Yacht Owners in Town
by Malia Sio and Josephine Nickel
18 August 2003

Couple Clive and Jane Green are in town with friends Niel and Brycea Meyer.
The couples have just come from the Northern Cooks, and will be here for our Teuila festivities.

They are part of some 30 yachts of all sizes moored inside Apia Harbor.

The Greens have been travelling from east to west and their next ports of call will be Tonga, Fiji, Australia and New Zealand.

Thecouple are both retired and plan to travel around for a while before settling down in England.

The Meyers however are on much younger and plan to sail around the world for another three years before they get back into work. Niel is an engineer while Brycea is a hotel operator.

The couples both commented on how friendly are people they’ve met so far.

“It would be difficult to say anything other then complimentary remarks about Samoa,” Mr Green said.

“The food is great and the prices are reasonable.” That is compared to say French Polynesia, where they traveled through.

“Samoa is a great place for shopping and eating out,” he added.

The yacht facilities down at the local wharf have also been satisfying for the couples. With showers and everything that the yachties need for the security of their boats.

They also pointed out that government should be mindful of the importance of yachties and the kind of money they inject into the local economy. This is compared to the regular cruise ship passenger who spends only hours in the country and while here, usually dine at the ship’s restaurants.

“We basically spend around $US500 ($1500) in a month, when we visit Apia. This is because we stay longer on the island, we buy supplies of food to fill up our yachts and we explore the restaurants, bars, and shops day and night and we always enjoy the church services on Sundays,” said Mr. Green.

He also added that they will be renting a car to take a sightseeing tour of the island next week.

“We give money straight to the grassroots of Samoa, because we buy fruits and handicrafts from the markets, we eat out at the restaurants and we shop around the many stores in town,” said Mr. Green.

The Greens say that they’ll be settling down soon, when they manage to sell their boat.

The Meyer’s yacht was built in South Africa and he says that Springboks beer is not as good as the local Vailima.

“We will always come back for Samoan beer eh,” he laughed.

The two couples will be staying over for the duration of the Teuila Festival and say that they will visit Samoa again.