24th April - drydock, Port Carmen (Cebu, Philippines) - the efficacy of hydrogen peroxide

Thursday 24th April 2015

There are reports of big crashing thunder storms near and far from here.  But here, in our peaceful anchorage off the drydock area, Port Carmen, Cebu Island…it is just HOT.  No sign of storms at all.  We would in fact quite welcome a nice big flashing crashing rainstorm…

Yesterday I didn’t leave the boat at all.  Pete went to and fro, to visit Alex at the boatyard, and to check on The Creation.

I spent most of my time beneath 2XS, scraping away, enveloped in great clouds of crapola and barnacles.  This time, I wore gloves – no more lacerated hands, than you!  It was all very satisfying but I noticed, when I did my peaceful 1k swim around the boat today, there is still much scraping to be done.  It is VERY hot so I am waiting until I can’t bear the heat any more, then I will appreciate the coolness under the hulls even more.

A boat nearby, peacefully awaiting resurrection

This morning we went into town (Danao) in search of provisions.  There is very little food on the boat.  Pete was very keen to buy some meat; me…not so much…

I was more interested in getting half a kilo of fresh prawns, and some lovely big eggs, and some vegetables - much more inviting!

Yet again there were people asleep everywhere.

But I noticed, on Facebook, that it is not only the local inhabitants of these tropical countries who sleep at the drop of a hat…  Here is our friend, Mick, from SV Zoa, snoozing away in his dinghy on the beach at BaTu Babi Besar (an island off the coast of Johor, Malaysia.)

With a bit of luck Alex will have finished his ambitious welding project tomorrow and we can move on down the coast of Cebu, heading SOUTH!

I have been lucky here, really, in that we are anchored out in the lagoon, where the water is clear and clean.  Most of the boats here are tied up near the drydock, in dismally murky water.  I have spoken to a few women who have been here for many months and…they are a bit miserable.  No possibility of swimming to get cool, nowhere very nice to go, really…They are stuck here while they are having essential work done on their boats.  And…this always takes longer than one thinks…

As for our tropical wounds:  Pete’s blood poisoning has vanished, thank God.  He took very strong antibiotics and they have worked a treat.  We are both dabbing hydrogen peroxide on our scrapes and cuts as well.  It hisses and fizzes in a very satisfying way and seems to be doing the trick.  We do NOT want to develop tropical ulcers, so we are being extra vigilant…

Ah... and back in Tasmania, it is glorious autumn!