Wind And Waves

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Gazing at the waves; I notice a pattern.
growing ,changing, corruptin, dying, being reborn
All change
yet in this change is an unchanging flow, always new, yet always old.

We all are loving this island visit. Is been nearly a week we’ve spent on this island and there is so much to explore! With our marina fee (which was so cheap) we’ve had the run of the resort (pool,hottub,movie theatre,cafe,pingpong,bowling,wireless…….. etc and lots of new boating frineds)

We have Contessa fueled, lots of fresh water, engine is working well! and we are ready to head out this morning. For the next leg of our Journey.

Here are some pictures I found on the internet from where we are, Sabah Borneo. As we sailed in and saw this land, I could not believe how tall this mountain looked. I kept looking at it with binoculars because I thought my eyes were fooling me. I was sure it was going to turn out that the clouds looked like a mountain. But as we got closer, it was more and more apparent that it was a huge Mountain! It is grand looking! If we had more time ot spend we would all LOVE to climb it!
“It is cherished and raved about as the highest peak in South East Asia, which towers 4,101 m (13,455 ft) above a tangle of mountains. Not surprisingly, one visitor who saw the spectacle in 1990, exclaimed tauntingly: ” If you haven’t seen Mt. Kinabalu, you haven’t seen South East Asia.” The imposing, snow-free and bald top granite massif rouses man’s instinctive yearning to get to the top and experience the feeling of being in the top of the world.”

Here is a Probosis monkey, otherwise know as the Dutch man (red face,beer belly and big nose :-)!)

New Subspecies of Elephants Discovered in Borneo Sabah Wildlife Department and WWF’s tests indicates
Pygmy Elephants to be new subspecies
“For a start, they are relatively tame and mild-tempered when compared to other Asian elephants. Borneo’s elephants are also smaller in size,” he said. The distinguishing differences coupled with the origin debate instigated experts to find out if Borneo’s elephants were a genetically distinct subspecies.”

So Today I did it. I done gone and did it. I dropped my camera in the sea!

Sitting on the bow, enjoying the wind, arms stretched wide, Its easy to imagine what it must feel like to be a bird.
Suddenly, we get a gust of wind and its time to raise the sail, shouting motioning, lots going on, my freshly washed hair that I’ve let loose to blow wild in wind for the first time. is making it so I can’t see a thing, Laura get out of the way! they shout. As I’m stumbling back to the cockpit, my hand catches the wire and jerks the camera right out of my hands. It hit the side of Contessa and bounces into the sea. Gone before I can even understand whats happening.

I could hardly believe it. I just sat there staring in disbelief at my hands. This did not just happen, this did not just happen, this did not just HAPPEN!!
ERRRR so frustrating!

This was a loss to us all, as it was our group camera. We kept it in a common spot and every single one of us went to pick it up and snap a shots.

Makes you appreciate what you’ve got after you’ve lost it.

The thing killing me the most is the super cute picture I took of Aimme and Jeremy when they weren’t looking and the picture of Jeremy looking so happy as he stood next to the sail. Its lost, all lost.

Its painful to think of a huge leg of our journey being undocumented. Every once in awhile I see a great picture and get a pang. It hurts, Its like the feeling you get when you and your boyfriend have your separate ways.

And as if the gods havn’t already taught me the lesson I seem not to be able to learn (Laura needs to stay away from water with her digital camera) I sat stunned as the most beautiful picture developed right in front of my eyes……………..

Our engine is taking a lot of oil….too much. We find ourselves in a situation where we need to get oil and quickly. We’ve got a difficult straight ahead of us, with lots of islands and reefs to avoid. As the sun is setting and we’ve just finished our meal (Eddie’s cooking job, stir fry with lots of vegis and rice and then to all of our dissapointments, Eddie stirred in Corn beef. When Eddie gets in the kitchen its nothing but corn beef and rice…..with lots of oil. We’ve decided to hide the corn beef, so we can get a litlte rest from it!)

Anyway, so we saw a boat in the distance. We joked about playing pirates, kicked the motor in full speed and headed in towards the boat. We calculated it would take us about an hour to get to them. Our plan was to trade our “spagetti” (needs to be rewired! but engine works fine) generator for as much oil as we can get.

One could not have asked for better lighting on the scene. A beautiflly deep orange Pacific sun was setting behind us illuminating the Outrrigger, fishing boat in front of us. It had to have been one of the most beautiful boats I have ever seen. It filled my child hood fantasy of what a Huck fin like raft would look like (but quite a lot more extravagant). The outriggers were of bamboo and it had a seconde story to it, that looked like the loft where everyone slept. Their faces shone in the setting sun and the colors of their carefully decorated fishing boat leaped out at us.

They were all spread around the boat doing there indvidual tasks and they seemed undisturbed by our intrusion. Only after we acccidently dragged them a ways after missing the line they through us, did they stop what they were doing to look on.

As I write this, I’m sitting in the galley watching Tony (head chef) cook up the Two large white/reddish fish that they gave us. I’m trying to watch to see how he does this, he has no doubt demonstrated his cooking skills on this trip! He’s bustling away in the kitchen,chop, chop choppinng away. Moving here and fro……stay out of his way, this man is on a mission!

Its interresting on this trip to see everyone’s different skill and interests shine out. Today, Tony was the big star. His speaks tagalong which was the language we needed to speak. He bargained for a good long time….what he was saying, I have no idea but it started to look like they had oil that they were willing ot give us. Johny, didn’t necessairy understand the language but he was und,erstanding something else, he followed right along. Putting a funny joke in when tensions were a litlte tight, and helping Tony to bargain when the leader was in the mood to talk bargain.

We pulled away happier than ever! Though none of us openly talked about it, the prospect of going through the channel in the middle of the night with no engine (and most likely no wind) was a little scary!
And we could sense some concern from Johny and when Johny is concerned, you know at least something is up……most the time he seems almost overly relaxed.

What a night at sea!! AND now to the channel!

Our friends in Cebu came down to the dock to see us off. How sad it was to have to wave goodbye…….we will probably never see them again! Such fun experiences we had together.

It was so exciting to finally set sail after all the hard work! It was such a feeling to be pulling out from the dock, especially when you’ve got good wind and your hoisting a sail and everyone is shouting.

Swim Call! Johny, taking a dive off the bow. “Notice how small the splash is” he jokes 🙂 There is an art to jumping in the water, as there an art to Everything!

It was quite refreshing to get itn the deep blue water and move our bodies around after days of only having the small sailboat to move around on. We had to swim pretty hard to keep up with the boat.We we a little nervous about underwater creatures but the only big thing we’ve seen so far has been dolpins……lots of dolphins! Occasionally 3 or 4 of them will swim with along bow. Watching them evokes the playfulness in us all.

The sunsets are killer out here. This one was hard to capture but the electric orange shone out so brightly it seemed unreal.

Alright Jeremy, I’m ready to learn about sailing! Teach me all that you know.

Here’s a look inside the galley. Mostly we sleep/eat/hang out on top because it gets so hot inside and its much more pleasant outside.

This is our dinner scene. Tonights dinner is fresh fish! We flagged down a fishing boat because we needed to use a battery (ours died) so we could start our engine. They helped us out and then to top it off, they gave us fish. In exchange, we gave them our bottle of Tanguay rum (the drink of the Philippines).

Here we all are! Enjoying ourselves in our own ways

“This ethnic-themed, gloriously-designed resort hotel incorporates the natural surroundings with fine timber furnishing and local artefacts in creating a long house-like architecture.
All the 456 luxuriously appointed rooms and suites unveil balconies that offer magnificent views of either the carefully manicured gardens or the awe-inspiring beauty of the South China Sea and its occupying islands”

Here is the marina we are staying at for the night…..quite a contrast to the open sea. It was a strange feeling to set foot on land after seven days at sea. It forever for the feeling of rocking back and forth to go away.

So its Friday and we are just about ready to set sail. Things are very exciting around the boatyard as we’re carrying out the last minute things that need to be done. Our plan was to leave Thursday, but things weren’t quite ready and the superstition surrounding sailing says never leave port on Friday………So Saturday Morning is our Day. Its going to be sad to leave our community of people in the boatyard that we’ve gotten to know. At the same time the idea of sailing and seeing new places is quite thrilling.

While in Cebu, we payed Lena a small amount of money and she cooked us our dinneres every night. We always looked forward to our good home cooked meal at the end of the day.

chief Lapu-Lapu
Here is what Lonely Planet has to say……….”A few sniggers must have gone around the royal palace when news reached Spain of Ferdinand Magellan’s demise. It was 1521, and poor old Ferdinand had done the hard bit for his adopted country (he was Portuguese by birth). He’d sailed around the world. He’d quelled a mutiny. He’d landed in Samar and named and claimed the Philippines for Spain. And on Cebu, a vital trade centre, he’d carefully befriended all the scariest tribal chiefs – or so he thought. there was one chief, Lapu -Lapu of Mactan, who wasn’t so easily impressed. So what did Ferdinand do? He oredered 60 of his most bloddthirsty soldiers to suit up, along with 1000 obedient Cebuano warriors, and in a huge flotilla he sailed to Mactan to have a word with this Lapu-LOapu fellow. In a rush of pure European blood, he even told the Cebuano warriors to sit back, relax, and learn how the civilised world dealt with troublesome natives. But Lapu-Lapu and his men defended their island with unimagined ferocity, and Ferinand was soon back on his boat – fatally wounded by a spear to his head, a poisoned arrow to his head, a posoned arrow to his leg and a mighty blow to his pride.”

Our last day before we sail, Aimee and I decided to get away from the boat and explore one of the islands! Torino (our favorite moto man! He’s very connective and fun to ride with) We found ourselves at a resort easily intrigued by the ritzy glamour but quite off put by the facade of it all. Especially after the integrated sort of experience we’ve been having.

Morning time in Contessa. Looking over the scene and figuring out all the logistics of what needs to be done so we can set sail sooner…… rather than later!

Eddie and Kokoi hanging out at the bunckhouse.

Captain Johnny, working on our Waterlock ( I bet you didn’t realize a car muffler could be a waterlock!) Captain Johny has one of the best attitudes of anyone I’ve ever met. He is hilarious and quietly optomistic and innovatine in each situation that arises. We are all quite excited to experience sailing with him.

So the people in the boatyard next to Contessa, are part of a modeling underwater photo escapade! Apparently, underwater photos of models are quite popular in Japan. So our neighbors go on “trips” where they pile a bunch of models on board and go to beautiful tropical places around the Philippines and take lots fo pictures that they turn into Calendars/magazines…….you name it! So one day, Eddie got into the models clothes and had himself a grand old time!

Jeremy, working on cutting out the exhaust pipe. This project lasted an entire day and was quite difficult…………but we got it!

Tony ‘s ( one of our Crew members) wife, has been living with us and helping us……..mostly cooking and man oh man! is she a good cook. She has been an inspiration to me to be more resourceful with what you have around you to work with. This morning she bargained with the local fishermen and got fresh crabs, squid and prawns. She cooked up a delicious breakfast for us all! (For the Americans, this was a little odd after our bowl of lucky Stars cereal) but a real treat.

Aimee enjoying (the cutest carton of icecream) On these HOT days, icecream is the best treat ever!

Aimee and I went to the supermarket to shop for the provisions for 3 weeks and six people. This was quite a task for us, not recognizing the food selection, and walking around the CROWDED supermarket with two full shopping carts. This little girl stuck by our side and helped us for the entire 3 hours we were there. Its was strange how natural it felt to have her help, like we had done this a million times with her. It was sad looking out the taxi window and waving goodbye.

We had so many groceries that we bottle necked their system. Doh!

Flying by on a moto, I tried to capture the scene on the street. You see these tricyles everywhere and they are usually quite packed! Lots of fun to ride in, though sometimes it feels like the moto pulling them is going to explode because the load is soo heavy. THese motos seem to run and run and run and run!

Here is CONTESSA! Where six of us will be living and bobbing around at Sea for at least three weeks. Isn’t she beautiful :-)??

Inside Contessa, Aimee and I are grouting the table tile so food chunks don’t get in the cracks and start to smell. If you’ll notice, we are doing it all wrong (your not suppose to use your fingers!) but that is the great thing about the project we can do pretty much whatever we want however we want! We had a great time finding a tile store and then doing charades with the friendly sales people for all the materials we needed. Aimee and I were both drawn to a tile with a wave pattern on it, so we took a couple of the brown tiles (blah) out of the table and replaced them with the wave pattern one. It didn’t fit quite right so we filled it in with shells we collected. If you ask Aimee and I, it looks pretty darn good. Some others think it looks a little tacky……whatever with them!

There are colorful Jeepney’s the (kings of the roads) that will take you anywhere you want to go! Apparently they originated as jeeps left
over from when the U.S. Army had control of the islands, afterwards they painted them and turned them into little buses.

Captain Johnny (driving) Was able to get a hold of a moto for the day so we could drive around to different stores and get parts for the engine. Jhoon (fellow on back) is a local who has been tremendously helpful in showing us the different stores to go to to get all the random stuff we need. Today, the exhaust system was the issue. The solution? Put together a car exhaust system and stick it in the Contessa. Never been done or seen or even heard of by Jonny or Jeremy………or anyone around. bUT hEY! This is all about creativly,cheaply and quickly making it work.

Jeremy, enjoying a cold soda in a glass bottle. If we’re lucky, a villager comes up in a bicycle cart to sell us cold coke (only 20cents) A most appreciated break, after working hard (or reading hard!) in the sun.

Here’s Bryan during our big grocery shopping trip.(Isn’t the shopping cart hilarious!) He helped us buy our food and then was off to catch the ferry. The group dynamic was one he wasn’t getting used to (it is hard existing tightly with 6 people all day everyday…where the main agenda is to bring Contessa to life!) and so he decided his trip would be better enjoyed exploring the different tropical islands (So much to See!) He was a great help to our team, it was sad to see him go. Check up on him at www.mainelife.net.

Captain Johnny (quite lovable) , smiling at the camera and spilling oil over the engine part. oops! That was hilarious. When you ask him about pirates he says ” Sheet no problim, I a pirate” and smiles. He’s Indonesian and lots of the pirates out there are Indonesian, this is how I’m chosing to interpret this!
He’s much more concerned with terrorism and our route is plotted specifically to miss particular parts where terrorism is more of a threat.

Tomorrow we have been invited to eat Brunch at Mrs. Porter’s house (owner of the little marina we are staying at) We are all quite excited about seeing her house and getting more exposure to the culture and tasting one of her delicous (supposedly!) meals.

This is the sunrise I woke to the first day I arrived. We got here late at night and so had no idea what our surroundings looked like. I was so excited for the sun to come up that I layed awake (on the sailboat!) waiting for it….and it was worth the wait.

I watched as the men quietly rowed out to sea to catch fish for the day. They stared at me as they rowed by, no wave, no smile…..I felt kinda awkward……why wouldn’t they return my waves?

Right Away we got to work on the Sailboat…..which needs ALOT of work! Bryan and Jeremy getting coolant and gas out of the holes of the engine block

Jeremy and Aimee cleaning the engine block from corrusion and lots of fibers left from the gasket. This is a hard job in the heat of the tropics!

Aimee, hard at work cleaning the aft berth

Cleaning the bottom of the Dinghy so it will go faster.
Eddie (The one in Red) the bouynt, fun Fijian who’s always looking for a good party, who will be sailing to Signapore with us and Kokai a local filipino who is an amazing Karaoke singer!

Driving here is crazy! This is one of the many interesting vehicles you see on the road….Just Getting here to this internet Cafe was an exhilerating moto ride.

A safe arrival to Cebu…………… After hours of flying and being fed quite well!

At customs Bryan and I were quite nervous and trying very hard not to show it. In order to enter the country one must have a return ticket, which neither of us had, since we plan to sail out of the country. According to the Lonely Planet, they sometimes ask you for the return ticket and sometimes not. If they ask and you don’t have it, they will make you buy one on the spot! They asked Jeremy and Aimee when they entered the country…. .. Oh boy, we were standing there geting pretty nervous!

But for no need, they didn’t ask us! (huge sigh of relief)
And so now it was official, we had made it to Cebu. All the preplanning, all the changing of plans, all the doubt, all the effort it took to get the funds and go……….and we had made it! We smugly smiled relieved smiles to eachother and skipped out of the airport. Once outside we were greeted by drunk and very happy Aimee and Jeremy. This was an unexpected and wonderful surprise. They had left a fiesta the villagers were putting on (for one of our crew members, Eddie, because it was his birthday) to come pick us up because for us to find the hidden marina on our own, may cost us up to 75 bucks!

We all jumped in a Jeepney and did some crazy driving to our little marina where we have since been getting aquainted with the sea battered Contessa (she can sail in the big seas???) , our Captain Johnny an Indonesian delivery Sailor and his Crew help Eddie, who is a Fijian party man!

The schedule that seems to be developing is, wake with the sun and start working while its cool. Each of us seems to wonder to whatever chore we want to do. No one is asserting a strong hand of leadership which is so nice! In my opinion, this allows us to pull directly from our own motivation of wanting to make this a safe and enjoyable sail journey. In the middle of the day we nap/read/explore/go to town for parts. And in the evening we come back together, work, take cold showers and go to dinner at Lena’s house, where she cooks us some delicious dinners . Last night it was flavored rice and fish and eggplant with mango juice and sprite. The big plan is to leave on Monday for A three week sail to Signapore.

And so it is. So much to add, Each moment is new and exciting….and scary as hell! Hopefully I will figure out how to download pictures and then the pictures can say all the words!

Breakin it Down
Wrapped up in the swirl of leaving my thoughts are jumbled. I’ve clicked into auto pilot mode and am just doing what needs to be done……isn’t it wonderful that our bodies can click into this mode?!

My apartment is looking more and more bare. Its hard for me to leave my special little nook in the world. I’m going to miss watching over the city, watching the comings and goings of the train and listening to the whistle which permeates my Portland moments.

Before I know it, I will be back out in the world……in a world, a very different world. I’m looking forward to feeling life in the Philippines. AND I’m looking forward to drying out my soggy soul in the SUNSHINE…….which Jeraimee informs me is plentiful!

As far as dynamics on the boat……I’m kinda nervous. The captain Johnny doesn’t want a girl sailing with them to Thailand. Which to me means, I’m going to be in a situation where I have to prove myself, or measure up. (a situation I don’t thrive in) grrr. Although this sail trip is the ultimate escape, its not an escape of the everyday issues one faces! How do you ultimately escape those issues?

Years ago, I gave Bryan one of my favorite books DOVE. He read it this weekend for the first time……….and is sooo inspired and reinspiring me all over again. He gave it back to me and I am soaring through it. Its a true story of a 16-year old boy who sailed is 24-foot sloop around the world to discover adventure and love. This book played a big role in shaping this dream of sailing of mine . If a 16 year old in a small boat can do it………….!

On a sadder note, its going to be hard leaving Dan. We’ve developed a connection that feels very special to me. As we drove up to Seattle, where I was to leave from, I wrote this poem