LAST WEEK AND A LOOK AHEAD

Pinoy Boat Service
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

Sorry that last weeks edition contained no photos. I am not sure why but we have not been able to ever upload videos to Google +. I kept trying and then never got around to adding the stills. They will be included at the end today.

Monday Lloyd was supposed to be here to wash the boat. He evidently had to much fun at the fiesta yesterday was hungover and unable to work. This seems a common excuse here. Having run all the wires for the AIS it was now time to get it mounted in it's permanent location. This involved taking everything out of a cupboard then removing the built-in shelves, running fused power cords for it, the GPS along with changing the one for the VHF radio. Thankfully I managed to get it all done in one day.

Tuesday found me at the mast tacking apart winches. There were three to do. I could get the drums off and some of the gears but some were held in by a retaining pin that you are supposed to hit with a punch to make it rotate so it can be removed. None of the three cooperated. I left them to soak in a break free solution overnight. I was able to clean the other parts.

First thing Wednesday i started on the winches again. After a night soaking i managed to get all three apart and cleaned. They will be ready to go in for their re-chroming on Friday when i pick the others up. Next it was off to the town of Consolascion to try and get some info on the repair of the broken 12 volt refrigeration compressor. I also sent an email to Technautics Inc. who manufactured the system regarding some trouble shooting. The shop here had no idea regarding a 12 volt system but would do some checking for me.

Thursday was once again the day for Hyde Sails to come for fitting on the enclosure. No work had been done as after they left the previous week we had discovered a problem. Today all the problems were hopefully worked out and next week we'll see progress again. I also had received an email from Rich who now is the owner of Technautics with some ideas on trouble shooting the compressor problem.

Friday I was off to Cebu to both pickup and drop off winches. Then shopping at one of the malls. Kathy had Chin Chin here to clean. They did the outside and then the inside. the evening brought a very big rain squall lasting about two hours. As the boat was just cleaned we even managed to fill a water tank.

Saturday is somewhat quiet as the workers get off at noon, it's also when we yachties get together up in the bar for a BBQ bringing a dish to share and something on the grill. Yesterday we were also treated to the "Grand Final" of Aussie rules football. This would be the equivalent of the "Super Bowl"   for the followers of that sport. One of the yachties is is an avid fan of Hawthorne who won the cup. I spent the morning working on the refrigeration compressor problem  but there is still no joy in Mudville.

Today was spent resting as tomorrow begins the next big project. The carpenter we have been waiting for is now available so we'll start on the removal of the cap rail and genoa track which has been causing leakage problems. I'm not totally sure what we are going to discover but it is definitely possibly opening a BIG can of worms.  the cap rail covers the hull to deck joint and is made up of five sections on each side and one along the stern. Its is attached by screws alternating into either the fiberglass of the deck or hull with a space in-between. There are approximately 95 screws on each side. Tomorrow we'll see what is what and what we do to put things back together. Lots more to come on this project.

Now Kathy has gotten no mention so far but on supervising and helping of the Friday cleaning, She is always busy with laundry done in a bucket along with daily cleaning and cooking and never ending job of looking after me.

FITTING MATERIAL BEFORE CUTTING OUT THE WINDOW

NOW A WINDOW AND GRACE THE SEAMSTRESS

RAINING BUT THEY'RE NOT MELTING

BLUE CAT PERCHED ON A WINCH

YOU CAN'T HAVE A PARADE WITHOUT
SOUND THESES WERE EVERY
100 METERS ALONG THE ROUTE  

A LOCAL GATHERING WITH DINNER ON THE BARBIE

A BIT OF DANCING

ABOARD ONE OF THE FLOATS

A SMILING PARTICIPANT

READY TO GET UNDERWAY
A LOCAL JEEPNEY

THE CAP RAIL WITH PLUGGED SCREWS
ALL TO BE REMOVED 

THE 12 FOOT LONG GENOA TRACK
NEEDS TO COME OFF TOO
HERE YOU CAN ALSO SEE
THE JOINT IN THE CAP RAIL

Above I finally did manage a video of part of our tryke ride from Danao after the fiesta I'll attempt some more but no guarantee's It seems the videos are o long but I'll keep trying

THREE IN A ROW

Pinoy Boat Service
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

It's 1830 or 6:30 PM here in the Philippines and I am managing to keep with my plan to post every Sunday.

On Monday typhoon "Luis" moved over Luzon and off across the south China sea. As the new week started I went to order bottled water from the little store here in the Republic Dry Dock where Pinoy Boat services is located, this is a weekly thing. The city water is not potable so we fill our tank from 20 liter bottles. We use this for both drinking and bathing as it is just easier. Kathy does use the city water for clothes washing and boat washing. A 20 liter bottle or 5 gallons is 30 FP or $.75 US., Our normal usage is 200 liters a week.

The next several days were spent working to get the AIS talking to either of our computer navigation programs. In the end I can get it to work on one of the programs on what would be our primary navigation computer but not the other on that same one and not on the small computer which I am now writing on. It all has to do with the "ports" that are used. I'll hopefully get some help from another cruiser here who is more literate than my about seven year old status.

Wednesday the yard foreman Edsel arrived to paint the name back on "PO" we removed the name more than two years ago in Langkawi when we were hauled out there. Before the name was in vinyl letters and after having the topsides done we wanted the name painted too. A graphics shop made up the stencils, Edsel applied them and sprayed the paint. there was a rain delay as Wednesday afternoon the rain came from tropical storm Fung-Wong to our north and continued till early Friday morning when he completed the job. On Wednesday I also discovered that the 12 volt system in the freezer box was not working correctly, from the tests I've done we may need a new compressor. More on that in the weeks to come as we can do without a freezer at this time. We had continual rain from Wednesday afternoon through most of Thursday. Hyde Sails did arrive Thursday morning to continue the fitting of the cockpit enclosure, conducted in the rain but hey nobody actually melts in the rain but "Frosty the Snowman".

Friday I was off to Cebu to take winch drums in to be re-chromed. It was planned to have the brother and sister team in to clean that day but due to a death in their family only Lloyd came. The death was to a cousin only 32 years of age and from RABIES. He had been bitten by a rat but could not afford to go to the doctor or hospital for a vaccine so took the chance that the rat was not rabid. That would be unheard of in most places in the world but not here.

I made my way to Cebu, located the plating shop and dropped off two of the five winches that need re-doing. Next week I'll pick those up and drop the other three off. The price 400 FP each or less than $10.00 US.

Saturday is yachtie BBQ at the bar her at Pinoy Boat Services. During the week Kathy keep busy with her laundry and supervision of workers.

Today a normal rest day we did a big clean out of the freezer box as it will not be in use till I figure out the compressor problem. then it was off to Danao for FIESTA. With luck I will be able to upload photos from our afternoon watching the parade and all the festivities. The best may be the video of our tryke ride back home.

That's it for another week, hopefully more next Sunday

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A BUSY WEEK

Pinoy Boat Service
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

Things were a little more busy this past week. First was redoing the track for the enclosure. This time with no adhesive in case we need to make more adjustments. Next I finally managed to fix a galley light that needed a new switch. While the soldering iron was out it was time to get started on the AIS first attaching the connector for the whip antenna. Soldering is not one of my finer skills but the connector is on and looks to be OK.

Tuesday found me continuing to work on the mounts for the AIS. The L bracket for the whip antenna needed to be modified to attach to our stern arch and it took several tries and most of the day to finally get it correct. Kathy had a trip to Danao where she was able to get the first of her new dresses. The seamstress is now working on the next one. When done Kathy will have four new ones.

Wednesday we had the boat cleaners here doing the inside and outside. On cleaning days there is to much going on for me to get any projects done so I just made a trip to Danao to pickup some laundry. Kathy was kept busy supervising and directing the cleaning operation.

Thursday the folks from Hyde Sails came to continue the fitting of the enclosure. Lots of talking back and forth as the fitting progresses. We are supplying the material and if there is a screwup There may not be enough, therefore the work will progress at a slow pace and hopefully no mistakes will be made. In the afternoon I dismantled the navigation station area in preparation for the mounting of the new chart plotter and running the wires for the AIS. The area may stay torn up for awhile as we also need to get behind the panel to access the bolt in the genoa track. We also started an increased weather watch as the GRIB files showed what could be an approaching typhoon.

Friday we first continued on our weather watch. My morning routine always begins with the gathering of weather information. I first check GRIB files out six days. These give me wind forecasts for that  six day period, Next it's the Philippine site Typhoon 2000, Then the US Navy's Joint Typhoon warning site depending on what I've seen I may then check several other to try to figure what is in store for us for the next several days. The Friday reports showed tropical storm "Luis", the Philippine name, on a projected track to the northeast coast of the Philippine Island of Luzon. The track wold keep it well north of our location. Next was running the wires for the AIS down through our stainless steel stern arch and then behind various cabinets up to the navigation station. This took the rest of the day.

Saturday showed "Luis" to continue well to our north.  We would get some wind and rain but nothing severe. Landfall on Luzon was predicted for Sunday evening. Rather than continuing on the AIS and plotter I embarked on replacing a faulty alternator on the engine. Actually after much testing it turned out to be the voltage regulator that needed changing. A spare was installed and now the alternator is once again putting out.

Today, a normal rest day, was spent hooking up the electrical to both the AIS and plotter. The plotter is working correctly. I believe that the AIS is too but need to have one of the other yachtie's here turn on there receiver to really see that it is putting out a signal. On our receive side I was unable to get either of our computers to recognize the AIS, tomorrow I'll get some help from another yachtie who is more computer literate than I.

THE PROJECTED TRACK WHEN "LUIS"
WAS A TROPICAL DEPRESSION

SATURDAY'S GRAPHIC OF "LUIS"

A QUIET SUNDAY

Pinoy Boat Services
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

A restful day here in the boat yard. There are no workers on Sundays and it's a day I try to catch up on the blog.

For the last few weeks we have been busy with first putting away all the stuff that arrived from the states and then starting to install some of the new items. First was the new lifelines. The old ones had been sent home with Kathy and marked with what the new lengths should be, They were made up at the Newport Beach West Marine store, thankfully they fit just right. Next were lots of little things such as new handles for the freezer and refrigerator lids, grommets to be set in the T-top shade on the stern arch and then getting it laced back in place with some of the new line that came to. I'm still putting off the bigger jobs of getting the AIS [automatic identification system] with it's two antennas and the new navigation station GPS up and running. The AIS will involve drilling new holes for the wiring to pass through the stainless arch and then up through the boats interior to the nav station and then figuring out the connections. The GPS can use an existing antenna but will require a new cutout in the nav station instrument panel and it's wiring. I'm never quite comfortable installing and wiring electronic things therefore I keep finding other projects to do first.

One of the more important items that was shipped was the material to finish our cockpit enclosure. Last week I put up the bolt rope track and the folks from Hyde Sails were here to start work. The first pattern was done and as it was being fitted  Kathy and I were making some changes in how we had first imagined it. The first major one was in the placement of two of the bolt rope track sections, of course these were the two that had been supposedly permanently installed with both 3M adhesive and screws. Yesterday I managed to remove those sections but did cause some damage to the paint that will now have to be repaired. As the enclosure continues to be built we're sure there will be lots more decisions for how the sides will roll up, where the sheets will run to the winches etc. etc.. Tomorrow I'll get the new track pieces up and then it's wait till Thursday when Hyde will be here for the next fitting.

We have yet to start on the removal of the genoa track and cap rail to get those leaks fixed as the carpenter we want is busy on another job. It does look like we may get started on that late this week.

Kathy has been very happy to find two new workers, a brother and sister, for polishing the stainless, washing the outside and cleaning the interior. They're paid 50 FP an hour or just $1.25 US. They both work very hard and the boat is clean and stainless bright. Unfortunately the outside does not stay clean very long as the shipyard next door is constantly sand blasting and we get the dust fallout.

Lots to look forward to this week starting on the AIS and GPS installation and the next fitting of the enclosure along with what ever new comes up.

GRACE AND RAYMUND 

MAKING THE FIRST PATTERN

ONLY A DAY AFTER WASHING
THEN SOME RAIN AND WE
HAVE DIRT!!!!

,

JUST LIKE CHRISTMAS

Pinoy Boat Service
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.

BOAT STUFF

FOOD STUFF

SOME PRESENTS AND BOAT YARD DOG TREATS

JUST STUFF

EPIRB MYSTERY

Pinoy Boat Servic
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

This post truly ought to have been posted several months ago when the mystery occurred but here we go.

These days one of the most important pieces of safety equipment aboard cruising yachts is the EPIRB. This acronym stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.This small radio transmitter when activated sends out a position message via satellite for the yacht to which it is registered to. Ours is through SARSAT or Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking a division of the USA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. What all this means is in case of an emergency we can activate the transmitter and a signal is sent out via satellite showing our position.
This in turn would allow some sort of rescue response.

There is of course a protocol to be followed by the receiving agency in case of an accidental activation. The registration form lists several emergency phone contacts to try and determine if in fact the activation has been for a real emergency. Ours lists our son and his wife who live in Huntington Beach, California. They would be asked questions such as did they know our last location, any knowledge that we may be in trouble, were we currently underway, etc..

Now you ask what is this all about? One morning while Kathy was in California and staying with the
Kids and speaking to me on the phone Lori interrupted saying the US Coast Guard from Guam was on the phone and trying to find out our status as our EPIRB had been activated. She said Kathy was actually there and talking to me on the phone and there was no emergency. This was relayed to me and looking at the EPIRB I could see the transmit light flashing. the mystery was how it had gotten activated as a tab on the bracket holding the unit prohibits switching on the unit without removal from the bracket but there it was flashing and transmitting away. I removed the unit lifted the on/off lever and the unit shut down. Ir's still a mystery as to what caused the activation but we were happy to see that it worked as advertised. The Coast guard said that they had us in a location off Cebu in the Philippines. If in fact Lori could not have let the authorities know we were all right they would have in turn notified agencies here in the Philippines to try and locate us and either find that it was an accidental activation or an actual emergency.

OUR EPIRB AS MOUNTED

  In the photo you can see the on/off lever under the tab on the left side of the unit. Not sure how but was some how activated while still in the bracket.

TYPHOON SEASON

Pinoy Boat Service
Port Carmen, Cebu
Philippines

Not even a week and another post! We had read about the fact that the Philippines is the most prevalent area in the world for cyclonic storms better known in this area as typhoons. In the USA it would be hurricanes. As we have been here for a 18 months we now have first hand experience. Well the last one just went through to our north and off to China. We now sit and watch the next systems head our way. I normally look at three separate weather sites each morning to gather what information is out there on what the future holds for us. Some days I just report to Kathy "no significant weather". Others such as today I give her a look at the computer and say we have something to keep an eye on. A look at the photos from this morning says we need to keep an eye on things. The first photo comes from the site "typhoon 2000" if you are interested take a look there and it can then lead you to various other ones. I mostly then look at "cimss" which is good world wide and the US Navy site "jtwc" or"fnmoc".

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WE SEE ONE MAKING LANDFALL IN CHINA
AS ANOTHER APPROACHES WITH TWO
MORE SYSTEMS STACKED UP

THE PROJECTED TRACK OF WHAT IS NOW  TROPICAL
STORM MATMO SOON TO BE A TYPHOON
IT IS PROJECTED TO STAY WELL NORTH
OF US HERE IN CEBU