Posts Tagged ‘Philippines’
A Move to Araceli
Saturday, October 28th, 2023
October 2023
The winds were starting to become more fickle as we entered the transition period between the SW and NE monsoons. I had somehow managed to leave things a bit late and needed to start moving north before it became too difficult. I love my junk rig, but it doesn’t perform all that well to windward.
Sunday, 14th October 2023
I left the harbour at Puerto Princesa early, hoping to be able to sail most of the way to Santa Lourdes in Honda Bay. It was not to be. First problem was a really heavy downpour which got the visibility down to one (small) boatlength. The heavy rain lasted about an hour and I had to reef down in the squall. When the rain stopped, so did the wind. Oh well, the house battery was getting rather low so the engine would be put to good use. at about 10 o’clock a light southerly breeze picked up and we sailed gently along for a few hours making from 1 to 2 knots. It was good to be out sailing again. A very wet and bedraggled brown booby landed on the solar panel to get his feathers sorted out. He must have been caught in the deluge.
Tasman II had arrived in Honda Bay the day before and it was good to see them again. They left the next day heading for Dumaran Island with a few stops in between. I would have liked to do the same, but was still waiting for my passport to be returned with my 6-month visa extension. It should only be a few days.
I moved across the bay to anchor off Canon Island which was a more peaceful place to stay over the weekend, as the Santa Lourdes dock gets very busy with tourist bancas.
Tuesday, 24th October
At last my passport was ready for collection and I caught a jeepney into town. The ride took less than half an hour each way and soon I had my new visa and was back on board. I had also managed to pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables. Still plenty of time to sail to Fondeado Island as my next hop northward.
I threaded my way along between the islands and reefy patches. There are also a lot of big bamboo fish traps dotted about. It was only a 13nm trip and by 1600 I was at the NW corner of Fondeado, where there is a recommended anchorage. It was pretty deep and the best I could manage was 16m. I had been looking forward to watching the flying foxes setting off on their evening foraging trip, but for some reason there was no sign of them this time.
25th October
The forecast was for very light winds and I was going to have to motorsail to reach my next planned stop at the Verdes Islands before dark. I had the full sail up and it was looking really good. I had made a few tiny adjustments to the lines and it seemed to be setting better, with the bottom panel completely raised rather than sort of sagging a bit.
The mast lift, a line that comes from the top of the mast and loops around the mast and boom to hold the sail in when reefed had always had an annoying tendency to get caught around the battens on the wrong side of the sail when the full sail was raised, as then it was no longer under tension and could easily swing around. I seem to have solved the problem by attaching a length of thick bungee from the loop down to a handy cleat on the tabernacle. I’m interested to see how well this is going to work.
We were abeam the channel leading to the anchorage between North and South Verde Islands at about 1500. The forecast showed calm conditions for a few more days and it seemed a pity to waste them with strong NE winds soon to start. I decided to keep moving and head straight for Araceli on Dumaran Island about 50 nm further NE. There was an almost full moon, so it should be a beautiful and cool sail. During the day it can get extremely hot in the cockpit, even in the shade of my tiny awning. I keep my garden-sprayer handy, filled with fresh water and when it becomes unbearable I can cool down with a refreshing spritz.
The sea was glassy smooth and occasionally a flotilla of small fishing boats would appear, shimmering like mirages. They usually mark the shallower patches of water. We were keeping within a few miles of the coast and I was enthralled by the sight of the deep green jungle-clad mountains coming right down to the water. Magnificent scenery. I removed my hearing aids when the noisy rumbling of the engine started to become annoying. The sail was adding about half a knot to our speed, just maintaining 3.5 knots which would give us a dawn arrival time at Araceli. The electric autopilot was doing a great job. These were impossible conditions for the Navik.
There was a fair amount of big ship traffic in both directions, but we seemed safely inshore of their track. I had the AIS on which would hopefully alert them to our presence.
26th October
0400
It had been a peaceful night but I had only managed a couple of 10-minute cat naps as there were too many big ships and fishing boats around. The moon had set but the welcoming flashing white light marking Langoy Island at the entrance to Araceli bay was in sight and made a wonderful point to steer by. According to the chart it has a range of 16 miles and a period of 10 seconds. It was actually flashing every 4 seconds but the range was at least as good as advertised.
As so often happens, we were struck by a very strong black squall just before turning in. Torrential rain. The flashing light disappeared. I quickly reefed down to 3 panels and had to hand steer as the autopilot was squealing it’s dismay and sending us in circles. Fortunately it was soon over and we sailed in through some small islands and anchored off the beach in the big bay at 0730.
The plan was to move into the lagoon where there is a more protected anchorage, but first I needed to get a few hours sleep as the entrance is through a winding channel between sandbanks and I was really struggling to stay awake.
1300
After passing out for a few hours, I had a quick snack and was ready to tackle the lagoon entrance. The tide was still rising, which is always a good thing in these situations. I had some wonderful satellite images of the channel and we had no problem getting through. I found a good spot to anchor in about 7m.
I decided to just relax for the rest of the day and find my way ashore tomorrow.
Friday, 27th October
I had noticed a small beach in front of the stilt houses ashore and thought it would be a good place to land the dinghy. But when I set off, I realized that the tide had risen and the beach had disappeared. Oh dear. I rowed along the shoreline and a man beckoned me in to a spot between two bancas. I’ve become quite expert at negotiating the spaces between their outstretched arms and soon we were safely tied to a nearby small tree and ushered through the pretty garden of one of the houses. I asked about diesel and it seemed I had come to exactly the right spot. I’ll bring my jerry cans with me next time.
Now I just wanted to go for a walk to do some exploring and stretch my legs.
It was a hot and sunny day and I was glad to have my little collapsible umbrella-sunshade. I wasn’t the only one, it seems to be the standard way to cope with the hot sun. Not that there were that many other walkers about. I was admiring a big spread of brown rice drying out in the sun next to the road, and was told that it’s grown locally. Later I saw more spread out on a tarp on the beach.
Then there was the cool looking snooker room on the corner to the main road. I stopped to take a picture of some fish drying in the sun and was befriended by the shopkeepers they belonged to.
I walked to the end of the wharf where big ships can tie up and was approached by a ‘tourist guide’ who tried to set me up with a selection of island hopping boat tours. I tried to explain that I had my own boat. In desperation he then tried to sell me a turtle. Any size I wanted. For eating. I tried not to appear too shocked and moved along.
I decided to take a walk along the beach and after a while reached a magnificent area with a white sandbar and crystal clear water and only a flock of sandpipers for company. It was on a breezy corner of the island and wonderfully cool.
It looks like I’ll be here for a few more days, as there is some strong NE forecast followed by more promising winds later in the week.
