To Motor Or Not To Motor?

23 August 2010
Culion to Coron to Puerto del Sol
Busuanga, Palawan, Philippines

It was the 5th day of our sailing trip and uhmmm… we haven’t sailed. Meaning, we have been using our auxiliary engine all this time and haven’t raised our sails.

The Cathedrals- the towering limestone cliffs of Coron Island

Busuanga is a boaters’ paradise with a myriad of beautiful islands clustered together in one place. According to Mike Bachelor, owner of Puerto del Sol (post on this new yacht club coming up), “Busuanga has the highest density of islands in the Philippines, with 800 islands within 4 hours of sailing and 2,000 in 8 hours. You can see a new beach everyday for 2 months and enjoy 1/3 more annual sunshine than Boracay.” If you look at the map, the Busuanga mainland is surrounded by a mish mash of green, blue and green-blue blotches, with islands as green, water as blue, and green-blue as the reefs that make this a boaters’ paradise.

Pearl farms abound around Busuanga made up of long and numerous rows of floaters which we dared not approach at all costs for fear of being trapped and/or entangled

For the same reasons though, it can be a boaters’ nightmare especially for those with deep drafts because of the risk of running aground. In between islands, the reefs are plentiful, the passages narrow, the winds shifty and dotted with pearl farms. Many unfortunate souls, including a friend of ours last year, have fallen prey to these underwater wonders. Hence, on this trip, we defaulted to engine power for full control of speed and direction.

My guilty pleasure? It was addicting (“Hon, can we get a more powerful engine?”, “Hon, how much is a powerboat?”). Switching on the engine with the turn of a key and sitting around was becoming more appealing than sailing which entails more work- raising the sails, gibing, tacking and constant sail trimming based on the consistently changing wind, waves and current.

My skipper

On this day, I was even more thankful for our engine. We cruised to Coron town so Marina could catch her flight back to Manila in time for school. As we rode northwards on the western side of Coron Island, we were once again captivated by the towering limestone cliffs. We gave in to temptation and ventured as close to the cliffs as we possibly could. Closer, closer, closer, we were spellbound, until we were cruising within 25 meters of the cliffs. The temptation was too much and we went inside a gap in the cliffs. And we wound our way in until we were cocooned within those towering cliffs from almost all sides, in glassy turquoise waters that seem unique in Palawan. It was magical, quiet. I was dumbfounded when Raul turned the boat on a dime to get us back out, a test of the captain’s boathandling skills (imagine making a 180-degree turn with a 36-foot boat within a 60-foot circular pond).

Marina, my first born

Epilogue: When we finally and truly sailed on the 11th day of our trip, I was puzzled at how I found the convenience of motoring more attractive than sailing and how I even thought of buying a powerboat as I quickly remembered why I sail. Nothing could compare with the thrill and joy of being out at sea with only the wind to propel me. Whether I’m on a windsurfer, hobie catamaran, keelboat or any other sailcraft, nothing gives me happiness this pure. On this day, Raul and I felt like kids again and had silly grins on our faces as we rode the wind with the sun on our faces, the waves beneath us, no engine humming and toxic engine fumes, just us and Mother Nature in tandem.

13 nm from Culion to Coron town. Anchored off the oil depot in Tagum at 40 ft., mud bottom. The public market is 10 minutes away by tricycle and it was easy to resupply our boat with water, fuel, fresh bread, seafood, fruits and vegetables. Marina brought us to Kuweba Arts, an art souvenir store selling local curios created by the tattooed and dreadlock-haired owners who hold a music and fire dance every Friday and Saturday evening. The girls and I shopped for beautiful and exotic jewelry and I even got a Mother & Child sculpture by a local artist.