The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Sailing Yacht Truce
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.
Arriving in Puerto Princesa was easy, just motor up to the anchorage off the yacht club, drop anchor, launch the dinghy and go ashore to a warm welcome and a cold beer at the yacht club.
Both the snake and I did double take for a fraction of a second then things got a little wild. The snake shot out from the quarter berth towards me, I simultaneously sprang up the companionway. The snake was moving fast and headed up to the forward cabin, it reared up and headed back towards me at speed as I retreated to the cockpit.
As we progressed south the wind played fickle tricks and the tide and currents toyed around with us. With no firm destination planned in the South Gili islands I just went with the best wind angle, as we got closer to our destination the wind selected Gili Sudak as our destination. I decided to tuck in around Gili Sudak, through a reef fringed channel. There we would be protected from the north westerly winds and in calm water.
For a brief few days we managed to get a Christmas family get together - at the same place and time.
The wedding was for Natasha and her future husband Sam. Natasha is the daughter of my best friend Jim Britton. Unfortunately Jim passed away a short time ago. The wedding was delayed time and again by covid and unforeseen events. Jim did pick out the wedding dress, he did a good job as usual.
With the constant trade winds, sailing with just the headsails has been easy and really not much slower than if I also had the mainsail working. By sailing this way I have covered almost five hundred miles since departing Middle Percy Island.
I love the Hinchinbrook Channel. For the first time since departing from Gladstone I have had a wonderful sleep without rocking and rolling. The creeks here are flat calm, the swell cant reach them. The scenery is wonderful and so far the mosquitos and sand flees have been absent.
Steven and I had a leisurely breakfast this morning, heaps of toast with home-made grapefruit marmalade and fresh coffee. At 09:00 we started the engine and picked up the anchor, departing Oyster Bay. There was no wind so we motored out of Port Underwood and up along the coast towards Tory Channel. It was a... Continue Reading →
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 