Hawaii-Samoa

Five Weeks In Outrigger Canoe

AN outrigger canoe, 30 ft. long, and 19 in. wide, which left Hilo, Hawaii, on April 17, arrived late in May at a small village on the north coast of Tutuila, American Samoa, with three starving men.

Captain U. A. Woodbury and Mr. Don Hall, two Americans, and Mr. A. East man, had only 15 days’ provisions when they set out from Hilo for Fanning Is land. For four days they cruised around, looking for Fanning; then, in desper ation, they headed for Samoa. Heavy seas put their outboard motor and chro nometer out of action, and they used a small sail and navigated by the stars.

They were five weeks at sea. After two weeks, their provisions were gone.

For three weeks, they lived on little more than a few fish they caught, and rain-water. Their condition, when they landed, was bad. Captain Woodbury re covered quickly, but the two younger men still are suffering exposure and star vation.

They carried an “outrigger canoe mail” of 1,500 letters, for stamp collectors.