March 11-14
Hi All,
We are now in Santiago Cove Luzon after a 71nm run from 100 Islands yesterday, Tuesday March 13. We had a pretty good run….left at 0700….started with 15-20kts SE…supposed to be 10-15….oh well, at least it was behind us….so we had a 1-2′ chop behind and a 2-3′ swell coming from the north….Mystic handle both well although we didn’t do much moving around. Anchor down and passage beers opened by 4:45pm!!!
It’s a cute little cove surrounded by several resorts and a small town. There is also a zip line across the back of the cove which one might hit if not aware. We had been warned about the zip line so we saw it right away….then we needed to decide if we could go under it to go all the way back into the cove for more protection…..but as we slowly approached we saw swimming buoys under it so ok…all stop, we will anchor in front!!!
And…..I think we have finally broken the heat spell….this am it was 74*F outside and 78*F in the cabin….Kathy actually said she was a little chilled, no need to run the Air-Con anymore at night….oh, what a relief:)))) I looked at the sea surface temps and in Okinawa the temps are 72*F versus 82*F here…..much more civilized!!!!
We did several chores today to get ready to leave tomorrow….I changed oil in the Cummins, dove the bottom of boat to inspect everything….82*F water temp…ah, felt great….bottom was in good shape but the main and Yanmar props already had many barnacles….WTH…it’s only been about a month since we splashed….I think that tells one just how hot the water has been….87-89*F…..lot’s of stuff grows fast in those temps. Hopefully as we go further north as the sea temp cools the critters will not grow as fast or as numerous!!
THE PLAN…..drum roll please….we are set and ready to go tomorrow, Thursday March 15 to Yonabaru Okinawa Japan…..yea!!!! We will leave at 0630, travel ~80nm in trawler conditions to the top of Luzon Philippines late afternoon where we will enter the Luzon Strait….we should have a 0.5-2 kt favorable curent and 3-5′ East waves so on the beam. We will continue to travel NNE until Friday at noon when we will turn 45* right and cross the Kuroshio current….we should have calming winds from the E-SE in the 5-15kt range, a west setting flood….yes, we will go against the tide so to have wind & current going the same direction…..the current looks to be ~2 kts when we cross…..we should be completely across by late Friday afternoon!!! From there we will continue NE hopefully on the rhumb line although we might have to tack as we will have 10-20kt headwinds and 4-7′ headseas from Friday night until Sunday sometime….24-36 hours….we will slow down to ~6 kts and ride it out. Sometime on Sunday, hopefully, the winds will clock to East then South and calm to 5-10 kts and we hope to be able to speed back up. ETD is late morning on Monday the 19th.
This whole run is based on crossing the Kuroshio current in good conditions. It’s too bad for the middle part of headwinds and seas….the weather had all been East winds and seas until a few days ago and a LO popped up spoiling the good weather….arghhhhhhh!!!! Our good friends on sv Spruce arrived in Naha Okinawa last Monday….they said it was one of the roughest ocean passages they have had…..they had to go through the same front/LO that pinned us down in the 100 Islands for 6 days….they are sooooo glad that passage is behind them …..gulp….we are both a bit anxious and will also be sooooo glad to get ‘r done!!!
Hope all is well!!
John
Mystic Moon
Santiago Cove Philippines
Leaving 100 Islands
We anchored under the statue of Jesus
Santiago Cove and the zip line
What…is this Santorini…looks very Greek!!
Sunset
Tourist on the Zip line
Made it safely!!
—
You didn’t try the zipline?? 😉 wishing you both continued safe passages! Japan is going to be so cool!!