6th April - 2XS out of the water!

Wednesday 6^th April 2016

It’s all GO on Samal Island!

Dave and Sherry(USA) have sold Soggy Paws, their beloved ocean-going yacht, to Mel and Rick (Australia).  There is a new Soggy Paws – Dave and Sherry have bought a catamaran, and have kept their name.  Both boats will be leaving together on the Raja Ampat rally.  The rest of us will be mildly confused, but we will cope!

The new blue cushions are beautiful.  They look nice; they are comfortable; they are the right size.  (Thank GOD for that - I am the one who measured the space…)  No photo yet; they are tucked away in the cabin while work goes ahead on the boat.

I found a photo on someone else’s Facebook page of a group of us farewelling Sidewinder (USA).  My new Globe SIM card is working a treat so now I have internet connection, sometimes even on 2XS.  This makes me much happier!  Instant connection, and the possibility of seeing a photo of myself with my favourite colourful umbrella…

Most of the day yesterday was spent in a shady position under some fans under the clubrooms while the washing machines s-l-o-w-l-y trickled their way through two loads of washing.  Not a bad way to spend the hours, all things considered.

When I was in Melbourne with my girls last year we noticed, with delight, the number of men, leaning against walls, slumped on benches, all of them gazing into the middle distance or even gently snoozing.  These are the Men Who Wait.  Not sure why their women want to take them shopping…Or why they don’t find a nice bar for them, with beer, and maybe donuts!  Monday in SM Mall I found a whole bench full of men who were slowly losing the will to live…it is a world-wide phenomenon!

I forgot to say that a week or so ago a whole corner of the centre of our closest little town, Babak, burnt down!  About a dozen little shops and stalls, reduced to charred rubble.  Nobody was hurt, but it is all a bit hard – no insurance…

Late in the afternoon 2XS came out of the water.  At last!  It is now time for cleaning, anti-fouling, painting, scraping.

We have abandoned ship and are staying back at Camp Holiday, this time in a dear little blue cottage.  It is like an oven in there except when the aircon is on; it is then a bit more like a fridge…NOT complaining about this!!

5th April 2016 - politics in Davao City - Mayor Duterte - rally briefing

Tuesday 5^th April 2016

I don’t usually write anything at all about the politics of the countries we travel through on 2XS.  It never seems like a very good idea… But here on Samal Island, just off the coast of Mindanao, we are very much aware of the upcoming elections, and off the local mayor, who is standing for presidency of the Philippines.  I am not making any comment; just copying some interesting bits off Wikipedia…

From Wikipedia

Below - from Wikipedia, re Rody Duterte (born 1945…he looks MUCH more youthful than 71 in his ubiquitous campaign posters…)

Our Samal Island ferries are festooned with Duterte posters

Enormously popular with the people due to his successful zero-tolerance policies against criminals, he earned the nickname "The Punisher".  Over a period of 20 years, he turned Davao City from the murder capital of The Philippines to what tourism organisations now describe as “the most peaceful city in southeast Asia.

On November 21, 2015, Duterte declared his candidacy for President of the Philippines in the upcoming 2016 election after a period of banter.

Davao is DuterteWorld.  So is Samal Island, which is not actually under his jurisdiction.  He appears to be enormously popular…When the hostages were taken from Ocean View on 21^st September, he offered himself in exchange and, strangely, the pirates didn’t take him up on the offer.  He is very much feared!  Davao was, apparently, a fairly lawless city but now you can’t even smoke in the street.

In early September 2015, an infamous incident was reported of a tourist being forced to swallow his own cigarette butt in a local bar in Davao City after the tourist arrogantly refused to comply with the public anti-smoking ordinance of the city.

Unlike many politicians, Duterte is forthright and plain speaking. In 2009 he said: "If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination."

Duterte is known for being an avid fan of big bikes but detests luxury cars. He once owned a second-hand Harley Davidson and currently a Yamaha Virago. He was once a habitual smoker but he eventually quit after a doctor's suggestion due to health concerns. Duterte is also openly supportive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights and is an avid reader of Robert Ludlum and Sydney Sheldon novels.

Re family: His ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman (German-American) says "Yes, he [Rodrigo] is really a very good leader. That is all he is. But when it comes to family, he is not capable of taking care of it."  Currently he lives with his girlfriend, Honeylet.  (Comment from me – cutest name EVER!!!  We need another baby girl in the family, to be called Honeylet!)

Re religion - "If I obey the Ten Commandments or listen to priests, I would not be able to do anything as a mayor."

Last night we had a briefing re the rally leaving Samal Island for Raja Ampat in a few weeks.  Very interesting; there will be LOTS of security, for only a handful of boats.  A small naval boat was in the marina, with smiling young men polishing their guns…We still haven’t made our decision…

4th April - Samal Island

Monday 4^th April 2016

Riding the jeepney into the city

Another Davao Day.  Last week we did some investigations and finally found a big furniture shop where they make mattresses and cushions.  Pete tested the density of various foam qualities

and we ordered, with some hesitation, four new cushions for the outside area of 2XS, in a soothing shade of blue.  Our sales assistant, Ann, assured us they would be ready in 3-5days (the other shop we went to said 3-5 WEEKS!) and indeed she rang on Saturday to say we could come and get them.  No doubt there will be photos of Pete fast asleep upon one or two of them in days to come…

Pete snoozing inside; soon he will be able to snooze outside as well

Yesterday we had a Samal Island excursion in the big red ute, with two other Australians, a Norwegian, an American and two Philippines.  We went to two places.  The first, in Kaputian, was right on the water and all very pretty but…they eventually revealed that they didn’t actually have any food, although we had arrived all ready to have lunch.  

Typical Kaputian house

No explanation, just big smiles and No food today.  So off to a second restaurant in Penaplata where they had more than enough food, all very delicious.  (I ate Bicol Express again; am developed a great fondness for okra…)

Eric (owner of the red ute) with Krissy

On Friday I had a haircut, on the lawn outside the clubhouse.  Poipoi the gardener watered my head with his sprinkler and I sat happily on a plastic chair in the shade while Liz gently followed my instructions not to cut too much off.  So nice sitting outside with a delicate breeze wafting and no confronting mirror…

Liz and I talked a lot about misadventures at sea.  Some people are more accident-prone than others…She had friends  from Queensland who set off optimistically towards Vanuatu a few years ago.  The man got the drogue rope caught around his leg and was very badly injured – nearly lost his leg; these rogue drogue ropes are lethal… The wind and the sea were creating tumultuous conditions on board so they abandoned ship and clambered onto a large container ship which was, lucky for them, close by.  Their boat was later found, drifting happily in the Louisiades and being stripped of every single moveable part…They didn’t give up their sailing dream; they re-grouped, bought another boat, and set off again…

Krissy and Abet

One of the boats which set off the other day from Ocean View didn’t get very far.  The crank shaft broke and the engine is very badly damaged.  This all happened, most fortuitously, near a big shipyard at General Santos so they can haul out and try to fix thing.  NOT fun…they thought that by now they would be happily making a nature documentary off the coast of Borneo.

Chris and Liz