Wednesday 28 October 2015

29th October - Tasmanian Days - nothing conclusive re the hostages taken form Samal Island on 21st September

Thursday 29th October 2015

And in the meantime, locally in Tasmania…

I have watched beautiful Rose, aged three and a half, ingesting enormous amounts of raw kale, while wearing a glorious fairy dress.  She loves raw kale…this seems very weird, if extremely healthy to me.



I have had a pleasant afternoon at Grandparents Day at Blackmans Bay Primary School, making a mandala with Felix.  I very niftily chose the best and most soothing activity; some of the other grandparents had to bend over double trying to play mini-croquet…



The South Hobart girls have been very industriously making paper dolls.


Grace Darcey has won the coach's award for her netball league.


Leo has won almost more ribbons than I could count in his school swimming carnival.


Angus has won the Year Seven prize for prose and poetry recital for a spirited recital of The Places You’ll Go (Dr Seuss.)  I had watched, most impartially, of course, from my front row seat and I did think he was THE BEST.  I didn’t really expect the adjudicator to agree with me…I am not at all impartial!  But…she did!!


We have caught up with many friends and relations.


And we have been to a heart-wrenching funeral…


Life is good.  But I could do without these untimely deaths…

I have found a little bit more on Google about the hostages.  Nothing very helpful or conclusive, sad to say.

Militants holding two Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipina as hostages in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao are believed to be led by a college-educated, social media-savvy fellow fanatic keen on transforming the Abu Sayyaf extremist group from a band of criminals into a bona fide Islamist movement.

A video showing the hostages begging for their lives, as masked men stood behind them displaying a black Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) flag, confirms that the Abu Sayyaf's "Tanum sub-group" is responsible, according to international security analyst Rommel Banlaoi.

The group is named after a village in Patikul town, in Sulu province - 1,400km south of the capital Manila - where it draws most of its fighters. It is led by Hatib Sawadjaan, whom the military believes commands at least 300 men.

The Tanum group's chief planner is Sawadjaan's right-hand man, Muamar Askali, reportedly an apprentice of Bali bomber Umar Patek.

Another analyst, who declined to be named because he still consults for the military, said while Abu Sayyaf chieftain Isnilon Hapilon would rather stay in his safe havens in Sulu and nearby Tawi Tawi island, Askali is keen on expanding the Abu Sayyaf's reach and elevating the group's profile into a legitimate ISIS affiliate.

The four hostages - Canadians Robert Hall, 50, and John Ridsdel, 68; Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, 56; and Filipina Maritess Flor, 40 - were taken on September 21 from a resort on Samal Island, off Davao city.

Security officials initially doubted the Abu Sayyaf's involvement because Samal is over 800km away from Sulu, far from their usual hunting grounds around Malaysia's Sabah state and the Zamboanga peninsula in Mindanao.

A task force created to go after the hostage takers had suggested communist rebels might have been behind the abduction.

In the video, which the military conceded could be authentic, a masked man demanded in fluent English that the military stop its operation to rescue the four hostages.

The man is said to be Askali. He has been described as a "rising star" and a "true believer" among Filipino extremists. A one-time criminology student, he is supposedly valued within the Abu Sayyaf for his family ties with several policemen.

Askali reportedly planned the abduction of two German nationals off Sabah in April last year. They were released six months later after the German government paid 250 million pesos (S$7.5 million).


But for defence analyst Jose Antonio Custodio, suggestions that the Abu Sayyaf is evolving ideologically is rubbish. "They're using the ISIS flag not because they really believe in it. They're actually trying to get more support from abroad. They're just after money… They're still basically merchants," he said.

Tuesday 27 October 2015

28th October - catching up on sailing news

Wednesday 28th October 2015

Life in Tasmania is very busy and very land-based.

But I still keep in touch with sailing friends – Facebook and blogs, so good.

Many adventures and misadventures…

Stefan and Wendy, in King & Queen mode
Stefan, on SV Juliana, fell heavily on his shoulder inside the boat and has a broken left clavicle so his arm in a sling.  He has to rest it for at least six weeks. The have sailed from Indonesia to Gove and are making their way back down the east cost of Australia.  They have had to call for volunteers to come and crew.  Fortunately their autopilot is now working – they had to cross the sea with a makeshift arrangement, which must have made things just a bit more difficult than necessary.

Our friend Sue has just had her first stay in a 3*** hotel.  Andrew is VERY proud of her for being able to survive…she usually is only a 5***** girl!


Phil and Cheryl have had a fabulous time in Raja Ampat and are now on their way back to Australia:


They loved Pulau Wayag, which they likened to a Jurassic Park set.  

Our second anchorage was next to a white sandy beach in a snug hideaway.  Here Phil got ill eating candle nuts and vomited his bottom denture overboard. Next morning with the help of the mighty Garmin chartplotter which registered "manoverboard" and our track, Howard threw 2 large Bintang bottles overboard to indicate the possible "teethoverboard" spot. Miraculously Howard free dived 10 metres and found Phil's teeth!

Phil and Cheryl
They also loved my favourite anchorage off Pulau Friwin.  Simon found them and took them off in his dugout outrigger canoe in the early morning, to trek up the mountain to see the fabled red bird of paradise.  They enjoyed this experience immensely but…not a single bird appeared.  We were SO lucky to see two!

One bird of paradise
They went to Pulau Birie, and the Raja4divers resort on Pulau Pef. 


And then to Doom, where we spent many days…

Next, we anchored off Pulau Doom, Sorong and were helped immensely by John and Janus from the island. And then......things took a downward spiral.
We were charged $100 each to extend our visas quickly.
Sadly Howard got sick and has been diagnosed with dengue fever since returning to Townsville.
$200 of our precious tied down fuel, containers and covers were stolen off the boat while we slept!  This is our only theft in the 2½  years we have been cruising but it was a horrible experience.

Other than that…they had the best time!

Monday 26 October 2015

27th October 2017 - hostages in the Philippines - Melbourne days

Tuesday 27th October 2015

There has been no news to be found on the internet since mid October re the hostages.  Last I have been able to discover, the Philippines government is refusing to negotiate with the militants, who are demanding that the military cease operations against them.  That is NOT going to happen…

We don't forget Jphn Rob Kjartan Tess
In the meantime life goes on happily enough for the rest of us, although I think we all spend a lot of time worrying about the captives.


I spent a gloriously happy weekend with my three daughters in Melbourne, to celebrate Claire’s 40th birthday.  We didn’t go to a gallery or a show – no time!  Instead we wandered around the streets of beautiful Melbourne, eating, drinking, having cups of coffee, and laughing a lot.

Marguerite and Claire
We stayed in a very comfortable luxurious apartment in South Bank, and continued laughing and chatting at bedtime in new Peter Alexander pyjamas (from the nearby very convenient DFO…)

Claire Katy Nicky
I do love my Australian life.

Claire Marguerite Nicky Katy (Hosiers Lane, Melb)

2XS is having a makeover, at Ocean View, and we are looking forward to seeing photos of the progress.  And yes I do miss this lovely boat, just a bit…

Tuesday 20 October 2015

21st October - best sailing dogs

Wednesday 21st October 2015

Many people have dogs and cats on board their boats.  It must be very nice to have a furry companion or two.  NOT nice enough to make me want one… Too much to worry about!  What if they fall overboard?  What if you want to leave the boat in a carefree way and jaunt off on land?  What if you want to come back to Australia and have to go through fearsomely lengthy expensive quarantine ordeals!



Jacqui and Luc, on SV Sloepmouche, have THE BEST little dogs, Zonta and … another name beginning with Z which means CRAZY.  They are schipperkes, Belgian barge dogs, bred for boat life.  They can swim, they can bark like crazy when strangers approach the boat, and they can be strained very swiftly to pee and poo on their own little strip of fake turf, easily washed off into the forgiving sea.  These two are only four months old, and they are going to be allowed to breed.  I think Luc and Jacqui will have no trouble at all selling cute little boat-ready pups in the sailing world.

This is what they will look like fully grown