SAILING FROM KUDAT TO PUERTO PRINCESA

14 August 2024

The next step of the journey, sailing from Kudat in Malaysia to Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan in the Philippines. This will be my first visit to the Philippines and I am very much looking forward to it. The departure from Kudat was promising, for a while we had a tail wind until it disappeared mid morning and the sea went glassy, leaving us bobbing around, going backwards slowly. The engine had to go on, otherwise we wouldn’t make any progress and the tide would take us back to Kudat.  As the sun was going setting, we anchored for the night in a bay on the north side Pulau Banggi.  The night was quiet, this was a good anchorage in calm conditions. 

The next morning we picked up anchor and headed out towards Palawan.  The day was just the same as the previous one, no wind.  I hoped to pick up wind offshore but it didn’t happen, the latest forecast update failed to show any wind either. It seemed pointless to continue without the prospect of wind, After a couple of hours I returned to the anchorage and had a peaceful afternoon making water and another good nights sleep. 

The following day we tried again, this time, once clear of the land, we had light airs to take us northwards slowly across the Balabac Strait.  The strait was interesting with a few ships transiting and the occasional fishing boat.  There is a Philippine Coastguard station at Balabac, they called me on VHF and I passed over my details, we were in Philippine waters. By evening we were clear of the strait and making slow easy progress northward. 

My plan was to head across the strait and into deep water about thirty miles off the Palawan coast where there was supposed to be a steady breeze and a good northerly setting current.  Whatever I tried I just could not get to the east, the wind was just too light, every time we caught a puff it would tease for a while and then either head us or die away.  Slowly we continued clawing our way northward.

The second day saw us mostly becalmed, all was not so bad, we had progressed eighty miles towards our destination.  By the third day we had only made another forty miles and endured long periods becalmed.  Being becalmed by itself can be tolerated if there is no sea or swell running, but the lack of any breeze made the heat onboard uncomfortable.  Having suffered enough I decided to take advantage of the afternoon sea breeze to head inshore and find an anchorage for the night.  I wanted a good sleep, the constant efforts to catch the wind and oppressive heat have been tiring.

The afternoon sea breeze kicked in as expected and soon we were sailing well towards an anchorage among a heap of local fishing boats.  We sailed into the anchorage and didn’t need the engine at all.  The fishermen were surprised to see a yacht sailing in and anchoring in their midst, they gave lots of greetings, thumbs up and waving. Once anchored I had a couple of beers and some food, then I slept soundly until the early hours. 

The next day we picked up anchor and were heading north again.  The path along the coast now was littered with fishing stakes and local fishing boats darting around erratically as usual.  constant vigilance was required, the fishing stakes were hard to see and seemed to spring up from nowhere. Everyone seemed very happy and waved as they passed by.  Sailing inshore along the coast at night is not an option here, there are just too many hazards to run into, the only safe option is to daysail.  We had a steady relaxing sail with a light breeze and covered thirty miles up to the next anchorage behind Malanao Island.  Once again, the afternoon sea breeze set in, the twenty knot breeze giving us an exhilarating ride between the outlaying reefs to the anchorage.    

From Malanao Island it was a short hop up the coast to Puerto Princesa.  There was no wind at all in the morning, I decided to motor the last twenty-five miles to get the trip finished rather than mess around for another day.  We arrived and anchored off the Abanico Yacht club just after noon. It was hot, overcast and not a breath of wind.    Now for the onerous paperwork and clearing in process.

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