Wednesday 29th April 2015
9 degrees 45.512N
125 degrees 35.785E
Lamagon Island
15m depth
Another very
cruise-y day, going WITH the current, with a
calm flat sea and not much wind at all.
We reached our destination – a small group of islands, just north of
Mindanao, reputed to be very lovely and worth a day or two.
It absolutely
pelted with rain for the last few hours, which we always like – for one thing,
it cleans the decks. And also it cools
us down and fills our water buckets. So
it is a bit overcast but…very lovely indeed!
There is a little
coral reef here, right along the little white beach. But – alas and alack – I am not going in to
explore. My feet are healing very
swiftly, with the strong drugs I am taking most religiously. But they are still just a bit…ghastly…so I
will leave them to heal up just a bit more before I go back into the sea.
As for Oslob…that
was on our list of Must See Places, because it is possible all year round to
swim with whale sharks. But…Pete talked
to an Australian man in the bear at the Cebu Yacht Club, and he was very
disapproving of the Oslob Experience.
The reason the whale sharks are there all year round, and not doing
their round-the-world migration, is because the tour operators feed them. This a bad thing on many levels… I still
think that, had we gone to Oslo, we would have very happily frolicked with the
tame (captive…) sharks. But I would
prefer a more authentic experience, and will be quite happy actually just
looking at other people’s photos as an alternative.
Thursday 30th April 2015
9 degrees 42.120N
125 degrees 38.258E
Masapelid Island
16m depth
It poured with
rain all night, with the odd burst of thunder and lightning. I think the South East monsoon has finally
come upon us. The rain is very welcome;
the heavy humidity when it is NOT raining…not so much…
The water at our
anchorage was so very clear we found ourselves gazing longingly into the
depths, where we could see…coral, fish, beauty… Pete hasn’t been in the water
for many months, because of the operation on his hand, so he was very
happy. And I bandaged up my feet, put on
protective socks, and I too was very happy.
It was a lovely reef, along the beach, with large expanses of beautiful
coral, and many (small) fish, including a most enchanting one, black with white
decorations, and wavy fins, which neither of us had ever seen before.
At about 2pm we
decided to move a bit towards our southern destination. It is a beautiful part of the Philippines,
with many lush green islands, and not much
population. We cruised happily down the
channels between islands. I, very
fortunately, went up to the bow to look for a rock we could see on the charts. So I was able to avert what could have been a
disaster – low slung power lines across the channel, from one island hilltop to
another…Pete went as close as possible to shore, where the lines were higher,
and I …held my breath… I don’t think there was much to spare, between the top
of the mast and the lines…maybe six inches…
We came into our
next anchorage very cautiously, looking out for rocks, reef…and – yes! Another
set of power lines, even lower…We are REALLY going to deserve our G & Ts
tonight!!
Goodness, lucky! Would you have been electrocuted?!?!?
ReplyDelete