Jeff's Log ~ Friday, April 25th, 2008

Just north of Cabuluan Island

We are proceeding north east again after spending a calm night at anchor. We were visited by some of the natives last night after dark and Scott bought some dried squid. It was mostly a charity gesture, as the man said he could not buy rice. The same fellows returned in the morning to sell us some coconuts. All of the small change we had which was about 35 pesos went to buy a coconut which he readily split open with his machete. They wanted more beer, but we told them no more, so they left.

I had gotten a good start cleaning the bottom yesterday afternoon, so I jumped in and completed it after the natives left. It was not too bad, considering that it had not been cleaned since the boat went back in the water in Thailand. The keel has taken a beating already from the mooring getting wrapped back in the park at one of our stops. Our hitting the bottom on the way out of Roxas did not do much for it either. The rest of the bottom is still very smooth and easy to clean.

The last couple of nights were spent off of club Noah Isabelle, which we happened on quite by accident. Scott picked an island on the chart that offered good protection, and we were all surprised by a nice little resort. The crew came to meet us and we got permission to use a mooring so as not to do any damage to the coral with our anchor. We made arrangements to be picked up for dinner, and they came and picked us up at the appointed time. We were introduced to the security detail at the outer bar and Fredrick and Anthony escorted us to the restaurant where we were seated on the beach. The tables had all the linens and silverware, and we were treated to a buffet dinner that was quite good. After dinner and a couple of beers at the bar, we were all ready for a good nights sleep, and returned to the boat.

Pipe Dream’s keel is shaped like an airplane wing to provide lift. The wind was light, but there was considerable current. The water flowing over the keel made the boat go forward until the mooring ball came up alongside. Then she would turn and roll with the waves, until we were all the way off of it, then the process would start over again. I found it very soothing and it lulled me to sleep, but Bill and Donna were uncomfortable the whole night and did not sleep well. They both had coffee after dinner, and I personally think that might have been the reason.

Mark and I got up early and spent a good amount of time snorkeling on the beautiful reefs which were all around us. There was a cross on the hill above, and we found a statue of an angel praying in about twenty feet of water between two patches of coral that faced the cross perfectly. We saw yellow fin tunas and a large grouper that would have fed us all four or five times. He wasn’t timid either. He came up out of his hole and just kind of hung there watching us. What a time to not have a spear gun! There was a large amount of stag horn coral too which changes color repeatedly. Some times it was purple, some times it was red, sometimes it was a greenish tan. There was just too much life to mention, and the reef quickly dropped away to the depths on the sea-ward side.

After dinner both nights, a group of employee/soldiers got together and made music in the beach side bar. One fellow was 17 years old, but he could play almost every Beatles song that there is. The second night, Mark and I stayed after dinner and had a little party going on. Our waitress Charity joined us as did Fredrick, Anthony, and the head waiter Gilbert. Charity had been in the show the night before, so we convinced her to sing a couple of numbers with the boys. She is quite a pretty young lady, and fairly shy. We had to work on her to get her to let out what she could do. For her last number, she did a duet with Lando, and really did a fabulous job. We got Fredrick to sing e few songs too, and Gilbert took a guitar and sang solo with our relentless urging. Anthony is a talented dancer, so we got him to do a couple of artistic renderings as well. A fun night was had by all, and on the way back to the dock, Fredrick took us up the hill to show us their lodgings. It was a single room lean-to with a hammock, a single light bulb, and a fan. He gave Mark a piece of bird nest from which bird nest soup is made, and in the morning, brought me a club Noah ash tray as a remembrance. After coffee, I took them back to the dock, and also got rid of our trash. Charity was there, as she wanted to say good-bye to the crazy Americans that made everyone laugh. I am very glad that all of their memories of us are good. That is the one part of my job that is completely unforgettable. I sure have met a great deal of wonderful people, and I truly hope that somehow I’ll be able to cross paths with all of them at some point in the future.