San Vicente to Araceli
Author: Shirlz
February, 2024
I began to start thinking about heading back to Puerto Princesa. I wanted to have plenty of time before the monsoon winds changed from NE to SW which would happen round about April, May.
I did a last provisioning trip to San Vicente town and also took the opportunity to get another 20 litres of diesel. I made an early start the next morning and was able to sail off the anchor. The wind was light and we were barely moving. The sun was still low and it was difficult to judge the depth of the water, but the chart was reassuring and I expected to easily get away from the reefs in 4-5 m of water. Oh dear! Suddenly we were scraping along the bottom where there should still have been plenty of water. I hastily got the engine on and was able to turn sharply back the way we had come. We bounced along for a few moments, but thankfully got back to deeper water.
The rest of the day was uneventful and just after 3pm we anchored back at White Island. The school holidays were over and there was no sign of the family that had been there earlier.
Next day it was motor-sailing against a gentle wind back to Liminangcong. Sailing fairly close to the coast I could see some interesting little coves which would make good anchorages. This time when I reached the entrance to the Worcester Strait I took the slightly shorter route between the rocky islands. It was quite spectacular. Luckily the tidal current was in our favour and we had an easy run along the sound and anchored in the usual spot at Liminangcong. Tasman II had been there for a few days already and I joined them for a sundowner.
There has been absolutely no rain at all for the past few weeks and I was running a bit low on water. I was very grateful to be able to collect some from the communal drinking-water pipe ashore and get some washing done at the little well.
We enjoyed some much-needed exercise walking through the village and along the road to beautiful New Guinea Beach for a swim. Tasman had to get back to El Nido to meet some guests, but I stayed on for another week just relaxing in the friendly place. I found a really convenient spot to beach my dinghy which made the shopping trips much easier.
I was hoping for an easy sail back to El Nido but the wind stayed determinedly NE. The first half of the trip was an easy reach northward but the last leg took a lot of tacking. Now that the holidays were over, the anchorage at Corong-corong was much less crowded and I found a comfortable spot to anchor in 15m. The weather was beautiful and it was very tempting just to linger on but some strong winds were forecast the following week and I wanted to get around the top of Palawan before they started.
I decided to sail close inshore to avoid the big seas further out and motored through the dog-leg channel between Corong-corong and El Nido town before being able to kill the engine and enjoy a really good sail up to the pretty anchorage at Diapila Bay for the night. I was having a bit of a problem with a lot of water getting into the bilge when running the engine and I just couldn’t see where it was coming from. I had to keep the bilge pump going while motoring to keep it under control. Not very good. I also had to still keep an eye on the very messy oil-leak which had started a while ago. I was using disposable baby nappies to try to keep too much oil from dripping into the bilge.
Getting around the top of Palawan, motor-sailing through the channel, was easy and I turned optimistically in a SE direction towards Iloc Island planning to thread my way through the outlying small islands and head directly to Araceli about 60 miles away. Unfortunately, reality did not measure up to my expectations. Now the current seemed to be running very strongly from the East and the wind was on the nose. We were making no progress at all. I was very reluctant to use the engine because of the oil and water leaks but I really had little choice. It was starting to get late by now and I decided to stop for the night at Binulbulan Island which someone had marked as a possible anchorage on the Navionics App. Only a few miles to go, but then to my dismay the way was blocked by an enormous pearl farm field. I skirted along the outside and found a clear channel through. Eventually the anchoring spot became visible and it looked quite good. Reasonable shelter, fairly close inshore over a nice sandy patch. I got the anchor ready to drop and was just manoevering into a final position, when a fast launch approached with 2 pearl-farm guards aboard. They were very polite, but informed me that I was not allowed to anchor there. They gestured vaguely towards another island further along. It had really been a battle to get this far and I was not keen to move on. I explained my situation (engine problems, little old lady all alone, need to have a rest, etc) and after a phone call to head office, I was graciously allowed to stay for the night.
Next morning I left at 7. The wind was a light F3 E and we sailed slowly along. It was about 60 miles to Araceli and I had plenty of time, as I planned to sail through the night and arrive early the following morning. I was happy to be making gentle progress. But now I needed to pass between two small islands, Cagdanao and Deribongan, on my way out to open water. As I got closer to the channel my speed dropped right off and we were tacking through 180 degrees. I had to get the poor suffering engine going again. Even with its help we were struggling to do more than 1 knot. And then we were faced with another very extensive pearl farm. By now the seas were picking up and it was really difficult to steer an accurate course. The rudder was stalling and mushing as the strong current made our speed through the water so slow. No choice but to keep going. At least it wasn’t freezing cold and raining. I wanted to clear NE of Binga Island, which would put us in open water before turning SE towards Dumaran and Araceli. We eventually made it to the turn point just as the sun went down. It had taken all day to cover 12nm through islands, currents and pearl farms.
Now that we were further off shore, the wind steadied and we sailed on a comfortable broad reach all night and anchored in the lee of Maraoit Island near the town of Araceli at 9am.
I spent the day aboard and had another careful look at the engine problems. I first had to mop up all the black oily water in the bilge and clean up the very dirty engine as well as possible, to be able to locate the oil leak. Imagine my relief when I noticed that most of the oil seemed to be around the oil filter. When I tried, I was able to tighten it half a turn by hand. It must have worked itself loose since the last, fairly recent oil change. I seem to remember not wanting to over-tighten it as then it becomes so difficult to remove. Great. Maybe I don’t need a new engine just yet.
Now that water leak.. I suspected the raw water pump as I couldn’t see any sign of a drip from the packing gland and the hoses all seemed OK. With the engine running in neutral I eventually spotted a very steady drip from where the exhaust hose connects with the muffler. I tried to tighten it up but it is very difficult to reach and very unyielding. I took off the clamp, pushed and pulled it as best I could, cleaned all the grease and muck off and wrapped self-amalgamating tape around the joint before replacing the clamp. Started the engine, and no more leak.
Flushed with success, I knocked up a delicious pumpkin risotto for dinner. I had been able to find arborio rice in El Nido on my last shopping trip. I think I’ll keep the bubbly for when I get to Puerto.
Next morning the wind had dropped so I got the dinghy down and rowed ashore to explore Maraouit Island. There is a sand spit and reef joining it to the main island of Dumaran and I had hoped to be able to walk across to the town of Araceli, but the tide was coming in steadily and it looked as though I would be cut off before being able to get back. I contented myself with a walk along the beach to the far end of Maraouit. The island seemed very dry. No green jungle here, just some palm trees and scrubby bush. I chatted with an old woman along the way and she said I’d have to go to town if I needed water. I may move Speedwell closer as it’s too far to row from where I’m anchored.
By the time I got back to Speedwell the wind was starting to pick up and I hauled the dinghy back on board. Since raising the boom about 30cm it has become much easier to turn the dinghy over once I have it on the deck. I wonder why I never did this before?
The Windy forecast was predicting strong winds for the next 4 or 5 days and it looks as though I’m going to be stuck here for a while. The bay is filling up with big commercial fishing boats. Maybe they have come in to shelter from the bad weather. Time to batten down the hatches.
Tags: Araceli, El Nido, Palawan, White Island
February 15th, 2024 at 12:17
I am happy you were able to fix the oil and water leaks.