i be sailing

A couple of weeks after doing the occular inspection of the river mouth. The expedition was on. Other than the power dinghies there were also supposed to be a couple of kayaks joining the trip. but for some reason they backed out.

I invited Cholo to come along, and surprisingly he was game. I told him what to expect, an hour long, 20km motor trip to the river mouth and an hour long trip down the river to the sea, and camping out by the beach. and he was pretty excited. I’m very proud of the little guy for accompanying his old man on this trip, and much more for seeing the whole trip through. what a trooper!

Most of the words from here on are not mine, but instead it’s a narrative by a fellow PHBYC member and Pansipit River "expeditioner", Kuton. I’ll be filling in other details that are relevant for our side of the story. Okay Kuton, take it away….

…It was an expedition that traversed a lake, a river and the sea, spiced by a problematic bridge, graced by beautiful views of scenery and birds, and livened up by good company and excellent cuisine.

As expeditions go, we started late, Piper going ahead on the Spindrift after an initial hello at Walter’s where Tato and I were loading up SummerBreeze, and trying to fix a recalcitrant engine. After installing the Plan B 2 hp Yamaha, we proceeded to Club Lake to find Maligno, Marte and Weremermaid loading up PawPrint. By around 9 AM, off we went pointing our bows straight at the right edge of the false volcano.

The boats: Pawprint, Spindrift and SummerBreeze. The characters: Rollie, Marte and Cherrie on Pawprint powered by a 5 hp Merc, Roy and Cholo on the Spindrift powered by a 2.5 hp Tohatsu and Tato and me on Summerbreeze, powered by the 2 hp Yamaha.

The initial going was a bit rough with Taal Lake dishing up some rollers. By the time we got to the fishpens near the false volcano, the waves calmed down and everything went smoothly. We had to zigzag the fishpens and it was here that we lost the fuel cap of the Yamaha. The small ob only has a fuel capacity of 1 liter enough for one hour of running and we had to refill twice.

After tiptoeing around the fishpens, and Maligno taking what should be exquisite shots of birds and scenery, we went straight to the mouth of Pansipit, where Piper was patiently waiting for us. After a toilet break for me, we motored towards the mouth of the river, which was overgrown with weeds. However, the tide was rising and soon we were at the first bridge. We tied up to the bridge where we had the usual picnic lunch of rice and adobo, but which tasted like five michelin stars cuisine.

Then further downstream the river. There were spots where fishpens hugged the riverbanks, some spots where the river was wide and shallow, or narrow and deep. We had to keep a constant lookout for weeds and garbage that will foul the props, or underwater obstacles. But all thoughout, we were rewarded with beautiful scenery and flocks of birds of all kinds: gulls and herons and egrets, mostly white but some colored.

We were going at a quick pace pushed on by the current. Soon we reached the fork of the river. We went to the south fork, but were soon stopped by water hyacinth blocking the entire channel. A man said that the river was blocked for a few kilometers and reluctantly we went back up. Maligno gave an analysis of the situation: we could take the north fork and possibly cross over the dam but how do we go back? After some discussion, the adventurers suggested that we just go down the north fork and see for ourselves the dammed river and decide from there.

Just after the fork, we saw underwater obstacles, fallen girders from a bridge that could easily have wrecked a wooden hull if hit hard enough. Fortunately, we saw the obstacles in time and eased around them. Soon we reached the bridge and saw that the water had risen and was flowing smoothly. We asked the men swimming nearby to ask how deep the water was. Deep enough, they said. So Tato and I dared to cross and we went through without incident. Piper followed closely behind and soon Pawprint was through. We had crossed the problematic bridge!

The next few kilometers were anticlimactic. But the river was now deep enough that weeds were no longer a problem. Again beautiful scenery, but now signs of civilization. Crossing the large highway bridge brought us to flatter land, with bancas moored on the side of the river. But new obstacles presented themselves: low bridges that cleared Pawprint’s motor cover by only a few inches, and a steel cable that crossed the river like a snare just waiting to catch some unwary props. Fortunately, we cleared both without incident except for the cable. A quick cry from me acting as a lookout powered down the Yamaha, and Tato pulled it up. A surprised Piper was not quick enough to stop and the prop then proceeded to gouge some scratches on the Spindrift’s immaculate finish. Scars of honor.

Pretty soon, we caught glimpses of the sea. We had made it. From lake to see. There was a way. But we were soon stopped by the imposing sight of breakers on the sea. Could we make it through? Locals advised us against going on. But the intrepid advernturers just had to try. Soon we were braving the breakers, turning north to Nonong Casto barrio. The boats rocked on the waves but the hardy trio of homebuilts just laughed off the waves. Soon we were docking on the beach. Mission accomplished.

We found a nice little resort in lemery where we could camp out for the night after un packing the boats, we were all surprised by how much gear we had.  Here we are having breakfast and you can pretty much see "some" of the stuff we had with us. All of us pitched in to get a cottage and a hut. and tents were pitched. After having dinner, a few beers and a bottle of red wine, it was time to sleep. However, with Karaokes blaring from nearby resorts it was near impossible to get any.

Cholo had a very active day playing on the beach and in the resort’s pool and was asleep almost immediately when he laid down. His dad however, had to suffer through all 8 hours of karaoke hell, getting only few quick blinks here and there. Rolly and Marte being and scouts that they are had ear plugs with them and had no problem getting their z’s.

Breakfast was tasty french toast courtesy of Cherrie.

We had to wait for the tide to start coming in before setting out. It is a wonder how much stuff you can load on three small boats, and it  took quite a while to load all the stores and launch the boats.

The water was much calmer this time and we went inside the river and Tato and I immediately got lost. There were at least four branches on the river delta and we trusted our instincts rather than the GPS. Fortunately, the other boats had better navigators on board and soon we were motoring up the right channel.

The steel cable was now above the water rather than submerged and was easy to spot. Instead of going over, now we went under and saw how thick and potentially dangerous the cable was.

  Then we got to the problematic bridge. There was a hint of whitewater as the tide was not yet up. We moored on one side of the river to survey the situation. We decided to cast a rope from upstream and try to pull ourselves across the "hump." I volunteered to be at the upstream anchor. Another use for the blue foam as it was the floatation that brought the rope down the river. At first, Roy tried to make it but he was sitting on his foredeck and there was no directional control whatever to his boat. Then ‘Breeze tried with Marte on the foredeck. At first she tried to pull the boat up, but the current was still too unsettled and the boat just went around in circles. Then she tied the rope to the painter. I pulled from the other side and Marte used a paddle to push against the bridge sides. Success at last.

Roy followed, with Marte again at the foredeck and finally Rollie. By then the water was high and current was slower and Rollie felt that he could have powered his way across, but couldn’t signal me at the other side.

Further upstream we got our next bit of trouble as Roy hit submerged bridge girders and knocked out his shear pin, and had to stop to replace it. At about this time, Rollie picked up a big piece of plastic on his prop. They had to stop too. Tato and I didn’t know what was going on and we went ahead, safely maneuvering around the underwater obstructions only to stop when we found the two other boats not following. But after a while, we went on ahead, as ours was the slowest boat.

Since the boats were not following, Tato and I stopped at a nice place in the river, with a shady portion and spot to moor the boat. We went for a swim in the cool water. Soon we heard the sound of outboards and stopped swimming and started motoring. Soon the boats were motoring together. At this time people were hungry and we picked the perfect sport for lunch: a cool, shady spot with a picnic hut.

Lunch was filling as different kinds of canned goods were opened. We saw that the spot had a spring that gushed cool clear water that  locals collected for drinking. We didn’t dare. Roy and Cholo though went for a quick dip in the River before departing.

Then back on board the boats, slowly making our way upstream. The next stop was just outside the entrance to the river to clear the props from the weeds, and load gasoline on the tiny tanks of the Yamaha and Tohatsu.

Going across Taal, I followed closely the GPS track and tried to cut some corners. I saved some time that way, except that I miscalculated at the fishpens and turned when I should not have. Again, I lost time but found my way back to the main shipping channel. After rounding the false volcano, the only thing left to do was aim the bow straight at walters and spot Pawprint disappearing in the distance.

Back at Walters, we loaded the boat on the pickup and surveyed the damage to the boat. Rotted parts that failed needed to be repaired. But all in all, I’m proud of the inexpensive, easily built ‘Breeze. It was a little boat that could…

More photos of the expedition can be seen on the pinoyboats.org gallery

Members of the PHBYC have always been asking if there is still a way from Taal lake to Balayan bay via the Pansipit river. Well, there was only one way to find out. To do the actual trip.

24 Feb was the decided date for this Pansipit River Expedition. and in preparation for this, I made a scouting trip two weeks prior to check out the conditions at the entrance of the river. I took a water trip while Rolly took a land route and scouted the bridges.

Left the Club Lake for San Nic at around 07:30. I left early to take advantage of the flat water in the early morning. and no I didn’t sail, propulsion was courtesy of my Tohatsu 2.5.

The water was pretty calm all the way to the Laurel fish pens and after a little bit of fish cage dodging I was able to find a clear channel all the way to the south.

and It was pretty much clear all the way to the southwestern tip of volcano island. after clearing the island, sea state was slightly choppier. and I had to take a more down wind course for a more pleasant ride. I had little idea where San Nicolas was so I headed for the biggest roof that I saw, since I knew that there was a market at the shores of San Nic.

After around two hours of motoring, I landed at San Nicolas. it was 09:30.

I used up pretty much most of my gas getting there and had to look for a place to get some more. This kid was nice enough to look after Ceol Beag while I was out looking for fuel.

I bought about 2.5 liters from the neighborhood gas store, just enough to fill my small jerry can.

I actually passed the entrance mouth on the way to san nic, so after a quick snack, I headed into the river.

The river was very nice and serene, from this end anyways.

kinda looks like a scene from Apocalypse Now doesn’t it?

The river is pretty shallow at some parts and best have a look out for grass that can foul your prop. I passed one road bridge and one foot bridge about 1 kilometer into the river. then I talked to one of the locals at the foot bridge and asked if the river is still passable all the way to the sea, and she said it was and in fact small banca’s make the trip all the time. there are just some parts at some times that get really shallow and you might have to tow your boat by foot. but those times are rare and it’s generally very passable.

I wanted to continue on but the fuel I had was just enough to get me back to Club Lake. It was almost 11:00 and I wanted to get back since It was also Fiesta time in Talisay and I was getting hungry.

So I headed back, my butt was pretty sore from almost 3 hours of motoring so I stood up on the boat on the way out of the river, ala George Washington crossing the Potomac.

The lake calmed down a bit it was pretty much a straight course to volcano Island, then the wind picked up to around 15 knots after the island, and I was heading right into it. got lots of spray and I had to bail out water while motoring a few times. but I eventually got back to Club Lake at around 13:15. With only about 10 minutes worth of gas left inside my trusty little Tohatsu.
This was my route:

total distance covered for the scouting trip: around 45 kilometers

Rolly’s scouting trip also proved productive as he as able to spot some potential problem areas. like this one:

Three PHBYC boats were on the water in Loch Taal on the weekend of December 16.

one of the reasons I wanted to go out that weekend was to test my newly acquired 2.5hp Tohatsu from ebay.ph. Leroy helped me test it out prior to the purchase that same week, and it was running great.

upon getting to club lake though, I wanted to make sure it was still running okay before I mounted it on the boat, so I strapped it onto a sawhorse and tried to start it, and tried and tried…. and I just couldn’t get the darned thing to work. Leroy then texted that he was also on his way and so I just went for a swim and decided to wait for him. I also found out that Club Lake was fully booked that weekend for an ex-junkie convention. But Archie was nice enough to let us stay in his room.

Leroy got in at around 12 noon. I told him about my predicament and we went to check the motor, after giving it around five pulls, sure enough it started, much to my bemusement.

We then strapped the motor on to the boat and went for a quick run around the lake.

motoring being as boring as it is, we headed back in after around 5 minutes and decided to have lunch. Leroy brought some teriyaki flavored boneless bangus made by his first mate Leah, which was excellent! while we brought some salisbury steak (Cholo’s favorite. ) greatly missed was biel’s Lasagna.

while having lunch, Archie’s guests started arriving. and soon after B’lisss, it’s Skipper and his First mate. 

Leroy helped Maligno prep B’lisss while I took pictures. and soon everything was more or less set for B’lisss, Leroy and rigged up Ceol Beag and went for a sail. We cruised over around the area of TLYC where a few hobies were racing a triangle course.

After a few minutes at the helm I handed over the skippership to Leroy and we headed back to the direction of Club Lake to see if Maligno was able to launch. winds were around 10 to 15 knots which made for pretty good sailing. Soon after we saw B’lisss had launched and were heading out. with Leroy at the helm I was free to take pictures of B’lisss in all her glory. She was making good speed, more than us in fact. Water line length really factor in these conditions.

We sailed around for a while, and it was clearly obvious that Leroy was having a great time. But we eventually had to head back as Leroy had another commitment.

after Leroy left, i then went for a quick swim and saw B’lisss was motoring back, I then found out that her port back stay snapped.

Maligno promptly fixed the problem and motored back out. I thought they were going to raise their sails but they didn’t, they were just drifting in the middle of the lake. So the wife and I decided to investigate, I strapped on the motor and off we went. Upon getting there we found Maligno and Marte feasting on sandwiches and watermelon. they then directed us to come along the starboard side and broke out the blue foam fenders. We had a couple of sandwiches and knew that Cholo would enjoy this. So we headed back to fetch the little guy.

The there was still a fair amount of wind and B’lisss was a lot further out now than when we left her but it didn’t take us long to get there. Cholo’s primary motivation for coming with us was a chance to get on Maligno’s boat and as soon as we got there he jumped aboard and got comfortable.

We spent almost an hour out there, just drifting, and all had a good time enjoying each other’s company and watching the sunset. Soon enough it was getting dark and it was time to head back. on the way back, my motor kept on stalling, so we got a tow from Rolly. having no bow eye on my boat meant I had to attach the painter to the mast partner. and Ceol Beag was swinging left and right the whole way back, nothing unpleasant, just funny. next time i’ll probablly just drill a hole under the breast hook. later I found out that my motor just ran out of gas.

Soon it was time for Dinner, both families didn’t make plans for dinner but found each other at the same place, a restaurant called Milan’s. A place that was supposed to be known for their maliputo dishes. We had dinner of Sinigang na maliputo, grilled porkchop, and pinakbet. and each adult had their own fresh buko.

after dinner we then prepared to sleep. the B’lisss’ crew’s accomodations were simple and very enviable, they’d be spending the night on their boat. (Did I say I wanna be like Rolly when grow up? ) Rolly setup a boom tent and laid a board between the cockpit seats where they laid their sleeping bags over. Pretty cool! Cheryl and Cholo went off to bed and I stayed on to have a couple of beers with Archie.

slept at around 12 am and was woken up by Cholo at around 5:30. (his usual waking time)

we had breakfast at Talisay market and went back immediately to the club lake. I gassed up the motor and mounted it back on the boat. It still kept on cutting out, I theorized maybe bubbles in the fuel line so it was pretty much a tedious starting and restarting for around five minutes. afterwhich it was starting to run steady again. I picked up a piece of bamboo to use as a tiller extension and sat on the center thwart and motored around for 15 minutes. with only me onboard and with the water still pretty calm I was able to get Ceol Beag to plane. It was fun.

I then picked up the brood and followed B’liss to TLYC where Tato   was Launching his VG20, On the way to the TLYC We had some peanut butter sandiwiches. And while there It was decided that the TLYC troupe be sailing on to Eric’s in Balete.

After watching Tatoski launch the VG20, I was going to take back the Cheryl and Cholo to Club lake, since they were leaving earlier than I was. while trying to get out of the waters TLYC, the prop ran aground and after that, no power was being transmitted to the prop. Marte was very kind to pull as back as the wind was slamming us against the bankas.

Sure enough, it was a broken shear pin. Luckily Tato was still around and had a spare that would fit mine. Cholo and Cheryl went ahead to Club lake on B’lisss and Marte stayed on while I fixed the prop.

With the prop fixed Marte and I followed on to Club lake, where rolly was installing a makeshift bamboo batten on the jib as it was excessivley flutttering the day before.

I was contemplating on sailing to Balete on Ceol Beag but was eventually convinced by Maligno to ride on B’lisss instead. which turned out to be a good thing. a very good thing.

and so we we’re off to raid Balete, Myself, Maligno and his First Mate on B’lisss and Tato and his two "galley slaves" on the VG20.

All the way to Nalipayon rock it was fairly uneventful, winds were fairly strong with one to two foot swells, but still manageable. To be able to blow through the gusts better Marte attached a line to the opposite side of the boat so I can hike out, which i did. Tato started ahead of us but we were able to catch up and eventually overtake him. frequent checks with the GPS showed our speed averaging around 5.8 kts boosting to 6.5 kts.

there was a short calm at the channel between Nalipayon and the mainland because of the mainland’s wind shadow, but we were able to breeze on through. After giving eric a call we were able to get a visual bearing on where his place was. It was directly up wind, and the wind was slightly stonger than it was when we were taking nalipayon island from talisay. This is where we saw Tato bearing  away and heading back.

we were still around 2 to 3 kilometers out and and we tried to tack three times to get to our destination but found ourselves not getting any headway at all. So it was decided that it was time to drop the sails and motor in. my hands and my butt were starting to ache and was somewhat glad that we were able to motor, we were all getting hungry too.

After a few minutes we were at Balete and were met by Eric. he showed us around their property and sat us down to a great meal of sinaing na bangus. It was fun being there, despite the karaoke machines blaring in the background. but then again where in the philippines are there not any karaoke machines.

Soon it was time to go. from where we were the water seemed pretty tame. and getting out was fairly easy. It was a straight run at around 5 kts. but I think the pressure of the boom on the repaired backstay was too much and snapped it again. the further we went, the stronger the wind was and the chop was growing with it. We were hoping to get some shelter at the point to nalipayon but we were being blown towards the shore. Maligno thought it might be a lee shore and we would be able to fix the busted shroud there, but it wasn’t, the wind was as prominent there was in the middle. We could’ve jibed away but I don’t think Maligno wanted to risk it with a broken backstay. It was decided to drop the sails and head for the nearest beach (lee shore or not) fix the backstay and maybe reef the main. even with the sail down we were still getting plenty of windage and were heading towards some parked bankas. Marte jumped to prevent a collision and ordered me to do the same. the two of us were eventually able to point the boat to the wind. and I held B’lisss in that position while the couple fixed the port backstay and secured the sails.

Despite the beautiful sunny day. the wind was totally out of whack. and showed no signs of letting up. so it was decided that to just motor back. Much to my dissapointment .

With the chop in the middle of lake at 3 to 4 feet. the shortest course wasn’t actually the best. so we hugged the shore and took the long way home. but even when motoring close to shore the wind was still pretty strong, even with the sails down, the boat would still heel at the gusts. It was during this that Marte was thankful of having large moving balast like me, as all that was needed to level the boat during these times was for me to tilt my head.

It was a nice scenic trip back, as none of us have ever been to that side of the lake before. coming from the east though meant we had to dodge the myriad of fishpens east of talisay market. from a distance it looks like one bigass fishpen, but actually it’s just a bunch of small fish pens with spaces between them. archie later told me that those fishpens are fairly easy to navigate with a motor, and in fact they used to race speedboats through those a few years back. we eventually got out of that maze and were in sight of talisay market.

upon getting back to club lake, we noticed that my boat was gone and so was my motor! which was mounted to rolly’s trailer when we left. We were then met by Robert who told me in not so many words (well actually, no words at all) that my boat was washed away and drifted out and he had to swim out to retrieve it. He also told me that he already put the boat away since it was already getting late. Not bad for a deaf mute huh?

Later, archie told me that his cousin Roy saw Robert carrying the whole boat back up on his back. Man! with help like that who needs a trailer. That person’s feats of strength never cease to amaze me.

We left club lake at around 7:30 and had dinner at Milan’s again. this time we had Kare-kare, Chop-suey, sizling squid and some italian fruit cake. and ofcourse the fresh buko. Milan’s is about a minutes drive east from the Talisay municipal hall .
 

Arrival
I arrived at tlyc around 8:30 sans Andrew as he was down with the flu. Rolly and wife Marte were already there about to launch Pawprint, their 15′ runabout which will help serve as a safety boat for the race. after helping them lanch Pawprint, Marte helped me out with setting up my boat. and soon after Eric arrived with his unfinished but ready to race Kalayaan dinghy, we then helped him rig and launch his boat . The other home built in the Race was Tato’s Vagabond 20, a 20 foot cabin cruiser that he was able to finish just in time for the RTV. The Vagabond had been  at TLYC for the past week as they’ve been doing some sail trials and final tuning of the boat.  Mario and his daughter were also there to race on Toppers and so was Fast Exit skipper Arvin. After a short briefing we were ready to go. Prior to the actual Round Taal Volcano Race there was to be a short buoy race around two buoys (a hot dog course)

The Race to the Volcano
So everyone went out. In getting ready for the buoy  race, I had an unfortunate incident which caused my boat to have 6 inches of water inside the cockpit.
A bad jibe caused my boat to heel too much and scooping up a whole lot of water in the process. I tried to do the hotdog course with the water in the boat, and while trying to race I actually saw eric’s boat demasting, I thought he capsized when I frist saw it, but I noticed the kalayaan was still right side up, I was going to try and help out but noticed that Rolly and Marte also saw and were on the way to help. Later I found out that one of Eric’s stays came off and caused his mast to fall over. With my boat still weighed down by the water it was just to heavy to make any significant headway, so I decided to head back to the starting line and wait for the actual RTV race at the same time try to bail out as much water as i could.

I managed to bail out atleast half of the water before the start of the next race, but lack of racing experience on my part resulted in a late start, there was also another topper that started late and was way behind me, but she was able to catch up as I still had a lot of water balast. As soon as I got to the downwind part of the course I was able to cleat the sheet and bail out most of the water while under way. Wind was fairly strong at around 16kts

With almost all of the water out of the boat, my speed picked up and there were several times that I was really feeling the boat plane. I got to the lunch area and four toppers were there, as well as Tato’s vg20. I was actually expecting 5 toppers to be there but found out later that the other topper with lilly on board had an unfortunate encounter with a ferrier trimaran’s bowsprit.

several really bad things happened as a rusult of the swamping incident. one was that my phone which was supposed to be water proof was water damaged as it wasn’t stored inside the hatch but in my bag which was tied to the bottom of the mast, and two the worst one was that Mario’s cigarettes which was inside one of the aft hatches was soaked as I forgot to tighten the lid.

I had lunch of pork adobo, and soon after, the hobies started arriving from the other direction. as the hobies took the island from the west (longer course) and the dinghies took the island from the east.

shaking from the lack of nicotine in me, I managed to pull up the nerve to ask one of tlyc’s boatmen for ciggy.

soon after, rolly and marte arrived in the pawprint, then eric came in. Which was great releif me, as atleast I know I didn’t come in last in the homebuit class. hehehe

Mario being boy scout that he is, had Rolly carry another pack of ciggys as backup and thus ended our nicotine drought.

The Race BacK
soon it was time for the next race. I swore to myself that, i’d improve on my meager placing in the first race.

winds were a lighter this time, and I was still last off the line but atleast it wasn’t as late as before. I followed the girls on the toppers which were heading out to more open water, while mario and arvin took a course that was closer to shore. winds were light enough to be able to light another ciggy, so I did.

pretty soon the winds died down and it was drifting match, light winds meant shifty winds, and pretty soon sails were fluttering all over the place. I decided to stay with the current and sat as far back on the boat to get as much transom in the water so the waves would have more area to push against and I managed to get some headway from it. pretty soon I found myself ahead of everyone (except the hobies ofcourse) even the bravos.

then the winds started to pick up again and I was on course towards a fishcage. the topper behind me tacked to the right to avoid it, but I saw an opening on the left side that I could squeeze though so I did. then I thought, good move! I passed several other fishcages this way and the all of the toppers were still behind me. then all of a sudden full stop, it was like someone slammed on the brakes. aw fuc*! I knew it had to happen (so I guess it wasn’t a good move after all). my dagger board was caught on a net, easy enough fix, but I had to head back to the nearest opening in the fish cages to get to open water again. then went my lead, soon the 3 toppers were ahead of me, mario and the two girls. soon as I was free of the fish cages it was a straight close reach to tlyc.

arvin was still behind me and so were all the other homebuilts. I saw arvin was closing the gap and took off my sail consevatively cap and started sailing through the gusts. Looking behind me at arvin I was thinking, this guy must have rock hard abs. as he was hiked out most of the time. while I was in a very comfortable position leaning back against cockpit sides.

soon I passed mario which looked like he had equipment problems as he was holding on to his boom with his hand and standing upright inside the boat while sailing ala windsurfer. later I found out that his mainsheet was twisting and jamming in the block, him standing up in the boat was just a macho effect.

Then I passed Eric, sailing in his kalayaan. WTF! what wormhole did he go through to get there!? last time I checked he was miles behind me. later on, I found out he got a tow from one of the commitee boats.

Guess What? I won!…. sort of
It was already dark when we got back, and among the PHBYC members, I was first to arrive , then arvin, then mario, then eric I think and tato and his crew. Tato arrived late as they were also caught in fishnets but them having a bigger boat compounded their woes as it was a little more difficult to free.

we then had our showers and proceeded to dinner and the awards ceremony for the races for that day. All was all still pretty sureal to me as I still coudn’t beleive that I completed the race. compounding that was the fact that I was the only one homebuilt class to finish both legs, thus the trophy. Arvin also got 3rd in the Topper class. everyone had a great time exchanging stories and stuff. We all retired early as there were still buoy racesfor the next day.

coming up in the next post:  events for the next day as well as the story of my first capsize.

I woke up at around 5:30 I think. I had a fairly good sleep in the hammock that I brought and I was surprised to find that tato was also sleeping in the same hut as i was.

I was contemplating of giving it a go with my pipes to give everyone a wakeup call, but my aching body and better part of reason decided against it. I might end up annoying more people than amusing them.

I decided instead to go to the market and get some ciggies and rice for my adobo baon.

at breakfast, Tato invited us for a morning cruise on his boat. and who was I to decline it

Mario was game also and so was the rest of his family. assuming my usual mast man position

I raised the sails and off we went. with all of us in the cockpit the boat was a little aft heavy, so being the man of mass that I am, I positioned myself inside the forward hatch. That evened everything out and the boat was nice and level, and we made good speed. Tato’s boat really feels like a keel boat. everyone had a great time, mario’s wife especially.

when we got back Arvin was already there, and all set to race.

after doing some pre-race preparations and getting briefed by Arvin on the course we were ready to go.

normally when i sail, I don’t buckle up the front of my pfd, but this time, I felt that I should, and so I did.
 
most of the toppers were aleady out when I got there and getting set for the first race. i’ve had very little experience jibing in my boat and I was watching lilly, arvin and the other topper sailors do it. and then I said to my self, "I can do that" so I tried. so the boom swung over and so did the rest of the boat and I fell into the water. CAPSIZE! The moment I dreaded finally arrived, and the race was about to start too. getting to watch chris and peter last week doing capsize drills was still fresh in my head. and so I just did what they did.

at first I was tangled up in the sheet as I watched my mast go totally under, I thought I was going to get dragged down, but I didn’t. I was eventually able to get myself free and I then proceeded to try and right the boat. with the boat upside down I clamberred over to the top (or bottom). It was a good thing I pushed the daggerboard well into the trunk, and it didn’t drop out when the boat went upside down. I wasn’t really on top of the boat it was more to the side with my feet on resting on the bottom of the gunwales. pulling on the daggerboard the boat righted to its side fairly easy. once on its side I just put a little more weight on the daggerboard and up it went. I made sure I was holding on to the boat when it righted just in case the sheet was caught on something.

The boat didn’t sail away when it righted so it looked like the sheet was free. I then tried to get back in the boat. even with water in it there was still a lot of sheer, so I tried to board at the transom, no luck there. My arms were not strong enough…. or I was just to heavy

so I went to the side instead and boarded the boat one leg first. The water in the boat prevented it from capsizing again from my all of my weight on one side. and I was back in the boat.

So I did it, got through my first capsize, it was pretty much a text book righting , except I forgot to point the bow to the wind. the hardest part was actually getting back in.

Soon as I was in, then I heard the 1 minute horn sound. I then brought out the bailer and started bailing like crazy then the flag went up and off they went. with still a lot of water in the boat joining the race was out of the question, so I went back to shore and decided to remove the water there.

It took a while before I got the water out and all that bailing got me exhausted. so I rested a bit. by the time I got back to join the fray they were about to start the third race. It was my only buoy race of the weekend and I managed to finish behind everyone but the Vagabond. but I managed to learn a lot from it.

After that race we went back. I was already tired and decided to pack up my boat while I still had the energy.

While trying to undo the clew strap the wind caught the sail and sheet got caught in one of the cleats, and all i can do was watch as the boat went on its side again. argh! this was just not my day. a couple of the hobie sailors were kind enough to help me tip the boat over and get most of the water out.

mario and iking helped me unbolt the boat and bring it back to shore, while tato and his crew helped me load ceol beag back into the van.

Went to the TLYC yesterday, to meet with Peter C. to get my boat rated for the RTV.

Launched from Club Lake as usual. got there at around 0830 and was able to set up almost immediately. Gil had already left for the States, and in charge of the place now is his nephew Archie.

After having a quick breakfast, I launched. the wind was pretty spotty but there was good wind near the shore. It looked like it might die out soon so I headed immediately for my objective, Taal Lake Yacht Club.

the wind was pretty light and after about 20 minutes I was already at the at the front of TLYC. It was around 0930. Peter told me he’ll be at the club at around 1100, so I was early. I decided to muck around for a little bit around the area. Then I noticed that the wind was dying down, so I headed in and beached.

The place was pretty much empty except for one guy about to take out a chartered hobie with his kid. After about 30 minutes Peter arrived. He introduced me to Joe and Ben and we then proceeded to my boat for them to give it a quick look over.

After the usual complements on how pretty she looked and how nice her lines were

they then proceeded to give their suggestions for performance improvment, like side decks, bow sprits etc…

This was actually the frist time Peter has seen a sail done in Polytarp, and he said from a distance he actually thought it was dacron. All three of them agreed that the sail was nicely done, (hats off to Lea and Bob

)

Peter told me that Ben is also a boat builder and he’s actually entering one of his creations in the RTV. Gents, Meet Ben:

Beside him is Korvus, a boat of his own design based on a traditional Scottish boat, he didn’t say what type of boat in particular though but I think it’s a Shetland Foureen a boat type where the Ian Oughtred’s Caledonia Yawl is based on. His version is different though, his has a cabin. Korvus is a 6 meter long double ender, she’s supposed to have a Gaff Rig, but would have a temporary bermuda rig from another monohull for the RTV. Ben completed building the hull in 6 months, alone, in his garage.

all in all, she’s a very pretty boat.

He was very happy to find other home boatbuilders like himself and find out about PHBYC. I gave him the URL and I think he would be joining the forum shortly. Korvus is at TLYC to get fitted out and tested, Yesterday, Ben was busy painting the mast and the boom.

So it looks like Tato and his Vagabond would have some friendly competition in the form of Ben and Korvus.

Peter determined that the best way to get a rating for the Spindrift was to use the topper as a benchmark and race them against each other. but at that time the wind had died down and the conditions were less than ideal to do the test.

So I had lunch instead, and strolled around tlyc while waiting for the wind to pick up.

After lunch, Peter and his son Cris headed out on a topper for a sailing lesson. since there was little or no wind to speak of they did the next best thing and did capsize drills.

Since they were having so much fun, I decided to join them on the water as well, wind or without wind. after about 30 minutes or so of aimless drifting, I wanted to head back as I was getting fried and it looked like Peter and Cris were heading in also. but as we neared the beach, the wind started picking up again and not long after that we were sailing.

Peter had a buoy set up earlier for the rating test and we were supposed round that and head for the raft and round that. So with Peter and Cris in the topper and myself solo on Ceol Beag, we raced… sort of

I was ahead of them most of the time, primarily because I was out infront already when we started.

Our speeds however, were pretty matched, I was able to keep my lead the the whole time. It was only at rounding the raft the last time, that I stalled and Peter was able to get ahead (rookie mistake)

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After that, Peter then determined that the Spindrift will have the same PY as the Toppers. Not really sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, but I guess we can only find out on race day.

With business at tlyc done, I headed back to club lake, packed up and went home

Sailing with me this time was Andrew and another friend Butch. I asked permission from Gil if I can leave the boat there until after the RTV, so I can get more sailing time in before the race. sure enough he said yes.

We arrived at club lake Just before 23:00. Gil and his pals were in one of the huts having a few drinks and playing cards. so after exchanging some pleasantries. we unpacked the boat and assembled it on the beach. The wind was actually pretty good for sailing and I recommended rigging up the boat as well. So we did, but I was eventually out-voted from going out on a night sail. So we just unpacked the beer and other "essential" camping paraphernalia and proceeded to party on the beach

The classic skyflakes and spicy tuna was the pulutan and we each had a couple of one liter bottles (grande) of beer for each of us.

First one to get plastered was me, as I was pretty much tired from a full day of work, packing up the boat and driving. So I went to bed at around 01:30. I first tried to sleep in the L300 but I found it a little too warm for my liking. So I transferred to the pool side hammock and slept there. I spent around 10 minutes looking for a good sleeping position on the hammock but when I found it, I was out like a light. I was awoken by the sounds of roosters crowing and some sunshine reflecting on the sky that was around 05:30.

So I got up and saw Andrew sitting inside the van, and I went there to get some water. he told me that he hadn’t had a wink of sleep all night, Butch was in the van with him and sleeping like a baby. apparently, Butch is a real loud snorer. Andrew said it was like sleeping with a hybernating bear inside a cave.

with Andrew still imobilized and butch still happily snoring and me, being the morning person that I am, I then proceeded to the beach, dragged the boat into the water and got set for a quick sail. the wind was really, really light and it barely got the boat moving. 


but being on the water at sunrise is something I wouldn’t exchange for anything . I was just basically drifting, but it really felt great to be out there, with the cool morning air and the sun just beginning to peek over the horizon. it was Wonderful.

Soon the sun was up and I was getting hungry. so I sculled back, (still very little wind)

When I got back, Andrew still hadn’t gotten any sleep and Butch was still… well snoring. So I had breakfast of ham and cheese sandwitch, milk and juice. Butch eventually got up a few munutes later.

The wind was starting to pick up, but it still didn’t affect the water yet and was still mostly flat. Great time to get a first timer out on the water. Butch was ready to sail but Andrew wasn’t, so we just left him and hoped he can get some sleep in. So it was just Butch and myself.

I told Butch to have breakfast out on the water. since the water was still pretty calm anyways. the wind was nice and steady, but still fairly light, and Butch was able to have his breakfast. I put in brass horn cleats the weekend before and I was able to use them for the first time. So it was easy single handed sailing,

I asked Butch if he wanted to try to head for Alexandra’s rock and he being a son of tanker captain he was game. It was around 07:30.

After a few minutes at the helm, I decided to turn it over to Butch since we’re on a pretty straight reaching course for the rock anyways and with the sheet cleated all he had to do is keep a straight heading.

all way to the rock the wind was nice and steady and the water very calm. it gradually picked up when we got the middle of the lake but not by much, and we were making good speed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it only took us an hour to get to the rock. We were supposed to round the island but we found a few fishnets marked by bouys between the rock and volcano island. so on going back we just went by the same way we came.

At this time the lake was now at its normal self. The wind was steady and slightly gusty. The chop was there as well. We encountered 2 to 3 foot swells and white caps were all around. Butch was still at the helm. But he was doing such a good job that i let them stay at it. I on the other hand handled the sheet. This was so far my wettest sail on Ceol Beag. The swells were pretty big and we were getting a lot of spray. at one point, I had to bring out the bailer as there was already more than two inches of water in the forward area.

Even if it was Butch’s first time on a sailboat and his first time at the helm, he did pretty well, he wasn’t at all intimidated by the chop. but then again, he told me he was out on the water between Bataan and Coregidor in his dad’s tanker when typhoon Milenyo hit, so i’m sure two foot swells were nothing.

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We were back at club lake 1 hour after starting our journey back. even though the wind was stronger it was the waves that slowed us down.

Upon getting back to club lake, Andrew was sitting in the pavilion mulling over the reasons why he couldn’t gain entry into lala land. He told us that when we left he transfered from the van and into the hammock to try and get some zzzz’s. Just as he was getting comfortable, a bus load of kids came into club lake for a swim. This just wasn’t his day.

I made some beef curry the day before and we had that for lunch.

Butch was game for another sail and so was I, Andrew was still another story. So it was Butch and I again.

This time I was on the helm. I wanted to get some tacking practice and Butch wanted to snap some pics, so we headed west towards tlyc. Butch was able to get several good pictures and even some video of us sailing. (i’ll post them soon). It being a holiday, I was expecting the hobies might be out, but didn’t see any, all there was was another dinghy and a wind surfer. there we’re also a couple of toppers about to set out. It looked like as they were giving lessons as I saw them doing a capsize drill a little while before.

I was able to get some tacking practice and am fairly happy with my progress, but i’d definatey need to practice more while solo. maybe during the all saints.

After about an hour on the water we went back and we were both pretty exhausted. It didn’t stop us from getting a couple of beers in us though. after finishing a couple of beers each, we disassembled the boat and stored it in the pavillion.

This was supposed to be my first real point-to-point sail on Ceol Beag. Objective: Taal’s volcano island.

We were supposed to leave earlier than usual at around 7am, but I was only able to get in from the previous night at around 5am and Andrew got in at around 4:30am so scratch that. but we were eventually able to get our act together and were able to leave Las Pinas at around 08:30. not bad, with only 3 hours of sleep.

Leaving later than planned wasn’t such a bad idea after all, when we got to club lake the water was dead calm. But we proceeded to set up the boat anyways, hoping for the wind to pick up later.   The beach was a mess by the way, from last week’s typhoon, one of Gil’s boats was partially sunk and his fg banca was on the beach and so was loads of other crap from wrecked fish cages etc…

at around 11:00 we were ready to go,  but the wind was not there yet, so we broke out the paddles and see if we can try to paddle to our objective, after about 10 minutes of that, it was obvious that we should forget about that idea. So while waiting for the wind, we decided to have lunch. so we broke out a couple of chicken fillet sanwiches and had a quick meal. followed with a couple of cigarettes.  here you can see how  glassy the water was, despite the feeling action pose we were not moving at all. after a little bit of aimlessly floating on the water, I noticed that there seemed to be a steady wind line near the shore, so we decided to just head for that so we could atleast get a little sailing in. By the time we got to where the windline was, I noticed that the wind was starting to pick up everywhere.

So with wind finally in our sail, we headed out. time check: it was 13:15. the wind picked up fairly fast and soon we were on a broad reach for volcano island, too bad mario the living anemometer wasn’t there to tell us how fast the wind was.  around three quarters of the way there, the sheet came loose from my hand and slipped out the block, we had to sail the rest of the way without a purchase on the sheet. Andrew was holding it the whole time and he said the load on it was unbelievable. We could actually have fixed it by pointing into the wind, but we decided to leave well enough alone. Other than that incident with the sheet it was smooth sailing all the way, we were aiming for the tourist center on the island but there were just too many boats parked at the shore, so we chose a spot a little to the west. as soon as we were spotted by the locals everyone was directing us to different places to beach, we eventually took the one the was dead ahead of us.   Time check: it was 14:00. 45 minutes to cover around 7 kilometers, not bad. I was pretty surprised. we could have probably have cut that a little bit more if I remembered to raise the db since we were going down wind anyways.

We were met by a guy named Jason who was was into the horse hire and guide business, When I told him that we had no plans to head up to the crater today, and would rather prefer a beer or a coke, and rest our weary bums, he then led us to his back yard and set up a couple of chairs and a table and got us a couple of cold pale pilsners.

So we enjoyed our beers and settled our adrenal glands, as we were still fairly giddy from the trip. I couldn’t beleive it, WE MADE IT!

The original plan was to stay overnight and climb to the crater, but we just didn’t have the time or the supplies, atleast now we know now we can get there. think of this as a scouting expedition. 

We just had two beers each, and soon it was time to head back, the wind died down a little bit, and I noticed there were no more white caps, (there were lots on the way there.)

It was a close hauled course heading for TLYC on the way back.  and the wind was calm enough to be able to snap some pictures.

we decided to keep on that heading, and just start tacking when we got closer to shore. bad idea, the wind was pretty shifty near the shore I had a difficult time keeping a straight heading. now I know that it’s better to plan your tacks earlier.

route was something like this, but don’t expect it to be accurate though as I don’t know where the hell we landed. 

On the way back we passed by several hobies and a couple of topper dinghies on the water by TLYC. no pics though.

after around two hours after we left the island we were back at club lake.

I learned tons that day, and my confidence in my sailing skills and the boat has greatly improved. despite the gusty conditions we had on the way to the island and the big banka wakes we had to roll over, the boat was pretty dry.

I’m really contemplating on making a cleating system for the sheet, so I don’t have to hold it all the time. one’s hands can get a little stiff after a while. I’m also getting seat cushion, for me at least, as as of this post by bum is still a little sore.

A day after volunteering for sailability, I still wanted to go sailing, so I did. We arrived at club lake at around 11pm, Andrew was supposed to come, but was drunk again

so it was just me, the Wife and son Cholo. When I invited Cholo to go sailing this weekend he said he was game but changed his mind last minute (what do you expect from a 6 year-old ).

So he just went swimming instead. I really wanted to take both of them out, but Cholo didn’t want to and I couldn’t take just Cheryl out since no one would be left with him.

So it was just me single handed.

When we arrived, there was a good breeze going, but by the time I got out to the water the wind had died, and coudn’t go out, so I waited. a slight breeze came about 30 minutes later and died again as soon as it got there. So I decided to go for a swim in the pool instead. 30 minutes later the wind started picking up, so I decided to give it another go. the breeze was pretty steady and I was on my way. weremermaid said she might be at TLYC on Sunday so I went that direction. A few hobies also went out, taking advantage of the good breeze, I was looking for a one legged lady with a yellow pfd on one of the hobies on the water but didn’t see any.

Then I noticed the wind was starting to pick up, more and more and more! It came to the point that the weather was like the last time Andrew and I were there, and I was out on the water, alone, in raging conditions, and it was my first time single handed! and worse, my phone had no load

If it were a little calmer I would’ve gotten closer to tlyc to see if mermaid were there, but had to scratch that idea in favor of turning back, as it looked like rain over in the distance. (that’s me chickening out. )

the wind was blowing shoreward, so I made 180 degree turn to windward (keeping safe) and stayed on beam reach on the way back (and yes, wider gunwales and hiking straps would’ve been great at this point). then I turned down wind and was on a run on the way back to club lake. it was a good thing I was able to fix the sticking daggerboard problem last week, as I don’t know what would’ve happened if I had to let go of everything and had to pull out the db with both hands.

the whole time, the boat never felt unmanageable, even in the strongest winds that day. yes, I was mostly in control

woohoo! thinking back, I think I should’ve stayed out a lot longer. but my newbieness got the better of me I guess. all in all, I had loads of fun. It was kind of a mix of the second outing and the thrid.

I found my most comfortable seating position in the boat was on the floor, between the center thwart and the rear compartment. comfortable, maybe, but i actually like the vew from there.

Last week, me and a few buds from PHBYC volunteered for Sailability Philippines, a program that teaches disabled persons how to sail. Aquaman and biel volunteered their sailing knowledge to be instructors on Access dinghies and teach the newbies how to sail. Arvin skippered a 40′+ sailing yacht that would carry a film crew from the TV show gameplan which was also there to take footage of sailability in action. Leading sailability was weremermaid she was also the group’s spokeperson. since I had too little sailing experience to teach any one, I volunteered my boat. here’s a picture of one of the access dinghies with Aquaman in it and biel (in the blue and yellow pfd) getting ready to board. ====>

With the help of Arvin, we set up Ceol Beag at the MYC parking lot and carried it  down the dinghy ramp. I then brought it to the dock to pick up Bong, a polio victim who’s also part of the sailability program. Bong works at the MYC restoring boats and stuff and actually has had more sailing experience than most of the sailablity sailors there.

With Bong at the helm we went out of the breakwater and went out to join the Philippine sailing team at their practice. But we knew well enough to keep our distance. Watching the sailing team at practice was like watching ballet on the water. all those synchronized tacks and gybes were fun to watch.

After a few minutes in the water, Aquaman boarded ceol beag and bong transfered to an Access. The Access 2.3 dinghy is an amazing little boat, especially developed for the disabled and newbie sailors. Steering is controlled with a joystick and all lines lead to the helmsman. Seating is on a very comfortable in a hammock type seat. It is also very stable, courtesy with its 60 pound centerboard. I was also able to try out the Access later in the afternoon. It was fun, but a little to tame for my taste though.

After lunch other sailors also got to try my spindrift for the first time. Weremermaid was one of them, one leg and all. Mermaid has had plenty of experience sailing dinghies and even hobies, so for her, handling the spindrift was easy. She really took the boat out through its paces, doing rolling tacks and several hard gybes. The racer that she is, she was looking for hiking straps and side wings for hiking purposes, but I told her that the spindrift was designed as a working tender and not a racer, and thus its very simple deck layout.

An ex laser sailor, XP also got to try out the spindrift and made several recommendations on the rigging and seating arrangements. He was so impressed with the boat and even talked about the possibility of creating a one-design racing class for it. I’ve since given him a quote on how much it would be cost to have a commisioned build. but so far no orders yet. here’s me crossing my fingers

With the help of the other PHBC guys, we packed up the boat. A small crowd gathered around it while we were doing so, amazed mostly by it’s protability. It is very rare that you see a perfectly good boat taken apart in half and loaded into a van.