Cruising in the Philippines:
Coron, Cullion, El Nido
and Port Barton
Coron
settling in for 7 weeks of sailing
provisioning for 7 weeks of sailing:
...3 cases of beer on the deck, 3 cases of beer...
sea sick? a little bit
The hilly islands around Coron town were exactly what you'd expect out of a pirate movie. This area is really amazing, especially when you explore the islands.
Every night's sunset is different and usually spectacular.
A yacht from Bruce and Lindsey's home yacht club showed up in our little private anchorage in a tucked away cove so we had a jam session. We sang some Eagles and Beatles tunes but mostly read songs out of a French songbook. I was reading chord changes in French solfage (do, re, mi instead of C, D, E) often times transposing at the same time. It may be hard to get along with the French but it is worth it!
Right behind this rock face is a gorgeous lake. Sarah and I snorkeled here for hours. The lake was so clear you could see the jagged limestone walls for 50 feet or more below you.
This is the best picture we could get of Barracuda lake.
Cullion
Some general who cured all the lepers.
the church built on the sight of the old Spanish fort at Cullion Town
pretty
Sarah is not pregnant, just grumpy for having to pose for a picture with the sun in her eyes.
creepy memorial, probably to abortion babies
This town had big pretty flowers everywhere you turned.
El Nido
Look at these big mammajamma cliffs! Swallow or swiftlet nests are harvested here and sold for $3,000 USD/kg all over the world. Apparently they're good in soup.
You often get wet getting out of the dinghy that you take to shore.
more gorgeous sunsets
We've seen 3 enormous eagles so far. This one got really close to our boat and was the size of a mule.
We passed these jellyfish every once in a while. Big red mamas.
Whoppers. These are each bigger than a basketball.
El Nido, the town, means "the nest" in Spanish. This yoga centre and organic/raw food restaurant and juice bar/massage parlor had little nests you could chill out in. The were so comfortable and the breeze was awesome.
Sarah posed for her picture in the sun, but you can't get me out of the shade.
This is Lindsey!
There was supposed to be live music at this bar. There wasn't, so Bruce and I played Beatles songs for an hour and then I played a bunch more songs for another hour and then we went home.
Rock on, us!
This is the entrance to the secret beach. Can you see the little blue cord hanging down from the rocks near the water?
Here's a close up with arrows on how to swim into the entrance to the secret beach. This was one of the coolest things ever. You swim through a 6 foot opening or so and there's a little beach in there with about a baseball diamond's worth of shallow water and corral to snorkel around in. Cool!
Another great snorkel spot. There was a little hole in a wall near the beach here where Sarah and I watched young flying fish learn how to get along. They lashed their tails arouns using their mouths to suck on to the rocks as waves crashed over and around them. Every once in a while, one would just shoot of across the water, skipping itself like a stone, out into the sea.
Port Barton
Really, no swimming here.
At night, when you're in town and need to get back to the boat, tide sometimes carries the dinghy a little way from shore. Remembering this image of looking down at the boat, seeing these jellyfish, is about the last thing you want in your head as you wade out from the beach to get to the dinghy in pitch darkness. Whoa!
I've never seen one of these open. Look at these warnings.
We didn't patronize Precious Dood's Hair Beauty Haus but probably would have gotten a "Skirtting Birthday" if it were any closer to April 10th (Sarah's b-day) when we were there.
This is the view of Bruce stripping to swim out for the Dinghy from a bar in Port Barton. The guy who worked at this place was deaf so it was night time before we got our drink order in. That little speedboat out there is what we use to get in and out of towns. The Willow is the speck on the horizon.