Still in Puerto Princesa
Author: Shirlz
August 2023
Puerto Princesa has become my base for a few months. The anchorage is very convenient and I find the neighbouring fishing boats fascinating to watch.
Their massive and complicated outriggers and topside structures make them look like giant crabs. Most are beautifully maintained and colourful, the bamboos of the outriggers painted in bright colours – red, orange, turquoise, purple and anything else you can imagine. The big ones have a flotilla of smaller boats used as spotters which are either towed behind or loaded up on deck. It can be quite intimidating when one passes close by, but they are, of course, all expertly handled with numerous crew scampering about on the complex structures. Some will have already cleaned and split the fish they’ve caught and strung them up in the rigging to dry in the sun before taking them to market.
In July I had been given a two-month extension on my visa and was ready to move a bit further north but another typhoon was on the way and it seemed sensible to wait for it to pass. I moved back to the protected little inlet that I’d tried before. After being anchored in the fish port for 3 weeks my prop was badly fouled with barnacles again and we were barely able to maintain 2.5 knots to motor the 5 miles to the inlet. The little wind that there was, was dead against us. But we eventually arrived. It gave me a chance to test my new fish-finder. The old one had become very unreliable and the screen badly sun-damaged and difficult to read. Only visible if I held my head at a particular angle. I had been relieved to be able to replace it at a local shop and now have a brand new Garmin which is a tremendous improvement on the old one. The transducer needed to be attached just below the waterline on the transom – in the same way that I had done for the old instrument. As a temporary measure I managed to attach it to a long, narrow plank and lash that to the pushpit. The plan was to do a more permanent job when I was anchored in clean water.
When I was back at the Abucayan Inlet, which had become my convenient second home, I was able to get in the water and remove the old transducer and was very happy to find that the new one could be bolted to the old, properly installed bracket. I spent a few hours tidying up the cables and it was looking quite shipshape, although the cockpit is badly in need of a new coat of paint.
The ‘super typhoons’ Egay and Betty (elsewhere known as Doksuri and Mawar) had long-passed safely north of Palawan and I was keen to move up to Honda Bay. I spent a few days restocking in town and set off on a perfect day for a gentle sail north.
It was great to be out at sea again on such a lovely day. My old sail is getting a bit scruffy but still does the job and doesn’t look too bad. The junk rig is very forgiving and the odd worn patch or hole doesn’t affect the performance at all. It was also a good opportunity to get the Navik working again and it seemed happy to oblige. It is only about 20nm to the anchorage I had planned on behind a sandbar near a small island and after an early start we arrived in good time.
I had just settled in and was busy putting up my sun awning when a patrol boat arrived and told me that I couldn’t stay there as it was a protected area. They were friendly enough and agreed to let me spend the night before moving next morning. It was a little disappointing as I had been looking forward to a walk along the sandbar and a chance to watch the birds which I’d been told like to gather there. It was a really beautiful spot although the anchorage was rather deep. Later the wind came up quite strongly from the west which put me on a lee shore. Not very comfortable.
Early the next morning the wind was still blowing, which made it quite a hard job to haul up the anchor in 20m of water. I had decided to move across the bay to what looked like a well protected spot only about 2 miles away. Here it was much more comfortable and a more sensible depth for anchoring at 8m.
After the two recent typhoons, it seemed a good idea to keep a careful eye on the weather. I have been using the Windy app on my phone which is usually pretty accurate, but only available online. As a backup I also download a 5-day grib file forecast. Now that we were in a more comfortable place I decided to have a look at the forecast. Oh dear. No internet! I knew that I still had about a week on my prepaid plan. There must be some problem.. At this time of year the wind is pretty consistently SW which could make for a slow trip back to Puerto. I decided to head back early the next day when it was forecast to be more westerly, about 10-15 knots.
After a peaceful night we set off early, as usual, and had a really good sail almost all the way back. Only having to motorsail for the last turn, dead to windward, back into the bay at Puerto Princesa.
Once more in the hustle and bustle of the town I sorted out the phone problem which was simply a case of having used up all my data prematurely – so now I have a better ‘Plan’ and feel a bit of an idiot.
I took a ride in a trike to the Abanico Yacht Club, which is where most cruising boats seem to spend their time in Puerto. It is a pretty place with a good restaurant and bar for social gatherings. It might be an option if I needed to leave Speedwell somewhere safe for a while, but I prefer the Fish Port with its easy access to the market and shops.
I am ready to move on and now just have to wait a week to get my next visa renewal before setting off to have a look at places further north, hopefully armed with a better system for getting the weather forecasts.
August 19th, 2023 at 13:20
Another interesting post. Thanks for adding another trike photo- I never heard of those before. I use Windy too, it has been very helpful with hurricanes here in South Florida. A few years ago it predicted a hurricane approaching Miami would stall offshore for a few days and then zoom north. People that only watched TV weather forecasts were evacuating. The storm hovered over a small area in the Bahamas for 2 and a half days and then went north. I think Windy underestimates wind speeds sometimes but seems to be accurate as to the wind direction of atoms and their tracking.
September 7th, 2023 at 01:43
It was really great to find another post, Shirley. It all looks so beautiful with the mountains and the mangroves. But I can imagine that you will miss your lovely market! You must have been irritated to lose your Internet, just when you’d found a new and lovely anchorage. The joys of modern technology!!