Clearing Out

I put in a request with the powers that be (Amanda) for a couple of young girls from Sweden as possible crew. Somehow the message got a little mixed up and we collected our new crew Robin and Pontus from Sweden for the trip to the Philippines.
Our first stop was to be Balambangan where caves were rumored to be. After being pointed in the right direction by local fisherman and without finding anything we asked if they could guide us which they were happy to do the following morning.

Turns out although we had been close by yesterday we would never had found our way up through the mud, mangroves and jungle to the entrance without help.

After our caving experience a little bay further north was our next stop where we found some sea gypsy’s anchored. The kids were very happy with the balloons we keep on board for gifts.

A nice lighthouse built by the Spanish was our next destination however the wind and rain kept us away and it was so rolly we had to move around the corner where we convinced Robin to climb a coconut tree for us.

By this stage Andy on the Star Ship Shar had turned up so along with Rubicon Star we all headed for Balabac town. It’s now official, Pontus caught the first fish of the trip. Unfortunately for us it was a Barracuda which isn’t the greatest eating fish but the fisherman rowing around close by with his lure out was over the moon when we dropped it into his boat causing it to sit noticeably lower in the water.

In Balabac town our first Philippine town we stocked up on Tanduay Rum at $2 a bottle and the local beer “Red horse” which has a bit of a kick at 6.9%. Next on the shopping list was a new sim card for our phones and finally some fruit and veges.

After moving to a little bay north we were awaken by gunfire early the following morning. Once the shooting had stopped I came out and was looking for any signs of bullet holes when I spotted a hole near the top of the mast. Amanda got on the radio to Rubicon Star who had already sailed north to tell them about our possible injury. I climbed the mast to find it was a rivet hole but everywhere we go now other Yachts ask us if we heard Rubicon Star got shot on Balabac? The cruising grapevine is in full force!
The Police came and arrested 2 locals while we swiftly headed to Candaraman Island where the locals gave us coconuts. Amanda has discovered this goes well with the local Tanduay Rum and we now have a daily coconut quota to fill.

Before heading north towards Palawan we made the most of the local reef drift snorkelling on the outer edge.