Even when we lived in Roanoke, our dinners were often haphazard. I don’t love cooking. I really don’t love cooking if the end result doesn’t involve lots of vegetables and few starches. Randal likes starches, meat and not so many vegetables. His mom, who lived to be 96 and was a great cook, added a stick of butter just to start things off. My mom cooked Pritikin. Back in Roanoke it was tricky to make meals we both liked. And when I cooked, I found I ate too much. It seemed a waste to cook a little of something. So luckily, neither one of us is a fussy eater. Now, lots of nights I ask Randal which can he wants; chili, ravioli, beans? I do cook beans and boiled potatoes. Randal says I don’t cook the potatoes long enough. Randal says there is no such thing as overcooking potatoes. Hmm. So, though our breakfast and lunch are pretty normal, dinners are truly haphazard. We have also picked up the habit of eating a bigger lunch than we did back home. It is better that way, and since we were often out and about, just worked out that way too. Randal’s favorite meal at the Scuba Shack in Subic Bay was babyback ribs, beans, potato salad and San Mig Light. Big lunch! Of course, we walked almost 2 miles to get there and often stopped to do chores on the way back adding miles. So, as much as we ate, we seemed to break even; no calories gained, no calories lost.
How does all of this relate to mango shakes? We all got hooked on mango shakes back in China. I ordered one at dinner one night, passed it around for the entire contingent of Diesel Duck owners to try and still had lots left. After that, it was the drink of choice with dinner followed by a San Mig light. I actually was the only one who never ordered another mango shake, at least not with a meal. The mango shake craze followed us to Subic where they were available most of the year. (In China there was a mango season and a no mango season.) Still it wasn’t my thing. I ate lots of mangoes, just didn’t drink them in shakes. I mostly like to chew my calories.
Our last trip to Manila, when we visited Carol and went to Lake Taal, we shopped while in Makati. Randal wanted a blender to make shakes. He had spent several years during our biking hay day drinking protein shakes. Even in Roanoke it took a few tries to find a blender that wasn’t destroyed when it tried to crush ice. So we knew it wouldn’t be easy. Subic Bay had no ice crushing blenders. Carol sent us to Anson’s Department Store in Makati and Randal found an Osterizer. We had asked a store clerk to show us the blenders that would crush ice. He took us to the most expensive one, the only one that would crush ice. 2600 pesos and worth every peso when we are drinking mango shakes! Actually that only translates to $62 and worth every penny since it does crush ice. Or rather it has since we bought it in April.
So the point of this story is that almost every evening we have a mango or mango/banana shake for dinner. Sometimes we eat something light later, but sometimes not. We have the shakes any time between 4:30 pm and 6. Randal adds milk and sweetened condensed milk, vanilla sometimes and even peanut butter sometimes. All of the results are wonderful. Since we often start our day at 5 am, we are ready for dinner and sleep earlier than members of the working world. Being closer to the equator we have almost 12 hours of light and 12 of dark. It gets light by 6am and starts to get dark by 6 pm. For us, dark often means time to go to bed. Light certainly means it’s time to get up.
We have a system for our mango shakes that shares the work. I buy the mangoes and bananas and peel the mangoes when it’s time for shakes. Randal takes the peeled mangoes and does the rest. He even refills the ice tray (or no shake the next day). We keep glasses in the little freezer just for the shakes. Afterwards, I clean up.
The other evening Nancy and Geoff Cannell came to visit us and Randal made mango/banana shakes. Geoff added some rum to his. He said that it was good, but I haven’t tried one that way yet so I don’t know. Sounds good. We have some old, cheap banana rum that literally none of the other Diesel Duck folks wanted. I thought it might be interesting in banana bread. Anyway, maybe I’ll try that one time. It tasted good in Crystal Light!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
Quick Update
Randal has an ear infection and his left ear is swollen shut! We have antibiotics and ear drops and hopefully they will cure him quickly. No SCUBA until his ears are clear. We have had 2 days of classes and short dives in about 15 and 20 feet of water. The emergency skills are difficult for me, but the dives are so interesting that it makes me want to continue.
Randal went to the Classic Club yesterday and I stayed on the boat and read and painted and we both had a wonderful day. Today we stayed on the boat, too. Jane who is with Tony on a catamaran moored near us, came by for a girl visit. Tony went on to town and Jane stayed to chat with me. Women chat is definitely something I miss. Randal worked on our battery issue and I read and painted and, about 2:30 took the service boat to town. Some of our prepaid wifi cards weren’t working right so I needed to check on them. I also had to walk to the wet market for fruit and vegetables. On the way back I stopped in a small shop run by a lovely Muslim woman and her mother. Both were wrapped in yard of cloth from head to toe. Their faces were not covered. I was looking at the simple, skinny tie tops; it is very hot here. But the tops were made for women the size of the shop owner and just not big enough.
Randal and I had planned to go to the Friday Yacht Club barbecue but Randal really wasn’t up to it.
Tomorrow we will rest some more and hopefully early next week we can resume our SCUBA classes. We have to make 2 more dives for certification; in open water off of a boat into deeper water. I am looking forward to that, but am scared about the deeper water too.
If I ever get outlook working I will send photos, until then it’s the 1,000 words.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Randal went to the Classic Club yesterday and I stayed on the boat and read and painted and we both had a wonderful day. Today we stayed on the boat, too. Jane who is with Tony on a catamaran moored near us, came by for a girl visit. Tony went on to town and Jane stayed to chat with me. Women chat is definitely something I miss. Randal worked on our battery issue and I read and painted and, about 2:30 took the service boat to town. Some of our prepaid wifi cards weren’t working right so I needed to check on them. I also had to walk to the wet market for fruit and vegetables. On the way back I stopped in a small shop run by a lovely Muslim woman and her mother. Both were wrapped in yard of cloth from head to toe. Their faces were not covered. I was looking at the simple, skinny tie tops; it is very hot here. But the tops were made for women the size of the shop owner and just not big enough.
Randal and I had planned to go to the Friday Yacht Club barbecue but Randal really wasn’t up to it.
Tomorrow we will rest some more and hopefully early next week we can resume our SCUBA classes. We have to make 2 more dives for certification; in open water off of a boat into deeper water. I am looking forward to that, but am scared about the deeper water too.
If I ever get outlook working I will send photos, until then it’s the 1,000 words.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Passage to Puerto Galera written by Randal
We left Subic Bay Friday, May 23, and arrived in Puerto Galera Saturday afternoon.
Hamilo Cove at sunsetRandal's story of our voyage (my comments are in parentheses.)
"Two day passage from heaven. The first day was very smooth and we arrived in Himilo Cove at 3:15 PM after shoving off the Subic Bay dock at 7:00 AM. We left Himilo at 7:00 Saturday morning and arrived here in Puerto Galera at 3:30 in the afternoon. The water was so smooth at times you could hardly tell you were on a boat."
We rigged up a sun shade and had dolphins swim with us.
Going up to the flybridge for the day is like packing for the beach; food, drinks, hats, books, but also life vests.
This line of bancas were following a course that would cross our bow. They needed to change course or I needed to change course. We had the right of way and were bigger so they changed course and passed behind us rather than cross our bow.
This line of bancas were following a course that would cross our bow. They needed to change course or I needed to change course. We had the right of way and were bigger so they changed course and passed behind us rather than cross our bow.Randal continues…
”Sunday I found the dive shack I had been in contact with and signed up for our diving certification class. I brought home one manual for each of us and a DVD to watch. Our three or four day class starts tomorrow. We have to watch the DVD, read the (240 page) book and take an exam, then it’s into the water for personal instruction from a Brit named Simon who I met yesterday too. http://www.actiondivers.com/ is their web address.
We found a wifi source that reached the boat but we had to go into town and find the shop and pay them for passwords to use it. It was expensive, 50 P $1.17) per hour. You get a little piece of paper with the user key and password. Each piece allows one hour of usage or 125 MB which ever comes first. It also expires two days after you sign in. Sounds like a westerner set it up rather than a Filipino. We tried it yesterday and it does work. They told us it works 24/7 but it is not available this morning and I have a feeling it works their business hours which are 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. (Correct.)
Today is a study day, we have to read the 240 page book, take the quizzes at the end of each chapter, and be prepared to take the exam when we arrive at the dive shop Tuesday. I have a feeling the DVD is a repeat of the book. Ruth has contacted a lady friend she made when we were here during Christmas and has made an appointment to go see her. Nancy paints and her and Ruth hit it off right away. She and her husband have a house and a boat here and Ruth is going to see her house for the first time. There is a picture of her and her husband in Ruth's email from Christmas. Her husband was wearing a kilt.
There is a big difference from what we are now doing to what we were doing (in Hong Kong and Subic Bay.) Before we were in a safe marina with sea walls protecting you from the waves of the bay which were naturally protected from the waves of the ocean. We were attached to a dock and we could walk right off the boat and be on land. We were attached to shore electricity so no worries about usage; we ran the A/C all the time. We had a water hose on the dock so no need to worry about water usage either. Our main concern was getting the boat ready for cruising. Now our day is much different. We are very careful of the electricity and water we use, no waste. We can have no A/C unless we are running the gen-set. (So very little A/C.) We are anchored out in the cove and have to hail the service boat on the VHF radio to come pick us up to go to shore and bring us back again. If there was no service boat, and it is rare there is one, we would have to launch the dinghy and go where we wanted to go. (We aren’t sure about leaving the dinghy at the pier while we go off, so we aren’t using it to get to town.) We watch the battery monitor and when it is down to about 60% we will have to start the gen-set to charge the batteries, heat water and make water with the watermaker. This will be the time for doing any cooking in the microwave and washing clothes as well. We can make water, wash clothes, and use the microwave off the inverter with current supplied by the batteries but they deplete them so fast that it’s better to do it while the genny is running as it supplies an excess of electricity than what the battery charger can use. We can also do all these things while underway (cruising) since I installed that big 140 amp alternator on the main engine. While underway the engine heats the water in the water heater by circulating engine coolant through it. Our plan is to run the gen-set every other day for about two hours. I think
this will do the trick but we will have to experiment to see. The watermaker makes 25 gallons per hour so that means we will be producing an average of 25 gallons per day and I'm sure we use more than that. Since we can make water while underway, if we enter an anchorage with nearly full tanks we should be okay if we don't stay too long. The water tanks hold 250 gallons.
There is a big difference from what we are now doing to what we were doing (in Hong Kong and Subic Bay.) Before we were in a safe marina with sea walls protecting you from the waves of the bay which were naturally protected from the waves of the ocean. We were attached to a dock and we could walk right off the boat and be on land. We were attached to shore electricity so no worries about usage; we ran the A/C all the time. We had a water hose on the dock so no need to worry about water usage either. Our main concern was getting the boat ready for cruising. Now our day is much different. We are very careful of the electricity and water we use, no waste. We can have no A/C unless we are running the gen-set. (So very little A/C.) We are anchored out in the cove and have to hail the service boat on the VHF radio to come pick us up to go to shore and bring us back again. If there was no service boat, and it is rare there is one, we would have to launch the dinghy and go where we wanted to go. (We aren’t sure about leaving the dinghy at the pier while we go off, so we aren’t using it to get to town.) We watch the battery monitor and when it is down to about 60% we will have to start the gen-set to charge the batteries, heat water and make water with the watermaker. This will be the time for doing any cooking in the microwave and washing clothes as well. We can make water, wash clothes, and use the microwave off the inverter with current supplied by the batteries but they deplete them so fast that it’s better to do it while the genny is running as it supplies an excess of electricity than what the battery charger can use. We can also do all these things while underway (cruising) since I installed that big 140 amp alternator on the main engine. While underway the engine heats the water in the water heater by circulating engine coolant through it. Our plan is to run the gen-set every other day for about two hours. I think
this will do the trick but we will have to experiment to see. The watermaker makes 25 gallons per hour so that means we will be producing an average of 25 gallons per day and I'm sure we use more than that. Since we can make water while underway, if we enter an anchorage with nearly full tanks we should be okay if we don't stay too long. The water tanks hold 250 gallons.
One of the things I did during our first visit to PG was join the Classic Club. The CC meets every Thursday for drinks and lunch and the bill is split. No women allowed. New members and returning members are introduced and there is a lot made over the fact that this is the 695th continuous meeting, da da da. There are no visitors because when you attend the first time you are a member. There are no dues, no bylaws, none of most things associated with clubs and organization. The guy who owns the dive shop where we will get our certification heads the thing up and arranges the place where we will have the lunches. I told him yesterday that I would surely be there this Thursday. Ruth reminded me just now that Thursday is our anniversary. Oh well, I'll have to propose a toast to her for letting me come.”
Randal
So Randal is off to CC. I am going to spend the afternoon painting and worrying about the Red Sox! I am more worried about them than about having to take off my face mask underwater during our next SCUBA class. You must take off and replace your mask, breathe through the regulator with your mouth and not breathe in through your nose. So far, not breathing through my nose is not a task I have mastered when we are learning to empty our masks of water. I practiced a bit this morning, but I still can’t do it well. In her book, The House of the Spirits, in the chapter “At Home With the Spirits,” Isabel Allende talks about travel memories. “the person doesn’t bring back the month; the person brings back the big strokes, the brilliant colors, the intense experiences, and in a week you have forgotten how uncomfortable you were and the mosquitoes. You only remember those things that eventually you write about.”
Here is a photo of Tuesday evening.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Scuba and visit to Nancy
Hi Everyone,
Survived the first SCUBA class. The actual time we spent swimming underwater looking at the reef and tiny rainbow colored fish and purple coral and neon blue starfish was great. The time yanking on a cumbersome wetsuit, getting on the vest and tanks and booties while slowly overheating….not so fun. Then my regulator wouldn’t stay in my mouth where it belonged and I almost truly gave up on the whole thing. Really. But then we had an exercise where we switched from our main regulator, (mouth piece through which you get air) to our alternate regulator. My alternate worked better for me and things improved greatly. I stopped panicking and started breathing and began to remember the fun I’d had in Subic with Audrey during our first SCUBA outing.
We swam around for about 30 minutes in water that was about 15 ft deep. Though we are in the tropics, I did need the wet suit in the water or I would have gotten cold. Hard to believe since I had grown up with New England Atlantic Ocean water. If I weren’t too lazy I could get out my SCUBA text and tell you how many degrees of change there is as you dive…but I am SCUBA texted out for the time being. Actually we are supposed to be reading Chapters 4 and 5 right now. But I spent most of Sunday night and Monday afternoon and evening learning SCUBA stuff and I need a break. I did go visit my great pal Nancy Cannell and her husband Geoff at their beautiful home on top of a mountain overlooking the sea. It is just a 10 minute drive from town and up a scary mountain road, but it is the perfect home. Comfortable, light, light, light!!! and lovely and inviting and informally formal and just perfect. They love living on their boat here in PG, but I might have to be dragged away from that house if I had the choice. Lots of big spaces, lots of small cozy spaces and all open to the light. And of course there is a pool, small garden area with a pool and fountain and a rooftop set with chairs, tables and a 360 degree view. Did I take thousands of photos? I had my camera and intended to. But Nancy and I had such a great time just seeing the house and talking and talking and talking, that the photos just weren’t that important. We didn’t even mess around with art! That’s how fun it was to just be together and talk.
It is 6:48 pm and feels like midnight. We were up at 5 am, out at 8 am and in SCUBA class from 9 am till almost 2 pm. Then we walked across the beaches to catch the jeepney from Sabang back to PG. Then we walked through PG back to the pier to catch the service boat back to DoraMac. Now I have to go read chapter 4! So goodnight. And GO SOX!!!!
Ru
Survived the first SCUBA class. The actual time we spent swimming underwater looking at the reef and tiny rainbow colored fish and purple coral and neon blue starfish was great. The time yanking on a cumbersome wetsuit, getting on the vest and tanks and booties while slowly overheating….not so fun. Then my regulator wouldn’t stay in my mouth where it belonged and I almost truly gave up on the whole thing. Really. But then we had an exercise where we switched from our main regulator, (mouth piece through which you get air) to our alternate regulator. My alternate worked better for me and things improved greatly. I stopped panicking and started breathing and began to remember the fun I’d had in Subic with Audrey during our first SCUBA outing.
We swam around for about 30 minutes in water that was about 15 ft deep. Though we are in the tropics, I did need the wet suit in the water or I would have gotten cold. Hard to believe since I had grown up with New England Atlantic Ocean water. If I weren’t too lazy I could get out my SCUBA text and tell you how many degrees of change there is as you dive…but I am SCUBA texted out for the time being. Actually we are supposed to be reading Chapters 4 and 5 right now. But I spent most of Sunday night and Monday afternoon and evening learning SCUBA stuff and I need a break. I did go visit my great pal Nancy Cannell and her husband Geoff at their beautiful home on top of a mountain overlooking the sea. It is just a 10 minute drive from town and up a scary mountain road, but it is the perfect home. Comfortable, light, light, light!!! and lovely and inviting and informally formal and just perfect. They love living on their boat here in PG, but I might have to be dragged away from that house if I had the choice. Lots of big spaces, lots of small cozy spaces and all open to the light. And of course there is a pool, small garden area with a pool and fountain and a rooftop set with chairs, tables and a 360 degree view. Did I take thousands of photos? I had my camera and intended to. But Nancy and I had such a great time just seeing the house and talking and talking and talking, that the photos just weren’t that important. We didn’t even mess around with art! That’s how fun it was to just be together and talk.
It is 6:48 pm and feels like midnight. We were up at 5 am, out at 8 am and in SCUBA class from 9 am till almost 2 pm. Then we walked across the beaches to catch the jeepney from Sabang back to PG. Then we walked through PG back to the pier to catch the service boat back to DoraMac. Now I have to go read chapter 4! So goodnight. And GO SOX!!!!
Ru
Monday, May 26, 2008
cruising life
Hi Everyone,
We bought some Internet Time cards from KrisNee Cafe. We can use the time on the boat between 7am and 10pm (their definition of 24 hour service.) It does let me send from Outlook, but only to individuals.
Randal signed us up for the SCUBA course and that will be all day for 3 or 4 days. The "learn on your own" text book has 250 pages and it took me a while to get through the first 50 and take the little quizzes. And I already knew lots of the info because our friend Audrey had loaned us her dive instruction videos and had taught us lots of the basic stuff. So for the next few days I won't be traipsing around town anyway so not much to email about. It will keep my mind off the fact that the Sox can't seem to win a game outside of Fenway Park.
This morning I am going to visit my PG friends Nancy and Geoff Cannell. I'll take the service boat to the pier and Geoff will come get me and drive me to their home. It is just a 10 minute drive, but I'm not so sure where it is up one of the small mountains behind town. Nancy and I will spend the morning talking about art and local PG gossip.
I think Randal and I haven't quite made it to "cruisers" yet. We still miss the "sometimes" instant 24 hour wifi. We miss the luxury of being plugged into the marina power and water. No AC here on the mooring and we have to be a little careful with water though Randal says the water maker will work fine. I take a wait and see attitude. We could get water from shore in giant plastic water holders. And I am sure we will one day. We just are more used to the cushy cruising life. Jane and Tony came aboard Saturday and eyed our washer/dryer and roominess. They have a catamaran sailboat with no washing machine and definitely no trash compactor. Jane washes daily by hand. But they are as happy as we are to be learning to be cruisers. It is definitely a transition. In Hamilo Cove it was quiet and cool. Here in PG it is less cool because we have our bow cover on and starting about 5 am bancas go by in and out of town. We fall asleep to the kareoke bar in town...water carries the sound. But early in the morning, we can hear the birds sing and the rooster crow.
I'm off to get ready for my visit to Nancy.
Ru
We bought some Internet Time cards from KrisNee Cafe. We can use the time on the boat between 7am and 10pm (their definition of 24 hour service.) It does let me send from Outlook, but only to individuals.
Randal signed us up for the SCUBA course and that will be all day for 3 or 4 days. The "learn on your own" text book has 250 pages and it took me a while to get through the first 50 and take the little quizzes. And I already knew lots of the info because our friend Audrey had loaned us her dive instruction videos and had taught us lots of the basic stuff. So for the next few days I won't be traipsing around town anyway so not much to email about. It will keep my mind off the fact that the Sox can't seem to win a game outside of Fenway Park.
This morning I am going to visit my PG friends Nancy and Geoff Cannell. I'll take the service boat to the pier and Geoff will come get me and drive me to their home. It is just a 10 minute drive, but I'm not so sure where it is up one of the small mountains behind town. Nancy and I will spend the morning talking about art and local PG gossip.
I think Randal and I haven't quite made it to "cruisers" yet. We still miss the "sometimes" instant 24 hour wifi. We miss the luxury of being plugged into the marina power and water. No AC here on the mooring and we have to be a little careful with water though Randal says the water maker will work fine. I take a wait and see attitude. We could get water from shore in giant plastic water holders. And I am sure we will one day. We just are more used to the cushy cruising life. Jane and Tony came aboard Saturday and eyed our washer/dryer and roominess. They have a catamaran sailboat with no washing machine and definitely no trash compactor. Jane washes daily by hand. But they are as happy as we are to be learning to be cruisers. It is definitely a transition. In Hamilo Cove it was quiet and cool. Here in PG it is less cool because we have our bow cover on and starting about 5 am bancas go by in and out of town. We fall asleep to the kareoke bar in town...water carries the sound. But early in the morning, we can hear the birds sing and the rooster crow.
I'm off to get ready for my visit to Nancy.
Ru
Sunday, May 25, 2008
cruising to Puerto Galera
Hi Everyone,
Again, just a quick note. My Outlook Email send feature won’t work in Puerto Galera. Jane, who we met yesterday, says her Outlook won’t send either. We can both receive, but not send. My web Yahoo won’t do photos. Hard to believe that I miss the Subic Bay wifi!
As I said yesterday, our trip down was very pleasant and calm seas. We anchored in Himilo Cove Friday night and our new anchor caught and held perfectly. However, when we went to bring it up, its swivel had it turned wrong way around so Randal had to mess with the boat hook and while he was doing that we almost backed into shallow water. A learning experience. Other than that, totally smooth cruising. We did have to change course one time for a huge ferry coming towards us. Size takes right of way. While I was driving a line of three bancas (all smaller than doraMac) was aiming to cross our bow, I kept my course and they had to change and pass in back of us. Luckily they changed course soon enough so I didn’t have to get Randal to leave his fishing gear and come back to the flybridge to give me advice. If I had been unsure, I just would have changed my course and been done with it. We caught no fish anyway. And now that we have our Paravane fish that work, we will hopefully never need them.
Ru
Again, just a quick note. My Outlook Email send feature won’t work in Puerto Galera. Jane, who we met yesterday, says her Outlook won’t send either. We can both receive, but not send. My web Yahoo won’t do photos. Hard to believe that I miss the Subic Bay wifi!
As I said yesterday, our trip down was very pleasant and calm seas. We anchored in Himilo Cove Friday night and our new anchor caught and held perfectly. However, when we went to bring it up, its swivel had it turned wrong way around so Randal had to mess with the boat hook and while he was doing that we almost backed into shallow water. A learning experience. Other than that, totally smooth cruising. We did have to change course one time for a huge ferry coming towards us. Size takes right of way. While I was driving a line of three bancas (all smaller than doraMac) was aiming to cross our bow, I kept my course and they had to change and pass in back of us. Luckily they changed course soon enough so I didn’t have to get Randal to leave his fishing gear and come back to the flybridge to give me advice. If I had been unsure, I just would have changed my course and been done with it. We caught no fish anyway. And now that we have our Paravane fish that work, we will hopefully never need them.
Ru
Saturday, May 24, 2008
here in PG
Randal and I arrived at PG about 3:30 pm this afternoon. Seas were smooth and we averaged better than 6 knots and only used 25.7 gallons of fuel to go over 100 miles.
Old friends Chris and Mylene stopped by on their way from shore to their sailboat. New friends Tony and Jane stopped by on their way from shore to their catamaran. We are going to have dinner with Jane and Tony in a bit. We'll have to eat fast; the service boat ends at 9 pm
Randal and I are sharing my computer right now. We are plugged in at the Rock N' Roll Bar.
So that's it.
Ru
Old friends Chris and Mylene stopped by on their way from shore to their sailboat. New friends Tony and Jane stopped by on their way from shore to their catamaran. We are going to have dinner with Jane and Tony in a bit. We'll have to eat fast; the service boat ends at 9 pm
Randal and I are sharing my computer right now. We are plugged in at the Rock N' Roll Bar.
So that's it.
Ru
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Bottom Cleaning
Things that had to get done before we could leave.......
Getting the Bottom Cleaned!
One of the reasons Randal and I want to learn to SCUBA Dive is to clean the bottom of the boat, the propeller, and the bow thrusters. If they get clogged with crustaceans and other living things, it either slows us way down and uses more fuel, or it clogs the bow thrusters so they might not work. During our last two trips to Silanguin we could tell the prop was dirty by how slow the boat would go at 1500 rpms. Tuesday morning, one of the local fellows, Glenn, a friend of Jordan’s our current boat helper, came at 9 am so we could go off to cleaner water and he could clean the boat bottom. It was overcast with some rain. But when you are working under water, rain isn’t a problem. Wind and waves would have been the problem, but it was fairly calm. We actually motored over a bit and anchored off shore of Vasco’s Restaurant.
Jordan came too. His job was to be ready to jump into the water to get Glen out if we had to move the boat for any emergency reason. You can’t start the propeller while someone is cleaning it, and to move the boat and control drift or direction, you need to have the boat moving and the propeller running. We had no emergencies and all went smoothly. Jordan went into the water to help clean the sides of the boat. That was good. Unfortunately he had borrowed Randal’s face mask and somehow managed to drop it to the bottom. We’re not sure why, but Glenn decided that the mask was irretrievable because of the current and murk. Oh well, things happen.
After our SCUBA lesson with Audrey I really think I could do the boat bottom cleaning. It isn’t easy scraping all of the barnacles and stuff off, but Randal and I would divide the work and take our time. If we did it on a regular basis, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. And cleaner water might not generate so much clinging stuff. Oceanography, zoology, geography, cartography…all of the ographies I wish I had studied, then I wouldn’t have to call it “clinging stuff.”
Randal and Glenn in the engine room where Randal is showing Glenn the sea chest. The sea chest takes in all of the water used to cool the engine exhaust, and for the air conditioning and geneset. Creatures, similar to our under the sink creatures, crawl up into it and it gets clogged. Randal was pointing out to Glenn that the opening under the boat needed to be cleaned too, so where about it would be located.
Get Ready ……..
Get Set………
Go!
Going down………………………….
The scuba vest is inflated so you float on the water. You deflate the vest, and that, plus the weights you wear let you stay under the water and not float up to the surface. The trick is to use enough weights and inflate the vest just right so you don’t sink or float back to the surface. Neutrally buoyant is the correct term, I think.
Jordan cleaning the boat sides.
This little creature, scraped from the bottom of the boat looked like an oyster. My foot with my rope necklace now an ankle thing and my Red Sox rubber bracelet that is way too big for my wrist. Yup, I really do wear that stuff during the season. Worked last year! I bought a real chain for my Red Sox hat charm; the rope one sometimes untied itself.
To tell if your anchor is dragging you pick 2 points in the distance and watch if their relationship changes. (The tree and the notch in the mountain to its left.) If it does change, your anchor might be dragging. You have to do this because there are no lines painted on the ocean to tell you if you are in your space. You can use a radar ring on your electronic chart when you are anchored in a cove; it will beep if you move out of that ring. We did that in Hamilo Cove when we traveled to Puerto Galera and anchored over night. But we were too close to shore to make a ring that would work. So we just had to watch. I don’t really understand spatial relationships and need to work on seeing what I am supposed to see.
Job done!
Getting the Bottom Cleaned!
One of the reasons Randal and I want to learn to SCUBA Dive is to clean the bottom of the boat, the propeller, and the bow thrusters. If they get clogged with crustaceans and other living things, it either slows us way down and uses more fuel, or it clogs the bow thrusters so they might not work. During our last two trips to Silanguin we could tell the prop was dirty by how slow the boat would go at 1500 rpms. Tuesday morning, one of the local fellows, Glenn, a friend of Jordan’s our current boat helper, came at 9 am so we could go off to cleaner water and he could clean the boat bottom. It was overcast with some rain. But when you are working under water, rain isn’t a problem. Wind and waves would have been the problem, but it was fairly calm. We actually motored over a bit and anchored off shore of Vasco’s Restaurant.
Jordan came too. His job was to be ready to jump into the water to get Glen out if we had to move the boat for any emergency reason. You can’t start the propeller while someone is cleaning it, and to move the boat and control drift or direction, you need to have the boat moving and the propeller running. We had no emergencies and all went smoothly. Jordan went into the water to help clean the sides of the boat. That was good. Unfortunately he had borrowed Randal’s face mask and somehow managed to drop it to the bottom. We’re not sure why, but Glenn decided that the mask was irretrievable because of the current and murk. Oh well, things happen.
After our SCUBA lesson with Audrey I really think I could do the boat bottom cleaning. It isn’t easy scraping all of the barnacles and stuff off, but Randal and I would divide the work and take our time. If we did it on a regular basis, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. And cleaner water might not generate so much clinging stuff. Oceanography, zoology, geography, cartography…all of the ographies I wish I had studied, then I wouldn’t have to call it “clinging stuff.”
Randal and Glenn in the engine room where Randal is showing Glenn the sea chest. The sea chest takes in all of the water used to cool the engine exhaust, and for the air conditioning and geneset. Creatures, similar to our under the sink creatures, crawl up into it and it gets clogged. Randal was pointing out to Glenn that the opening under the boat needed to be cleaned too, so where about it would be located.
Get Ready ……..
Get Set………
Go!
Going down………………………….
The scuba vest is inflated so you float on the water. You deflate the vest, and that, plus the weights you wear let you stay under the water and not float up to the surface. The trick is to use enough weights and inflate the vest just right so you don’t sink or float back to the surface. Neutrally buoyant is the correct term, I think.
Jordan cleaning the boat sides.
This little creature, scraped from the bottom of the boat looked like an oyster. My foot with my rope necklace now an ankle thing and my Red Sox rubber bracelet that is way too big for my wrist. Yup, I really do wear that stuff during the season. Worked last year! I bought a real chain for my Red Sox hat charm; the rope one sometimes untied itself.
To tell if your anchor is dragging you pick 2 points in the distance and watch if their relationship changes. (The tree and the notch in the mountain to its left.) If it does change, your anchor might be dragging. You have to do this because there are no lines painted on the ocean to tell you if you are in your space. You can use a radar ring on your electronic chart when you are anchored in a cove; it will beep if you move out of that ring. We did that in Hamilo Cove when we traveled to Puerto Galera and anchored over night. But we were too close to shore to make a ring that would work. So we just had to watch. I don’t really understand spatial relationships and need to work on seeing what I am supposed to see.
Job done!
Friday morning departure
Okay, so if all goes as planned and the weather cooperates we will leave very early tomorrow morning. We will arrive in Puerto Galera Saturday evening, not Sunday as I emailed earlier. It is 2 days of cruising, Friday and Saturday. I won't email till Sunday at the earliest.
Jordan is filling our water tanks and Randal is off for one last trip to town. I stocked up on bread and wine and cookies this morning. We are having the pizza party tonight. Pizza leftovers tomorrow as we cruise.
Luckily we have done this trip twice before so are pretty comfortable with it.
So that's it.
Ru
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Count Down to Departure
Racing around madly so we can be off on Friday! Tomorrow evening we're throwing a farewell pizza party for the folks on the dock to say thanks for their help and friendliness while we were here. In the past few days we have stocked up on food, water, beer, and Gatorade and lots of canned stuff and peanut butter. I biked to the Public Market this morning for some fresh veggies. If we leave Friday as we plan, we will be in Puerto Galera on Saturday evening so we don't need lots of fresh stuff. We will be in PG for at least a week, I am guessing since 3 days we'll be taking classes to get our SCUBA certification. There is wifi at the PG yacht club so I should be able to email some. Not sure what emails I send between PG and KK (Kota Kinabalu) but I will post when I can. I'm still not sure how I will handle not being able to follow the Red Sox every minute.
So for now, back to my chores getting the boat packed up and ready.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
So for now, back to my chores getting the boat packed up and ready.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Subic Bay to Kota Kinabalu
Our proposed route. It shows the order of our ports, the nautical miles between ports, estimated cruising time, and the latitude and longitude of the destination port. I had sent it out with an earlier posting, but the excel file wouldn't work. Since we are getting ready to actually leave Subic Bay, I took a photo of the excel sheet that my sister recreated and here it is; such as it is. It doesn't indicate the amount of time in each port, we can't know that yet. It will depend on the weather and how much fun we are having at any given port. We hope to get our Scuba certification in PG and I would like to see the marble workings at Romblon. The spelling is a bit off on the list (our fault, not my sister's.) It is Romblon and Coron. We will be keeping track of our mileage and time so I will send out a totally corrected chart after the fact.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Short Timers and a Fish Tale
Well, it looks like we might actually be about to move along; maybe even this coming week if the weather cooperates and we have everything we need done. Our biggest project was getting the paravane fish redone and as of Thursday, they are hanging on the rail, ready to go when we are. Today or Monday at the latest, our new anchor will come back from Manila where it was being galvanized. Yesterday morning we spent almost 2 hours at Royal Supermarket buying a second load of provisions. It took me almost as long to figure out where to store them! Since we are new to this and not sure what we will find along the way we bought the real essentials like lots of peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk for Randal's super smoothies and 3 packs of dental floss. We also bought lots of "heavy stuff" like laundry detergent and dish detergent because it is easier to get things to the boat here. We took our latest boat person, Jordan and we filled 4 carts full. We took a taxi back to the SBYC and with a 2 wheeled cart got them form the taxi to the boat. Out cruising we might have to do all this with a tricycle taxi and our dinghy. It's certainly possible, but easier here. We will have lots of Gatorade and water and beer.
Randal and I could live on peanut butter and some kind of liquid if we had to. We tend to eat local a lot and that means eating what is available rather than stocking up on things to avoid eating local. We can do that at this point because we won't have long passages between ports. We do have lots of canned tuna and salmon and canned chili and " Vienna Sausage and Spam" Yuck. I would truly have to be desperate for the Spam and Sausage. Hopefully I won't have to eat those words or the Spam or Sausage either.
Once we start cruising the emails may become rather infrequent, short and text only. It just depends on the wifi we can find. Our first real stop will be back in PG so I should be able to email from there as we have in the past. While we are there, Randal and I are hoping to get our scuba certification and some equipment. It takes 3 days, which seems awfully quick to me. We need to be able to clean the bottom of the boat and free our anchor should it ever need it. As for recreational scuba diving, that might come later when we hit really clear, irresistible water with lots to see. You do go out for a dive during your certification. After our quick lesson with Audrey, I feel like I at least have a clue what is involved. Hopefully I'll love it. I know I'll be able to do the boat maintenance stuff.
So here is the tale of our paravne fish.....
Paravane Fish Tale
What are paravane fish? They are metal pieces shaped like birds or fish that hang into the water from paravane arms and keep the boat from rolling side to side in the waves and swells.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/MarineSafety/bulletins/2000/15-eng.htm
This illustration comes from a Canadian Marine Safety Bulletin and the rigging is a bit different from ours. But you can see the arms and the fish hanging into the water dragging along side. Ours had been problematic from the get go. Instead of acting like fish, they were more like dolphin, jumping out of the water and diving back in. Not what you want to happen. When they come out of the water, you can’t be sure where they will dive back in; and 50+ pound pieces of metal flying along both sides of the boat NOT GOOD!!
We went through 4 or 5 or 5,000 modifications and the accompanying sea trials out in the harbor before we solved the riddle. The thing of it was; everyone saw what needed to be done, but not all at the same time. And it was the kind of thing, that until you really believed what was the problem, no one could convince you. But finally Captain Randal took the matter into his own hands and made the final modification and voila! The fish stopped flying and swam smoothly in the water along side of the boat. As in the illustration. The whole point is that when the boat leans side, the fish on the opposite side want to stay in the water so keep the boat from rolling so much. Makes for a smoother ride.
Fish that wouldn’t stay in the water
Fish that would stay in the water. Cutting out that notch made all the difference, though we all came to that realization at different times.
Then came the finishing touches, painting and redoing the nest for the fish to ride in when not in use.
Painting the fish with epoxy primer so the paint will stick. That is Jordan helping Randal.
Testing the “nest” on the rail wherelive. There is a hoisting system because you can’t just pull them up with their rope.
A metal piece will go around the torpedo part on the bottom of the fish. You can see our dinghy and solar panel on the left side of the photo. We have new tan sunbrella dinghy side covers.
Fish in the nest. I guess I should have been calling them birds so the image would fit together better.
So this whole paravane arm swings down and the fish hang into the water from the top of the arm where the red is touching. First you lower the arm, and then throw the fish into the water. To retrieve it you pull up the arm until you can reach the fish’s line and then retrieve it on a pulley. Then you finish pulling up the arm. During this time you are in the middle of the ocean so no one is needed to drive the boat. It takes one person to put out the fish, but 2 people to retrieve the fish so they don’t crash into the boat. This is as true a fish tale as I can write, not being an expert on paravane fish.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Friday, May 9, 2008
Tagaytay Highlands
During all of our previous trips to Manila we have stayed mostly in Intramuros, Bonando, and along Roxas Blvd. It was a mix of Manila life with its wealth and poverty, its history and Mall of Asia. This trip we saw how the other half lives, as well as some of the beautiful Philippine countryside. We spent most of our time in Makati and its upscale shopping areas, malls, and gated living areas. No beggars, no people living on the streets. Looked like upscale Roanoke, New York, Boston…. We also visited the mega-upscale Tagaytay Highlands. http://www.tagaytayhighlands.com/ after our trip to Lake Taal.
Carol bought some carabao cheese (carabao are water buffalo) which I brought back to Subic and devoured in no time. It tastes like a combination of ricotta and mozzarella, sweet and salty all at one time. And it really is made from the milk of water buffalo.
Last stop of the trip.
We truly had eaten dessert first at the Highlands, but a late light dinner back in MakatiOne last photo from the day at the volcano.
From their web site which is loaded with lots of photos and info. It overlooks Lake Taal.
We had planned to go to one of the many restaurants on the grounds, but our timing was a bit off. We arrived a little before 5, hungry, of course. The restaurants didn’t open until 6. We decided to have a snack to hold us, but they filled us up! What a surprise?
Halo Halo washed down with a Frozen Margarita
Banana Shake washed down with a glass of Sangria.
I washed my Halo Halo down with decaf. Randal is taking a sample while I take this photo.
These tiny birds were as bold as could be.
The very last drop; don't think I left them much.
It had been a long day, so after our ice cream treats we went back to the car and began the journey home. First we took some shots of the lovely sunset.
It had been a long day, so after our ice cream treats we went back to the car and began the journey home. First we took some shots of the lovely sunset.
Half way home we stopped ….Mr. Moo’s Fresh Milk Kesong Puti
Carol bought some carabao cheese (carabao are water buffalo) which I brought back to Subic and devoured in no time. It tastes like a combination of ricotta and mozzarella, sweet and salty all at one time. And it really is made from the milk of water buffalo.
Spread on toast for breakfast.
We truly had eaten dessert first at the Highlands, but a late light dinner back in Makati
was the finishing touch to a great day.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Taal Adventure # 3
Taal Lake # 3
Here we are. Me, Gabi the horse, and my sidekick, Junior. C.C.
We slowed down so Carol could pass us and take a photo of me from the front. The man in the maroon shirt is Michael who drives for Carol. To Michael’s right you can see Randal walking along. I can’t even remember if I asked him why he was walking. Though I might have asked if he wanted us to walk too?
If you are wondering how Carol took this photo while riding along in front of us…
I love it! If you can’t see it, she is holding her camera up over her head and aiming it back at me.
Back at the ranch. My “guide” said his name was Junior and he was 14 years old. C.C.
What a cutie! C.C.
Faster, Faster! Somehow this turned into a friendly race and we wanted to win. So much for worrying about slow and cautious C.C.
Our next adventure was a trip to the Tagaytay Highlands.
So we took the banca ride across Lake Taal, the mini-horses to the top of the volcano, and then walked along the ridge of the volcano. It was then time to mount up and ride back. Oddly, no one really wanted to ride back. Randal had hated the ride up with his guide squished onto the saddle with him; plus his guide had cantered along causing Randal to fear an immediate crash. I feared my mini-guide would race us down hill and the mini-horse would stumble onto its head. Carol worried about me. She suggested that we walk down and I was tempted. But we had more adventures planned and I thought walking would take too long. So we all mounted up, this time my guide on back with me, but I held the rein too.
Randal was up ahead of me. Then both Randal and the guide were off the pony. The guide looked to be fixing the saddle, or so I thought. The next thing I knew, Randal was walking down the mountain. Randal had given the guide this choice, “either you walk or I walk.” The guide told Randal to walk, so walk Randal did! No tip for that guide! C.C.
Here we are. Me, Gabi the horse, and my sidekick, Junior. C.C.
We slowed down so Carol could pass us and take a photo of me from the front. The man in the maroon shirt is Michael who drives for Carol. To Michael’s right you can see Randal walking along. I can’t even remember if I asked him why he was walking. Though I might have asked if he wanted us to walk too?
If you are wondering how Carol took this photo while riding along in front of us…
I love it! If you can’t see it, she is holding her camera up over her head and aiming it back at me.
Back at the ranch. My “guide” said his name was Junior and he was 14 years old. C.C.
What a cutie! C.C.
While I was trying to make friends with this cutie, my phone rang and I received a text message…….
I lost you, walk to the boats. Sender: Randal 26 April 2008 15:44:59
We are here! Sender: Me 26 April 2008 15:45:25
Oh Sender: Randal 26 April 2008 15:50:55
I thought he was kidding, but then I got a little worried! Randal had lost sight of us so had followed a different group of riders down the mountain ending up further along the lake shore than we were. No problem, we just all got into our banca and went to pick him up.
Faster, Faster! Somehow this turned into a friendly race and we wanted to win. So much for worrying about slow and cautious C.C.
I’m still learning to use paint. Within the red dots is a white dot. It is a water drop. As we were racing along, water was coming over the side of the banca. Randal kept getting it in the face and Carol was determined to capture the little water drop hanging from his ear. I was sitting in back of Randal with Carol. Every time we would hit a wave, water would come over the side and I felt like the guy on
“Laugh-In” who was always having water thrown at him. Laughing while water is thrown in your face is not wise, but impossible to stop.
Our next adventure was a trip to the Tagaytay Highlands.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Rowing a boat across the South China Sea!
Subic to Hebe Haven by Rowboat!
It's 3:17 a m here and I couldn't sleep. So I'm following the Red Sox game and decided it would be a good time to work on email. I still have to finish writing about our trip to Lake Taal and the Tagaytay Highlands. But I thought some of you might want to follow the adventures of a small 2 person row boat crossing the South China Sea from Subic Bay to Hebe Haven, Hong Kong. http://www.subic2hebechallenge.com/ is the official web site. It is kind of crazy, but so are the two airline pilots who are having this adventure. Randal remembers seeing their boat in Hebe Haven while we were there. The guys were very friendly and stopped to chat even as they were racing to get themselves ready to start off about 2 pm Saturday afternoon. We came from Hebe Haven to Subic in about 4 days averaging about 6 knots. It will take these guys 3 weeks to get back there. They said they would average about 4 knots, I think.
They can both row, but will take turns resting in their little sleeping compartment.
Rob and Cath singing a farewell song they had written.
Rowing away.
It's 3:17 a m here and I couldn't sleep. So I'm following the Red Sox game and decided it would be a good time to work on email. I still have to finish writing about our trip to Lake Taal and the Tagaytay Highlands. But I thought some of you might want to follow the adventures of a small 2 person row boat crossing the South China Sea from Subic Bay to Hebe Haven, Hong Kong. http://www.subic2hebechallenge.com/ is the official web site. It is kind of crazy, but so are the two airline pilots who are having this adventure. Randal remembers seeing their boat in Hebe Haven while we were there. The guys were very friendly and stopped to chat even as they were racing to get themselves ready to start off about 2 pm Saturday afternoon. We came from Hebe Haven to Subic in about 4 days averaging about 6 knots. It will take these guys 3 weeks to get back there. They said they would average about 4 knots, I think.
They can both row, but will take turns resting in their little sleeping compartment.
John Graham, a 747/400 Captain, and Stu Pryke, an Airbus Captain.
The green boat with the tan tarp covering its bow is DoraMac. Next to us on the yellow/green boat are Cath and Rob and Dave and Dorothy next to them in the blue boat.
Very lightweight oars. They told me that sometimes they sculled and sometimes they rowed. I think I understand.
Rob and Cath singing a farewell song they had written.
Almost ready to go.
Rowing away.
Proceeds from the "Asia Miles Subic 2 Hebe Challenge" are proudly forwarded to "The Sunnyside Club" and "Children's Cardiac Care" Hong Kong.
Ruth Johnson
DoraMac
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