CROSSING THE SULU SEA TWICE

14 December 2024

Six hundred miles and across the Sulu Sea twice to end up where I started.  An unusual trip.  I departed from Puerto Princesa headed towards Bonbonon on Negros Island, a trip of about 270 miles.  This was to be my stepping stone for sailing east through the Philippines and then down the East coast of Mindanao to Davao where I intended to check out of the country. 

I let go from the mooring in Puerto Princesa and started heading out under motor. After a couple of minutes the cooling water stopped coming out of the exhaust.  Immediately I turned off the engine and dropped anchor, then set about finding the problem.  Turned out the seawater inlet was blocked and a quick squirt of the shower hose down the inlet valve cleared the blockage. 

I picked up the anchor and set off again, hot and sweaty from clearing the seawater inlet valve.  As I increased the engine speed I noticed white smoke coming from the exhaust.  This is something new, I reduced speed and the white smoke disappeared.  Everything on the engine appeared perfectly normal so the white smoke was a mystery.  Anyway, I continued on the way, just motoring a bit slower than usual.

Once clear of the harbour a nice breeze appeared, we were on the way.  Unfortunately, the breeze was short-lived and was the last we saw of any real wind for the next four days.  Truce and I drifted about twenty miles off the Palawan coast, the current taking us south and away from our destination.  On the fifth day the wind returned, not a big wind, just enough to get us moving in the right direction.  Oh, so nice to have a bit of breeze to cool the boat down, it has been so hot.

Finally, we made Negros Island and I anchored for the night for a much needed rest.  The next morning we set off towards Bonbonon, only about thirty miles away.  I had high hopes of making it through the narrow entrance channel before nightfall.  As we rounded the bottom of Negros Island the wind in the channel picked up and was gusting thirty knots on the nose, compounding this a strong current was flowing against us as well.  I could see the entrance to Bonbonon just about six miles away.  To have any chance of making it in before nightfall I had to use the engine.  It was very slow going, I gave the engine maximum beans and we were barely making headway.  Then I noticed black smoke coming out the exhaust, the engine wasn’t happy, I shut everything down, immediately being pushed back the way we had come.

At this time I had some decisions to make.  I was concerned about the engine, first the white smoke and now the black smoke.  To retreat to an anchorage and try for Bonbonon tomorrow was an option but the forecast was for strong headwinds for the next couple of days at least.  Once in Bonbonon I was not sure that I could get support for any engine work I needed to undertake.  The engine was really bothering me, its so important to have a working engine as the wind can’t be relied upon in this area.  After a cup of tea and mulling over the problem I decided to head back to Puerto Princesa.  The wind was in the right direction and I knew I could get a safe berth and support to fix any engine issues. 

So, I turned around and sailed two hundred and sixty miles back the way I had come.  What a wonderful sail it was, the wind blew steadily from the Northeast giving us a nice beam reach all the way, a couple of days later we were back on a mooring at the Abanico Yacht club.  We had covered six hundred and thirteen miles since departing Puerto Princesa but zero miles progress.

I got to work on the engine but could not find anything obviously wrong.  I think the problems were several small issues combining together.  The primary Racor fuel filter has a two-micron filter, I think this filter is restricting fuel flow and has been changed out for a new ten-micron filter.  I checked the fuel lift pump, it was in poor condition so I changed it out for a new one.  Then I went through the fuel, water and air systems, cleaning and making sure everything was perfect before checking the valve clearances etc.  I also noticed that the propellor was heavily fouled again (only cleaned a month ago) which would also contribute to the engine loading.

I also took the opportunity to order some spare parts in Puerto Princessa.  Unfortunately, the delivery of the parts was delayed and I was going slightly crazy at the delay and waiting.  My window of opportunity for heading east through the Philippines is rapidly closing as the North Westerly winds are setting in.  To take my mind off the delay I got stuck into boat maintenance.    

I pulled a couple of bolts from the backstay chain plates as I noticed the paint around the plates is cracked, it could indicate movement.  The bolts were still in good condition and no sign of any movement inside the boat.  Looks like the paint cracking is due to heat and expansion of the metal.  But good to check for peace of mind.

The wooden oars for the dinghy have suffered in the heat, the timber drying out and starting to split along the glued seams.  I stripped them down and applied a couple of coats of epoxy followed by an epoxy glass bandage around the blades.  The whole thing then given seven coats of varnish (thin local stuff) to protect the epoxy coating.  They don’t look like new but they are as good as new.

I have a NASA clipper wireless wind instrument.  This has been giving me some problems and there has been a few emails back and forth with Nasa Marine.  I was convinced the internal battery was not charging from the solar panel.  Nasa Marine didn’t think so but agreed to sell me a new battery.  I fitted the new battery and everything went well for a while and then the problems started again until the unit stopped working completely.  More emails and testing from my end followed.  As a last resort I charged the battery with a 5v USB cable and the unit came to life again.  Not sure why this has worked but fingers crossed for the future. 

The chain stopper on the foredeck sits on a timber block through bolted to the deck.  I have noticed that the block was becoming worn and water was starting to enter at the forward end where the chain has been chafing.  I decided to use some local hardwood and make a new block.  It turned out really well and I used the last of my Sika sealant to bed it in place. 

On board I have a small Ozito vacuum cleaner, a dust buster type of thing.  It is really handy and battery powered.  When cleaning up from my timber work the battery failed.  When I tried to charge the battery the fault light started flashing.  I decided to have a look inside and see if there was any obvious problem.  I couldn’t see anything wrong so just gave it a good clean and bingo it came back to life.  I was pleased about that.

Eventually the spare parts arrived and I am ready to go again.  The engine seems to be running perfectly so fingers crossed that my work has cleared all the problems.

I have decided to do the outward clearance from Puerto Princesa.  As I am so delayed now I don’t think I have time to visit Davao to clear out.  I am also considering sailing via Zamboanga and into the Celebes Sea as that will give me a better wind angle from Palawan.  I will check with the Philippine Coastguard on the current security situation on the route before I make the decision.