The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson
Sailing Yacht Truce
The Customs office in Gizo is easy to access being in town. The only picture hanging on the wall is a very old photo of Queen Elizbeth II. I asked why it was still there as she has passed away. I was told that no one had said take it down! So, I suppose it will be there forever until some higher authority makes an executive decision.
Upon entering the clinic I was met by a gentleman behind a desk, the receptionist I assumed. I explained my problem to him, he came around the desk and had a look in my mouth. Oh yes, he said, I can fix that, he led me to another room, sat me in the dental chair and said he would be back in a couple of minutes. Now I had to assume that the receptionist was in fact the dentist even if he didn’t have a white coat on.
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.
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.
The next step of the journey is 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.
checked the chart carefully for any off lying danger off the cape and thought I could safely round it half a mile off in safety. As I approached the cape a favorable current was carrying us along nicely. I noticed what I though was a tide rip ahead, but it looked out of place with the surrounding water. Through the binoculars I saw a low brown object in the water. For a moment I thought it was a whale, but there was no movement, the water was rushing past and over it. A rock awash!
The trip around from Gili Sudak was just a twelve mile hop and as there was only a slight breeze from ahead we motored all the way. It was an easy motor in calm seas, I took care to keep well away from the reefs which can be seen on the satellite images but not necessarily on the charts. We arrived at Gili Gede and anchored off Marina Del Ray just before ten in the morning.
For a brief few days we managed to get a Christmas family get together - at the same place and time.
So overall, I am pleased with the lead carbon battery installation, it has become one less thing to worry about. There are many articles and videos online about lead carbon batteries including all the usual well informed and not so well-informed opinions. But, hopefully, if the manufacturers datasheets about the lifetime and charge cycles of Lead Carbon batteries are correct I may never have to buy another house battery – ever.
Finally, at last, by the 29th August the trades had moderated and I let go from the mooring as the tide turned to ebb and headed out from Cairns. Truce had been tied up there for nearly a month and developed a nasty scummy slime around the waterline. Time to sail it off.
The Adventures of Captain Ray Penson 