Captain’s Log: Busuanga Bay and Coron

Jan 26-31

Hi All,

Sorry for the delay in posting this blog update. We are now in Illultuk Bay, in the northern part of Busuanga Island going to the Calcuit Safari park tomorrow. I was hoping to do a blog update while we were here but unfortunately there is no cell coverage….ugh!!!

Update Feb 3: We are now off Tubili PT off Mindoro Island…..long story, all weather related….will tell the story in the next blog!!

We did arrive in Busuanga Bay on Thursday Jan 25 as stated in the last blog. We met up with Brian and Donna on mv Furthur, a Selene 48. Brian was the Selene broker who sold us our boat back in 2002-2004 in Seattle WA. As we were first time boat owners we had a lot to learn and Brian was very patient throughout the years and taught us a great deal. He eventually sold enough Selene’s that he bought a 48 and set out to cruise the world. He crossed over the Pacific in 2011, 2 years ahead of us, did quite a bit of cruising in SE Asia before settling in the Philippines, his paradise!! He eventually married his Filipino girlfriend. They now cruise the northern Philippine islands 6 months and then live in Subic Bay the other 6 months!!

We had a really good time the 6 days we were able to spend with them. Busuanga Bay has 3 resorts surrounding the Bay and we had opening ceremonies at happy hour at the Resort AL Faro. They also have a crew member, Maggie, and she along with another cruiser friend, Gary, all joined us in a delightful night!!

Brian is an avid diver, is now a divemaster and loves wreck diving. This area has maybe 15-20 Japanese wrecks. The US Navy caught a Japanese supply fleet escaping Manila and hiding in these bays and sank most of them in Oct 1944. We did 2 dives with him on the Okikawa Maru….an oil tanker, almost 600′ long. Unfortunately, unlike the USS Coolidge and other wrecks we dove in Vanuatu, almost everything has been salvaged from these wrecks. But, nevertheless, Brian loves to go through all the various compartments and squeeze through doors or blown open holes. Kathy is definitely a critter/reef diver and did one dive with us. I did the 2nd dive, as we went to 85′ through the open prop/propeller shaft into the engine room then multiple oil storage compartments!!

Here is an article on the wrecks: http://scubatechphilippines.com/scuba_blog/the-shipwrecks-of-coron-wreck-diving-philippines/

We did do a 17nm passage to Coron Island where we anchored in this tiny cove…..had to stern tie for first time in our 14 years…..had to dig out the 150′ line….yikes. What a lovely cove…..entirely enclosed with limestone walls going up 3-400′ plus….these rock formations reminded us of the limestone rock formations in Thailand….really, quite impressive. We went to our first saltwater hot spring….ODG….did that feel good or what….my back had been really hurting with all the ER time and this really helped it out!!! !We also swam in beautiful Lake Barracuda….like a crater in the interior of this limestone rock formation. The water was 85* and Brian said they often dive this spot to experience the 105*F water 30′ below…..

We visited the town of Coron which is actually acoss the channel on Busuanga Island, about a 2 mile dinghy ride. A typical bustling 3rd world town….lots of trikes….a great open market where we got lots of fresh veggies et al! But, a unique experience….the whole town was out of beer, even the restaurants….say what…yep, been out since December….we never found out why but obviously some major issue with the San Miguel distributor/brewery….hmmm!! Brian solved this problem as he has a friend who flies on Air Juan, the local seaplane that flies in the tourists for the 3 resorts….David the pilot brought 2 cases of beer…one for us and one for Donna….and also, brought a box of Hatton Marine parts (in Seattle)for Brian….he needed some parts for his Northern Lights GEN….he loves Hatton just like we do!!!

We had closing ceremonies at the Busuanga Bay resort….a white tablecloth restaurant with excellent food….I had the seafood bouillabaisse and Kathy tiger prawns….all with an Italian Sangiovese….yummers!!

Boat Stuff: changed Gen oil, dove bottom of boat to check on stabbies….nothing obvious but we did have barnacles on top of fin near shaft….just as in Panama

Cleaned ESI racor filter housing…it was full of that brown stringy algae crap….would not come out of bowl…probably got another 8 ounces of crap…total now 16 ounces of algae….all dead….good news, ran ESI the last 5 days and all clean….but vacuum went from 5 to 10″ then back to 9″….not sure why….ugh!!!

Cummins start: about 50% of the time the solenoid engages….the other 50% I jump into the ER and do it manually…..my back has been too sore to do another round of hot yoga so living with the nuisance for now!!

I’ve probably done about ~40 emails trying to coordinate with the marina, boatyard, the New Zealand mechanic, Wesmar, local shipping agent et al but it is slowly coming together. We have a haul date on Feb 14th and we hope to repair the fins in a few days, splash, then do quite a bit of engine maintenance to get ready for our next 7000nm!!

Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon

PS: Internet has been awful so pictures will have to wait!!