29 May, 2008
On 29 May 2008 as our 3rd Visa was running out we sadly said our final good byes to our yachting friends and our wonderful family at Sam's Tours and motored to the Customs Wharf ready to clear out.
Our friends on SY Keturah were also heading to the Philippines and we had arranged to sail in company with them. Immigration and Customs clearance was easy but once again we had heaps of forms to fill in!
On 29 May 2008 as our 3rd Visa was running out we sadly said our final good byes to our yachting friends and our wonderful family at Sam's Tours and motored to the Customs Wharf ready to clear out.
Our friends on SY Keturah were also heading to the Philippines and we had arranged to sail in company with them. Immigration and Customs clearance was easy but once again we had heaps of forms to fill in!
By 10.45am we were finally underway and motoring through the Palau Lagoon towards the Philippines 546nm away. There were many rain showers and variable wind and sea conditions on the 5 day passage to our first anchorage in the Philippines. We had to continually raise and lower the sails and the motor was turned on and off may times. Our top speed was about 5.9kts while motor sailing, 4.6kts while just sailing and the lowest sailing speed was 2.1kts! It was definitely not an exhilarating sail.
However this was just as well as Tom's malaria reoccurred even before he had finished the 14 days anti malarial tablets. So we hit it on the head with a different type of tablet that we had bought from the Pharmacy in Gizo and I kept his temp down with paracetamol. I did the all day watches so he could rest then he did one night one while I rested. Then I did another night one and he did the dawn watch. Thank God the conditions were OK.
The trip was not entirely unpleasant as we saw many fabulous seabirds out fishing, heaps flying fish, shooting stars, brilliant golden sunsets and the magnificent Milky Way. Also we passed over the Mindinao Trench which is the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean where the Pacific and Philippine plates collide as in Plate Tectonics theory. Other than being the inky, inky blue of the deep waters we didn't notice anything different as we had had our depth sounder turned off for days. As we came closer to the Philippines and neared the Trench we began to see many fishing vessels.
(Remember to click on the photos to enlarge them)
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| SV Hamamas ready to Check Out of Palau |
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