ETERNAUT

Southbound towards Puerto Princesa (1)

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Although we really enjoyed Puerto Galera it was time for us to continue our journey. We left when Windy.app as well as GFS and ICON forecasts predicted pretty calm weather for the next ten days. On our way towards Puerto Princesa we had some pretty spectacular anchorages. But first, while underway, I had to work:

SIMRAD Navigation systems and NAVICO Autopilot

Eternaut’s navigation equipment is made by Simrad. Navico is producing the brand related autopilot units. As I had reported previously we had a lot of trouble with autopilot 1. As this autopilot unit is connected to the navigation equipment it should be the main autopilot. But: since we took delivery of our Seahorse Marine Diesel Swan 55 this autopilot caused problems. In the beginning these occurred very sporadic and irregular. And most unfortunately it never happened when OBMG was on board. But autopilot #1 had the bad habit of switching to Stby mode without any warning. Only later, during the transit of the South China Sea, the fault occurred that often that we swapped to autopliot 2. This autopilot has it’s own heading sensor and own rudder feedback and is a completely independent unit. And most important: it works!

Another Sea Trial

I had long chats with OBMG who in term tried to chase Navico trying to find the fault. I had sent them files with system configuration. I had updated software for autopliot control unit and multi display units. I had checked wiring and tightened the connectors to the NAC-3 autopilot computer. One thing I refused to do: Swapping autopilot 1 with autopilot 2 computer units for troubleshooting. I consider doing this when having reached a place where we can stay for long time and where spare parts can be shipped to easily.

All I could do now was a sea trial which I intended to do on this passage. After we had passed the Manila Channel and had set course into the middle of Verde Passage I went into the bedroom to swap control from autopilot 2 to autopilot 1. Back in the cockpit we engaged autopilot 1. Sadly it disengaged within seconds. We quickly switched power back to autopilot 2.

Not long time after more problems happened within the Simrad navigation system: Chartplotter 2 refused to show navigation charts. It worked in Nav mode, but not in Map mode which is the most useful mode when navigating in close quarters. Chartplotter 1 did not accept any touchscreen inputs. Thankfully I had insisted on installing additional display control panels which proved an absolute necessity to have! I have to admit: I am disappointed of the Simrad system.

Windows the way to go?

The further south we travel the more unreliable the charts become. This is true for the paper charts (which we still carry on board) as well as for the (expensive) CMap electronic charts.

To electronic charts converted satellite images work best in these waters. As such my windows laptop with Sat2Chart, OpenCPN and qtvlm software became the most important navigation equipment on board. Especially after recent troubles with the Simrad system it might be wise to consider a Windows based system in any newly built / refurbished yacht!

Maestre De Campo Island

12°54.27’N, 121°42.43’E

Ambulong Straight

12°13.99’N, 121°01.40’E

After an early start we had another long passage. Aim was to anchor at a bay inlet located at the western part of Ambulong island. We investigated the anchoring site. After a few circles we decided to move on: Reversing current and an unpredictable wind made us thinking that this spot would not be safe for a good night’s sleep at anchor. We moved into Ambulong straight. The tidal stream is fierce and as such we re-set the anchor when the tide turned. That was just before dusk and ensured us a good night sleep. Anchor was holding very well in 14m of sand.

Tara Island

12°17.82’N, 120°20.92’E

As we were generally speaking on our way south I did not want to miss the northern part of Busuanga. Who knows whether we will travel back north again. The weather was fine and as such we decided to anchor off Tara island. The water was super clear, a very tiny village close by. Thankfully the reefs show well on the satellite images, as do the sandy patches which we were to choose for anchoring. We went for an afternoon swim and had a good time. The anchorage is pretty open to the west and south, so we decided to spend only one night here. In more stable and predictable weather conditions we would have stayed longer.

Port Caltom / El Rio Y Mar Resort

12°11.50’N, 120°05.93’E

Next on was a mooring at El Rio Y Mar Resort. A cruiser friendly resort with a few moorings in front of it. We spent two nights here. Food is good, although a bit pricey. After our stay at Tara island we were a bit disappointed of this location as the water was not as clear as we had expected. On the other hand: A lot of mangroves are close by and a lot of sea grass is growing in the bay. Unfortunately we did not see any Dugong which apparently reside in this area.

Illutuk Bay

12°16.20’N, 119°53.69’E

We passed around the northern tip of Busuanga to reach our next next anchorage in Illutuk Bay. The south-west monsoon had strengthened and we had quite some opposing swell, current and wind. Again it was a necessity to have the windows laptop next to the helm for the satellite image display. A large reef covers the northern half of the entrance into this bay and it it wise to give it a wide berth. It was a relieve to be inside the bay: the reef blocks most of the swell and the last minutes of our sailing was smooth… finally. We moved quite far into the bay and anchored in 8m of mud. Very good holding! Although the bay is not wind protected I felt safe and could consider the bay as typhoon shelter. Plenty of swinging room around. A few tiny fishing boats passed in the distance, otherwise very quiet… this also includes the mobile phone reception which is non existent.

Busuanga Bay / Marina del Sol Yacht Club

12°01.43’N, 119°58.97’E

We still encountered some opposing swell and wind, but thankfully less than the day before.

All was fine until we reached the first areas with pearl farms. A lot of sailors had noted the positions of the farms on OpenCPN, but I had not expected the farms to be this big. They were huge. As far as we could see with the binoculars: They seem to block the complete passage in between the islands. It was very difficult to spot where to get through to the other end. Luckily, at the first big pearl farm, a security guy on a skiff pointed into the direction of where to get through. At other pearl farm areas we were not that lucky and we had to slow down considerably to meander our way through or even take a completely different routing than planned.

When arriving Busuanga bay we figured that Smart mobile has hardly any reception in that area. So we first dropped the anchor at the outer bay until Rita finally managed to get hold of Marina del Sol yacht Club by FB messenger. Note: slow data connection worked, but calling on the Smart network did not.

Anyway, the Yacht Club staff was very friendly and half hour later we found ourselves moored at buoy number 6. With a minimum consumption fee at the clubs / resorts restaurant the mooring is for free and we enjoyed quite a few nice dinners at the restaurant. A further plus of dining there was the free Wifi which we used as Smart phone reception did not get any better.

On the downside the water inside the bay is quite brackish and dirty and we decided not to run our watermaker.

Popototan Island

11°59.69’N, 119°51.39’E

Satellite image revealed quite clear water in this bay and before heading to Culion I wanted to make sure that the water tanks would be topped up.

Thus we did a short hop to replenish water tanks and drinking water bottles at this remote place. We passed a small island with day-resort and a very nice beach where we would have liked to anchor. But again, we had to change plans due to immense pearl farms blocking the access. You definitely need local knowledge or better, a local guide, to make it through the labyrinth of pearl farms in front of Pass Island!

The bay at Popotan island is very protected and we dropped 80m chain in 16m of sandy bottom. Again I mentally thanked Ed to convince to get 150m of chain for this anchor. Probably 100m of chain is the absolute minimum for good sleep at night when anchoring in the Philippines.

While the water itself looked clear we were disappointed by all the plastic which tide and wind swept into the bay. Plastic – the curse of humanity!

There are three resorts located at the western edge of the bay. Except a few staff they looked deserted and run down. Appears that the bloody travel restrictions during Covid-19 destroyed a lot of businesses here. Very sad to see!

Culion Port

11°53.08’N, 120°01.41’E

Again we had a few detours as pearl farms blocked some of the planned routing. With all these pearl farms around one wonders why the heck pearls are so bloody expensive. It is not that the farmers / their workers look particularly rich.

We passed a fancy looking resort – and (again) some nice looking beaches and anchorages were blocked by pearl farms.

Culion Port can be envisaged from far away: the huge letters and medical sign on the mountain beside the harbor entrance are not to be missed. But again you have to be aware of the occasional reef! Two concrete markers stand left and right to the port entrance. Later, on an excursion with our tender, we discovered that an isolated coral bommie stands inside the harbor entrance to your stbd side when you enter. Better keep in the middle of the entrance and use your satellite images!

We anchored deep inside the bay to keep away from most banca traffic. Despite the bay being quite big the anchoring space appeared to be limited: a lot of mooring and the reef which extends quite far into the bay restricts your space. We needed a few attempts to set the anchor – later I learned that I will have to use a slightly different technique when anchoring in bottom covered with Silt.

The next day we lowered the tender to explore the town. At first we had to find a place where we could safely and comfortably leave the tender. With the huge reef we did not want to end up sleeping a night on land because of low tide leaving the boat on the dry. We docked at a friendly dive resort where we were allowed to leave the dinghy.

We met a lot of friendly locals. Whether dive shop, tour guide, museum staff, construction workers, police officers: all were super friendly, helpful and happy to welcome tourists in town!

We visited the few ‘must-do’ things in Culion: Church, remains of castle, leper museum. There are a few eateries in town, but we missed a place where just to sit and enjoy. Clearly: Culion hasn’t seen many tourists recently.

Coron Harbor West

12°00.14’N, 120°11.92’E

It was an easy and short sail from Culion port to Coron port. On the way we peeked into a few bays, one of them reported a secure typhoon shelter. Who knows, maybe one day we might be stuck in this area with a typhoon approaching.

Port Luyucan is one of those typhoon shelters: 11°59.06’N, 120°06.77’E

As so often it says ‘port’, but in reality it is a bay. And this case expect a few houses very deserted. But it looks very safe and I could imagine quite a few yachts and bancas will try to look for shelter here.

Coron harbor (and Coron town) was a shock! It has changed so much since I had been here. Admittedly that had been around 20 years ago and without a boat. There is a huge landfill where once a picturesque pier was which housed dive shop, pizzeria and pub. And with huge I mean immense. An unbelievable large sandy landfill which transformed the area into a big dusty desert. Granted, there were floating jettys for bancas and tenders to be tied up as well as a few tiny stalls selling food items. But otherwise it had been the most unwelcoming sight I have seen for a long time.

We dropped our anchor to the west of Coron harbour in 6m of mud. A very safe anchoring spot. We stayed shorter as expected as we were very disappointed of the town.

This marks roughly the halfway point between Puerta Galera and Puerto Princesa.

In the next blog you will find out about the second half of the journey and what went wrong once we were at Puerta Princesa.