O Captain! I'm Captain!

San Teodoro, Mabini, Batangas to Maricaban Bay, Busuanga, Palawan, Philippines
31 October 2012

I’m Paraluman’s first mate and my husband, Raul, is the skipper or captain. That means that he’s at the helm, makes all the decisions and shouts out orders which I carry out immediately. He stands behind the wheel and the navigation instruments while I do all the physical non-thinking work. I run around the boat, pull the lines, grind the winches, set the travelers, lift and drop the anchor.

Windsurfing, still my alltime favorite kind of sailing because it's sooo fast!

I’ve been sailing for 20+ years- windsurfing, hobie cat and dinghy sailing, crewing for a keelboat for 10+ years, and recently started kiteboarding. But there’s something about helming a big keelboat like Paraluman that intimidates me until now. Being used to windsurfing where control is within reach of my own hands and feet and the response is instantaneous, I still can't get used to Paraluman’s size and am easily frightened when she heels or it’s time to gybe or tack.

Raul, my husband and captain

Our past sailing trips are always relaxed and made up of short hops between destinations. We never sail at night and break long trips into several legs. We aim to be anchored safely by mid-afternoon so we are grilling our steaks and drinking our vodka tonics by sunset.

The Joy of Doing Nothing

November 2012
Maricaban Bay, Busuanga, Palawan, Philippines


I sailed into beautiful Maricaban Bay, Busuanga, Palawan on a full moon and left on a full moon.

I spent almost 5 weeks living by myself in Paraluman in my favorite place in the Philippines, in clear blue waters ringed with lush rolling hills. Alone but never lonely, my days were dictated not by my To Do list or the traffic situation, but by the weather, the sun and the moon.

View from Hunter's Peak. Paraluman is the faint blue line.

I start each day by watching the sunrise and end with the sunset. On calm windless days, I swim laps around the reef, kayak to the mangroves or snorkel with the friendly resident school of jacks. On cool windy days, I run on the beach, climb Hunter’s Peak for a panoramic view of the bay or wrestle the sand rake from the maintenance guy so I can rake the beach myself. Then I go to work- load fresh water, refill fuel tanks, charge the batteries, operate the generator. I clean Paraluman inside and out, and Putol, my trusty dinghy. Cook, wash the dishes, do the laundry. Read the news, check email and manage the city household remotely. During the hottest hours of unbearably scorching days, I take a nap as moving alone becomes an effort. Without planning to, I lose weight and get stronger in a way that I couldn’t in Manila despite hours in the gym and watching what I eat.