Southbound towards Puerta Princesa (2)
Linapacan Island North
11°28.88’N, 119°46.48’E
We did not expect this to become such a long day: At first we sailed along the stunning north coast of Coron island. The scenery is spectacular. A few anchorages in there… which I would love to explore one day in dry season. But as these are very small and accommodate only a handful boats one might to to arrive early and need some luck.
There were quite a few anchorages further south along the route. Lots of sailors had marked and reported their anchoring spots on OpenCPN / Navionics. We checked a lot of them. But: either they did not appear protected enough from swell or were too close to a reef to consider safe for the night. Another one was just on front of a fishing village with hundreds of eyes following our moves. What we considered our last option for the day was a very small spot and a banca had taken up that already. No space for Eternaut anymore.
So we rushed across Linacapan straight. At the end we dropped anchor just before sunset. But in a very beautiful spot. Just one tiny house close to the beach. The sandy spot which I had spotted on the satellite images was easy to identify in 10m of super clear water. A very tranquil place where I would love to come back to.
Casian Island East
11°02.75’N, 119°43.14’E
I had planned to stop by Flower Island Resort to pick up a mooring there and enjoy a nice dinner. But again we were disappointed: Although there seemed to be a few guests and we saw some staff wandering around, no one cared about us circling in front of their resort. We had tried to call, reach out to them by email and FB messenger. All without success. They appear not as cruiser friendly as it had been reported previously. We continued our quest for a safe anchorage and ended up in front of a fishing community at Casian island.
Maducang Island
10°41.56’N, 120°16.05’E
We had been growing tired of the hundreds of pearl farms we had to circumnavigate the previous days. Pearls should be staple – like rice.
So I was looking forward to an easier journey further offshore and I wanted to give Dumagan Passage a wide berth. So we head off to Maducang Island, slightly east of to the east of the track to Puerta Princesa. We enjoyed a smooth ride and spotted some pilot whales in the distance.
The anchor spot was just “ok”. The water was nice and clear and we enjoyed snorkeling on the reef close by. But we were also close to the reef and not too much wind protected by Maducang island.
During night a frontal system approached. I had a sleepless night and a “busy” day. Main task was tom keep an eye on wind direction and speed as the gusts swirled around the island. As the wind backed more and more we decided to re-set the anchor just before sunset. Having dragged the anchor in with the ‘new’ wind direction in mind we felt much safer. Still, I stayed most of the night awake for anchor watch.
Maraquit Island
10°32.72’N, 120°00.29’E
An uneventful sailing towards this safe and protected anchorages. We anchored in only 6m of sand. The city of Araceli was not far; still not too close to be to annoy us by the typical noise a city comes with. Actually this was a perfect spot for a good sleep.
Roxas (Palawan)
10°17.94’N, 119°19.96’E
Once again we had to change plans: My original idea was to get a mooring or drop anchor at Modessa island close to a small resort. We approached, circled once and abandoned the original plan. The resort looked very run down. Covid-19 travel restrictions and a typhoon must have hit this place hard. We saw one tourist and one person at a dive shop, otherwise this place appeared a resting place for ghosts…
So we continued searching in the shallow waters of Green Island Bay looking for a safe place to anchor. At the end I anchored off Roxas town. All over the water is quite shallow and we chose a spot within sight of the city but not too close to be disturbed by the noise. Great safe spot.
Honda Bay
9°55.86’N, 118°51.10’E
Our anchor spot for this night was at Burgias island in Honda Bay.
Honda Bay is supposed very scenic. Huge white beaches, sandbars and small islands with large reefs. Unfortunately we were not able to enjoy this scenic area as we were in a rush: Another super typhoon was brewing up. Although the track showed us well clear of any immediate threat the winds in our area were forecast to increase to 30-35 knots over the next days. Too much to stay in this bay which offers no real wind protection. After only one night we raised the anchor and finished the journey to Puerta Princesa.