Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Gutob Bay

Alishan left Coron Town...and managed a downwind sail to a little bay with the new name: Puerto Del Sol.
12 degree 01.1N
119 degree 58.7E
The next morning we made a pleasant dinghy trip up the Dipuyoy River...bringing back old memories of the Kinabatanga River. Of course no monkeys, elephants etc to be seen, just a few birds were spotted.
Now the anchor is at:
12 degree 09.9N
119 degree 51.9E
To get here we had as usual wind on the nose;-)) Mind you, it's only a small sea breeze and the trip less than 10 miles. Zigzagging around the shallow spots, the many cute islands( palm trees, with beaches, blue sky..), plenty of happy waving fishermen and the p-p-p-p-p-pearl farms.
After here, 1 more stop at Busuanga Island: Africa here we come! (???)
Salute, from a 34.5 degree C cabin.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Short Hike in Coron From Here to There

From Here.... yes that's Alishan


To There.... yes that's the Big Cross overlooking Coron Town.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Just a Friday at The Office





The crew of Tweed and Alishan jumped ship to sy Flanneur, with Marie Christine on board.
We sailed across to Coron Island , where there is a "fresh" water lake.....it turned out to be rather salty... but worth the effort. BECAUSE look at Flanneur!!
After the small hike and swim, we had a great lunch together and then we moved a few miles west and went for a great snorkel. Saw some of the best coral in SE Asia.
And that was just a Friday at the Office....it's tuff out here!
Salute


Thursday, March 25, 2010

Coron Town

Alishan is at
11 degree 59.2N
120 degree 12.9E
The trip up here was not a sweet one: Plenty of salt water over the boat due to 30+ wind and nasty steep waves between the islands.
The name of the town is Coron, which is NOT on Coron Island, but on Busuanga Island.
Here we met up with sy Tweed. Jon and Pam took an other route from El Nido to come here: There are so many islands and bays to explore in this part of the Philippine Islands. BTW: quite a "famous" sea battle did take place here in WW2, and so there are plenty of shipwrecks to dive on, hence town is full with dive shops and tourists.
And the good news is: It looks like we are gonna miss TD 02 (Tropical Depresion # 2).
Oh yes, from now on we are keeping an eye over our left and right shoulders for formations of TDs/typhoons. Daily SMS weather updates (telephone) and gripfiles(radio).
So, some days here for laundry, diesel, fruit & veggies and sight seeing, incl a trip to the fresh water lake on Coron Island.
Then probably via the west coast further North.
Salute

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Ditaytayan Island

The Race is on. The sun crossed the equator and chasing us on our way North. Who will be first at 23 N Lat??
But now Alishan is at anchor at Ditaytayan Island.
11 degree 43.8N
120 degree 06.0E
This is a private island. The owner lives in Manilla (we were told) and the only people hare are the caretaker, his wife and helper. And can you believe it? The place is loaded with birds as there are plenty of trees etc ( thanks to the owner's care and wishes to preserve the island AND it's surrounding coral).
SO, Marijke is happy. Already she spotted many new firsts, even some rare birds.
The trip from our last anchorage was an easy one, very little wind (of course on the nose)and the seas were okay. Since yesterday it's back to 20~25 knots. From the east. Plan is to move to Coron town tomorrow. Just under 20 miles. Hopefully we will have internet again and read all your emails...
And yes, Marijke is in between the birding working on the new Q update...
Salute

Friday, March 19, 2010

At Linapacan Island

Alishan crossed the top of Palawan and is now at anchor at:
11 degree 26.7N
119 degree 44.0E
It was not an easy ride. Big NW swell and later in the day the wind started to pick up to 20~25 knots.
Of course, and you know it: On the Nose. But our Yanmar made a piece of cake out of this Rodeo Ride.
Anyway,this bay is flat calm (wind still hauling in the mast). The hills around us are typical... Dry to the Bone Due to the Ever Burning Sun and Piping Trade Wind. But the water is veryyyy clear.
Tomorrow move again.

Salute

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Winding down at El Nido

Still in El Nido.
Last Sunday we had a nice day out in the bay. We took Alishan for a 5 mile spin ( it was way too windy and choppy to take the dinghy) to Pinsail Island. There is a hong and once inside (with the dinghy) ..it's indeed like a cathedral. Magic. Jon and Pam (sy Tweed) came along for the ride and we had a good time. Pix will follow.
The NE monsoon is kicking. Yesterday here at the anchorage we had a stronggg NE blowing with a couple of nasty bullets on top of it. Those bullets ( gusts up to 40 knots) are locally made by the 200 meter high cliffs here direct next to us.
Monday and Tuesday were "hot" days here in El Nido as it was Fiesta Time. Lot's of things to see (dances, boat races, etc), eat, buy( plenty of second hand clothing stalls) and gamble. That last thing is maybe the most important thing to do for the people here. Young and old.
One evening one of the local restaurants curried some crabs for the crew of sy Tweed, sy Lightfoot and Alishan. We had a good time...food wise and talking about...sailing to Japan (yes, all 3 are heading that way).
The weather forecast tells us the wind should be nice to us from Friday on. So Alishan is gonna move again.

Salute

Friday, March 12, 2010

El Nido pix

Yachties In Town

Leaving one of the "hongs", pretty!
Sunset beach, just around the corner from the anchorage.


Monday, March 8, 2010

El Nido

Yesterday afternoon, Alishan arrived at El Nido.
It's a "must-stop" for world cruisers...
Position:
11 degree 10.0N
119 degree 23.5E
And what a beauty this area is.
It's a mix of the Bay of Islands (NZ), Phang Nga Bay (Thailand) and the Inland Sea (Japan).
We already had ticked those, so now the collection complete.
The nite before we stayed at Jack Sparrow's hidy-ho: Pirate Hold. A 360 enclosed pond. (11 degree 56.9N, 119 degree 19.2 E). An other great place here in Palawan. Sad is that the bird population is so small...must be cose of the hungry people.
Fish, well we do see them jumping by times. AND...turtles are spotted almost daily!
It looks like Alishan will stay at anchor here a few days. Internet is zoooming on board, and the shore is inviting us for walks and exploring. Also, for a change there are a few more cruising boats around us, so we gonna be socializing!

Salute

Friday, March 5, 2010

Port Barton

Alishan dropped the hook at:
10 degree 25.1N
119 degree 10.3E
Port Barton is the name of this small town. It's mostly a touristy town with several simple resorts right at the nice white beach. But at the moment there are only a few tourists as it's low season. That's nice for us.
Amazing how clean Palawan and esp. this village is. Hardly any rubbish to spot. So it is possible. Something the people living in Malaysia still have to learn.
The bay is pretty as well, numerous small islands with nice beaches. BUT the water isn't very inviting for a swim as there are huge jellyfish floating around. Okay, they tell us that they aren't too stingy, but we rather avoid bumping into them.
Here we are filling the fuel- and water tanks again.
The weather is again and again: Sunny with a nice E breeze. Haven't seen rain now for over 1 month.

Salute

Monday, March 1, 2010

Fish Bay

Alishan dropped anchor in Fish Bay.
What a beautiful place: A long white clean beach, clear water, palm trees, high hills in the back ground, friendly people ashore (about 70 houses/huts, no electricity, no...). By times it does blow hard from the E, but with this wind direction it's no problem. At night for sure it is magic out here in the bay with the full moon above us.
9 degree 58.5N
118 degree 39.4E
Yesterday we toke the one and only local jeepny ("famous" PI transport, pictures will follow)into Porta Princesa, together with the crew from sy Tweed (Jon and Pam) and sy Yelo (Rolf and Danielle). Such a trip you don't want to do daily.....Very bumpy and dusty and luckily only 1 flat tire;-)). But we all had a great day in the Big Smoke.
Sy Tweed are cruising buddies we know from Malaysia and Thailand, including our share-stay at Yachthaven Marina in Phuket where our boats got pampered by skilled Thai carpenters.
Sy Yelo more or less just came from Japan, so good to share about our favorite places (and food). Of course they have met many of our friends.
BTW, at Quezon we did go ashore, got a ride with a local fisherman, so we didn't have to drop our own dinghy over the side. In the small and friendly town it was pleasant to walk around ( and so much different from Malaysia). Here we scored PI telephone numbers:
09205536623 & 09205536624 ( SMS always welcome:Let them ring, let them ring, let them ring!).

Salute