We decided to head back to Malaysia rather than continue
trying our luck in the Philippines against the prevailing winds. The weather was starting to turn and we
were still battling those bloody Northerlies. We’d promised Pelangi that we would take her out of the
water and give her a good bottom scraping and new coats of anti -foul at the
end of our cruising time in the Philippines. We could have done that in Cebu, but getting there was the
challenge.
After our trips to HK, Macau and Singers (and the luxury of
king size hotel beds with crisp, white sheets – such luxury!!) we retuned to
our ever - faithful Pelangi in Dumaguette. The good news is that our stuffed auto pilot wasn’t stuffed
at all. Corroded wire connections
had been the problem all along (you’d think G being an ex electrician would
have figured that out!!) So a quick snip and re connect and “Otto” was back
with us. Having said that the
control head unit that displays all relevant info has well and truly given up
the ghost, so we do need a new one.
After a bit of provisioning and a few farewell
drinks with the ever helpful and entertaining Nigel from Togo Sailing Club we slipped anchor and headed back west with a gentle breeze behind us –
perfect! Our aim was to get to
Guimaras, then move up the coast between islands and pop across the top of Cebu
enjoying some lovely cruising along the way. After that, we could go into a shipyard in Cebu and get lots
of work done. What a great plan!
Well, we made it to Guimaras easy enough. With a couple of days lovely sailing stopping
at beautiful anchorages along the way – the cruising chute came out when the wind
gave up and we didn’t care if we were only doing 3 knots. The sun was shining and the world was a
wonderful place to be in! Guimaras
was everything people told us it would be. Very nice anchorage, friendly villagers, nice town and beautiful
beaches and reef to explore in Dolly.
Guimaras is known as Mango Island as this is where most of the exported
mangoes come from. The sweetest,
juiciest fruits we’ve ever tasted!
Plus once you get on the main road into town and look at the scenery
there are mango trees everywhere – just lovely! So, with our bellies (and fridge) full of mangoes and waving
a fond farewell to the local fishermen who’d been our neighbours for over a
week we continued northwards. We
made it to the Eastern side of Panay Island and found a nice anchorage opposite
another fishing village. But, once
we started heading further North East those dammed winds were there again. We could have made it, but it would
have been hours of hard slog to get to the next island, good anchorages would
be hard to find and a yet another divorce would have been on the cards! It was best to go with the wind, head
back to P.P., then south again to the tip of Borneo to Kudat. There is a very well known haul out
facility where we could give the boat the TLC she deserves.
We opted for a 2 day, 2 night sail straight back to PP.
which went without a hitch. We had
a full moon lighting our passage at night and sunny, calm seas during the
day. Sadly, no wind, so it was the
iron sail (motor) that eventually got us back to P.P. An unexpected re union of
fellow sailors welcomed us back!
There was Sue and John on their Diesel Duck Solita, Sage, a Japanese
sailor on his new catamaran (which he calls the floating kitchen!), John and
Sheila on their catamaran PFM (Pure F***ing Magic) the “usual suspects”
of the Abanico Yacht Club clientele, plus, the surprise appearance of Ben Ben
on his super-fast, custom-built, brand new catamaran. Needless to say, we only needed the one invite to board his boat on his first night at anchor, drink all his rum and
take charge of his ipod! After a
week in PP it was an overnighter to Balabac Island. Interestingly, this was our last night’s anchorage in the
Philippines as well as being the first one we stopped at on our arrival. We were
just 5 days short of 6 months since our first time there.
A day later we were cracking a beer as we entered Malaysian
waters and the day after that we had our first experience of watching Pelangi
being pulled out of the water and set “on the hard” – dry land. It was a nervous time for her parents,
but she coped better than we did! And I sit almost 7ft in the air as I write
this entry. We’d heard lots of
stories about the place being rat-infested. In fact one couple who were here hoisted the mainsail on
departure only to find it had a bloody big hole in it where a rat had sat
happily for many a night chewing it’s way through the dacron! Needless to say, our main sail is OFF and rather than accept the offer of a
ladder for us (and ratty) to get on and off the boat, we have a concrete block
which our swim ladder runs down to.
At night I pull up the swim ladder, close all the hatches, put the fans
on and cross all fingers and toes.
So far it seems to have worked. There’s a lot of stray dogs on site, so
I also took to feeding them biscuits in the hope that one would sleep under the
boat at night and “keep guard”.
Sadly, there’s neither hide nor hare of these silly creatures in the
morning and one of them has taken to stealing our flip flops! At least they stole G’s right flip flop
and my left so I still have a pair to work in!
And so the big clean up has begun. G has duly scraped Pelangi’s bottom and she definitely needs
work. Some small blisters, which
if not treated could develop into osmosis, which would mean bye bye Pelangi. She’s also had rudder repair work done
previously which now needs re doing.
We’ve paid for a months berth here, but I think it will take longer to
get everything done on our wish list.
I’m off to the UK for 2 weeks mid May to visit my fabulous
family and spend some long-over due and precious time with my mum, big sis, her
partner (the Gordon Ramsey of Devon!) and Laura.
It’s been a time of reflection whilst sitting here in a
dusty, dirty boatyard. It doesn’t
matter how long we spend here fixing up Pelangi, she’s given us so much joy
(and at times tears!) in the last year and a half and taken us to places some people
never even get to dream of. We’ve
met some of the most amazing people we will ever know and now it’s time to
“give back” (or to the less romantic amongst you – do the maintenance that’s
required when you become a boat owner!!).
Our thanks and hearts go out to the Pinoys – the Philippino
people who have so little compared to us, but seem to enjoy life so much more. They are welcoming, trustworthy, and
friendly, sing constantly and are a joy to be around. Their islands are almost as beautiful as they are!
And finally…. For those of you who’ve followed our
adventures and at times envied us….. well now is the time for revenge! When you hop out of your comfortable
bed for a quick wee in the night, think of me having to climb down a swim
ladder, hop onto a log carefully balanced on a concrete block followed by a 2ft
jump just to reach ground, followed by a hike across the yard in the pitch
black keeping an eye out for Roland Rat for my last toilet visit of the day. We are using communal toilet and shower
facilities (if you can call them that!) Then, in the morning, after a night of
rain, do the said same routine with a bag full of toiletries and towel tucked
under my arm, run across a muddy landscape that resembles Glastonbury (or
Woodstock for the more life-experienced amongst us) only to realise I left the
effin key to the effin toilet block on the effin boat!!
Cheers then
Capts. J and G XXX
