Doing the Carmen / Camotes Shuffle

June and July 2021

We finally broke out of Port Carmen on June 10, and headed out to the Camotes Islands, along with our friends on Java. We had met Evan on Java in Ecuador in 2009, and have bumped into him on and off across the Pacific. Evan is pretty much based in Port Carmen these days, where life is easy. We were excited to catch up with Evan and Nancy once again.


The Camotes is a group of 3 islands in the middle of the Camotes Sea between Cebu Island and Leyte Island, only 15 miles from Carmen. Most of the waypoints and accounts of cruising the Camotes that I had were from people cruising during the winter season, when the wind blows out of the northeast. But this was summer and winds were S-SW. So the NE season anchorages wouldn't work at all. We had to find our own anchorage on the north side of Pacijan island.

The Camotes, between Cebu Island and Leyte Island
We followed Java in to their favorite spot, off the east end of the beach at Talong Diot, close enough that they could take their dog Micro into the beach on the kayak. This was an OK anchorage, but lots of noisy banka traffic, and not very good holding. The bottom looks like sand, but is really slick rock dotted with small coral heads. There is a reversing current between Talong Island and Pacijan Island.

The Tulang Diot beach on Pacijan is normally a tourist beach--and mainly for picking up tourists and transporting them out to Tulang Island. But with Covid, not many tourists on the island.
The Beautiful Beach at Talong All the Tourist Bankas Waiting to Take Tourists out to Talong
After the weekend, Java left to go back to Carmen, and we explored a bit and found another anchorage we liked better, near the west end of the beach. I snorkeled around until I found a sand spot clear enough of coral heads and shallow enough to anchor in. We wanted to check out a dive shop we had been messaging with, about doing some diving.

Rock Dive is just around the corner to the SW (off the picture, lower left corner). We dinghied around from our anchorage and met up with "Uncle Rock". We eventually made about 25 dives with him, and became good friends.

Talong (Tulang) Island Anchorages for SW Winds
There were about 10 dive operations on Pacijan before Covid, and now there are only 2, and Rock Dive is one of them. Rock was surviving COVID by turning his low-end dive resort into a karaoke bar and restaurant. Plus he has a few amusing side businesses, including breeding horses and breeding Dalmation puppies.

Rock's original profession was accounting. But he hated the grind and hated accounting, so came to the Philippines to learn to dive, and eventually opened his own dive operation. His first shop was in Cebu, but he loved diving in the Camotes so much that he moved his operation to the Camotes a few years ago.

Rock's Dive Center and Karaoke Bar Great Waterfront View from Restaurant Rock's Pregnant Horse Rosemary
We spent a few days diving with Rock at Talong Island, along the wall on the north side. This is an amazing wall, with lots of life, nudis, sea fans, and just a little current to move you along the wall.
Some Soft Coral Along the Wall Sherry and Nemo
When we got a period of really light south wind, we moved to the pretty beach town at the south end of Pacijan, at Santiago Bay. Here we found the other dive shop, and made a few dives on the south side.
Camotes Fun Dive Shop on Santiago Beach Locals Enjoying Beach Volleyball at Sunset
We enjoyed the vibe at Santiago Beach. Lots of restaurants along the beach. But it's a long way in in the dinghy, the water gets very shallow, and the tides are a factor. You will wade to/from your dinghy, or find your dinghy high and dry. Both are friendly dive operations with good diving. Santiago Bay is better in NE season, and the Tulong area better in SW winds.

While in Santiago Bay, we rented motorcycles and Nerji, the Dive Shop owner, showed us all over the two islands. We hit all the tourist spots, including the Magellan Monument, and the cave.
Touring the Camotes by Motorcycle The Magellan Monument The Overlook at Buho Lake Danao Tourist Center (Restaurants, Boats, Zipline) Swimming Underground at Timubo Cave
There is a decent store, open market, and restaurants in San Francisco, the town at the center of the "butterfly" that the two main Camotes Islands make.

We moved back to the Talong area on June 20, when the SW wind came up to 10-15 knots. With a little current along the island opposing the SW wind, it was very uncomfortable off Santiago.

A few days later we motored back to Port Carmen. It was time for my 2nd Sinovac shot. Plus we had a few things to take care of... the watermaker boost pump quit working, and we had fried one of our alternator controllers.

We spent 3 weeks in Carmen this time. Partly doing boat work, and partly enjoying socializing. One Sunday morning we went by dinghy with our friends on Dream Reach up to a Hotel/Restaurant that served a great Sunday breakfast. After a massive "English Breakfast" we lounged in their pool.
Breakfast at Huna Huna Resort
We did at least one low tide Happy Hour on "Claudia's Island". This is a little "awash" rock outcropping next to the mooring area, and Claudia on s/v Tao has been piling rocks and planting mangroves to make it a little nicer for dog-walking and sunset Happy Hours. When the tides line up, it's big enough for cruisers to gather for a sunset happy hour. An old truck tire serves as the table.
Happy Hour on Claudia's Island
On our 2nd visit to Camotes, we finally found what we thought was the perfect anchorage for SW winds, on the north side of Talong Island, at the eastern end. 10° 43.181' N / 124° 19.613' E is the waypoint for a large shelf of mixed grass and sand, and a few scattered coral heads, in about 30-35 ft. We got 3-4 boats in this area. It is pretty protected even if strong S-SW winds are blowing. And it is mostly out of the way of the noisy fishing bankas.

Our Favorite South Wind Anchorage at the Camotes Our Favorite South Wind Anchorage at the Camotes Another Nice Sunset
Diving with Rock, he would come by and pick us up off the boat, and we'd dive the wall. Once or twice a week, we'd dinghy in to Rock's place for dinner. One night Rock prepared us a traditional Korean barbecue dinner.
Korean BBQ at Rock's Place
We also had Rock out come out to Soggy Paws. The people we meet are always intrigued by our lifestyle.
Rock Asking a Million Questions about Life Aboard
We spent a great couple of months between short stops in Carmen and diving at Talong Island.

If you go to Camotes, be sure to check out Uncle Rock's Dive Center.

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

Cats on a Cat!

When we left on our world cruise in May 2007, we left my cat Annabelle with my daughter. Though both Dave and I are cat people, and cats do well on cruising boats, the amount of "inland travel" we planned to do would make it difficult to keep a pet. Trying to find someone to cat-sit in a strange country while we were off the boat for 2 months at a time would be nearly impossible. We have held fast to this plan until 2019, when another cruiser asked us to cat-sit their cat for a few months while they were in NZ. This rekindled our affection for cats. But we were still sure we really didn't want to have a cat aboard.

There have always been boatyard cats at Oceanview Marina, where we spent all of 2020 and almost half of 2021. The strays seemed to have litter after litter--there were always cute little kittens hiding around the premises. But it was difficult to get close to them. In January 2021, we started putting out scraps for the two kittens hanging around the condo building. One little stray kitten captured our hearts by actually coming up to us and rubbing on our feet. After a couple of weeks of this, we finally succumbed and invited him/her in to the condo where we were staying (next to the marina). After a couple of days, we were hooked, and we decided to make this cat part of our family. Our New Kitten, First Night in Condo
Without consulting a vet, and seeing little knobby things on its back end, we assumed it was a boy. Looks Like a Boy to Me!
Many people (and the internet) told us that 90% of all yellow tabby cats were male (it's a genetic thing). So we assumed he was a boy, and named him Perkins, after our old faithful engine on our previous boat "Mr Perkins".
The Local Vet Makes a House Call
A couple of weeks later, we finally arranged for the local vet on the island to come out to the marina and give Perkins his first set of shots, Dr. Glaiza Luna. Can you imagine Vets doing house calls in the USA??

Perkins didn't like having a stranger in the room, so he spent the vet's visit swaddled in a towel, except for a quick jab with the needle, and a yukky experience with the (oral) de-wormer. (This is why the vet didn't notice on the first visit that Perkins was a girl not a boy.) We set a date for when we would get Perkins fixed--amazingly the vet agreed she could do it there in our condo room when the time came.

Meanwhile, Perkins, having been a starving stray for the first 4-5 months of his life, ate and ate and ate. As a stray, he got our shrimp peels and chicken bones. As a member of the family he got hand-peeled shrimp and nibbles of chicken breast. Oh the life! Perkins started getting noticeably fat, and we commented several times about how we needed to cut down on the food he was getting.
Our Too Fat Cat
In late January, we started telling everyone in the marina that we would be leaving a few days after Perkins was "fixed", in a few weeks. Boat preps went into high gear.

On the appointed date for castration, the vet came by, and gave Perkins a tranquilizer, and then started prepping for the operation. When she turned Perkins over, she laughed and laughed and laughed, and said "You've been pranked! This is not a boy, Perkins is a girl! And what's more, she's very pregnant!" OMG! The little bumps on his/her posterior turned out to be just tufts of hair, not male organs. And his/her "getting fat" was tiny little kittens growing in her belly. No wonder she was incessantly hungry!
Our Very Pregnant Cat! (One Week Before Giving Birth)
So now what could we do? We can't leave the marina with a pregnant cat! So we settled in to wait for Perkins to give birth, in about 4 weeks, we hoped.

On Feb 25th, Perkins presented us with 4 squirmy wet blobs that turned out to be the cutest little kittens. Even though she was only a teenager herself (about 6 months old, as best we could tell), she knew exactly what to do to squirt those babies out and make sure their first hours of life were good ones. Of course, Dave and I were there watching and were ready to help (but no help needed, thankfully).
10 Hours Old
3 Days Old
10 Days Old
10 Days Old
After a few days, we named them all after some of our favorite people. Since everyone told us that 90% of the orange tabbies turn out to be males, and they were too young to tell definitively, we gave them all boys names... Gordo (after my Dad), Henry (after Dave's ex Father in Law), Andrew (after Prince Andrew, who was in the news at the time), and Charlie (after my ex-husband's childhood nickname...Charlie was the smart scrappy one.) Later, thanks to a vet friend in the US, we found out they were 2 males and 2 females. So Gordo became Gordita and Charlie the boy became Charlie the girl.
OMG, They're Climbing Out!
Oh My! What Big Ears You Have!
6 Weeks Old
4 Cats in a Box
Doing Their Business in the Box!
We spent the next 2 months enjoying watching the kittens grow into their legs and their ears. What fun having 4 kittens playing hide and seek around our one-room condo (including at 4am). How exciting the first time one of them actually did their "business" in the sand box. We had to pin the drapes up in the condo to keep them from climbing up the drapes. We used a big cardboard box to keep them in, until they learned how to climb up and jump out. We had to switch to using real sand in the sand box for awhile, instead of clumping litter, because oddly, the kittens liked to eat the clay in the clumping litter.

Now, what to do with 4 kittens?? We eventually decided to keep one kitten, and the chosen one was Charlie--one of the smallest but smartest and most adventurous. A friend wanted a male cat, so Henry went to him. And the other two were placed by the vet to two sisters. By mid May, we were down to only Perkins and Charlie.
Kittens Going to Their New Homes
Finally the day came to get Perkins fixed. Neutering a female cat is more difficult than a male cat, so the vet insisted we bring Perkins in to her office for the procedure. A cruiser friend with a car gave us a lift, so we didn't have to take her on a trike! The operation was over in about 15 minutes, and the vet handed Perkins back and said "Keep her quiet for today."

When we got back to the condo, little Charlie couldn't understand why mommy wouldn't play with her. So we had to lock Charlie out on the balcony to let Perkins sleep and recover from her surgery. As I was closing the sliding door, Charlie dashed back in, and I closed the door on her head...hard. OMG I thought I killed our sweet kitten! It knocked her back and she staggered around for a minute. She stayed woozy for the day. So both momma and kitten slept all day. The next morning, both were right as rain, and chasing each other around the condo. Thank God.
Finally We Break Away from the Marina
So we finally set out from the marina on May 11, with two cats aboard. The cats have adapted well. When we are underway, they voluntarily stay below. As soon as we turn the engine on, they curl up in their underway spots. But at anchor they have the run of the deck. One of their "On Passage" Hangouts
Hanging Out on the Hard Top During Happy Hour
Their favorite Happy Hour pasttime is chasing each other up and down the boom.
Playing On the Boom
We've only lost one overboard so far--one very still night in a crowded mooring field in Port Carmen, Charlie fell or jumped in, and ended up swimming to a neighboring boat and climbing up on their cat rope, as we did not have one hanging over the side yet. Our neighbors noticed a strange cat in their cockpit at 3am, and brought her back to us. We've got climbers on the stern now, and are planning a cat swimming lesson soon.

Sometimes they like to play the "See if you can find me Game!" See If You Can Find Me!
One of the hard things about having pets on a cruising boat is finding good veterinary care in new countries. The vet on Samal Island was great. However, we had a vet in Danao, Cebu spay Charlie, and it was a disaster. After 2 hours on her table, the vet announced she could not find Charlie's uterus. Then she did a terrible job of sewing her back up. A week later we had to rush to a vet 60 miles away on another island because Charlie was having trouble urinating. 1 month and 2 surgeries later, she is finally spayed and nearly 100% healed. We found a great vet in Catbalogan, Samar, experienced and caring. Because it was a long trike ride to town, they made several house calls.
The Husband and Wife Team at Cinco Family Clinic
(Pets Unlimited)
Treating Charlie on the Beach
Our Cute Little Charlie is Finally Recovered
We're not sure what we're going to do next time we want to leave the boat for a couple of months--but we'll figure something out!