AS PROMISED PHOTOS

We're still anchored in Puerto Princesa and with luck I hope that these photos will upload

VILLAGE BOAT HEADED TO TOWN

OUT FISHING

DALAWAN VILLAGE

LOCAL BOAT AT RIO TUBA

KATHY MAKING HER WAY THRU THE WATER VILLAGE

BATH TIME

ANOTHER BATH AND READY FOR TONIGHTS FIGHT

HAPPY

LOADING SUPPLIES- RIO TUBA

TRICYCLE TRAFFIC

THE MAGIC BUS

READY TO GO

LOCAL CRAFT

RAIN

Anchored Position 09° 45.83 N 118° 43.7 E
Puerto Princesa, Palawan

Not a busy week here aboard Po oino Roa as we remain anchored in Puerto Princesa. Kathy did also manage to come down with whatever this "bug" is and we are now both in recovery. It seems that it has affected the whole fleet of yachties here.

We have had quite unsettled weather lately. I guess that is what you would call rain all day today. First has been a change in the monsoon from the southwest to the northeast. We had hoped to be further to the north before this change but it will be what it will be. Next affect the weather was a low pressure area forming to our east and moving across the central Philippines. It stayed a low pressure area until making it to the wast of us where it is now a tropical storm ready to impact Vietnam. such is the weather here that they hay tropical systems about nine months a year. Hey it keeps us on our toes and watching the clouds.

So with the "bug" aboard Kathy has been watching her movies and I reading, no junk but a little of Jules Verne, Mysterious Island. Having several thousand books on a Kindle comes in handy now and then.

We now hope to get moving once again soon.

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ARRIVED CHECKED-IN

Anchored Position 09° 45.83 N 118° 43.7 E
Puerto Princesa, Palawan

It seems that I am always trying to catch up with our goings on. So here is an update of our last week. We still have only limited internet so no photos yet.

We had a short motor from the anchorage off Malanao Island to here in Puerto Princesa with calm, no wind conditions. We made our way in to the back area of this large natural bay to the yacht anchorage. There are about 20 yachts here, a couple that we have known since Darwin, Australia and have not seen for the last six months. We were able to catch up a bit and get some information on the Puerto Princesa area.

On Wednesday the 17th the first order of business was to look into a problem with our fresh water pressure pump. The system had been acting up and I now had the time to give it a look. I changed out the pump along with some other plumbing issues and things once again are working. Next we launched the dinghy and made our way to shore. Here the dinghy dock is at the Abonico Yacht Club, a waterside restaurant run by an ex-pat Australian and his Philippine wife. There is a 500 Peso charge at an exchange of about 40 to 1 U.S. only about $12 for use of the facility where they have bar, restaurant, wi-fi etc. From there we were given a ride to the town by Cissy the owners wife. We did a bit of shopping to see what was available before a tricycle ride back to the yacht club.

Thursday after pouring some of our stored on deck diesel fuel found us heading off in the other direction from town to a newly opened shopping mall with a fancier grocery store and a station where we could begin to replenish our fuel supply. Kathy said the grocery store was nothing special but I did find a large "Best" hardware store. I'll have to make a trip back for a few odds and ends. We did also get diesel at a price more like that in the US of what would be $4.75 per gallon. Twice what we had been paying in Malaysia.

Friday the 19 th was the paperwork "cha cha" day and our official check-in to the country. We had been forewarned of what to expect and the necessary papers to have ready. First was immigration. There the girl almost seemed upset when she started her list of the papers needed and Kathy just kept handing her what she requested. Several were different from what we had ever had to show before. No problem we were given our twenty-one day entry visa. Of course we need to return in the next few days to get a 38 day extension. The first 21 days were free, the extension will be U.S. of about $75. When the extension expires we apply again and get 59 days for about $105 U.S. every 60 days. Next was another trike trip to customs and a fee of 115P or a little less than $3 U.S. We had been told that there could possibly be a man at the bottom of the stairs going up who wanted 500P or $12 U.S. and it was a scam, we were not approached. The "cha cha" complete we returned to the boat.

Saturday dawned as a non day for me it seems I had come down with a variation of some flu like sickness and spent the day sleeping.

Feeling better on Sunday we had an important project to do. The covering on the leech and foot cords on our headsail were coming apart and needed replacing. First, down came the sail. We were fortunate enough to have been give a large section of an old main sail when we were in the Marshall Is. so we had repair material. This was cut into strips, folded over the edge of the sail and sown. Kathy certainly has put her "sailrite" sewing machine to good use. Repairs completed the sail was then put back on the furler and hoisted. Sunday is a buffet dinner at the yacht club and after a nap I felt well enough to accompany Kathy. It was a very good dinner.

Today has been a rest day as I am still recovering, but it seems as if Kathy may be catching it. Time will tell.

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MOVING ALONG

Anchored Position 09° 27.97 N 118° 37.48 E
Malanao Is.

We continue northeast along the coast of Palawan toward Puerto Princesa. We have only a short 20 miles to there tomorrow. The last two days have been nothing special as we have just been motoring along with calm seas and no wind. We troll a fishing line but have had no success though we did observe a couple of schools of breaking fish. Most likely some sort of small tuna.

We have seen no other yachts since leaving the Tuba river though that should change tomorrow in Puerto Princesa. Once there we will do our official check-in, re-provisioning etc. Hopefully we can also get the internet connection sorted out and post some photos.

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NO WIND

Anchor Position 08° 48.08 N 117° 49.25 E
Brooke's Pt. Palawan Is.

Today was back to using faithful "Miss Perky" as forecast there was no wind. Though sitting in this anchorage that is not a bad thing. With wind from the prevailing southwest direction this time of year it would not be the most pleasant spot.

We spent yesterday ashore in the town of Tuba River. The yachties from the other two boats there were our guides. The photos will have to come later as the internet connection is far to slow here. On securing the dinghy to the supports of a house out over the water we then climbed a rickety ladder to then wander along a planked walkway to the shore. This walkway started amongst houses then past stores until finally reaching land. These are referred to as water villages.

Once on solid ground we made our way along a dirt road to an intersection where we were able to have our first experience riding in a Philippine tricycle. A 125 cc motorcycle with a covered sidecar. Not real roomy. Kathy sat facing forward and I backward. The locals sometimes jam as many as 6 in one. Our ride of about 10 minutes was 20 peso's each or about $.50. The trip was half on dirt roads and half paved. We got off in an area of the open market shops selling pork, chicken, fish along with fresh produce and bakery goods. We also make usage of an internet cafe. Before heading back to the waterfront area we had lunch. A large plate of noodles in a sauce with some small bits of pork and pork liver. Plenty for both of us though it needed quite a bit more meat for only $2.50 US.

Another trike ride later we found some produce that we wanted and a beer bar. Four San Miguel's four US $'s.

We found our way back to the dinghy as we had separated from our guides. Another trek through the shops and houses. The tide had dropped and the climb down to dink now included two more rungs on the ladder, each about two feet apart and one of which was broken. One of the kids from the house gave us a hand and we manage without a problem. An adventure filled day.

Tomorrow we continue on along the coast of Palawan.

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A FINE DAY!!

Anchored position 08° 30.41 N 117° 25.67 E
Tuba River, Palawan Is.

We awoke early after a quiet night off of Balabac Town. We had seen stars most of the night and now had partly cloudy sky's with wind out of the west. We had no real destination in mind just to keep moving along toward the northeast.

Once clear of the anchorage we hoisted a reefed main and unfurled our headsail. Sailing again!! We progressed along Balabac Island and then into the area between there and Palawan Island. This area is filled with small islands, reefs and sandy shoals. Our course was a zig zag through these. The wind stayed consistent from the westerly quadrant and even as we made course changes to avoid obstacles we continued to sail along. We passed several possible anchoring spots but with the favorable sailing conditions just kept on going. Our wind varied from 12 to 23 kts during the day and the wind angle from a close reach to dead down wind.

We arrived here in the Tuba river about 3 pm after a very fine day. There are two other cruising boats here both headed toward Malaysia and waiting for some light winds to go that way. Tomorrow we will launch the dinghy and visit the town. We have been told that there are plenty of provisions to be had here. We can also take the local taxi's, a motorcycle with sidecar, called a tricycle to a mining town which has more goods. The mining town also has an internet cafe.
We have been able to connect here but due to the distance from the cell tower it really does not work. So once again I am using our sailmail provider.

Tomorrow a land adventure!

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EVERYTHING NEW

Anchored Position 07° 59.56 N 117° 04.05 E
Clarendon Bay, Balabac Town

Today we made the long tedious passage of 8 miles from Dalawan bay to here in Clarendon bay and Balabac town. Now being here in a new country there are lots of things to deal with.

First we need to check in with officialdom, but that can only be done at a port of entry. That would be Puerto Princessa which is still 150 or so miles away. Now in some countries not leaving your boat and going directly to a port of entry is strictly adhered to, others allow you to make your way there even if it takes several weeks before officially entering the country. Thankfully the Philippines is on of the latter.

Next to consider is MONEY! Here we use the Philippine peso which has an exchange rate of about 40 to 1 US dollar. Lots of math to do when you go to the store and something costs several hundred peso's, though not as bad as when in Venezuela where it was like 1300 to 1. We did manage to exchange money before leaving Kudat in Malaysia. A good thing as there is no bank or ATM here. So once at anchor off Balabac town we were ready to go ashore and do some shopping. Our main concerns were bread, eggs and anything fresh.

In town, one long street with perhaps 100 stores that all have the same goods for sale, we found our essential food items. I even managed a couple of San Miguel lite beers.

Next to find in this modern world is a SIM card for our phone and perhaps find out how to connect up with the internet. Here, this was accomplished at the pharmacy. A phone SIM card was 50 pesos. We have an unlocked phone so you just plug in the new card and buy time. We then bought 950 P's worth of time. We have been told that the phone service here is expensive so we'll see how that works as we go. Our friends Jack and Sandy from "Zorana" had given us a "smart bro" dongle to use for the internet here. We were able to charge that too and now we are into the modern age. Cell phone and internet!!!

We greatly enjoyed wondering about this small town, it reminded us of the same friendly feelings of most Latin American countries. The people were smiling and appeared quite happy. Lots of the shop workers spoke English. Now it is we that need to learn a bit of the local Tagalog language.

Back on the boat we managed to get the internet working a challenge for us who are not very computer literate. The connection is slow but we can get the most important things weather reports, email and sports, well Kathy does also get her facebook.

Tomorrow we plan to continue on toward Puerto Princessa and our official check-in but we are truly looking forward to our stops in between.

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A TROPICAL SAILING DAY

Anchored Position: 07°53.62N 117°04.4E
Dalawan Bay, the Philippines

As planned we departed from the Malaysian island of Balambangan this morning. We had a planned destination of Clarendon Bay at the south end of the Philippine island of Balabac a distance of 35 miles. We got a last minute weather report, winds predicted to be 15 to 20 from the west and possible squalls. Our first few miles were to be a motor as we needed to navigate through some shallow reef areas.

Once out in the open we had a westerly wind of about 12 kts. and hoisted a double reefed main as we were expecting squalls. 15 minutes later the first one arrived. The wind stayed westerly but at 30 to 35 kts for the next hour. It's always great fun to go up to the mast and tuck in another reef. Needless to say Kathy is kept busy with things in the cockpit and steering while I'm at the mast.

The remainder of the day kept the excitement level high, as the wind continued in anywhere from 12 to 28 kts. along with 2 meter seas for most of the passage. The good news was we were SAILING! Due to the wind angle and perhaps a bit of set from the current we altered our destination to here in Dalawan Bay, only about 6 miles further. Once we reached the lee of the island the seas calmed but we kept a nice sailing breeze. After perhaps only five sailing days in the last 2 years we did not at all mind the blustery conditions.

Dalawan is a very deep protected bay from these conditions, the southwest monsoon. A short time after anchoring we were approached by a local fisherman in a very small dugout canoe. He just wanted to chat a bit and find out where we were from and headed to. His catch was one small, about 7 inch grouper and a number of other small fish. He asked, in very good English if we would like some coconuts, yes! He returned a short time later and with 8 large drinking coconuts, we gave him a couple of fish hooks along with a hat and a bag of sugar and flour. There was no begging on his part just a trade.

We have already started to see the friendliness of the Philippine people, such a nice change from Malaysia. We plan to stay here tomorrow and make a trip to shore, more on that in the next installment.

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ENROUTE PHILIPPINES

Anchored Position 07°16.117N 116°59.581E

This should be our last night spent in Malaysia. This morning we departed Kudat on the northeastern tip of Borneo and are now anchored 25 miles north in a large bay on the island of Balambangan. As usual it was a motor boat ride with less than 8 kts of wind. We can see some lights ashore though not many. We did have some local fisherman come by shortly after anchoring. They spoke no English and their leaky boat had no engine but a propeller shaft. They spoke in Malay and rubbed their stomachs. They did have some large clams in the bottom of the boat but were basically begging and not offering to trade. We had bought some small bags of sugar and flour and they were given these. Perhaps gifts such as these will help feed their families.

It is a calm night and tomorrows destination of Clarendon Bay at the bottom of Balabac Island is 35 miles away and in the Philippines. We still have limited internet here but are now primarily relying on weather from our subscription to "Buoyweather" along with the "grib" files that we download through our sailmail provider. The forcast for tomorrow is wind of 16 to 20 kts. meaning a beam reach. We'll see! Here in the Philippines we will be in an area of potentially volitile weather. They can have tropical storms here about ten months out of the year rather than only 5 for the rest of the world.

One of the great things about Malaysia has been both the phone and internet service. We're not sure what to expect in the Philippines but will see in the near future.

Tomorrow a new country and new adventures!!!

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CHECKED OUT

Anchored 06° 53.42 N  116° 51.73 E

Three weeks and no blog activity. I must be slacking. So now as we have moved further along the coast of Borneo to the town of Kudat and actually checked out of Malaysia, here's a bit of catch up.

First my compass repair has failed! The threebond gasket material did not hold up to the long term immersion in the karocene. The card does rotate and you could if necessary use it to follow a course but a new rubber diaphram is now on the shopping list.

Our next anchorage was near the city of Kota Kinabalu, the largest city in the Malaysian state of Sabah. We had a reasonable anchorage off Taujang Aru. Where there was a pier to tie the dinghy and easy bus transport to the city itself. The buses were cheap only 1 RM or about $.33 US. and they ran to all needed locations.

OFF TO SHOP

As always we had some necessary boat fixes to do here. I finally found a good repair shop to have both the watermaker and washdown pumps motors fixed. They are now working. This is especially good news for the watermaker as it has been a thorn in my side for quite a while.

GREAT SUNSETS

THE DINGHY MAKES A FINE LAUNDRY TUB

GRAVITY FEED TO FILL OUR PROPANE TANK

Along much of the shoreline in this part of Malaysia the houses are built off the land and right over the water. They have piped in water and power, quite a few had satillite dishes for TV. We saw no sewage lines as both gray and black water just go stright down.

 We departed Kota Kinabalu on the 25 th of September enroute to our last stop in Malaysia, Kudat. We spent a couple of nights anchored in a nice spot about 30 miles further north and the a long day, 70 miles, to Kudat. It was not planned that way but the weather dictated that we should just "keep on truckin". We made a forced nighttime arrival in the main harbor of Kudat. We had an almost full moon and managed without a problem.

The next morning we moved down to the area where we presently are and met up with old friends on the "Katie Lee" that we had not seen since 2009 in the Marshall Islands.  We were able to exchange information as they are headed east and us to the Philippines where they had spent the last 2 years.

NOW THESE ARE PRAWNS!!!

A day after our arival here in Kudat, our friends from "Dreamweaver" arrived. It was John's birthday so we had a bit of a gathering aboard their boat, several blenders of Margarita's and then out to dinner.

BIRTHDAY BOY

We have now been in a Muslim country on and off for the past two years and along with finding a beer in a restaurant pork is rarely seen. This area of the market had plenty. The butcher even threw in a slab of liver which the cats have very much enjoy.

HARD TO FIND A BEER WITH LUNCH THOUGH LOTS OF ACTIVITY AT THE SNOOKER TABLE 

AN OLD CHINESE PHARMACY

Our weather lately has been unsettled with lots of wind. This has been caused by two different typhoons
that are spinning away on either side of the Philippines north of us. As we wait for a weather window to head north we continue with our daily activites. In preperation for heading north I cleaned the bottom today and having caught rain water last night Kathy was able to keep up with her never ending laundry.

We have gotten some Philippine pesos and are ready to move as soon as weather allows. It may be a while until we have internet again but I will try to update as we go with text and then fill in photos later.