Wednesday 13th May 2015
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| Storm clouds over Davao - not so fearsome... |
Yet more cyclones lashing
the Philippines. I can’t imagine how
ghastly it must be for those poor people in the path of fearsome storms, in
their flimsy houses…
Mindanao is in the
Doldrums (between 10 degrees N and 10 degrees S) so cyclones aren’t an
issue. We will be OK, as we head south,
and east, but we are so very sad for the people and animals not so sheltered
from the devastation.
We intend to leave
on Friday but…watch this space! So far
we have intended to leave on quite a few other days, and…here we still are, in Ocean
View Marina!
Yesterday we went
to town, by van, ferry, taxi. We
travelled with Dean
on his way home to
Northern NSW for a month, Lorna
and her husband
James (SV Mind the Gap - a good name for a catamaran!) There was a bit
of a wait for the ferry so we had time to chat.
Dean looked at Lorna and me with interest and asked us how we liked this
cruising life. We looked at him stonily. “I’m over it!” said Lorna. “Ten years is enough!” And I said, “Well…I love it BUT I miss my
family and friends.” Dale laughed a bit
sadly and said, “Grandchildren??” We had
a long discussion about family ties, and the difference between men and women. For Lorna, being at home in Shropshire, with
her beloved house and garden and family around her, would be enough. But…James thinks he would be bored to sobs…
This is a very familiar story. There
always has to be a compromise.
I told them how
amazed we are to have met so very many men sailing on their own. (Not always willingly…some of them would love
to have a companion, but it is hard to
find a woman who actually doesn’t have family ties and domestic land-based
needs.) We have yet to meet a lone woman
sailor. That is not strictly true. When we were still in Hobart we met the
renowned sailor Jeanne Socrates (USA) Who was tehn attempting a triple
round-the-world trip with no stops, to break a record. Amazing!
But…Jeanne is exceptional! And we
certainly haven’t met any lone women sailors in South East Asia.
Lorna had the best
story! She said that she and James had met a man,
sailing on his own, and, separately, a woman they thought was crew on another
boat. One day she saw them both walking
a dog around the marina. She asked whose
dog it was and they said, “Ours.”
But…how could there be an “our dog,” on different boats? No problem…they are married and have shared
custody of the dog. And they sail
happily together…each on their own boat… They get on very well but can’t
actually sail in the same vessel!! I
don’t actually think either of these people REALLY count as a “lone sailor!”
Our trip to town
was entirely for leisure purposes. We
had decided to go to the cinema – a huge and unusual treat! There is an Imax screen in the SM Mall, and
this was our mecca. We wanted to see
whatever was on, on a big screen, in 3D.
And whatever was on happened to be The
Avengers (sequel). LOTS of special
effects, banging, crashing, destruction, NOISE!
Not actually my very favourite genre but… entertaining! Very good actors chose to be in this movie -
Scarlett Johansen, Robert Downey Junior, Mark Ruffalo, Samuel Jackson. It seemed to go on forever but…eventually the
whole incomprehensible plot calmed down and with a mighty CRASH BANG WALLOP it
was over and we were free to buy a few things from the supermarket and walk down
to the Swiss Deli for lunch.
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| When we returned to 2XS, I found a copy of – the first Avengers movie, left here for us by Toby and Rosie. It will NOT be the same on a small screen, without 3D! |
The ferry trip
back to Samal Island was very entertaining.
There was a group of giggling girlies taking endless selfies, shrieking
as they did so. I decided we would take
a selfie too.
SO
successful…except for my rogue finger!!
A young bloke sitting
in front of the girls got involved in the fun and he soon had them totally
hysterical. I decided to take a photo of
the whole group and they were absolutely delighted. THANK
you, ma’am! they shouted, as they disembarked, thrilled to be immortalised
on my iPhone.
Today Pete has gone
back into Davao to queue up at Immigration, Customs, harbour master and
possibly the Indonesian consulate so that we can check out of the Philippines. I have stayed here, to scrub the main cabin
carpet and hang it to dry on the nets. Satisfying!
Other than that, I
have spent another satisfying few hours in the clubrooms, under a nice big fan,
with David and Suzi (SV Sidewinder, USA.)
They were in Raja Ampat last year and they were a mine of
information. I transferred as much
knowledge as possible onto my Navionics chart and into my brain and now I am…exhausted!
I tried my new-found
selfie skill so that I could send a photo to Jacqui and Dave (SV Jackster, who
are great friends of Sidewinder, and who spent a few months with them in Raja
Ampat.) I don’t think it is my greatest
skill thus far…
Your selfies are good! ;) I think Kim Kardashian has a YouTube thing about taking the perfect selfie...or maybe that was in New Idea...in any case...you don't need them x
ReplyDeleteIf you looked a little less terrified of the camera they'd be even better!
ReplyDelete