Out of the Tropics

We have now officially left the tropics!! During the night we crossed line of latitute 23.5 degrees North or the Tropic of Cancer. We have just realised it is four years to the day that we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn off the Queensland coast on our passage north to Darwin. But it is not the end of the heat yet as the area we are going into is getting into the northern summer.

We arrived at Pier #3, Hua Lien Port, 0800 this morning after departing Green Island at 1700 yesterday for an 80NM overnighter - a bit too far to do in daylight. We had 2 - 2.5 knots of current for the first few hours with a very light northerly wind and 2.5 - 3 metre swell from the northeast. The Kuroshio current which runs up past Japan is strong here but moves in a NE direction so we had up to 25 degrees of drift on. A bit of a roller coaster at times as we passed through some areas of turbulence but after about 8 hours the swell seemed to have lessened (or we just got used to it).  Our  speed slowly fell as we got out of the influence of the Kuroshio and were subject to the ebb and flood tides along the coast. It took about the same time to do 50NM with the current as it did to do 30NM against the tidal flow. Unfortunately, we missed all the beautiful scenery we had been told about but had lights shining all along the east coast of Taiwan, a few fishing boats and a couple of coastal ships to help keep us awake. There was only the occasional star visible in the overcast skies.

Alishan entering the harbour at Hua Lien

Fishing Harbours and Fishlovers

We are still enjoying our stopover in Green Island. The best part is being right next door to the fishing boat harbour as, being fish lovers, it is just a short walk to pick up some fresh fish for lunch or dinner or both. Yesterday's selection was a lovely skipjack tuna. After a late afternoon snack of sashimi which we enjoyed with the crew of Alishan aboard Tweed, we then had some quickly seared steak with vegetables for dinner. Yummo!!

May get a weather window to leave for Hua Lien by Friday or Saturday.

No fish from this fishing boat but more luck inside the fishing boat harbour.

Nice Weather for a Walk

With the north wind still blowing, we decided to take a walk yesterday afternoon. Green Island has a road which runs around the coastline but also an inland road running to the highest hill which has the usual communications towers, and some nature trails. Although it was low cloud and occasional drizzle, we decided to walk part of the inland road and then take the nature trail to the east coast. We didn't start off until 2:00 p.m. so knew we would have to keep moving. It was an excellent walk though, up the winding two-lane road with dense vegetation on both sides. We saw some birds, notably bulbuls, shrikes and a large flock of cattle egrets in breeding plumage, as well as some butterflies. Just after we set off we were joined by a local dog - he led us to the turnoff and then continued to lead us for the rest of the walk!!

 These beetles are found only on Green Island

We found the entrance to the nature trail which was well marked and paved with large slate blocks which tended to be a bit slippery in places. They are certainly very pollution conscious on this island with hardly any litter to be seen and the trail very tidy. Along the road we had seen signs warning users not to speed and endanger the wildlife. Mind you, a couple of small unidentifiable roadkills were found to be very attractive to our accompanying dog! Emerging onto the road on the east coast we continued our walk back to the harbour. 

Jon and Yap carrying our fender back in the gathering dusk

This section of the walk was about 8 kms and the sun was going down. A lucky find presented itself on the rocky beach when we spied a large polystyrene fender. We had been told to look out for these as they are much bigger than the inflatable plastic ones we carry and are much better at keeping the boat off the wharf when tied up. We collected the fender and continued walking with it carried between two people. We passed the hot springs at Jhaorih, one of only three saltwater hot springs in the world. They are very popular, with a lot of people visiting at night, however we kept on walking as we didn't really have time to stop and enjoy them. The place is only closed from the hours of 2:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m for cleaning. Walking along the southern end of the island we could see the spot where we had anchored off a few days ago. The shoreline was coral reef and if it had been earlier and sunnier a snorkel would have been just wonderful.

Confucious comtemplating the cliff face, Green Island

We arrived back at the harbour in darkness after walking about 13-14 kms, dropped our gear, and then headed for the Hi Ya Restaurant. This restaurant is run by the aboriginal Amis people and serves local food. Along with Marejka and Jaap from Alishan we had crispy fried flying fish, sizzling tofu, stir-fried greens and fried rice. It was a very nice meal and a lot cheaper than our meal the other day which we now consider to have been quite expensive. Flying fish is a local delicacy and during this time of the year large schools (flocks?) are seen flying along over the water. We will have to think twice about discarding the ones that land on our decks during the night as they are very tasty.

Our new-found fender doing its stuff!

Food, Glorious Food!

Once we were able to get off the boat and go for a walk on Saturday, our first intention was to find an ATM to get some money. We had no Taiwan dollars so until we could get some cash we couldn't top up our fresh supplies. After trying the island's two ATMs with no output of cash, we then exhausted all the hotels seeking either a Visa cash advance or to change some US dollars. No luck!! We then tried the airport and were told we would have to try the post office as they have a bank agency but they wouldn't be open until Monday. We also found that the service station owner would be prepared to change US dollars as well.

Well, today being Monday, we trotted off to the post office and we were in luck. We changed some US dollars for Taiwan cash so then spent some time wandering in and out of mini market type shops buying bread here, fresh greens and bananas there - enough to keep us going for a day or two. By now it was lunchtime though, so rather than going back to the boat we sought out a local restaurant for something to eat. A bit difficult for us as most of the signs are in Chinese!! In the end we settled

on a small place where we were gladly received by the owner and shown a table. First, he wanted to know if he could cook the greens for us! No, no, we just want to eat your food. We didn't really know what to expect but out came the dishes. First was a creamy tofu, covered in some sort of sauce and topped with dried fish flakes and black sesame seed, second was mango salad - seemed to be potato salad with finely chopped (maybe dried) mango, topped with mayonnaise and black sesame seeds and garnished with chopped dried cranberries. So far, it was all very different and new for us. Third was a squid salad - dried, sliced squid over sliced cabbage and carrot and topped off with a different mayonnaise. Now it was time for the soup - fish soup with noodles, cabbage, carrot and seaweed and last of all a mung bean dessert - cooked mung beans in a sweet thin sauce or soup. It was very delicious, didn't cost the earth and we can't wait until tomorrow to try somewhere else - we think we have had enough to eat for today.

In the meantime, the weather reports are not good for moving further north to Hua Lien, about 80 nautical miles away. We may be here for up to another week but we won't have any difficulty filling in our time. There is plenty to see and do - nature walks, snorkelling, hot springs, sight seeing, bird watching, etc. plus the inevitable eating out.

Another Day, Another Cruising Plan

We spent a comfortable night anchored off Green Island, despite a bit of roll and managed some sleep. This morning we discussed making a run to Hua Lien, our original destination, or stay in the anchorage another night, or try and get into the boat harbour on the west side of the island and about 1.5 miles away. An approaching dive boat was hailed and they all spoke English so we asked if it would be possible to go into the harbour for shelter for a couple of days. A quick phone call and they said 'follow us'. First we had to get the anchor up which was caught around the coral we had anchored on - well, it was dark and we didn't know it was coral. Then Alishan had a similar problem so one of the dive boys went down and checked out the problem and they got their anchor

up as well. We then motored around to Nanliao Bay where there is a fishing/ferry boat harbour, 22 deg 39.652N, 121 deg 28.413E - not your regular marina with floating docks and berths but concrete wharfs with big rubber strips to rest up against. Hmmmm, well this is what we expected but it looked a bit daunting. Nevertheless we came alongside and there was no shortage of people to help tie up. They gathered fairly quickly to see a couple of sailing yachts in their harbour.

A diver goes below to sort out Alishan's anchor problem

We were immediately boarded by two members of the Coast Guard. This is not a regular Port of Entry where immigration, customs and quarantine formalities can be completed. They were very polite, very young and soon had all our paperwork plus a copy of our logbook to take away with them. We can stay while the weather is making up its mind about what to do and maybe turns into something nice for cruisers. At the moment the sky is all low clouds with intermittent drizzle but very calm in here. Motoring around here the wind was still up and probably blowing 20-25 NE north of the island.

 Curious locals come by to see the strange yachts in harbour

We have been assured it is OK to go ashore where we can buy fresh supplies, fuel if needed and fish - this place is famous for fish apparently and the Coast Guard boys indicated there was great sashimi available not far from here. Wow, good food at last after the offerings in the Philippines. Maybe the weather will make us to stay here for a few days at least. There seems to be lots to see and do and the people are very friendly here in the Far East just as we found them to be in South East Asia.

Landfall Taiwan

After motoring for 52 hours with light winds, we turned off the engine yesterday morning when the wind came round to the west. We had arrived at the Bashi Channel and with wind and 2.5 knots of current with us were doing over 9 knots towards our destination, Hua Lien, about two thirds up the east coast of Taiwan. The wind picked up and came further to the NW then died for a short period before deciding it was about time we had some more northerlies! At 8-10 knots we were able to continue motoring into the wind but then they decided to turn it up and before long it was 10-15 and gusting stronger. It was getting pretty uncomfortable and when we were about 9 nautical miles SE of Green Island, we decided to seek shelter. It was a long nine miles as the wind gusted up to and over 30 knots but we finally arrived just before 9:00 p.m. and using radar and our charts were able to edge in to the SW facing bay and anchor in about 19 metres of water over coral, 22 deg 38.520E 121 deg 28.647E. Not ideal but at least we felt safe. We were both tired after our third day on passage and glad to be able to relax a bit.
After we had a cup of tea and were getting ready for sleep we saw lights off the back of the boat and thought it was a fishing boat coming in. On investigating, it was a coast guard vessel which had been anchored not far away. They shone bright lights on us, made no contact and then went across to where Alishan were anchored and did the same thing. Then they left and re-anchored. They left some time during the night.
Now we are not sure what to do. The weather files all seem to conflict, gribs show strong northerlies starting Monday - did they come early? Who knows. We will sit out today and then make a decision about when to go the further 80 NM to Hua Lien.