The year started out very lively for
Pelangi and her crew, but the past 6 weeks or so we’ve virtually come to stand
still.
Once we’d got our visa extensions sorted
out in Coron, where we’d bade a sad farewell to Laura it was time to start
cruising again, but strong North Easterly winds (which are typical for this
time of year) meant we couldn’t sail our planned Easterly route. So, we headed back West and re visited some
of the islands we’d been to with Laura.
We knew the passages quite well now and would also be sheltered from the
strong winds by anchoring on the western side of the islands. Better than just sitting in a windy hole and
we could at least start to move South towards Cuyo, our half way point to
Panay, then up to Guimaras and around the top of Cebu which was our final
destination for this part of our journey.
We slipped anchor on 15th
January and let the winds gently push us back through the narrow channels and
towards Galoc Island, a known playground for dugongs and turtles. Whilst we didn’t see any turtles we’re sure
we saw 3 dugongs.
By 19th January we’d come about
120 nautical miles and were safely tucked into a pretty anchorage on Lubic
Island, but the winds were getting stronger by the day, the seas were getting a
little agitated and so was our auto pilot.
We’d had problems once before, but had managed to re set our compass which
had done the trick. This time no such
luck. Every time we activated auto pilot
Pelangi would start to turn into wind and refused to hold course. Nothing for it but to helm the boat ourselves
operating on 2 hour shifts of the 50 mile passage to Lubic. Our hand held compass came in real handy too
as our electronic compass was now reading about 70 degrees off course!
It was a short 20 mile sail the next day from
Lubic to Cuyo - and we were very happy to get there! It’s a pretty island with friendly locals, a
small market and lovely sandy beach where you can enjoy a well - earned coldie
and nice sunsets. After a couple of days
rest we decided to keep going. The wind
was getting up again, but we were right on course and now used to our helming
routine. Our next stop at Panay Island
was almost 70 miles away and arriving in the wee small hours and trying to
anchor in bays peppered with reef and coral is not recommended. Once out to sea we’d be in deep water with
little in the way of hazards (apart from the odd fishing boat with no lights,
which we’re used to now!), so we decided on a late afternoon start, sailing
through the night and arriving some hours after dawn. However, less than 1 hour into the journey it
was obvious we were going nowhere that night.
The winds were squally and blustering at over 30 knots, plus the waves
were starting to build – no way were we going to sail 12 hours of darkness in
that! We’d learned very early on that
forward planning is essential on any crossing and had identified a small bay on
a steep island about 10 miles along which we could use in an emergency. This was turning into an emergency! The sun had just disappeared and with the
help of what light she’d left behind we dropped the anchor closer to shore than
we would have liked, but with a few local bankas for company we settled into
anchor watch mode and hoped for calmer seas the next day.
At first light on Monday 24th
January we poked our bow out of the bay and were thankful it was calmer. The miles we’d done the night before meant we
could still make Panay before nightfall, but with almost 60 miles to do it
would be a long day. The further we went
the stronger the winds. It was again blustery
with white caps coming fast and furious and waves starting to build to 2 meters
and above. But, after our experience
coming into Peurto Princesa we were confident that Pelangi could handle things,
and she did! We safely dropped anchor
just before dusk at Southern Panay with just enough energy left to make a hot
meal and go to bed!
We stayed there a couple of days enjoying
the hospitality of the villagers, the hot springs just up the road and the ever
present karaoke bars, which we managed to avoid this time round! On the 26th we slipped anchor for
an easy passage round the tip of Panay and up towards the highly recommended
island of Guimaras. Ha! Not so fast……
Once again out to the sea the weather was waiting for us and refused to
let us past. The winds were gusting
about 25 knots, which we could handle, but the waves were now getting up to and
above 3 meters and it was impossible to hold our course without fear of
broaching (the boat sitting side on to the waves and rolling over). We had no option to stick with a South bound course that would eventually lead us to
Port Bonbonon on the southern tip of Negros some 117 miles off course! We had hoped to reach Dumaguete (the main
city), but it’s a commercial port with little anchorage opportunities, plus
it’s on the Easterly side of the island and blows like a bastard!!
That was on 28th January, some
14 days, 10 islands (anchorages) and 324 nautical miles later. At times scary, other times tiring and
bothersome, but surprisingly exciting and adventurous once we got into a
routine with the right spirit and confidence in ourselves and our boat. Our mainsail had come away from the mast at
the top, which on later inspection turned out to be more of a design fault than
poor seamanship – we’d learned our lessons about reefing in early!!
Since then we have been to Cebu (it’s just
the next island over), but on the local ferry to visit a sail maker and get our
main repaired, plus finally get new battens to replace the ones we lost and the
ones we got made in P.P. which have lasted surprisingly well. It was good to get off Pelangi for a few days,
after all our hours on the tiller plus there’s a boat builder we were keen to
visit to discuss some maintenance work that will need doing soon.
Port Bonbonon is a typhoon hole (although
it blows pretty hard through here most days) and there are quite a few boats
here on moorings. Most of their owners
are either waiting for the seasons to change before sailing on, or waiting for
the next round of pensions, or share prices to go up to get their boats seaworthy
again! Nigel, an ex pomme/australian
runs a small, and slightly run down beach resort here, plus he’s the local
coast guard so looks after fellow sailors with cheap beer, good food and plenty
of stories, sound advice and help. He
runs us into town in his van when we need to stock up and is an all round nice
guy.
G got offered some work in Manila, Honk
Kong, Macau and Singapore and with new, expensive electronic gear needed, he took
the work. Well that, and the fact that
he got to ponse around in 5 star hotels whilst being called Sir!! I joined him in HK so we could shop around
and get replacements. Naively we thought
we could simply rock up to a dealers and get what we wanted but this is boat
parts we’re talking about here! With
nothing we wanted in stock, and little by way of assistance on alternative
products (apart from stuff we don’t need right now) we came back empty
handed. It was a good trip, although it
felt rather strange being back in a “big city” with traffic, noise, people……,
but a few pints of Tetleys and footie on the telly in an English pub and we
soon felt at home! Macau was great. Staying at the Hard Rock Hotel was super cool
and I was tempted to gamble the money we hadn’t spent in the casinos, but the
thought of G’s reaction if I lost all his hard earned cash on the throw of a
dice was too much to even contemplate!!
Singapore was hot, sticky and more crowded than ever, and again, no luck
with the boat parts.
We’ve been back on Pelangi a week now. Strong winds are still blowing, although it
seems to be calmer on other parts of the island. So, if it ever stops blowing long enough for
us to get our sail back on, we’ll try to re-trace our course and head back for
Guimaras. Hopefully on a different tack
and with the wind behind us we’ll make it this time.
Cheers then
Captns J and G
