Here's a photo of how it all started on Monday lunchtime, with a great trip in Mike O'Farrells Subic Seaplane from El Rio y Mar to Puerto Galera in one and a half hours.. We flew over Sean speeding towards Nanga, he was headed for Pandan and Mamburao, but was going to Subic and couldn't drop me in PG.We had to rush to Puerto to meet up with two other yachts which were leaving Wednesday morning to come to the resort via Mamburao and Pandan, so I only had a day really to load up Blue Dolphin with beer and ice, check the sails were still there and see if the engine started. I haven't used her for two years and wanted to bring her back home to do all the work necessary due to a serious maintenance neglect on my part.
As I was checking the stiff steering, one of the quadrant eye bolts snapped, and I couldn't be bothered to fix it, even if I could have found a bolt. This meant using the large wooden emergency tiller, which actually works very well, but it meant we didn't have an autopilot for the trip, and this was to become a problem later as it meant one of us always had to be on the helm...
All seemed to be okay, so, after spending two nights at the lovely 'Moorings' complex above the yacht Club in PG, thanks Daisy, we sped off into the dawn in between 'Antuka' with Ned and Karen, and Colin Smith and group on 'Sea Feather', previously owned by an old mate, Dave, whose time has come to move ashore after many years at sea.
A great run of continous 7 knots was enjoyed until Del Monte, when the wind dropped, unusually, and we spent a while getting around Calavite, but we did it around 2.00pm so decided to make Igsoso Bay, just North of Mamburao, our overnight stop. Arriving at sunset, we had made a good daylight run of 60 plus miles and were hopeful the next day would see us back in El Rio, unfortunately by-passing Pandan Island, which I love. This is 'Sea Feather' coming in behind us at sunset..
The night was fairly restful and the wind came and went, so all was well with the World. Colin got up and left for Rio at 4.00am as he had to make it that day due to flight commitments, Ned left at 5.30 and I left soon after, taking a more Southerly course in case there was bad wind and I decided to go to Pandan. In the end, I headed slowly towards Apo Island reef with the intention of staying there the night if I was too late to make Rio in the daytime.
Here's Apo Reef from the air, it's one of the best dive spots in this country and is between Club Paradise and Pandan Island, both of whom have regular trips there for divers and snorkellers.
Just as we got past the strong currents near Apo, about 3 miles South, the engine went and died with a clack. No water in the header so we just drift, pointing in the right direction for a couple of hours watching a beautiful sunset, while the engine cools down.
No pipes broken, engine turns over, don't know what has happened so I pour 3 gallons of water into the tank and try again. This time it fires and then makes a bigger clack and that's it, I'm afraid, we're adrift close to a very dangerous reef area, and the sun has gone down and the main shipping channel is a mile away!!!
Somehow, we manage to spend the night keeping her pointed to exactly 184 degrees, home, checking the compass every now and then but using the stars as a guide, Michelle is very good at this!
Dawn breaks after a small moon has been with us for two hours, and I have high hopes there will be some wind for the last 30 miles. We are in the same position as sunset last night but have moved backwards by one mile, with the current. How is it possible to keep a yacht pointing in the same direction for 10 hours with zero wind and current against, you tell me, coz I don't know??
Again, zero wind, and for the first stiflingly hot 8 hours, we only recover the mile we lost last night, with flapping sails, and a dreadful rolling sloppy sea, which has been with us all night. It's hot as a snakes' ass in a wagon rut, and I'm not even drinking beer!!! We're sunburnt, dehydrated and pissed off, but Michelle doesn't get sick and doesn't complain, how did I get so lucky. We have no shade on the boat, so sit there sweating buckets, watching the water supply dwindle, hoping an afternoon wind will come. We see absolutely no local fishing boats, so I try mirror signalling the small planes which constantly fly over, no luck. I try calling on Channel 16 as often as I think the battery can handle it, nothing....
Here's Michelle with the only sun shade we could find, and that tiller she's holding is a very heavy steering device for someone her size!!
At 2.30pm we have about 2-3 knots coming out of the West and manage 1 knot forward, at that rate, another day and more to home, but we handle it.
Another beautiful sunset and the wind dies completely again, we're still about 10 miles from getting a telephone signal so I can call for a tow from the resort.
Just as light fades, Michelle spots a wind line off to the East and I pull up the sails again in hope. Wonderful 8-10 knot breeze actually fills the sails, and off we zoom at 4 knots Southwards, with Michelle again steering by the stars. Two hours later my phone gets a signal and I call the resort and ask Marlon to prepare fuel for the dinghy to come and tow us in if the wind fails again, how happy we are!!!
The wind lasts till we're 8 miles off our bay, and here comes Marlon, guided by my 500 million candle spotlight... It's taken him 10 minutes to get to us, but it takes an hour and a half to tow us back to safety, we arrive on the mooring at 11.00pm, exhausted, starving, sunburnt and dehydrated, but very glad we didn't have to spend another night out THERE!!
A bite to eat, a very painful sunburnt shower and a good sleep, and here's a shot of Dolphin sitting on her mooring in front of our infinty pool at El Rio.
The final sum up, is really that I didn't expect the engine to blow up, we only rebuilt it 30 hours ago, what had happened was internal corrosion in the aluminium cooling channels, which had corroded through and so I was actually filling the whole engine up with water. No damage except for one snapped con rod bolt and the corrosion needing welding, rebuild is going on as I write. All the other cosmetic stuff is being fixed, and this should all be done in 2 or 3 months, when I'll take her to Subic for a haul out and antifouling before the PG regatta at the end of October.
We didn't see ONE local boat for 36 hours to signal for help, I would have paid anything to get us home. When you don't need help these guys have their bloody fishing nets all over the place, and we didn't even see a FAD to tie up to for the night...unbelievable!
Michelle is the star of the story, she'd never been on a yacht and knew nothing about sailing, yet she was steering within an hour doing 7 1/2 knots down Calavite passage, she could hold a perfect course with the stars, even changing stars as they moved through the sky at night. We both have favourite remembered stars now. She didn't once complain, and took my ranting at the Gods' in her stride. What a gal!!
Here she is on Seans' boat on an earlier trip..
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