The Passage in Review

The following description was written by Chris who crewed with Jon on the passage from Okinawa to Miri.

Just a shortish note describing a passage with my sailing friend (Jon Choate) bringing his yacht from Okinawa in Japan to Miri, Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

The yacht is a Hans Christian 43 rigged as a cutter, set up for offshore cruising and weighs in at around 17 tonnes. Tweed is quite a hefty girl but is sea kindly and is very safe.

I left Daun in charge of “More Magic” on Tuesday 25^th October, after convincing her that I would be back in Miri  “…in just a couple of weeks…” I arrived I Okinawa on Wednesday after flying from Kota Kinabalu to HK, thence on the Okinawa. 

There were a few jobs to do before we could leave Okinawa which took a few days to complete.

After getting the local marine department, and customs approvals we set out from the west coast of Okinawa early on Saturday 29^th October. The local weather forecast was for moderate to strong nor’easters to Ishigaki some 260 miles to the south. Almost as soon as we headed out with reefed main and genoa we settled into good sailing conditions and were reaching at good speeds in a mostly dry cockpit. The occasional wave would fill the leeward deck space and swoosh up to the stern plopping over the cockpit coamings and send us a wake up call.

We soon settled into regular night watches of 3 hours swapping over every day so one of us would get to catch up on sleep. Jon did all the cooking and I did the cleaning up and tea and coffee so we shared the load. Sort of.

We had a go at fishing but the lures were all very large for big game fish really, while the lines were quite small so we didn’t hold out for a fish dinner. We kept trying but the fish were wary and scarce. We did however, land lots of flying fish at night. Jon said it must have been the breeding season.

We arrived at Ishigaki around 10 pm on the Sunday giving us a relatively fast 40 hour passage. As we were unfamiliar with the harbour we anchored in the middle of a basin in the inner harbour towards what looked like yacht masts. We were woken at 6am by the wash from several departing one man fishing boats. 

After finding our pre arranged berth we spent two days and three nights in Ishigaki refueling, re-victualling and watering as well as enjoying the local seafood and pork while sampling the famous Ishigaki beef.

We departed Ishigaki for Subic Bay in the Philippines on Wednesday morning after clearing out with immigration the previous day. The weather from the nor’east was well established and continuing to dominate the patterns so it still promised to be a great sail.

During the later afternoon we spotted a large pod of Bryde’s Beaked Whales heading south from Japan away from the whaling fleet. Unfortunately we were unable to get a decent photo but Jon and I were convinced of the identity of these beautiful cetaceans from a comprehensive whale book.

Our route took us generally south to the Luzon Passage north of the main island of the Philippines, then west thru the passage and south again along the coast of north west Luzon. When we turned south west to go through the Luzon Passage on Friday we were able to pole out the genoa and had a great day’s sailing almost dead downwind.  We were later able to gybe and head south west towards the northern tip of Luzon in freshening conditions.

On Saturday as we approached the northern coast of Luzon we ran into the north bound Luzon current which slowed our progress considerably. The conditions were really great for sailing for the first three days but gradually deteriorated in the latter stage of the passage. On Sunday afternoon approaching the Gulf of Lingayan midway down the west coast of Luzon a breeze sprang from the south so we motor sailed for a few hours before a savage squall put us on our ear and we reduced sail and hove to for 6 hours before resuming our passage south. The next day was more of the same and so we headed for Port Matalavi for a nights respite. 

Only 60 miles to go to Subic Bay so we were off bright and early Wednesday in calm conditions. The breeze gradually filled in from the south west to give us a work towards Subic. As we neared the coast in the afternoon on a strar’bd tack we picked up a nice lift off the mountains which took us another 15 miles towards the Bay. We arrived in Subic at 10 that night and anchored outside the marina.

The next day we headed for the marina and a procession of Philippine officials all with their hand out for US$50 to clear in. We again re-victualled, collected more fuel, went to the extensive fresh market 2 days in a row, and passed another US$50 to the nice Immigration official to leave the country. Boy, were we pleased to be out of that place.

The forecast was not so good from Subic but Miri was calling us so off we went, early on Sunday morning we motor sailed south to the west coast of Mindoro towards the Sulu Sea. Our route took us into the Sulu Sea to take advantage of the southward current. We made good time and as the sun went down the breeze came up giving a good nights passage towards Borneo. The same pattern followed the next day so after 3 days we were closing on the main channel of Balabac Strait. Early in the afternoon we headed south west to take advantage of the shelter of Banggi Island and anchored for the night on Thursday in a sheltered bay on the east side of the island.

By now we were low on diesel and planned to call into either Kudat on the northern tip of Borneo or press on the Kota Kinabalu 80 miles to the south. Gradually the breeze filled in on Friday from the west and we were able to reach down the coast to KK. One unfortunate side line to sailing in Borneo is the number of logs floating just below the surface many of them up to 15 metres in length and 3 metres diameter. We encountered one of these “beauties” just as we rounded the Northern Tip which caught the prop and put a small bend in the shaft, enough to make the motor shudder at 1800 revs.  We missed several other logs in the same area.

We made it to KK early Saturday morning and tied up at the Marina ready to take on water and fuel and catch up with some friends. We dined out at the best Peking Duck restaurant in KK the King Hu Saturday evening and headed for sea the next day at 6am.

Next stop was Labuan 60 miles to the south and duty free shopping. We had a nice reach down the coast in the afternoon and reached Labuan port at 10 Sunday night.

Our final passage was fast approaching and after a quick trip to shore we up-anchored and headed for Miri 100 miles further south. An uneventful passage with the exception of a close call with an anchored dive boat as we sailed along in smooth water at 6 knots with a 15 knot sou’ wester. We arrive at the Miri Marina at 9am Tuesday 22 November, four weeks to the day after flying out, and was greeted by one very happy Daun complete with sweaty body after a frantic pedal from the market. 

In all we sailed 1600 miles in about 16 days with a few stops on the way. We had favourable sailing conditions for about 70% of the time and consumed about 400 litres of diesel at 3.5 litres an hour. 

During the passage we experienced fuel starvation caused by contamination in the tanks thru biocide treatment. At Subic Bay we removed both fuel filters and thoroughly cleaned them before blowing out the fuel lines and replacing the 10 micron filters. In KK we replaced the engine fuel filter and the filters looked much cleaner than previously.

It was a great passage and terrific experience in a well found, heavy displacement  cruising yacht.

Thanks, Chris!! ... And some more figures from Jon:


Total distance from Okinawa to Miri: 1837 nautical miles
Total number of days: 25
Days under full sail: 13
Days motoring/motor/sailing: 7
Days in port: 5
Diesel consumed: 586 litres 

Malaysia on the Horizon

We have had a beautiful sail from about 0430 yesterday morning when I turned off the engine until 1400 - water was flat and the breeze was just forward of the beam so sailed 43 miles. The wind then dropped out so motoring again.  Today has dawned with flat seas and very light NE breeze with no cloud.  A beautiful day after a night of thunderstorms all around giving a good light show.  Only got rained on once but not enough to wash all the booby poo off.

We will pass through the Balabac Straits main channel some time this afternoon so we will be out of the Philippines and into Malaysia.

Posn @ 0700 is 7 47.22 N, 118 05.57 E, SOG 4.8, COG 249.

Could Do With Some Rain

It's 0355 hrs and my second watch for tonight. We are doing 3 hours on, starting at 2000 hours every night and alternate each night, so tonight I have done the 1st and 3rd watches.  Very pleasant tonight as no ships and no wind and no rain -  although I would like some rain to wash the boat down as we have 3 boobies roosting overnight - two on the mast (one on wind indicator, the other on top), and one on the bow, shitting as they sleep.  What a mess! That aside all is well we've been motor sailing since just before midday yesterday .
Position at 0410 hrs, 09 13.88 N, 119 38.94E,, SOG 5.6 COG 207. Distance since departure 359 NM.

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We are motoring now and have been since 1140, with little wind but lots of rain.
Posn at 1620 is 10 05.31N, 120 04.35E, SOG 5.1, COG 209 - that is approx. 100 NM from Puerto Princessa.

A Rolly Night

We had thunder storms and rain last evening then the wind finally came up so our progress during the night has been great - only the sea has become a bit rolly.

Our 0500 Posn is: 10 59.69 N, 120 25.78 E, SOG 5 knots, COG 190NM.  Distance since departure 242 miles .

Good progress so far - on the first day we should do 124 miles since lifting the anchor yesterday. Last night started slow but as we neared the pass off Lubong Island the wind picked up and we've had up to 25 knots, that makes the boat get going with speeds up to 7.55 kts.

The amount of shipping is amazing.  Most seems to be headed for the pass near Apo Reef as we will pass through there later this morning.
Our posn is 12 57.05N, 120 16.01E,  SOG 5.6, COG 163 and the average is 5.1

Off To a Slow Start

We departed this morning at 0645 from the anchor - so far a mixed bag.  Lovely Northerly 10-15 knots that dropped out for a while, then East at 10 knots until 1400, then motoring with no wind .
Our position at 1530hrs 14 16.08N  120 01.22E SOG 5.3Kts COG 202. Trip distance 40 Nautical Miles.

Underway to Miri

A very busy time in Olongapo City in Subic Bay - refuelling, reprovisioning, laundry to be done, plus the extortionate business of clearing in and then out within two days!!  The wallet was a lot thinner by the time they left.

After customs and immigration clearance yesterday afternoon they left the Subic Bay Marina for the fuel dock across the bay and then anchored out for the night.  They departed the bay this morning about 0500 for the 800+ NM to Miri in Sarawak.   Their route will take them south on the east coast of Palawan Island, through the Balabac Straits and then along the northwest coast of Borneo past Sabah and Brunei to Miri.  If necessary there are places they can call into along the way.

Position reports will be posted once they are received along the way.

Arrival Subic Bay

09/11/2011
After an early start at 0500 had a good but slow passage down the coast with forward of the beam winds about 10 - 15 knots.   We arrived in Subic Bay and anchored out about 2030 and will go into  marina tomorrow morning when we can see.

A Well Earned Rest

We have arrived in Port Matalvi to stay the night.  We have been beating to windward for the last few days and are a little bushed so will shower and rest for the night and leave tomorrow early for Subic Bay.

It has been an eventful day closing the coast and seeing the beautiful hills and mountains of Luzon.

Lots of shipping traffic both ways and the dreaded Luzon current which is always present unless really close to the beach, the water depth is 1000M and a lovely colour.

We have already had visitors who want to engage in constructive political discussions but we just want them to go away.

It appears that we may have dropped the anchor over a fishing net but the lady was very nice about it.

The Last Long Leg

7/11/2011:
It has been one of those days,  zig-zagging our way down the coast so we can turn the corner at Bolinao . It's been frustrating as the wind down to 15 knots but the direction has varied from SW to SE to S to SW so we've been motoring since this morning with an average speed of only about 4 knots maybe. When we started this morning we had 70 odd miles to this waypoint off Bollinao and we still have  27 to go so will reach it by about 2000 hrs. This means not arriving in Subic till Tuesday evening I think.

8/11/2011:
Position 15.55 N, 119.42E at 0700 and feeling good (Well, we finally made WP 14). We worked at it for 2 days against current, wind and adversity and made it.  May make Subic tonight, otherwise tomorrow morning.

Leaving the Philippines

It is now 5.45 a.m. and the sun is up on our second day on our passage to Taiwan. We still have phone access and also internet access!! Have not been able to turn off the engine yet. Light southerlies gave way to light NW/N and now NE which have continued all night. Forecasts all say easterly to SE so keeping fingers crossed. Tally for the 24 hours will be about 140 nautical miles so still a ways to go. Passed many fishing bangkas during the night but these ones are all fishing for squid so have bright lights and are stationary. Also a few FAD (fish aggregation devices) - some made of long, thick bamboo lashed together and with a palm frond or something else to make them visible during the day. A few had lights to make them visible at night, otherwise it is just luck - other FADs are large steel cylinders painted yellow with no lights so again it is not a nice feeling to think you might hit one.

A Visit to the Rice Terraces of Ifugao

After hearing the stories of several others who had ventured north to see the famed rice terraces we left last Wednesday to do the same. The rice terraces are in the highland area of Luzon known as the Cordillera - we would be visiting the Ifugao terraces which amazingly were built about 2,000 years ago and are now Unesco World Heritage-listed. Our plan was to go to Banaue but to get there we first had to get a bus to Baguio so our first two days were spent sitting on buses for 7-8 hours at a time. Once into the mountainous areas travel was fairly slow over the roads which wound around the valleys to climb higher and higher. The bus drivers had obviously done this before and we were impressed with their careful driving around hairpin bends and roads with steep drop-offs on the low side!!

This section of the road had a concrete 'tunnel' built over it to protect it from falling rocks!

We arrived in Baguio late in the day and basically only had time to find the bus which went to Banaue, find some accommodation, find somewhere to eat dinner and then get some sleep before our early start the next day. At this stage we intended to return to Baguio on the way back. Baguio's population is over 300,000 and this number includes at least 250,000 college students. The place was bombed by the Japanese in 1942 which began WWII in the Philippines. It was again bombed by the Yanks to drive out the already-departed Japanese and then in 1990 it was flattened by an earthquake. Would she-who-worries-about-everything be able to sleep soundly with this knowledge?

Banaue didn't look that far on the map but the first part of the ride took us back the way we came for a fair distance before once more turning north and into those rugged hills. We finally arrived about 4:00 p.m., booked our return bus trip - we had now decided it would be easier to go straight to Manila by overnight bus and then back to Subic Bay - found accommodation, somewhere to eat, and then off to bed for the next day's early start to Batad.

Hazy view of Banaue

Batad is a small village of just over 1,000 people and like most of the villages and towns, the houses and huts are built into the sides of the valleys - these people must be masters at footings and foundations - building those rice terraces obviously helps. Some of them look quite flimsy while others have substantial concrete footings and supports. As well, there are still quite a few of the original native-style huts - a square pyramid-shaped thatched roof sitting atop four wooden posts supporting a platform with a room above for sleeping and rice storage. Some of the more modern ones have corrugated iron roofs.

To get to Batad we had to hire a jeepney to travel 12 km along a rocky road, which is now being replaced in sections by concrete, then up a rougher road to the 'saddle'. From the saddle we had to walk for about an hour down, down, down to the village itself. This was the hardest part of the walk - down steep, high steps to the Batad Pension where we would stay for the night. Our room overlooked the rice terraces but we would not be spending much time there apart from sleeping. Below us was the dining/common room with fabulous views across the valley and the terraces. Unfortunately, at this time of the year there is a lot of burning off - they burn the rice stalks from the harvest and the smoke cuts the viz quite considerably which means the pictures never turn out how you would like them to.

No rest for the wicked so after lunch it was off across the terrace dykes to a platform from where another steep track leads to the 30-m high Tappia Waterfall. Along the way we spoke to an old Ifugao man in his 80s who was building a platform so that people just like us could take his photo and make a donation. Well, it worked for us so I imagine he will do quite well. Jon did the walk down to the falls but Pam decided to miss them as the walk down to Batad had played up with her knees quite badly - going up would be OK, but not down. Despite the drought the falls were quite spectacular and the water icy cold.

The drought has affected rice production here as well as everywhere else. There are about 1,000 people living in this valley but as they all eat rice three times a day even normal production is not enough to last for a whole year. This means that commercial rice has to be brought in and this means carried in, just like everything else that is needed - bottled water, food, beer, building materials, like concrete and timber, etc. The track is pretty busy with people coming and going all the time carrying things on their shoulders or in baskets on poles. Those attending high school in Banaue have to board in town for the week and then walk the track to go home for the weekends. They must all have strong hearts and legs with all the exercise they get.

We had a quiet evening and night - we were the only guests as the current election campaign, as well as the volcanic ash cloud in Europe (they get a lot of French and other Europeans visiting here), is keeping people away. After breakfast we walked back out up the track to the 'saddle' and we managed this in less time than the walk in! Then a jeepney back to Banaue where we spent the rest of the day visiting the excellent museum, browsing the souvenir shops and eating. Our bus left at 8:00 p.m. and we travelled back down the winding road and on to Manila, arriving at about 5:00 a.m. We managed some sleep but it was a long night. We were then fortunate to connect with a bus to Subic - we just had enough time for a 'comfort' stop, buy some water and board for the 2 and a half hour ride back and home to Tweed.

The 'saddle' at the top of the track

See photo album link down side bar for more photos

Tweed Reminisces

Our arrival in Subic Bay has coincided with the Rolex China Sea Race, run by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, and we are surrounded by race boats. This has all brought back memories for Tweed as she participated in the San Fernando Race of 1989 - 21 years ago - also run by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. At that time Tweed's home port was Hong Kong. I dug out a copy of a magazine article penned by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston describing his participation in the same race aboard Rapid Transit, a 63 ft (19.2m) Castro-designed ketch.

The race did not go well for the racing boats which had tried to sail according to the wind and ended up becalmed while the cruising yachts, thinking they had no chance just sailed the rhumb line and picked up a favourable light northerly wind. When Rapid Transit finally reached the anchorage "a quick look around the anchorage at the 21 boats already there told us that the race had not gone as anticipated. Cruising boats seemed to make up the majority. Most noticeable was "Tweed", a 43 ft (13.1m) Hans Christian with a strong Colin Archer appearance which had finished over an hour and 20 minutes ahead of us."

Unfortunately, Sir Robin failed to mention the overall winner of the race. However, our copy of the article has been notated by the then owner: "We won this race on handicap, also 13th across line - against 51 other boats beating at least 3 line favorites, one of which was RAPID TRANSIT!

So, Tweed is feeling pretty chuffed to know that she has been there and done that even if it was a while ago. Sir Robin is participating in this current race aboard FfreeFire 70, a 70-footer, so maybe we can seek him out and remind him of that race.

Tweed in earlier days, probably in Hong Kong, before conversion to a liveaboard crusiing yacht. No dodger, no bimini, no solar panels or wind generator - not a lot of cruising paraphenalia hanging off the stern!!

Destination Subic Bay via a Little Touch of Africa

We arrived in Subic Bay yesterday afternoon, Easter Day, after leaving Illutuk Bay on Busuangan Island early Saturday morning. We had light conditions and were able to motor sail part of the day. However, once level with Calavite Passage which runs between Luzon and Mindoro Islands, we got into the rough stuff. From about 8.00 p.m. until after 8.00 a.m. we had strong winds 20-25 knots with gusts to 30 knots. We were able to sail on as the direction was on the beam, easterly, rather than on the nose but we had an uncomfortable night with not much sleep! Needless to say morning arrived the wind stayed with us until about 9.00 when it changed to a lighter northwesterly, died, went northeast, etc. So it was sails in, sails out and generally keeping us on our tired toes. We arrived outside Subic Bay after midday and then motored the rest of the 8 nautical miles into the marina. It was now 2.30 and it was good to be tied up safe and sound.

But, we get ahead of ourselves here. At our last blog we were at Port Culion which we left on Tuesday and went to what we thought was the Busuanga Yacht Club but now know it as the Puerto del Sol Resort (www.puertodelsolresort.com). We anchored in the outer bay but went ashore at the resort and met Mike, the owner. Since we were there little more than a week ago he had put in some markers to mark the reefs in the entrance to the inner bay which extend out from both sides of the channel. He mentioned that the Dipuyay River coming into the bay is navigable by dinghy for a fair distance so early next morning we set off with the Alishan crew for an expedition to see what birds we could see. It was a nice way to start the day and the most striking bird we saw was the Chesnut-breasted Malkoha - a bird we hadn't seen before.

Upstream in the Dipuyay River

We departed the anchorage after breakfast to continue further north into Gutob Bay. Here we found anchorage between some islands at 12 deg. 09.930N, 119 deg. 51.877E in about 17 metres of water. Quite deep but if necessary an excellent typhoon shelter. On the way in we passed several large offshore fishing boats. When the first one came into view we thought it was a wreck! We then realised that it was actually floating and as we passed not only did it have crew but it had at least several hundred crew, plus fish out to dry, roosters crowing and a very strong fishy smell! We wondered how they all got on together in such cramped conditions.

Athena is first up for a feed!

Thursday we continued north to Illutuk Bay, a deep bay with a dogleg entrance past a bank and then a reef. Here we anchored just off Calauit Island, home of the Calauit Game Preserve and Sanctuary - a Ferdinand Marcos attempt to preserve African wildlife. Unfortunately, only the zebras and giraffes, which are able to roam free, have survived since inception in 1976. The eland, topi, impala and other species have since died off due to El Nino-induced droughts. There are quite a large number of the endemic Calamian deer roaming free though, as well as caged freshwater crocodiles, civet cats, a Palawan bearcat (only one left here in the reserve) and native porcupines. The giraffes were probably the greatest attraction although the zebras were great photo opportunities. We went ashore at 6.00 a.m. the next day, Good Friday, to feed the giraffes. There are only about 23 of them left so the gene pool must be contracting. There were about 36 zebras in the herd. Unfortunately, responsibility for the sanctuary has now passed from federal level to provincial level and with Marcos being out of favour not a lot of funding is getting through. One staff member had not been paid for three months and it is obvious that the place is starting to go downhill. This is a pity, not only for the animals, as with proper funding, perhaps from private sources, it could be a great place for threatened Philippines species as well as the remaining African species.

Zebra baby only one week old

The cost of entering the reserve was P350 each (about A$8.75) and for this they allowed us to come ashore three times to wander the grounds seeing the animals and watching for birds. We also had to hire a jeepney for P1000 between four of us to view the animals away from the main centre - in actuality we could have walked as it was not that far!! We thought it was excellent value and enjoyed our time there plus the anchorage was very safe.

We had now reached the northern end of the Calamian Islands - the group of islands north of Palawan Island. They are a beautiful group and you could spend months if not years here, as some do. But we have now decided to cut short our stay in the Philippines and continue on to Japan which we have to do in the next 4-8 weeks - before too many typhoons make it too difficult. So, from Illutuk Bay our plan was to leave on an overnight passage to Subic Bay, where we now are. We will get ourselves sorted out once more and then watch the weather so we can make our way north along Luzon Island and then hop across the Luzon Strait (sounds easy when you say it like that!) to Taiwan and thence onto Japan.

See side panel for latest photos of the Calamian Island Group

Taking It Slowly in Coron Town

It's been a week since we left the lovely anchorage at Popototan Island bound for Coron Town on Busuanga Island. The first few miles we had to navigate between some large pearl farms but this is relatively easy as the corners of each farm are marked with easily seen rafts about 2 metres square. They keep you on the lookout though. As we came down the channel we could see strange cloud formations and as we got closer the wind picked up to 20-25 knots - right on the nose as usual! We decided to seek shelter in a nearby bay and passed the afternoon in calm waters at 12 deg. 02.084N, 119 deg. 51.407E.

The next day, Monday, we set off once again for Coron Town but passing through the same channel the wind piped up again. We persisted though and continued on, motoring into the 20-25 knots with gusts 30-35 knots!! Passing close to Coron Island we had one strong gust of 40 knots and needless to say we were glad to get the anchor down in quieter waters, 11 deg. 59.319 N, 120 deg. 12.880 E. We were anchored east of Coron Town itself as reclamation works were sending clouds of dust across the town anchorage. The wind continued to blow until about midday the next day and from then on has remained relatively calm the whole time we were there.

During the afternoon we left Tweed at anchor and went ashore at the small fishing village - like most other villages the source of the sounds of roosters crowing, dogs barking, evening karaoke, tricycle horns blowing, children playing and squealing pigs. (Squealing pigs?? One evening we sat and watched from our boat as two pigs were trussed, weighed, and tossed into a tricycle and driven off, squealing the whole time. We can only assume that one of the villagers had just done a deal and sold two of his home-grown pigs, one pink and one brown). We caught a tricycle into Coron Town for a visit to the ATM, top-ups for phones and a bit of food from the market. The public market is huge and has a good range of fruit and veg, except lettuce. The tomatoes in the Philippines we have found to be very tasty and the mangoes are the best we have ever had - the Filipinos boast that they are the best in the world. The sausage makers were busy making sausages but we didn't buy any. Again, the people were very friendly, the town clean although dusty in the dry conditions, and it was very noisy after six days since leaving Corong Corong Bay.

Our friends on Alishan arrived Tuesday before the wind dropped and had a pretty rough passage from their anchorage at Ditaytayang Island. We made an attempt to anchor off the town but as it was more exposed there than our first anchorage we returned there.

Since then we have usually made daily trips to town meeting for lunch, shopping and having a look around. Lunch? We have now found that food in this part of the Philippines is definitely nothing to rave about. The choices are few and are nowhere near the standard of even Malaysian food. Western food we try to avoid as it is never like the real thing. Service? Ordering and waiting for food to arrive we have noticed is a very slow process and very uncoordinated, but hey, who's worried?

By Thursday we had been joined in the anchorage by another boat - this time a lone Frenchwoman. We had been planning to hire a bangka with Alishan and visit the lakes on Coron Island and when it was suggested Marie Christine join us she had a better idea. We would all go on board her boat and go there with her! Well, Friday was a great day. We left about 9.00 and motored the short distance across to Coron Island. The anchorage is inside a bay which has coral reefs across all three entrances. Marie Christine's boat draws one metre with the centre boards up so it was a matter of choosing which reef to cross! We crossed into the first lagoon and then the second reef was sounded to ensure we could get across. We then motored slowly into the inner lagoon and anchored in good depth surrounded by reefs, sheer-sided islands and a small beach. Wow!!

Safely anchored inside the lagoon

There is a series of lakes on Coron Island, two of which are accessible to tourists. The rest are protected by the Tagbuana tribe who consider the whole of the island their ancestral domain. We climbed the rock and concrete steps the short distance up and then down a small ridge and visited Lake Kayangan. The water was cool and clear and after a short swim we returned over the ridge and back to the boat. We feasted on our lunch and then decided to find another anchorage where we could have a snorkel. It was a beautiful day and we found a reef to anchor off and all went for a swim and a snorkel before it was time to return to our anchorage. A lovely day made possible by the generosity of a newly-met cruiser!

We had spent a week in Coron Town and decided that it was time to make a move. The tropical depression turned tropical storm had dissipated and joined up with a cold front south of Hong Kong and was no longer a threat. We will make our way up to the northern anchorage between Busuanga Island and Calauit Island where there is a safari park. Our first stop is Culion Town where we came this morning and are anchored at 11 deg. 53.173 N, 120 deg. 01.453 E. Culion Town is a former leper colony and we will go ashore tomorrow to check it out.\

Loyola College and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception church on the headland into Culion harbour

Popototan Island - Say That Again?

We spent yesterday tucked inside Halsey Harbour again. The wind blew quite strongly most of the day and it was nice not to be out in it. Jon had decided to change alternators as we seem to be having voltage problems once again. The spare went on with new belts but they were chafing against the watermaker belt so he removed one of the belts from the alternator which has two. It was then that we decided to stay put. His next job was to track down some voltage leakage from the ignition switch. The faulty wiring was found and that was fixed. Just some of the things that need to be done when living aboard!

We had a fisherman paddle past and he indicated he had some fish so we waved him over. Four small fish of mixed variety were displayed but we decided to trade with him anyway. He was very happy to receive some rice, onions, crackers and to top it all off a t-shirt. In fact he was extremely happy. The fish were cleaned and scaled and later they were put on the barbecue for dinner. Very tasty and nice to have something fresh.

The wind dropped out late in the day and it stayed calm all night. We pulled up the anchor from the depths just after 6.00 and made our way back down the harbour and out into the open water. The swell had dropped considerably and there was no wind - so motoring again. The spare alternator was doing the same as the other one with the voltage up and down so in the end Jon disconnected it. We arrived at a lovely anchorage at Popototan Island, 11 deg. 59.636N, 119 deg. 51.407E, and dropped the hook in 17 metres - not quite as deep as the last anchorage. Lovely clear water, a low key resort ashore which seemed to be deserted and a small fishing community to our east.

More trouble-shooting for Jon. Maybe it was the regulator playing up. He removed the regulator and replaced that with a spare and now the problem seems to be fixed. Tomorrow will tell.

Motoring away from Popototan Island

Farewell Palawan

After considering a late start to today's passage, we were up before 6.00 a.m. getting ready to leave. A very uncomfortable swell had come up during the night so we thought time to go. We had planned to sail from our last anchorage on Palawan Island to Linapacan Island which was a fairly short run but as the wind had more easterly in it we decided to track direct to Halsey Harbour on Culion Island. The wind came up about 10.30 at 15-20 knots so quite an easy day and the wind seemed to knock the northerly swell down a bit.

We entered Halsey Harbour which has several arms leading south and east and a few islands to make it interesting. Unfortunately, no white sand beaches - the shorelines are mostly muddy and rise up quite steeply from over 45 metres depth. There are some rocky headlands with spits of shallow water, mostly rocky as well, so finding somewhere to anchor was a bit of a challenge. After realising that our chart had soundings in fathoms and that 14 was about 28 metres not 14 metres, we settled on 22.5 metres depth to anchor - the deepest we have ever had to anchor in - so most of the chain went out with the anchor. The spot we chose is just north of Gage Island, 11 deg. 46.926N, 119 deg. 57.947E, where there is no chance of any swell at all and the wind has died to about 3-5 knots.

Is it a boat? Is it a house? Bangka returning to Halsey Harbour

The low hills forming the harbour have been cleared in places but otherwise seem to be dry tropical vegetation and remind us of Australia except there are no eucalypts!

The Tip of Palawan Island

Managed to drag ourselves away from the lovely anchorage at Corong Corong Bay and make our way towards the northern tip of Palawan Island. Conditions were quite blustery with wind 20-30 knots from the east, so off the land. Used the engine as we wanted to make water to fill our tanks. We are anchored in about 6 metres on sand in Diapila Bay, 11 deg. 24.530N, 119 deg. 28.620 E, which is well protected with the wind offshore. We may stay a couple of days until conditions are more favourable for getting to Linapacan Island which is around the top and to the east.

Sunday in the Cathedral

Sunday we did a day trip aboard Alishan to visit the Cathedral Cave in the southern section of Bacuit Bay. We anchored off Lagen Island and took our dinghies across the short distance to Pinasil Island where we found the entrance to the hong and entered the cathedral. It is not a big cave but is quite high and as we went in further we could see the opening at the top which allowed a strong flow of air through the cave. It was rather magic inside with the clear water below us and the soaring limestone above us and was indeed very cathedral-like.

Inside the Cathedral Cave

We then dinghied back to Lagen Island and went ashore for a wander behind the mangroves - not a lot of life apart from some squirrels and a couple of birds. Bird sightings have been quite disappointing in Palawan - a couple of White bellied sea eagles, some reef herons here and there, sunbirds, the calls of some Palawan crows and Palawan hornbills but not much else. Apart from that it was a good day.

Low tide at Lagen Island