MOVING ABOUT

Anchored Position 12°10.67 N 119°52.31 E
Gotub Anchorage, Busuanga Is.

As the new year 2013 has begun we are enjoying moving around here in the area of Busuanga Island. This area is referred to as the Calamian group and is made up of many island along with coral reefs.

After departing Coron on Boxing Day with the threat of tropical storm Quinta we spent the next week in the sheltered D'Pearl Bay. There we enjoyed the use of a mooring which had been installed by the Puerto del Sol resort and made an effort to visit both their restaurant and bar in repayment for the mooring use. In another part of the bay was the Al Faro resort run by a Swiss, Jimmy and his Philippine wife Nanita. They run a wonderful resort located high on a hill jutting out into the bay. The location provides spectacular sunsets. Here Kathy and I were fortunate to be the victors in an international bocci ball tournament. The field included both resort guests and yachties. Countries represented included Swiss, Norwegian, Australian, Botswanian and Kathy and I from the USA. I think perhaps our several years of Bocci ball on the beaches of Tenecatita, Mexico provided an advantage.

New years day found us off back to Coron town to reprovision. The refrigerator was bare and we needed other staples such as a propane refill, fresh fruit and veggies along with necessities such as beer and rum. January 4 th found us once again headed back to D'Pearl Bay. We found ourselves on the same mooring. Another benefit of the Al Faro resort is they have wi-fi and we could receive it on the boat. It is not speedy but does allow us to keep updated on weather, news and sports. Here in a country that gets lots of rainfall we are in the dry season and have had very little and our watermaker cannot really provide enough for laundry. Kathy was very happy to find a local woman to do some washing for her. It was done in a stream and came out very clean.

Another week quickly past watching the sunsets, enjoying the pool and more bocci ball at Al Faro. On 10 January we finally managed to pry ourselves away and headed off to visit some other places. First was Calumbuyan Is. just two miles due east of Puerto del Sol. We had been told that there was very good snorkeling on the surrounding coral reef and even moorings to use. Traveling to Calumbuyan involved a bit of what we call "the pearl farm cha cha" or dodging vast areas of floating buoys. There were eight mooring balls in the area but none that we thought would be satisfactory for overnight stay. The reef looked nice so we did secure to a mooring for several hours to have an underwater view. It was great to once again have clear warm water and lots of varieties of live coral. After our swim we headed off to Popototan Is., 11°59.53 N 119°51.32 E. here we were once again able to use a mooring ball provided by the Coral Bay resort. In Potototan we enjoyed visiting the resort and another nice snorkel in the warm water.

Yesterday the 12th of January we moved along again, this time going up the west coast of Busuanga Is. to our anchorage here. This once again is a very protected spot and would make a good typhoon refuge. We'll sit here today. This morning we did have some welcome light rain to wash the decks of salt and we're enjoying a quiet day with the most difficult chore being running the watermaker.

An interesting thing that we have noticed in our short time here in the Philippines is the lack of other cruising yachts. Yes we had a group of perhaps 25 yachts when in Puerto Princesa but since we have seen very few. As we are now in the part of the year that is least typhoon prone we have been a bit surprised
by the small number of other yachts we've shared anchorages with.

Weather permitting, meaning a sunny day more than anything, we will move along again tomorrow. I say that good sunshine is important due to the many coral reefs that abound in the area and without good light are difficult to see.

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