Thursday, September 09, 2004
Thursday 9th September
At dawn we were off Capones island and light with a few fishermen in bancas, we tried the pink squid again but no bites. By 8am we had rounded the point into Subic bay and found our way to the marina. Very helpful & friendly reception and for modest fees we were serviced by customs, immigration & quarantine and are now cleared in and out of the Philippines ! Efficiency is forward dated passport chops !
Since arrival we have sorted the genset – airlocks in the water filter – water maker – crap in the inlet valve, and forward bilge pump remains to be done.
Thursday afternoon we ventured off-base into Olongapo – the town that ‘serviced’ the US Navy base that was here until 1988. Business has not been good since and the area near the base/Freeport is very run down. So we may enquiries and were recommended another area where the remaining expat population lives and there are some bars/restaurants. So we both went in tricyle - motor bike and side car thinking it was a short ride. Twenty crushed and agonizing minutes later we straightened ourselves out and were fleeced for the fare. But we found a congenial watering hole – mostly retired US servicemen. Found our way back by jeepney paying about 5% of the fare out !
Wednesday 8th
Conditions much better and we managed to make good progress. By late morning we saw Santiago island at the tip of Bolinao peninsula, the thumb of Luzon that points at HK. Thought about going into Bolinao but with seas and winds as they were it would have been a rough entrance – and by the time we were in line the wind gave us a good heading down the coast towards Subic. Conditions and spirits were up enough for cooked lunch and dinner ! Mitch thought so much of the pork chops in curry sauce he made special coffee as a reply !
Although seeing the coast is reassuring as night came on and memories of bancas, nets, swimming, baby sharks etc. So we tacked off shore and decided to stand out till we could lay Subic – which would be about 11:30pm,. So heading out we dealt with big ship traffic instead of
Tuesday 7th
Not much cooking Tuesday – not such a fun day. Monday night had been challenging – Tuesday was blowy – choppy and wet – either rain or spray. We continued to run away east to ease the motion but as the day went on we managed to head south again.
The forward bilge remains a problem – 1. Water is getting in – especially when we roll hard, 2. The umps keep clogging with 4 years of dust & cat hair that had fallen into the bilges and has now been washed down to the filters. One pump has now cooked itself having jammed – drawing the batteries down as well.
So we hand pump the forward bilge for now.
We tried our new fishing rig – trolled the ‘Pink Squid’ we had been assured would lure every tuna within 10 miles. Won’t even start the fishing excuses yet ! But the tuna in the can was fine.
Monday 6th
The first night went well – after the rigs we saw very little shipping at all. We stopped the engine at dawn and sailed with genoa, main & mizzen to investigate a fuel smell and found a leak from Starboard fuel tank – a connection for the previous genset – had not been trouble before. Fixed with epoxy putty and plastic sheet – and with good wind we sailed through till lunchtime – initially at 7-8 kts and latterly at 5kts. Which became too slow so we motor sailed again.
Things were so good we had cooked breakfast ! bangers, potato & onions and scrambled eggs.
While conditions were good we learned how to refill a grease gun – crucial skill – read the instructions is the key to this ! With a full gun we could pump a large quantity of very sticky grease into the seal where the shaft goes out to the prop. Hopefully less water will creep back up the shaft now.
Monday afternoon it started to rain and the wind increased substantially – the forecast was for SW 3-4 but we got W 5-6 for a while with seas to 4m. We stood watch inside the pilot house and secured items as the flew around the cabin. Not much fun to be aboard, but the boat always feels very solid – any problems are our omissions in securing stuff before the trip.
By end of the day we had covered 239 miles total.
Sunday 5th September 2004
13:30 HKT
Clearwater Bay Marina – Hong Kong
We are both so tired of preparing to go that it will be a relief to clear the dock and head out. The forecast is good, hot & fine and no bad stuff. There may not be much wind but we will be able to get south quickly under power. Since it is still typhoon season we need to get south to out of the possibly dangerous area.
We left the dock about 2pm and went round the headland into Joss House Bay to pay our respects to Tin Hau – Queen of the sea and protector of all sailors. We made the required three turns and sprinkled sacred fluids into the sea. By 3pm we had main & mizzen hoisted and were out through Fat Tong Mun into the South China sea headed SE for the Philippines. Weather was calm and we motored sailed out through the traffic of container ships and fishing boats into the evening and night. By midnight we were out by the oilrigs and had covered 63 miles.
At dawn we were off Capones island and light with a few fishermen in bancas, we tried the pink squid again but no bites. By 8am we had rounded the point into Subic bay and found our way to the marina. Very helpful & friendly reception and for modest fees we were serviced by customs, immigration & quarantine and are now cleared in and out of the Philippines ! Efficiency is forward dated passport chops !
Since arrival we have sorted the genset – airlocks in the water filter – water maker – crap in the inlet valve, and forward bilge pump remains to be done.
Thursday afternoon we ventured off-base into Olongapo – the town that ‘serviced’ the US Navy base that was here until 1988. Business has not been good since and the area near the base/Freeport is very run down. So we may enquiries and were recommended another area where the remaining expat population lives and there are some bars/restaurants. So we both went in tricyle - motor bike and side car thinking it was a short ride. Twenty crushed and agonizing minutes later we straightened ourselves out and were fleeced for the fare. But we found a congenial watering hole – mostly retired US servicemen. Found our way back by jeepney paying about 5% of the fare out !
Wednesday 8th
Conditions much better and we managed to make good progress. By late morning we saw Santiago island at the tip of Bolinao peninsula, the thumb of Luzon that points at HK. Thought about going into Bolinao but with seas and winds as they were it would have been a rough entrance – and by the time we were in line the wind gave us a good heading down the coast towards Subic. Conditions and spirits were up enough for cooked lunch and dinner ! Mitch thought so much of the pork chops in curry sauce he made special coffee as a reply !
Although seeing the coast is reassuring as night came on and memories of bancas, nets, swimming, baby sharks etc. So we tacked off shore and decided to stand out till we could lay Subic – which would be about 11:30pm,. So heading out we dealt with big ship traffic instead of
Tuesday 7th
Not much cooking Tuesday – not such a fun day. Monday night had been challenging – Tuesday was blowy – choppy and wet – either rain or spray. We continued to run away east to ease the motion but as the day went on we managed to head south again.
The forward bilge remains a problem – 1. Water is getting in – especially when we roll hard, 2. The umps keep clogging with 4 years of dust & cat hair that had fallen into the bilges and has now been washed down to the filters. One pump has now cooked itself having jammed – drawing the batteries down as well.
So we hand pump the forward bilge for now.
We tried our new fishing rig – trolled the ‘Pink Squid’ we had been assured would lure every tuna within 10 miles. Won’t even start the fishing excuses yet ! But the tuna in the can was fine.
Monday 6th
The first night went well – after the rigs we saw very little shipping at all. We stopped the engine at dawn and sailed with genoa, main & mizzen to investigate a fuel smell and found a leak from Starboard fuel tank – a connection for the previous genset – had not been trouble before. Fixed with epoxy putty and plastic sheet – and with good wind we sailed through till lunchtime – initially at 7-8 kts and latterly at 5kts. Which became too slow so we motor sailed again.
Things were so good we had cooked breakfast ! bangers, potato & onions and scrambled eggs.
While conditions were good we learned how to refill a grease gun – crucial skill – read the instructions is the key to this ! With a full gun we could pump a large quantity of very sticky grease into the seal where the shaft goes out to the prop. Hopefully less water will creep back up the shaft now.
Monday afternoon it started to rain and the wind increased substantially – the forecast was for SW 3-4 but we got W 5-6 for a while with seas to 4m. We stood watch inside the pilot house and secured items as the flew around the cabin. Not much fun to be aboard, but the boat always feels very solid – any problems are our omissions in securing stuff before the trip.
By end of the day we had covered 239 miles total.
Sunday 5th September 2004
13:30 HKT
Clearwater Bay Marina – Hong Kong
We are both so tired of preparing to go that it will be a relief to clear the dock and head out. The forecast is good, hot & fine and no bad stuff. There may not be much wind but we will be able to get south quickly under power. Since it is still typhoon season we need to get south to out of the possibly dangerous area.
We left the dock about 2pm and went round the headland into Joss House Bay to pay our respects to Tin Hau – Queen of the sea and protector of all sailors. We made the required three turns and sprinkled sacred fluids into the sea. By 3pm we had main & mizzen hoisted and were out through Fat Tong Mun into the South China sea headed SE for the Philippines. Weather was calm and we motored sailed out through the traffic of container ships and fishing boats into the evening and night. By midnight we were out by the oilrigs and had covered 63 miles.
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