside and Joc=
k, the woman who was in charge of Customs, climbed about 9 ft up onto the G=
race in a dress and a terrific sea . . . I stayed with her in her home and =
she was a wonderful woman . . . the memory was enjoyable to ponder.   After=
 Customs and Immigration everyone was free to explore the island.  Everyone=
 who deals with Skipper and the ship, very quickly falls under the spell an=
d becomes friendly, interested and willing to make our visit as good as it =
can be.  2 fellows from the US Coast Guard came by to have a look and there=
=92s word that they want the entire group to come to their place on the bea=
ch for a barbecue; we=92ll see what happens.  Last night as we were coming =
in closer to the island, we were surprised at the number of lights visible =
from the shore; since Palmerston power has often been minimal at night, if =
present at all.  My feelings are we will miss the pitch black nights and th=
e quiet of those places.