Wow, what an exciting, challenging and amazing few days we have had... We are writing to you from Brookes Point, southern Palawan.. The other side of the Sulu Sea- yeah baby!
Dawn on the Sulu Sea after a rough night sleep - no land in sight.After leaving Dumagete in heavy seas, we skirted around the south coast of Negros in search of a safe port to make repairs and preparations for our most worrisome leg, the Sulu Sea. We stumbled upon Tambobo Bay, a serene river inlet where, it turned out, there was lots of local boat building activities going on. Here we bartered for some timber and nails and began work re-enforcing Tambasakan. This turned out to be VERY beneficial.
On the morning of the 4th (Scott's Dad's birthday) we headed out again. After few hours of frustrating westerly wind (tacking north, south, north, south again) we finally started heading west into the Sulu sea, accompanied by a pod of Spinner dolphins. This was the beginning of what would be a tough test.
As we headed into darkness and land faded out of sight, the sea swell grew and grew and the wind increased intensity. The next two days and two nights at sea would be our toughest physical and mental test. In swell up to 5m high and with raging wind, we would take 1.5 hour shifts at the tiller, pulling against it to keep her on the heading. The other person would try to rest/sleep on the open deck wrapped in a tarpoline and blanket. By the time we came into the protected waters of Tubbataha we were shattered and in need of sunshine.
Bird Island, Tubbataha Reef, Sulu sea.The first point of land we saw was Bird Island on the north reef of Tubbataha. Here we rested, dried out and cooked some food (something we had been unable to do until then because of the severe rocking). Using a technique we call Sail Snorkeling, where one person is towed behind the boat while the other steers, we got to snorkel about 4kms of reef, seeing reef sharks, sea turtles, Jack fish (trevally), barracuda and many reef fish.
Looking salty after snorkeling on Tubbataha Reef, Sulu Sea.Shortly after, as Lee attempted to make pancakes, reef park protection rangers came out in their boat, (brandishing machine guns) to see what we were doing in this restricted zone. Luckily for us, our novelty value outweighed our threat, and after checking our papers we were invited to stay the night in their remote home.
The Tubbataha Ranger Station is a surreal place. 9 men are stationed out there for 3months at a time with no other human interaction except divers who come to the reef for 2-3 days at a time. They are left with 3months supplies of food, water, gasoline and 3 live chickens (1 killed each month). The station itself is about 15mx 6m and stands on stilts to avoid the high tide which engulfs their small sand island each day. The beauty and isolation are incredible...
The next day we were escorted off the reef by the rangers (no guns needed this time) and we started the remaining 230km journey to Palawan. Rough choppy seas made it a difficult day and night but this time we were able to rest inside the hull to avoid the rain - again in 1-2 hour shifts. The weather and fatigue were starting to take their toll by this stage and Lee and I had our first argument of the trip about which heading we should take. But by dawn we were only 30kms away from our target and spirits lifted a little.
Our sleeping quaters in the hullAt this point the wind had softened and we were only crawling toward Palawan. With excruciating frustration, we spent almost 8 hours covering the last 10kms of our trip (this after covering 220km in one day!). At 4kms, with our target clearly visible, the wind stopped completely and we began to drift south. Desperation and bordem drove us to take our small paddle boat, tie a rope to it, and attempt to tow our 2 tonne boat the remaining 4kms.. I think we made about 1.5kms of that (mostly thanks to Lee's aggravation) before we finally waveddown a passing pump boat who towed us into the harbour of Brookes Point, Palawan.
This is what finger prints look like after being continually wet for days..The elation at having crossed the Sulu was sullied a little by the heavy rain we endured and by a bad infection I had contracted in my leg over the past few days. But today we spent eating lots (both of us have lost about 3kgs already), going to the hospital for my leg, doing some shopping, calling loved ones and drying out the boat.
Tomorrow we plan to head out again, this time on a southerly heading along the southern tip of Palawan, destined for Malaysia...
Sail snorkeling at Tubbataha reef
