Back to Oceanview Marina

The trip back to Holiday Oceanview Marina, down the coast of Mindanao was relatively uneventful.

We stopped in Bucas Grande for a couple of days, and got the drone out. Beautiful Bucas Grande
Most of the trip south was a wind-less motorsail. Some days we didn't even take the awning down. Motoring South with No Wind
We met the usual wide array of fishing boats. Fishing Boats
And some friendly kids who wanted us to stay and visit their village. Friendly Kids!
I dropped my cell phone from the helm station--about a 4 ft drop--and it landed on the corner. Eventually this purple stuff crept all the way up the screen, making the phone unusable. I was forced to move to a standby, a very old Samsung Galazy S3. I see a new cell phone in my future!! (I did end up buying a new phone, but also got the screen on the old phone fixed). Broken Phone
One of our Last Sunsets
We arrived back at Oceanview Marina on Nov 15 and COVID protocols were still in place. We were told we had to go to the health center on the island for a COVID test. But when we got there, they said we didn't need it. We also were told we had to quarantine for 5 days. But 4 days into the quarantine, they also removed that requirement. Soggy Paws and Meikyo Sharing Quarantine
We spent most of December getting ready for our leap into Indonesia in January. The requirements to enter Indonesia were still a moving target, but by god, we were going to get going! Required Provisions for Us and the Cats
Checking out PCR Testing Facilities in Davao
We Had a Very Nice Christmas Eve Dinner with the HOV Gang

Diving Bohol (Not!)

As we started to think about heading back to Samal Island, we wanted to try to dive in "legendary" Bohol. We contacted a dive operation on the east coast, and they were excited to have us come by and dive with them. At this point in time, the Philippines were still not letting foreigners into the country due to COVID fears, so all the tourism-based operations were absolutely dying. The S Pass
Bohol had been rigidly closed during the pandemic for over a year for all but Bohol residents. But the Bohol local government had recently "opened up" with a requirement for an "S-Pass" for visitors to Bohol. This is an online "check your vax status" mechanism.

We were fully vaxxed and had the paperwork to prove it. The S-Pass site wanted verification from the Philippines Government site. Everyone giving vaccinations were supposed to be uploading completed vaccination information to the central government website. But our vax site was apparently WAY behind in uploading the data, so the S-Pass site said we were not vaccinated. As we had paid $100 USD to a private clinic to get Moderna vaccinations, we were pretty upset that our vax confirmations were still not registered on the Philippines Government site. So, we could not get an S-Pass.

We provided copies of our vaccination proof to the dive resort on Bohol, and asked them if we could just anchor off their resort for a couple of days and dive with them. We asked them to get approval from the local council. Well, they couldn't manage getting around the government beauracracy and the insistance on an S-Pass. So sad, for them and for us.

So, we called up our old friend at Southern Leyte Divers at Padre Burgos, and asked if we could come dive with him. Actually, I think the same restrictions were in place in Leyte as in Bohol, but at this point, this guy didn't care. He knew if we anchored off, just dove with them, and didn't go into town, nobody would question him or us. So we stayed there for 3-4 days, had some nice dinners ashore, and some nice dives. Southern Leyte Divers Dive Boat
An Anemone Showing its Colors
A Nice Nudibranch
A Ferocious Looking Lizard Fish
We also met up with Mike and Liliane from SV Meikyo, who were also on their way back to Samal Island.
On 4 November we started the trip south to Samal Island.

Escape from Davao!

Davao to Port Carmen, Cebu Island, Philippines
May 11 - June 8, 2021

We finally completed our battery upgrade project in early May 2021. See results here. Things around the Philippines were starting to loosen up a little. A couple of our friends had already escaped the marina and were doing OK cruising.

The Philippines were gearing up for the first rounds of Covid vaccinations. They had already completed most of the front line worker vaxes, and were getting organized for a big push with the rest of the population. The first step was to count how many doses they needed in each locale. We got registered with the folks on Samal Island. We were thankful that the Philippines weren't distinguishing between "visitors" and citizens. We were slated to be in the 3rd tier behind the front line workers and the "poor" old people. But we had no firm schedule for when vaccinations would actually come to Samal.

Moving Out of the Condo
Where are we going to put it all?
After being confined to the marina for over a year, we were itching to get going.

We debated staying until we got vaccinated, but who knows when that would really happen. A couple of our friends had already escaped the marina and were doing OK cruising.

The twice-a-month marina shuttle van to Davao hadn't been running in over a year, so we got together with another boat and hired a tourist van from Samal to take us to S and R and G-Mall for a big provisioning trip. Plus I took the local marina shuttle into Babak nearly every day to buy as much as we could carry. So we stocked up for 6 months of cruising, and checked out of our cushy condo on May 7. That was our cats' first night aboard.

It took us a few more days to get organized to leave. We finally left the marina on May 11, 2021. Oh, what a relief it was! This had been the longest time ever, since my ex and I bought our first sailboat in the mid 80's, that I hadn't been out on a boat on the water. (Living aboard in an enclosed marina doesn't count!)

Sailing Again!!
We didn't have any real concrete plans, other than to go up into the central Philippines and cruise parts of the Philippines we hadn't spent much time in. The central Philippines has a mostly enclosed area of islands known as the Visayas, which is a great cruising ground. There's no real open ocean sailing once we get up the Mindanao coast--we only had to keep an eye out for Typhoons.

Our Helm Station
We had already been up and down the east coast of Mindanao in 2018, so we motorsailed up the coast as fast as reasonably possible. As before, between morning calms, currents, and widely spaced anchorages (ie long day hops), there wasn't much sailing on this leg. As before, we day-hopped the entire way, due to the risks of nighttime unlit fishing boats, nets, and FADs.

Happy Hour on the Foredeck at Sunset in Bucas Grande
On May 23, we motored through the Hinatuan Passage at 9 knots! (with 3-4 knots of current behind us). You really have to time this small 5 mile stretch for a favorable tide. We were lucky that the tides were right as soon as we wanted to go through.

At the end of this passage, just north of the town of Surigao, was a new anchorage that our friends had weathered an almost-typhoon in. We wanted to check it out, and so spent the night in the enclosed area in Nonoc Island (09°49.73'N / 125° 35.61'E, 35 ft mud).

It definitely helps to have a satellite image to get into the anchorage. It would be a good choice for a mild Typhoon, but I don't think I'd stay here by choice if a strong Typhoon were coming. The reefs would knock the seas down, but there's a huge sector of the bay open to the wind. With enough notice, I'd sail south to several hidey holes along the top of western Mindanao.

The next night, we made it all the way up to the SW tip of Leyte Island. We had stopped here and dived with Southern Leyte Divers in 2018. But this time, we merely stopped overnight and pushed on to Port Carmen, 2 more days travel NW. Dave had booked a spot on Zeke's (Pinoy Boatyard in Port Carmen) catamaran ramp, and we needed to be there before the high tide.

We finally pulled into Port Carmen on May 25, 2021. Two days later, we went up on the ramp for a few days. Dave wanted to change zincs and outer saildrive seals. You can only do bottom work at low tide while on this ramp, so we worked odd hours when the tide was low.

Boats Med-Moored at Zeke's Docks
Boats are Stacked Two Deep in the Marina Due to Pandemic
Port Carmen is one of the places where the "budget" cruisers hang out. Zeke's Marina and Boatyard (aka Pinoy Boat Services) is chock-a-block with boats right now--a few occupied, but most stored and left by owners who flew out when the pandemic began. Zeke has them rafted 2 deep in some places. The Philippines is STILL not letting non-Filipino citizens in except in special circumstances, and "But my $100K boat is there, rotting!" isn't considered a special circumstance.

We heard around the bar at Zeke's that they were vaccinating older people in Danao, the nearby city. "Just show up in the morning with your passport and tell them you are living at Zeke's on your boat." That worked!

The Vaccination Registration Desk at Danao Health Center
The Briefing Before We Were Vaccinated
We got our first vaccinations on May 28. The only problem was, because I told them I was taking baby aspirin, they would not vaccinate me with Astra Zenica (what Dave got). They would only give me Sinovac. They told me I could stop taking aspirin and come back in a month, or get the Sinovac today. Something is better than nothing, so I accepted the Sinovac reluctantly. I did not have much faith in the Chinese vaccine.

I didn't feel any after-effects from my Sinovac jab, but Dave was feeling pretty poor for 24 hours after his Astra Zenica. Right during our haulout, too! He slept for about 24 hours and then felt good enough to go back to work.

Soggy Paws on the New "Cat Ramp" at Zekes
Dave Working on the Saildrives
In the Mud/Sand at Low Tide
Zeke CAN haul you completely out of the water and block you high and dry, but that's a fairly time-consuming and expensive proposition. And there was currently a boat out doing an extensive Copper Coat bottom job. I'm not sure there's room for two out of the water.

We finished our work on the ramp and launched on the high tide on May 31, and went out to a mooring in the "pond" outside Zeke's.

The Carmen South Mooring Field--In the Rain
We couldn't leave Carmen yet though--we needed to renew our visas and do some re-stocking. A couple of days later we hopped a bus heading for Cebu out in front of the shipyard. Our friend Evan on Java had given us precise instructions for the best/easiest/cheapest way to get to the best/easiest Immigration office--one that will give you a 6 month extension without begging (vs the 2 months that is the norm these days in the Philippines).

There were COVID checkpoints on the road into Cebu, but most were either not manned these days, or just waved the bus on through. We wore our super-masks (KN95) on this trip as we knew not many Filipinos were vaxxed yet. We had all our paperwork ready to submit, so getting the visa extensions was quick and painless--it only takes money (about $30 pp per month). Afterward we checked out a couple of malls near the Immigration office. The grocery stores were open, but a lot of stores were still closed. We took a taxi to the bus station near another mall, and found the right bus to get back to the shipyard.

Another thing we did this first week in Carmen was organize a vet to come out to Zekes to handle all the pet needs for all the cruisers. Our little Charlie was ready for her 2nd round of shots. We ended up with 6-8 cats and dogs waiting around the picnic table at Zekes. The vet arrived late and was pretty disorganized, but the only other way to get to a vet was to get on a trike or a jeepney or bus with the cat. The other vet in Danao is hard to reach and hard to schedule. We later had a really bad experience with this vet when it came time to get Charlie spayed. So I wouldn't let her near your pet with a knife. I don't think she has any formal veterinary training.

Up Next: Cruising the Camotes Islands

2020 - The Year of COVID

June 28, 2021, from the Philippines

I haven't quite finished updating our adventures in 2019--I did a few long posts while we were in Lockdown in 2020, but waiting for catchup obviously isn't working, so I thought I'd at least let everyone know that we DID survive (at least so far) Covid-19 in the Philippines.

To recap our situation in early 2020... With the boat at Holiday Oceanview Marina, Samal Island (near Davao, Mindanao, Philippines) we had stayed in Florida until the end of January 2020.

December and January in Florida
2020 Started Out Right
With a Regatta at Melbourne Yacht Club And Pick'n and Grin'n with some of our favorite folks at Melbourne Yacht Club
We enjoyed visiting with lots of people all over Florida, including Dave's cousin Bryan, kayaking with some of Dave's Naval Academy buddies, sailing with friends Don and Gwen (who also own a St. Francis 44), and visiting with former Keys friends Dave and Jo-Ann. Plus Dave spent a bunch of time talking about World War II issues with buddy Justin Taylan of PacificWrecks.com. Justin also helped us move a bedroom full of stuff into a storage unit.
So Much "Stuff"! The Last Trip with the Van
By late January we were starting see the news from China that looked very bad. Contemplating our flight via LAX and Manila, on about Jan 28, I ordered a 100-pack of surgical masks from Amazon to be delivered to Dave's son in San Diego, which was on our route back to the Philippines. Prescient!

Purchased: 100 Count Surgical Masks, Jan 2020
We were scheduled to fly LAX to Manila, leaving LAX Feb 4 and arriving in the Philippines on Feb 6, and I was scared that we might have problems with this flight, as China is so close to the Philippines. All went well on the flight, but we kept masks on when in enclosed spaces. We flew straight through, LAX to Manila to Davao, with only a 4 hr layover in Manila--no problems. All of our (very heavy x4) luggage arrived with us. We were grateful that a friend with a pickup agreed to meet us at the airport and transport us and luggage across on the ferry to the island of Samal. As always, we were very happy to get back on board.

Our plans were to leave Samal Island "at the end of February" for Indonesia, and then work our way west to Singapore and the Malay peninsula during 2020. So we had a really busy month planned to get ready to go. Besides our 4 big suitcases full of stuff, we had also shipped 3 big boxes via sea freight, with lots of parts and materials for "projects", including a complete set of standing rigging wire and connectors, a mainsheet, and too many other things to list.

Approaching the Haulout Ramp Blocked and Ready for Work
Well, we didn't make our "end of February" date--our 3 boxes didn't arrive with the new rigging wire until mid-March. On March 8, we hauled out for a couple of weeks to do bottom paint and some work on the saildrives. Since they were going to leave us on the haulout ramp, we got a short term condo booked at the resort next door, for March 8-22. We didn't check out of that condo until May 10, 2021!

The Lovely View from our Condo
Other than the haulout and the re-rigging, we were ready to leave. We were fully fueled and stocked to the gills for 6 months in Indonesia. We just needed to complete the haulout, a couple of days of work to replace the rigging wire, and we were ready for Indonesia. God laughed at our man-made plans.

The First Inkling That Our 2020 Plans would drastically change
While we were hauled out, on March 18, 2020, COVID measures started happening on Samal Island. This included restriction of movement, requirements for quarantine passes, and very limited trips to even the local market on the island, and severe restrictions on going in to the big city of Davao.

By the end of March, almost all SE Asia countries were "locked down" (not admitting new visitors). By the time we finished our haulout and our our re-rigging, it became obvious that continuing with our plan to move on to Indonesia was unwise and maybe impossible. There were already several cases in our cruising Facebook groups of cruisers that left one place while their next stop was "open" only to find out that country, and the country they left, both closed while they were enroute. We didn't want to get stuck somewhere--we had it pretty good in our little Oceanview Marina on Samal Island.

Waiting at the 7-11 for Shuttle Pickup
Checkpoints around Samal to Keep Unneccesary Travel down
Sale of Liquor was Banned on Samal Island for most of 2020!
The alcohol ban was the worst. We were fortunate that the new 7-11 store on Samal still permitted us to buy wine. We also hired some fishermen to go to a nearby town that wasn't under liquor lockdown and buy all the rum they could find. And we made rice wine in the pantry.
Signs at the Checkout Counter at the Grocery Store
Washing Money in Alcohol after Shopping
(I only did this once!)
The Filipinos in our small town don't have enough money to "stock up" on anything, so we never had a run on toilet paper. We were in good shape ourselves, because we were stocked for 6 months in Indonesia, so we never panicked about buying necessities.

So, with the lockdown, we decided to stick with the comfort of the condo (better A/C, Satellite TV, electric cooking, and more space). Dave could work on "projects" on the boat without having to work around me, and I could do sewing projects in the condo with a little more room to lay things out. We also felt it was safer (and nicer) for us to have a private bathroom rather than using the marina facilities. We were fortunate that our landlord was stuck in Davao and very happy to have her condo rented, even when the resort was completely closed for several months.

We did LOTS of useful work on the boat during 2020. I worked on a number of sewing projects, and Dave worked on all the boat mechanical, electrical, refrigeration, and interior stuff. With the marina closed to new guests (even those already within the Philippines), no new boats were coming in, so the marina workers were starting to run out of work to do. We all thought up new projects just to keep them working. One boat who had planned to go to Thailand for a major refit ended up staying and doing their refit at the marina, keeping a lot of the guys busy all year.
Our New Dinghy Chaps
Here are the things I accomplished in 2020:
- New Dinghy "chaps"
- New back curtain for shade across the back of the cockpit
- New side shades for the cockpit
- New windshield for the cockpit
- New screens for hatches
- New front and side window shades
- Learned how to program Arduino's (small micro computers) and Raspberry Pi's
- Tons of research and buying stuff online to support Dave's projects
- Bought and configured 2 new laptops

Dave's list is much much longer
- Moved engine exhausts to about 12" above the waterline
- Serviced both engine injection pumps and all injectors
- Upgraded the Freezer compressor from a BD-35 air cooled to a BD-50 Frigoboat keel cooled system
- Completely refurbished the freezer compartment and gasketing
- Anchor and chain re-galvanized
- Upgraded our anchor swivel to the new Mantus swivel
- All rigging wire, turnbuckles and end fittings replaced
- Added a bunch (50 shelves) of new shelving in various areas of the boat for more stuff
- Made burglar bars for the front inboard hatches
- Twice pulled and replaced seals and orings on the saildrives (chasing leaks)
- Liferaft serviced and repacked
- Installed 2 new bilge pumps
- Replaced our aging 600 Ah of Gel batteries with 540 Ah LiFePO4 (lithium) batteries
- Did some major rewiring and labeling of electrical system

Early on, to keep ourselves occupied, we had "learning night" in the marina clubhouse. Dave and I each gave several presentations on places we had cruised, and technical subjects. (see our Presentations page on the website--they are all there).

The Battery Project
When it became obvious in late May that things weren't going to get better for quite awhile, we started thinking it was a good time to upgrade our house battery bank to Lithium. The biggest problem in the Philippines is shipping stuff in--if you don't do it carefully, your "stuff" can get stuck in Customs and subject to 35-50% duty and day-by-day Customs holding charges. We got pretty good at shipping stuff in from the USA, but we wanted to buy these batteries direct in China, and we didn't know of a shipping mechanism that would work.

Our LiFePO4 Cells Have Finally Arrived!
Another friend in the marina found a way, via a friend in Hong Kong. So together we bought 24 3.3-volt 272 Ah LifePO4 cells from a reputable source in China. It took 2 1/2 months for the batteries to reach us from China. Then the fun started. It was a long long learning process for us--one that didn't complete until April 2021.

4 of our 8 Cells (note Bar Codes, etc)
The Battery Lab Where We Did Our Capacity Testing
It IS possible to just slam together a LifePO4 system without a lot of thought and effort, and it will likely work, but Dave is obsessed with "doing it right", both for safety reasons and longevity of the batteries. So he and I both spent hours reading (mostly online) and watching YouTube videos to understand why upgrading to LifePO4 batteries can be an involved process.

To see the results, check out our Electrical page on the website at http://svsoggypaws.com/electricalsystems.htm)

Originally we thought we would build a custom Battery Management System (BMS), using Arduino boards and custom programming, based on a project posted by someone else on Instructables.com. Our friend in the battery project is an Electrical Engineer, and he designed a custom circuit board with an Analog Devices BMS chip on it. He did the hardware design and I was in charge of adapting the Arduino programming to the new chip, adding in a NMEA2000 communications capability, and programming the additional protection circuit logic.

Me, Learning How to Program Arduionos
(I had a lot of fun doing this!)
Two Arduinos Communicating via CanBus
(and eventually NMEA2000)
A Simple Temperature Monitor, My First Project
We thought this would be a cinch project since we already had a hardware design and prototype software for a working system. But throw in a newer BMS chip, and several new protection circuits, board fabrication and sourcing parts from the Philippines, and things got kind of out of control, timewise. I got the prototype software working with a breadboard version of the BMS board, but the final "production" BMS boards were still not quite 100% by the time we left the marina in May 2021.

When it became obvious in about August that our custom BMS wasn't going to be ready for prime time according to our schedule, we bought a commercially available BMS (Electrodacus SBMS0), which took 2 months to make it to the Philippines, and another several months to get wired up appropriately with protection circuits, etc. But at least I wasn't responsible if there was a glitch in the software!
The Custom Compression Box Dave Built
Even now, after 6 weeks of actively cruising with the new battery bank, we are still learning. But we are glad we made the switch--adding more capacity at far less weight (300 lbs less) than our previous gel bank.
The Finished Enclosed Battery Box
See more details here: http://svsoggypaws.com/electricalsystems.htm

Staying Fit
We were fortunate to be locked down in the marina with another boat who were both Black Belts in karate. Mike and Liliane held some kind of workout session in the marina clubhouse 6 days a week--3 days a week for karate, plus 2 days of Jazzercisey strength and core exercise, and one day a week we took a long walk. After over a year of karate we 3 students ended up as Blue Belts. We normally did our workouts in the marina clubhouse, but occasionally we would vary the venue a little just for fun.
Working out in a Gorgeous Setting
We also had the resort pool completely to ourselves for months, as the resorts were closed due to lockdowns.

Dave couldn't be bothered to get up early enough for the morning workouts. He liked to do his workouts in the evening just before sunset... a half hour walk up and down the hill behind the marina, working out indoors in front of the TV, or an evening pool swim a couple times a week.

I ended up the lockdown period 10 lbs lighter and a lot stronger than I would have otherwise.

Social Life
The traditional very strong marina social life kind of fell apart during 2020. Sundays at Bahay Kubo, Wednesday night pizza, and Friday evening potluck, all eventually went by the wayside due to lockdowns, social distancing, and low numbers in the marina. Most Sundays, participation at Bahay Kubo was only 4 stalwart foodies (winos), as the restaurant was not officially open for most of the year due to COVID restrictions.
Looking Forward to Bahay Kubo on Sundays Kept Us Sane
For various reasons, we could never get more than 2-3 boats to participate in any "social event" that we dreamed up, including a BYO dinner poolside at the resort (when the resort was closed). Even when we managed to restart "pizza night" by having pizza delivered, only a few people stuck around to socialize on the balcony after the pizzas were delivered. I sure missed the pre-pandemic social life!

We were really grateful when Wind Hog held a very nice Christmas Party on their boat, and invited everyone in the marina. We all brought masks, but after the first round of drinks, they went into our pockets (we were all outside on deck and in the cockpit). Wonder why the mayor initiated the Liquor Ban that we hated so much? The Wind Hog Christmas Party
US News and the 2020 Election
When not working on the boat, we enjoyed/suffered through catching up with US News by watching CNN on the TV, and NBC Nightly News on the computer. The spectacle of Trumpism flourishing in our country left us speechless at times, and often made us embarrased for our country. Our President Making Official Announcements
And Leading Us Through This Crisis

We made sure our status as absentee voters in Florida was solid, and faxed in our absentee ballots during the early voting season. And we verified that our votes were received and counted. We are hoping that "voting reforms" will not disenfranchise us in the next election.


Online Check to Make Sure our Absentee Vote
was Received and Counted

Towards the end of 2020, Indonesia appeared to be opening up somewhat, and we hoped to be able to enact our 2020 plans in 2021. However, uncertainty over when we would actually complete our battery project caused us to miss that window. Indonesia closed the special cruising permit again in early January 2021.