The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Sailing Yacht Truce
At this stage the experienced SITS sufferer will walk away from the problem and put the kettle on for a cup of tea, take a walk or any other activity that will distract from the problem. Only then can you return to the search, usually to find the tool or vital part sitting in full view on the work bench where you left it.
The overnight sail to the Hermits was beautiful, clear skies, millions of stars and a steady light breeze pushing us along nicely over calm seas. The next morning we entered the lagoon surrounding the Hermits and lost the wind in the lee of the islands. On went the motor and soon we were safely anchored. Then the weather turned nasty again with rain squalls and a nasty chop bouncing us around. The entry in the log book reads “A shitty windy and wet day”. That was it, no canoes came to visit, no fresh fruit to trade and no shore leave for the Truce crew.
The sail from Biak to the Ninigo Islands looked, on paper, to be a perfect sail. The seasonal winds were predicted to be favourable with a current behind us of 0.6 knots. I was really looking forward to an easy trip of about six or seven days. The distance was just less than 500 miles. The reality turned out to be much different, an exhausting mammoth effort to reach the Ninigo Islands after sixteen days and over a thousand miles of sailing.
Once again, I have maintenance jobs mounting up. This light weather sailing with frequent squalls is taking its toll on the gear, sails and running rigging. Biak is a good place to do this, the anchorage for the most part is fairly calm and only transient squalls upset the equilibrium.
The plan now is to sail via the Basilan Strait, past Zamboanga and into the Celebes sea and then down to Biak in Indonesia where I can do a final reprovision before heading to Papua New Guinea. This route will give us a far better wind angle and cut the corner saving us a hard slog and many miles. When I informed my cruising friends of my intentions they all threw up their hands in horror and reeled off numerous stories of piracy and kidnapping around southern Mindanao.
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 