01/01/12 HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL. May you all have a healthy and prosperous year.
I have no idea what the weather is like in the UK at this moment - but here, it's hot! I am usually up and sitting in the cockpit by 6am with a cup of coffee and a book but by 7.30am it's just too hot to sit there anymore without rigging sheets as curtains to keep the heat of the sun out.
04/01/12 Most of the talk this year has been about where to go next. Some of the mixed nationalities (English, Australian, Swiss, French, Japanese, American, German) have left in the last couple of days but Roger and I are still undecided. Continuing eastward is fraught with problems, not least the lack of charts east of the Philippines and the need for cooking gas! To head eastward to Palau then turning south to the Pacific presents major problems. A return to Malaysia (Borneo, Brunei, Miri) is not out of the question and may well be the only option left after we have reviewed all the problems. Last night, Roger, Dave and I went out to the next village on a bar hop - which isn't very difficult to do as there are only three bars - but we had an enjoyable night out. Tonight, Roger, Astrid and myself went into town and had dinner in the Pergola restaurant ......and very good it was too!
07/01/12 Present left this morning to attempt to sail further north but said they would turn around if the weather conditions were too bad. Two other boats also left. Roger and I have decided that it is just too complicated to continue any further north or east whilst the north-east monsoon winds blow and we will return to Borneo in the next week or so. It's a shame because I would love to see more of the Philippines but it just isn't practical to pound into waves and wind for days on end, whereas a journey south westward back to Borneo should be downwind sailing.
09/01/12 I went into town with Roger and Astrid, got myself a long overdue haircut for 50 pesos (about 0.80p), not quite as cheap as in India but hey, I'm not complaining! Later, in the evening, we went to the yacht club for a beer and fish'n'chips, bidding farewell to Dave who is leaving tomorrow to return to Thailand.
10/01/12 Dave onboard Mirage III left this morning (sometime between 0430 and 0600). Roger, Leah and I took Mutley to the vet for a haircut, leaving him there while we went into town to do battle with officialdom. As we will be leaving in a few days time, we thought we had better check in! Most yotties arrive in the Philippines and delay checking in for as long as possible because of well known corruption amongst the officials involved. An initial visa of 21 days should be free before payment is required for a further 38 day extension but cruisers hereabout have been charged varying sums of money on first checking in - and we were no exception. The 'bitch from hell' in the Immigration Office immediately launched into her 'fee routine' and when we refused to pay we were subjected to the run-a-round routine. "You must go to Customs and Quarantine first," she said. So off we go in a trike (a covered motorcycle and sidecar and the main form of transport in the Philippines) across town to the Customs Office, where after a few questions about where we've been for the last four weeks, we were given our paperwork (and charged 115 pesos). Then it was back to Immigration to find them shut for lunch and that woman reminding us of the need to visit Quarantine. We ignored that advice as we knew it could be very expensive, and went for some lunch ourselves. On returning to the Immigration Office, no mention of Quarantine was made and our passports were duly stamped, making us 'legal'..........but she still demanded 500 pesos 'admin' fee which I of course queried. I got a load of bullshit about Puerto Princesa not being a clearing in port (it is) and that yachts were privileged to have this facility here. Anyway, I considered that sum (about £7) to be reasonable considering that we had already been here more than our allotted first period of 21 days, and therefore paid her. I then asked for an official receipt that I could forward on to the British Consul. She wasn't best pleased about that and stormed off, telling one of the junior officers to attend to my request. Of course I have no intention of complaining to anyone.......it was just a little dig to get back at the unfriendly 'bitch from hell.'
11/01/12 Today we all ended up in jail. That's not as bad as it sounds, Immigration were not getting their own back .....we visited jail is more accurate! We all piled into a trike (six on a motorbike and sidecar?) and drove out to Iwahig Jail and Penal Farm - an open prison facility some kilometres from Abanico. Astrid and Roger took along some pork chops and sausages and for a few pesos they were cooked by the prisoners on a BBQ while we waited in a small grass roofed hut by the riverside. You can swim in the river but it's cold mountain water and only Astrid and Leah took the plunge! Prisoners stopped by and tried to sell all sorts of hand carved wooden knick-knacks and were interested to hear about our living on boats. One guy had been 'inside' for 28 years on a double life sentence (later commuted to 40 years) for murder and drug related offences. After having a look around and our lunch prepared by a murderer.......we took off back towards Abanico, stopping at Irawan Eco-Park so that Leah could have a go on the zip wire slide, ride a horse and be rolled down a hill strapped inside a large ball - something she thoroughly enjoyed if her laughs and screams all the way down the hill were anything to go by! We spent the evening in the yacht club having a few beers and a chin wag with Tony and Tracey of Lady Silvia.
13/01/12 Happy Birthday Babs! Trapped onboard all day yesterday because of 26 knot winds which eventually eased in the evening and allowed me to take my lightweight rub-a-dub to shore and have something to eat and a natter with Tony, Tracey (Lady Silvia) and Ross of Bewitched. Late morning, I visited the Immigration and Customs Departments again to get sailing clearance back to Borneo with an intended sailing day of Sunday. During the evening, eight of us - John and Sheila (PFM), Tony and Tracey (Lady Silvia), Joss (Bewitched), Roger and Astrid (Storm Dodger) and myself went into town and had a meal in the Pergola bar before going on to the Departure Lounge where we stayed until well after 4am, returning to the boats at 5am - as none of us had keys to the yacht club gate, we had to knock John (the owner) up to gain access. I guess that's the Sunday sailing out of the window!!
15/01/2 Sunday and our intended departure date .......it'll be a day or two more yet because of the lack of winds or from the wrong direction! I'm not unduly worried about that because I like it here, the Philippines are great - very cheap to live here, friendly people, a good yottie contingent and in my opinion the best looking women of all countries visited! Worrying news this morning of the cruise liner Costa Concordia running aground and listing over off the coast of Tuscany, allegedly 4 miles off course at the time. Lives have been lost and the skipper arrested.
16/01/12 The other day, Tracey asked me why my boat was named Rhumb Do - a question I am frequently asked, so I've added that info to The Boat page in an attempt to explain the reasoning behind the name. We now intend to leave on either Wednesday (forecast SE winds), or Thursday (E winds)
NB A slight alteration to the website seems to have screwed up a whole lot of pages. I'm sorry if some links don't work, or pages do not display as they should. I am not able to do a lot about it unless I can get a better internet connection.
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