Jeff's Log ~ Sunday, April 20th, 2008

9 57.309N 119 06.268E Enroute to our next anchorage, which is undecided due to weather.

Port Au Princessa was an interesting stop. We proceeded past the commercial shipping area to a basin that contained some fish farms and the yacht club. The housing along the shore line is quite remarkable in the fact that it stays standing. Almost all of the homes are constructed of a woven bamboo over a bamboo frame. The roofs are palm fronds. The yacht club was constructed this way. The dingy dock was also constructed of bamboo platforms that were floating, and in some spots, additional flotation was provided by plastic barrels under the dock platform. All in all, things were built with what is available locally and with methods that have come down through the generations.

Once we were anchored and put the dink in the water, things happened quickly. There was a boat just off our port side from New Zealand called the “Charioteer”. When we arrived ,they were waving, so Mark and I stopped to say hello and get information about checking in with the authorities and so on. They introduced themselves as Bryan and Carol. After a small chat, there was a squall approaching so we had to get moving. They were so nice that they lent us 3700 pesos, so we could get our legal chores done.

Upon entering the yacht club by dingy, we met the manager Nanette, a tiny little lady who can weigh no more than 85 lbs. dripping wet. We told her of our needs, and she promptly made the necessary calls to set us up with transportation. Her cousin “Boots” was there before the second beer was finished. Before we left on our mission, we radioed the boat and asked if anything else was needed. Bill and Donna decided that they wanted to go to town, so Mark went and picked them up while I visited with the people in the bar. There was a fellow named David who walks everywhere he needs to go, and an English lady named Rose Marie who is putting together a small houseboat so she and her husband have an inexpensive place to stay when in town. They also have a house in Manila. Everyone was very impressed with Pipe Dream, and no one could believe that she is 12 years old. They all were saying that they never had a race boat in the anchorage before.

Mark and I took off for town and the first stop was the ATM. I figured that it would be less aggravating to have the boat’s money to work with than to have to keep track of an odd amount of some one else’s money. Then came immigration. The office was entered by going around the back of a small ,wood building, and up a flight and a half of rickety steps. Inside the office was a young lady amidst a bunch of forty to fifty year old office furniture, most of that being stacked full of old boxes of records. The forms were all hand written because the ribbon in the forty year old smith-corona had worn out back in about 1973. We had to pay her 1500pesos. There are about 42pesos to the dollar. Next it was a three-wheeler trip across town to the customs office. No typewriters here, either. They took us into a small office and went to find the guy who was supposed to check us in. Nobody knew where he had gone, so another guy had to do the job. After lots of forms and official stamping over signatures, we were told that now we had to get port clearance from the port authority.

We got back into the three-wheeler and went down there. The port is a secure port, so we were questioned at the gate by a guard who spoke no English. He let us into the secure port with no identification what so ever. At the port authority, they took us right to the inner sanctum and asked us for the exact paper-work from our last port as the customs guy had taken from us and said we wouldn’t need. I went out and got back in the three-wheeler and went back to the customs office. The gentleman that had checked us in was trying not to be found, so I went in and rustled him up. He told me that he would not give me the forms for the harbor master. I went to see the boss lady who then pulled them out of her drawer and sent one of their men to have copies made as they have no copy machines in government offices. He returned shortly, and I went back to the port authority where Mark had finished filling out about a ream of paper-work telling them that we had no live-stock or explosives or heavy machinery, etc., We then had to wait for several people to all put their signatures and stamps on every document before getting our port clearance. Their fee, including a charge for anchoring came to 158pesos…..less than $4.00!!

We went back to the boat and by then every one was getting ready to go to dinner. I was really tired, so I chose to stay on the boat and made a nice dinner from left-over’s that were in the fridge, took a shower, and turned in early.