Captain’s Log: Puerto Princesa to Busuanga Bay

Jan 20-25

Hi All,

We did leave Puerto Princesa on Tues, Jan 23…..we were supposed to leave on Monday but got delayed….more on that later….ugh!!! The first day we went 55nm to Flat Island….7.5 hours, avg 6.6kt SOG, had a 1-2kt adverse current, the 2nd day 60.6nm to Caspian Island through the Dumaran Pass…..8 hrs, 7.1 kt SOG, had a 0.5-1.0 adverse current. The 3rd day we did 74nm to Busuanga Bay, 7.5 kt SOG, had a favorable current most of the way and very trawler like conditions. This is where we rendezvoused with Brian and Donna on mv Furthur, a Selene 48. In all we did 190nm. We had very changing conditions but almost always on the nose or off the starboard beam….50% of the time trawler like conditions, 5-10 kts wind, seas 1-2’….the other 50% of the time we had 10-15 kt winds with 2-4′ seas and on Wed 4-6′ seas….the last 3 hours were not so pleasant…ugh!!!

Flat Island: It should have been called Bat Island….at 6pm the fruit bats, aka wild foxes took off for the mainland 3 nm away…as in maybe 50-100k bats….maybe more…we tried to count:))) The show lasted 20 minutes….it was amazing!!!

Dumaran Pass: We had been warned to watch out for the gazillion pearl oyster farms….ODG…maybe several gazillions….whoa. We had read where some friendly fisherman MIGHT come out and guide you through the maze but not today….it took us an hour, maybe 4-5 nm long…..you weave through one set, pause, figure out the next path, pause, repeat….wow….

Caspian Island: A very lovely anchorage, surrounded by 3-4 villages, somewhat protected although had a slight wrap around swell that just gently rocked Mystic. At about 5:30pm school let out and all the children left in various boats to the various islands…Kathy went out and waved to them all and was greeted with shouts of “….we love you Mommy”….what a wonderful way for the children to show their respect:))))

Busuanga Bay on Busuanga Island: Wow….the pearl farms are back…yikes….donged another gazillion…..we did Google and the South Sea pearls from Palawan are supposedly world famous!!! We did go back into the open ocean….at one point we had the Sulu Sea on our starboard and the South China Sea on port….the North swell won out….2-3′ but long period…like a very big roller type swell that Mystic just gently went up and over….sweet as!!

Weather: I forgot to include in the previous log that as we have headed north the less rainy it has become….yea, we think!!! In Kota Kinabalu it rained about 80% of the time….we did have periods of sun but it rained almost every day….sometimes all day. It was pretty hot and humid with heat index >100 every day. As we moved north to Puerto Princesa it continued to stay dark and cloudy….very gray looking. It was cloudy almost the entire two day passage except it cleared the 2nd night….ODG…the stars were in their glory….no light pollution….my old friends were back….Southern Cross pointing the way south…where we have been, the Big and Little Dipper pointing the way north, where we are going, Orion directly overhead and the Milky Way bright as ever over the sky up above…it was magical!!!!

The sea has also cooled…..where it was 85-90*F last season so far this season it has been in the low 80’s….oh, what a difference in our lower level….maybe 3-8*F cooler!!!. The humidity has also dropped….from the 90’s to now 70-85%…..much more tolerant!!! But, for whatever reason as we approached Busuanga Island the temps climbed back up to 83-85*F….we have been very hot here!!!!

Busuanga Bay Island is @ 12*N latitude….KK was around 6*N…..so we have come 300nm north so far. Our furthest point North this season will be Prince William Sound at around 62*N…..so we have about 3000nm to go further north this season…yikes!!!

Boat Stuff: Well…in comes in 3’s….I’ll try to count….First it was the seawater leak on the port stabilizer….still leaking and getting worse, although have not seen the bilge light come on yet. I have been in email contact with Steve, the boatyard and marina and hopefully it will all come together for the repair in mid-Feb!!!

OK….this one may not count…but, IT was serious….the TV remote went caputs…..whaaaaaaaa….how do we turn on the TV to watch movies…we just started season 6 of GOT….the power button is on top….we have about 1/2” clearance not enough for a finger…ugh!!! Kathy rigged up a special tool and I tried it…got it w/in 1 min…ok, LIG…then never could repeat….not so good. Then Kathy had the brilliant idea to try one of the other TV remotes…we have a TV in our stateroom which we have not used since the PNW…it is a Sharp but different model…hmmm….well, guess what, IT WORKED….LIG again….OBTW….the Admiral said who cares, we can watch movies on the laptop….but who did all the problem solving…just saying!!!

Item 3: algae in the fuel in port tank…arghhh!!!! Well, evidently we did not get all the water out of the bad fuel we bought last year in Langkawi….yep, if you recall, we took out like 132 ounces of water and thought we had it all but must have been some water still in the bottom. We have not cruised since Sept…although I did run the ESI fuel polishing system until we left in Oct….well, we have now pulled out about 8 ounces of that brown, stringy looking algae. I think we have gotten most of it as today we did not get much….fingers crossed!!! We have already gone through 1, 2-micron filter and might have to change again tomorrow. The good news is the racor filter in front of the Cummins is remaining clean so the ESI fuel polisher is doing its job!!!

So, why did you leave a day later than planned you ask….well, because we couldn’t start the frickin Cummins….could you hear me screaming all the way to the USA…..never has this happened….not a god way to start our 8k nm journey this year….ok, John, calm down, breathe and get ready for some hot yoga. First I tripled checked all the valves are open….if you recall by major goof last year….anyway, all open….opened injector fuel return line…had fuel…ok, that is odd….primed the engine with the manual fuel pump plunger…there is a leak, not good….actually a good size leak as I pumped maybe 20 times and got 1-2 tablespoons….hmmm. Ok, the fuel pump is 14 years old…maybe time to change…ok, we had brought back with us the right pump….easy peasy…..3 bolts, inlet, outlet….NOT….took 2 hours…..took every tool I own….ugh!!! Put the new one on and tried it….no joy….oh dear, this is not good.

In the meantime I had emailed MMTAB (Mystic Moon Technical Advisory board) or MMOSG (Mystic Moon Operational Support Group)….ok, really just Les and Mark….Les wrote back check out the stop solenoid….light bulb goes off….this was the solenoid that had burnt up in the starter issues last Oct….but the shop had rewound it and it worked just fine maybe 10-15 times….ok, we brought back a spare so lets change….I go to sort it out and noticed the power lead coming out of the solenoid is frayed….I play with it some, Kathy starts the engine and viola we have power….ODG….it has now been 3.5 hours in 96*F ER….I’m drenched….AND that was IT…..so, I took another hour to redo one of the connections but left the soldered connection alone….tested along the way…engine starts….make pretty and secure…engine starts….and yep, you guessed it….the engine did not start the last 2 days…..whaaaaaaaa….but, all you have to do is lift the lever manually and we have engine start….ok….that soldered connection must be the issue so add it to the list for another day….we have a new routine to s/u Mr Cummins in the meantime!!!

So that is it for now…..will continue to coordinate with every one to get the repairs down in mid-Feb and will enjoy some R&R and diving with Brian and Donna!!

Hope all is well!!!

John
Mystic Moon
Busuanga Bay Philippines