It's Payback Time

26 August 2010
Gutob Bay – Illutuk Bay
Busuanga, Palawan, Philippines

It was a risk to do this cruise during the habagat (monsoon) season. So far we’ve been extremely lucky and blessed with fair weather. We’ve had a squall here and there, nothing bad, just enough to cool us down and wash our deck. But the weather’s been too good to be true and the habagat is now rearing its ugly face.

One of numerous squalls during the habagat season

We woke up to heavy rain clouds threatening to burst at any moment. Approaching Illutuk Bay, there was a squall approaching our way and it was a bet whether we would get to the narrow entrance before it did. It was quite a tricky entry with a shallow reef at port (left side) and required hugging the rock wall on starboard (right). Once past the entrance, we needed to maneuver through a tight and winding path with 5 turns within 1 nautical mile- the equivalent of a water slalom course. We were faced with uncertainty whether we should proceed and risk navigating through the delicate entrance and twisting turns in a squall (the rock wall on the right looked painful…), or wait indefinitely outside the entrance in 8-10 foot waves for the squall to pass. The entrance is a strong tidal stream and it was not a smart idea to be there in rough conditions. We opted for the former and, luckily, we made it through before the squall hit. (If you want to read a hairy close encounter with a squall, click here).

7,107 Islands. So Little Time.

24-25 August 2010
Puerto de Sol- Pass Island- Popototan Island- Mangenguey Island- Gutob Bay
Busuanga, Palawan, Philippines

We are getting used to this cruising life and becoming more confident with our sailing skills. We have been visually navigating using the charts and uhhmmm… our eyes instead of plotting our course in the electronic chartplotter. We use basic triangulation, the kind we learned in high school but works just as well. We are not so paranoid and harsh on ourselves anymore over sailing rules and safety precautions.

That’s because we’re too engrossed with enjoying this amazing scenery around us! There’s an endless parade of tropical paradise islands wherever we look, in different shapes and sizes, with immaculate white beaches, snaking sand bars, verdant hills, graceful birds and vibrant marine life.

We see an island that attracts us? We simply sail to it and drop anchor.