Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines
Not as good as I would have liked in keeping the blog updated but at least it's only been a couple of weeks. We have continued with small projects. Kathy finding things that need to be repaired on the sewing machine or some new things to make.
I find little projects too, One important one was the refilling of our stove and BBQ gas bottles. The galley cylinder ran out while fixing breakfast. I normally then temporarily connect the BBQ one till getting the galley up and running again. Here it can take anywhere from two to five days to get the cylinder filled. As you would guess the BBQ turned out to be empty too. Several days without cooking or making my morning coffee was not an acceptable option. Moving to plan B I headed off to Danao about six miles away to get one of the local propane bottles which I could then fill ours by decanting from one to the other.
The hose gravity feeds from the hanging top bottle to ours on deck. We carry this handy little hose for just these situations. Here we pay a little over $20 US for what was enough gas to fill both our galley and BBQ bottles. I was charged a $20 US deposit that will be returned when I take the bottle back.
Next in the last weeks has been our monthly trip to the big city of Cebu. It was time to renew our visa's which are good for fifty-nine days here in the Philippines, so while here it is something that needs taking care of. the normal cost for a visa extension is about $75 US for each of us. On our monthly trips we spend the night at an ex-pat frequented hotel the Kiwi Lodge. They provide clean rooms for about $40 US and have a nice restaurant and bar. We arrive for lunch then later head off to one of the large shopping malls for groceries and dinner. Kathy's favorite store sells lots of things we don't see in the area of Port Carmen. We stock up on various cheeses canned products, tortillas, bagels etc.. the next morning after a nice breakfast it's off to a second mall to find anything we may have missed the day before. Then loaded down with goodies from the big city it's back to the boat yard.
Now you ask so what is this about being just like Christmas? The answer is that when Kathy was in the states she purchased and then sent via surface freight a box containing about eighty pounds of goodies that are not available here. It took about ten weeks but the big box arrived yesterday!! Coming via ship the cost was $75 US and well worth the wait. Inside was found everything from a new cat bed to cans of chicken from Costco along with boat parts and future projects of material for our cockpit enclosure, new lifelines, A new GPS, etc., etc.. I now have lots of new projects to keep me busy along with having the materials for Hyde Sails to finish our cockpit enclosure.
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| BOAT STUFF |
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| FOOD STUFF |
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| SOME PRESENTS AND BOAT YARD DOG TREATS |
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| JUST STUFF |
