sailing2xs: 3rd January - Linapacan Island - Culion leper colony - 4th January

Tuesday 3^rd February 2015

Linapacan Island

11 degrees 27.396N

119 degrees 46.888E

12.8m depth

Through two reefs, in big sheltered bay

Yes – we have moved again!

We are on the road at last, on our way to El Nido, before returning to Coron (Busuanga.)

Linapacan sunset

It was a beautiful trip, 8am-4pm, with a gentle rolling swell and beautiful bright sunshine which cruelly reflected off the water and burnt Pete’s arms while he wasn’t paying attention. Tomorrow we will leave early and see where we end up at the top end of Palawan, at El Nido – it is supposed to be very beautiful.

Along the way

On the way between the islands we had to negotiate pearl farm buoys. They were quite visible in the bright sunlight but it made us realise we could never negotiate these waters at night time – so many things could possibly go wrong!

The headsail is back up. We lugged it out of the forward hatch and unfolded it from its beautiful feathered formation, and now it is doing its job again.

Way out at sea there were lots of little boats, full of cheery fishermen, bobbing away on the swell.

Yesterday, our second day in Culion Town was very pleasant.

Pete was very good for the economy.

He bought a big solar panel, a roll of insulated wire to connect it, some lengths of aluminium, and four big bottles of water for the thirsty 2XS tanks.

Apart from that, we had a cup of tea at the Hotel Maya, where I very gratefully used their WiFi – for some confounded reason my modem didn’t work in Culion Town, although we were moored under a great big tower.

Some young schoolboys leaned out of the window at school, where they were having lunch. They chatted a bit, and as we left, called put, WE LOVE YOU!!! I was a bit behind Pete as we went down the church steps, and I was waylaid by another group of students. They practised their English (very keenly, but in a fairly limited way,” and then, as I prepared to leave them, one of them said, “Are you going to camera people who you like?” Well yes of course I was! And could they please pose prettily on the steps so I could “camera” them? (SO cute!)

We heard a distant rumble as we walked down the narrow little main street and stepped smartly out of the way of an ancient truck, making its majestic way through the town.

I sat in various positions while Pete negotiated his purchases. I have noticed how many social services the municipality tries to provide for its citizens. But…this Senior Citizens Club was not very inviting, nor did there seem to be many takers.

At 1pm we spent a – well not a happy, but an interesting – time in the hospital museum. There are still lepers living in Culion – we met some of them yesterday. The museum guard told us that there at least ten, undergoing daily treatments, and unable to go home although they are cured. They don’t have any family, he said, sadly. But they have a happy life here, in this little town which was once the biggest leper colony in the world, and where they developed a cure.

It is an amazing story. Many thousands of lepers were sent to Culion, and many thousands died. There was much heartbreak and much suffering, but also great stories of courage and joy. There was, for example, a flourishing theatre, a large band, a big boy scout troop.

I would like to know – this was not discussed – how the original inhabitants of this peaceful little town felt when their houses were bought and turned into a leprosarium. The top half of the town was quarantines and suddenly they were very much divided. Did they welcome the newcomers with pleasure, or with fear and dread??

Another extraordinary thing – the Japanese invaded and created mayhem and misery. Most of the programs were closed down, many lepers “escaped,” possibly to spread infection elsewhere. Hard to understand how the masters of war, no matter how imperially minded, would have thought it was a great idea to invade a leper colony…

My favourite story involved the dedicated doctors who powered away to find a cure, and who treated the lepers with kindness and respect. Dr Herbert Windsor Wade is worthy of note.

He graduated as a doctor, married a bright young debutante (18 years old…) called Dorothy Paul, and made his way to Culion, where he absolutely dedicated his life to fighting this ghastly disease. He stayed there after he retired and still worked daily in his laboratory, although he had to be carried up the steps to his workplace. He died well into his eighties, and was outlived by Dorothy. Did she stay on the island? What sort of life did she have?? Would this make a good movie or would it be just too ghastly and depressing…

Wednesday 4^th February 2015

El Nido

11 degrees 11.234N

119 degrees 23.334E

3m depth – sand

We have just arrived at an area of extreme beauty.