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on the campaign trail
Taking a detour from the daily online bantering about the US elections, i spent some time learning about the Filipino elections.  Election day is May 9, campaigning is now in full swing, and oh what fun they have.

The big one, the presidential election, has five candidates. The one with the most votes wins, so it is likely the president will not have a majority of the voters, possibly as low as 21%.  The multitude of parties and the fast switching of party added to the large amount of independents take away the importance of political parties. The Filipinos clearly have more choices than we do. 

Of the five candidates two are women, one of which has cancer and one holds dual US and Filipino citizenship. Grace Poe was disqualified over her US passport but the courts reinstated her. Donna’s papa is supporting her, in a large extended family that is significant. She is running high in the polls.

Papa like this one

The most interesting, and my favorite, is Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of Davao.  In a country that is 97% Catholic, he is a Muslim. He is famed for cleaning up Davao with guns a blazing old west style. He brags about the numbers of people he had killed, and the positive effect. He actually said that his presidency would be a boon to the funeral business, gotta love him. Duterte is leading in the polls. Donna’s four year old son and i are his supporters in this family.

as complicated as a campaign gets

More fascinating than the national elections are the antics of the local candidates. I have campaigned many times in the states, doing humiliating things like standing on a street corner holding a sign like a mattress sales stooge to the drudgery of door belling. Here all this takes on a much more festive mode. 

Door belling is done but the candidate brings gifts and bags of candy for the kids so he is welcome into each home, not the door slam-in-the-face you get in the US.  They enter neighborhoods with a parade of vehicles and a large entourage, campaigning here is a roving party and loud!

The real twist i just love, is the candidates hand out money, lots of it. Go to a rally and you will get 500p, (more than a day’s wage). Donna tells of hitting multiple rallies in a day and bagging lots of loot. As one who has donated heavily to many races i found this enlightening. Money usually spent on TV ads and mailings is just handed out, probably with better return.

As we are deep into the campaign season the party is going on everywhere. Reminiscent of days of old, here the loud sound of speaker vehicles is everywhere, old beater cars, jeeps, trucks all with huge speakers strapped to the roof, parade around the neighborhoods, songs a blaring.

singing his song for miles

 Each candidate has a theme song, usually a pop song with rewritten lyrics which plays over and over, loudly! we followed one such makeshift rig for miles on the motorbike, no idea who Jo Jo Perez is or what he is running for but i am still singing his song.

candidate fixing his own jeep, my kinda guy

i met one candidate who’s jeep had motor troubles. He was working on it right in town, rolled up his sleeves and got the old gal running again. Loved his jingle too, a Bob Marley song with new words that never stopped playing.

Like most things in the Philippines, the people take these elections very seriously, up to 75% voter turnout. Unlike the US, the younger people vote in huge numbers and education, wealth or gender play little role in who votes. i have yet to find a Filipino who is not excited about voting. Of the 58 million eligible voters, 50 million voted in the last election.

Also like most things in the Philippines they take it all with a smile, not too seriously. No one will lose a friend over who they support, no family feuds, albeit Mama is rumored to support Duterte, no hatred at all. Papa will vote for Poe because he likes her smile, i would definitely head to the polls singing Jo Jo Perez, Jo Jo Perez.

Make Your Dream Your Story

Capt. Brian Calvert

MV Furthur

www.furthuradventures.com

Life Amongst History

We are now back in one of my all time favorite places; Coron, Palawan.  History dropped a golden egg on this pristine island wonderland, seven WWII Japanese sunken ships all within diving range.  The Japanese supply ship fleet got caught hiding here and was attacked by 119 US fighter/bombers in September of 1944. They had twenty minutes of fuel time here and sunk every ship. Often when diving on the wrecks i imagine the chaos and panic as the skies filled with the roar of those fighters coming over the hills of Busanga Island. Today it is a scuba diving Mecca. The wrecks are all marked with moorings and have easy swim through areas, penetrate baby penetrate.

This is our third year coming to the incredible area, the play ground of our travels. Protected bays, great weather and some of the coolest people i know make this area one of my favorites.

 So how does one spend time on Furthur in Paradise? We dive dive dive, for sure. Wrecks, thermal lakes reaching 40C and the amazing Apo Reef are all diving wonders. Between dives we might visit the Coron Hot Springs. A short bumpy ride over rough roads in a packed tricycle takes you to the edge of a mangrove forest where a natural hot springs feed into the salt water. The three pools empty into the sea. We hit is this time with a growing glowing moon, nearly perfect.

soaking in the Maquinit Hot Springs

Much of our time is spent with dear friends at Pearl Bay, a small well protected bay on Busanga Island about fifteen miles from Coron Town. The magical bay is dotted with small, fairytale like resorts. White stucco towers emerge from the jungle at each one. I have made lasting friends with the owners and play music there often. The views are mind altering, the foo sod great and the people a joy.

view from AlFaro pool

The bay is a gathering place for cruisers, we are neighbored by boats from Iceland, Korea, Hong Kong and other exotic places.  We sometimes take the dinghy to the neighboring village to have lunch at “Tattoo Mike’s”, a small cafe owned by an old Danish biker. i like to spend time with the old timers here, the guy who bought the entire bay for a song years ago, the two original dive shop owners, and a few others with stories of the old days here.

When not diving, playing music or visiting friends we take in some of the other attractions, like the recently visited Animal Safari, (see recent blog) or last night we all packed to an uninhabited island with an crystalline white beach for a Full Moon Party.  About 100 people in all sorts of boats joined in the Lunar fun and danced the night away.


hanging out with the old timers here

Coron Island itself is a geological phenomena, massive jagged rock formations jet out of the sea forming some of the most amazing anchorages i have seen. There are two lakes within short hikes of the anchorages, one is just a grand place for a swim, the other is a diving miracle. Barracuda Lake, so named for a lone barracuda who somehow lives there, is a marvel. You descend in warm brackish lake water at 28C (85F) but when you drop down ten meters (30 ft) you hit a thermal layer and the water hits 40f (101f) like scuba diving in a hot tub.  


amazing lakes on Coron Island

With all it has to offer, Coron stays relatively unknown. The dive sites have regular visitors but only in small banka boats not more than 6 divers at a time. The resorts are quaint and spread out, the town is small and still very 3rd world. We are anchored with three other cruising boats now, the most i have seen. We hope it stays this way so don’t show this blog to anyone else, OK?  hahaha.

diving and playing music, my life at Coron

Make Your Dream Your Story

Capt. Brian Calvert

MV Furthur

www.furthuradventures.com

It’s all Happening at the Zoo

One of the “must do” deals in Coron is the visit the Calcuit Island Safari Park.  Most of us remember the antics of Ferdinand Marcos, long time ruler of the Philippines. He is made most famous not for his high jinks but for his wife’s obsession with shoes. When they finally confiscated his fortunes, all taken from the good people of the Philippines, her collection of thousands of pairs of expensive shoes was discovered. Those sequenced kicks that once adorned the paws of the reigning lady are now in a museum in Manila.

Of all the opulence, corruption and shenanigans of the former ruler, one stands out with merit, the saving of these endangered African animals.. in the 70’s Marcos cut a deal with an African leader to save a cornucopia of critters from the war torn area. Imagine him coming home to the palace after a long day of milking his followers and greeting his well shod wife with “Honey, we bought a Zoo”   Money can do good even in the hands of shysters it seems, so a ship load of doomed rare creatures landed on this island and thrive there to this today. 

We took the trip to the east side of Busanga Island and dropped the hook in the narrow bay that separates it from Culsuit Island. The next morning we rose early and took the dinghy to the ranger station. This put us well ahead of any tourist boats coming from Coron.  We were greeted by the staff, paid our fess and jumped into the 1950’s style Willey’s Jeep. For me the jeep ride is one of the highlights, this old Korean War relict had the original 4 cylinder diesel engine putt putting it along.

The girls got their first glimpse of a giraffe right off, extracting squeals and excitement. The guide took us to the feeding platform where only a small fence keeps those two huge giraffe toes from planting on yours.  We were given leaf covered branches to feed the long necked wonder. Neither Heli, our new Finnish crew, nor Donna had ever fed a giraffe, who has? so it was a thrill.

We then popped back in the jeep and covered the African like grass lands of the island. We see zebra’s, local endangered deer and more giraffes.

There are a few critters in cages, some for protection some to keep visible but most run free. The terrain, vegetation and climate are very similar to the region of Africa they animals came from.  The original stock arrived in 1977, so none of the original animals are still alive but they have left a legacy, all of the animals we saw were “island born” and prospering well.

We did the jeep ride, girls on top, back to the ranger station, thanked our guides and took the dinghy back to Furthur, all with a new experience to talk about, and new memories the cherish.  

Make Your Dream Your Story

Capt. Brian Calvert

MV Furthur

www.furthuradventures.com

Good By Davao After pondering the typhoon riddled weather reports, i found a window to head back out into the Pacific and up the coast we go. Again it is with a tear and a smile that we leave Davao as we have grown to love Samal Island and our marina friends. Our return there a month ago was bittersweet as we left a place of peace and returned to a place of fear. After the hostage taking the marina looked more like a war zone base, machine gun totting military guards and iron gates now dominated the area. Machine guns and guards aside, life went on as usual; the Friday BBQ’s and our Wednesday night jam sessions continued all with tight security.  We even had a M-16 armed guard next to our band! A huge banner of the hostages hangs from the club house now, a solemn reminder.  The talk in the marina always shifted back to the hostage taking and what might come next. Rumors flourished in the vacuum of real information. It is apparent after nearly four months that the government is doing diddly to rescue our friends. We pray for their safe return.   Many of our cruising friends joined us in Davao, but most either left their boats and flew home for the holidays or stayed a short time. By the time we left the population had decreased so leaving was a bit easier.

The trick to traveling north during the northeast monsoon season, ie wind on the nose, is to follow a big storm up the coast. A huge low pressure, the kind that spawn typhoons will break up the pounding trade winds giving a four to five day window. After hours of pondering weather sites i found just such a window but it was short as another system was following close behind. We left Davao with our friends Eric and Christy who came along for the ride. Note here that with the security risks of Davao, my usual source of crew just did not work. For the first time i did not have eager girls waiting to join us, understandably so.  Also given the risks, without disclosing details, let’s just say i was well prepared for defense. We made the 250 mile run up the coast in calm seas, never more than 10 knots of wind. The preceding typhoon did leave some big rolling swells but nothing uncomfortable.  A 36 hour run followed by a night at anchor and a long day and we were inside the islands again, and none too soon. Another front blasted in as we found a safe anchorage inside the islands. The next ordeal is winding through an intricate passage way. There is a short cut that puts you under a low hanging power cable, the sailboats cannot pass but we did “just under the wire”. With blind luck we hit the current right and spend through the pass hitting 14 knots at one point, yahoo. The second storm gave us what i call “car wash rains” for the night, we found a couple new tiny leaks on that one.  The wind hit 40 knots and cycled around indicating the end of the storm. The next day we enjoyed sunny skies and calm winds as we returned to Cebu and the Cebu Yacht Club. First mission: get to the new Star Wars movie!!!

Recently we have been cruising with a great buddy boat and crew. The owner is new to long range cruising and wanted to join us on the rally to Indonesia to learn the cruising ways. From time to time he has needed help and things i have on Furthur. This inspired me to document the articles i have accumulated that i believe are essential to long range power cruising. Some are big items that came with boat, many are just little things that make a big difference.

The lovely Donna modeling the 2 micron filters used in the fuel polishing system

On the equipment list that is “do not leave home without” list; the most important for cruising 3rd world countries is the ESI Fuel Polishing system, standard equipment on Selene’s. Fuel is a huge issue as my buddy found out. He had a major fuel  problem that resulted in me towing him 140 miles and a gigantic repair bill. I run new fuel through the system at least three times with a 2 micron Racor filter before it ever leaves the tank. Another issue with fueling is just getting it aboard. In places, most we travel, there are no fuel docks and fuel is delivered via small boat and barrel or gerry can. A high volume electric fuel pump is needed for the transfer with plenty of hose. I can empty a 200 liter barrel in a matter of minutes, good when bouncing off a cement pier.

Second on the list of larger items is my Forespar Rolex stationary stabilizer system, we loving call “the Fish”. This takes most of the roll out of bumpy anchorages and was used often on this last voyage.

the Rolex system keeps us sleeping at night

Speaking of anchoring, i carry an over sized 55kg Bruce type anchor, really big!  I also carry an unusually large amount of chain, 200 meters (600 ft).  i have cruised with two boats that carry half that amount and it has genuinely restricted where they can anchor. Just the other day i dropped the hook in 145ft of water to access a fantastic dive area. i also carry an array of spare anchors and rode, all unused in the last six years but essential. Due to upsizing my windlass to accommodate the heavy gear, i actually carry a spare windlass. i will also have a spare motor for the larger one delivered soon, the windlass working is a mandatory part of cruising.

We often grab a mooring in many places we visit. In the past we used the traditional boat hook to grab the tail of the mooring, this was always a challenge and caused great angst with the crew, not to mention several lost boat hooks. I watched the livaboard dive boats with even taller bows than Furthur secure moorings and saw they used a three pronged hook and line with great ease. We now have such a hook and it is far easier to use.

our “happy hooker, mooring hook

Marinas are few and far between, we often go months without docking, when we do they are frequently rolly and crude. Sometimes we tie to a non floating wharf or larger steel ship.  A good selection of large fenders and long dock lines is needed in such cases, big ones!

Water and air, cannot live without them! We have a great FCI water maker, 200 liters an hour, i had a smaller unit that has failed and will be replaced soon. i like having two water makers, one high volume and one smaller that can run on the inverter while underway. No water, no happy crew! We also have an inline charcoal filter for the dock hose for the times we are at a marina.  We are dive fanatics, so my Bauer dive compressor gets a work out. My cruising mates without compressors often miss the best diving and are reliant on finding dive shops for tank fills. The compressor on Furthur is electric so requires a generator, many carry gas driven compressors, noisy and require a separate fuel supply and extreme care to access clean air in the intake.  We carry eight tanks.

The dinghy is the king, without it the trip ends, period. i carry a small spare roll up inflatable with small outboard as well as my larger one. My good friend and cruising guru, John Neal, told me at the beginning of the trip, “lift it or lose it” and after another friend got their dinghy stolen in Tahiti, i have always put the dinghy up at night, no exceptions! I opted for the mast/boom davit arrangement instead of the powerful hydraulic crane Selene offered. I can completely replace the moving parts of my system with parts carried aboard. 

the dinghy hook saves the coral

As we dive off the dinghy we have a small anchor, a local style which is a crude hook made of rebar. i used to carry a more traditional anchor with chain lead but found that did damage to the precious coral we were diving to see, the hook does little damage and is more secure.  

To the smaller stuff;  the recent towing incident reminded me why i carry a long, strong tow line, one that has been neatly coiled and unused until really needed, really needed.  I also carry a large spool of small line for stern tying in small anchorages, this gets used more often, fortunately.

the shore tie long line and reel

A cruising boat requires an inordinate variety of petroleum pridust to keep going and a replacement supply for each is needed: dive compressor oil, water maker oil, steering ram fluid, engine and gen oil (they used the same grade), transmission oil, outboard 2 cycle oil, hydraulic oil, and even the essential massage oil supplies are stored on Furthur.  Along with the petroleum products comes an array of filters; water maker, ESI system, engine, gen factory filters and Racors for each, hydraulic filter, water filters, the list goes on.  i can now repack my dive compressor filters so that is a big savings. Between needed oils and filters my inventory reaches into the thousand dollar range not to mention the space to store it all but it is all needed when it is needed.

Along with this inventory comes an endless supply of spare parts too long to list. My motto is if it broke once it will again so any time i replace a part, i buy two, this goes for the large array of pumps i carry. On the essential list are plenty of impellors for all things that use them, i also discovered the wonders of silicone grease to install impellors and lengthen their life.

Add to the list an extensive supply of nuts/bolts, fuses, light bulbs, O rings, anything you can think of that might break. It is often the small things that stop a happy cruise.  i now carry complete rebuild kits for all pumps and hydraulic rams.  There is a great rule of engineering, if it moves and is not supposed to use duct tape or wire ties. If it supposed to move and does not use WD40. So carry plenty of each. i also like the silicon spray WD puts out.  Along with that carry ratcheting cargo straps and bungee cords to secure things on the deck.  We carry a vast selection of adhesives; from super glue to dinghy repair glue to epoxy to silicon and the all important 5200.

Clearing in and out of foreign countries can be daunting at first but soon seen as just part of the deal. I find it handy to have a printer/scanner  onboard so i can make the dozens of copies of documents required by the various agencies. This will expedite clearing in and out and gives you the appearance of knowing what you are doing when you can produce anything they ask for.  This can also save you the angst of handing your passport and boat docs to a stranger, often known for corruption, to get copies made at the last minute.

Just for Americans: If your boat is from the West, it is probably 110v 60 htz and will not run appliances made in the East, or anywhere else.  Carry spare power tools, fans and appliances that run on 110v only along with spare extension cords. 

Some just for fun:  One of the things my cruising mates marvel at and desire is my balloon tying kit. i love to sit in a small village and make balloon animals, nothing will get you into the heart of a small village like balloon animals. We also carry a supply of small toys for kids.

The trick is to distinguish between the things you need, might really need and never need. There are items i will never use but keep, safety items like the life raft. there are never used items i have found multiple uses for; the tow line doubles as a storm mooring line and i have made our own moorings with it at dive sites.  Then there are the piles of crap one collects and never uses or never will. The trick is to determine what to throw and what to use, i go through this process yearly.

So here is my list, use it as you will. i am sure there are things i forgot and things i am missing and will add another time. Cruising happily depends on three things: prepare the boat as thoroughly as you can, take spares for the predictable and unpredictable, know your systems and have a plan to temporarily fix or do without. Follow these things and the world is yours!

the reading we look for

We arrived in Boalemo, the midpoint of the rally to find four other boats, the only ones of the fifteen starters who made is this far. The rest of the fleet took a different route to Raja Amput.  We seemed to just miss the big festival in Boalemo, but the rally still had a great reception. Quite a large entourage of people from the Department of Tourism were there with the sole purpose of taking care of us and boy did they.  We enjoyed nice albeit often rolly moorage. There were buoys to tie to and the dinghy dock was great. We hit the beach and were greeted like royalty, no one matches the unabashed open friendly spirit of the Indonesians, it is pure, unafraid and from the heart. i had a mechanical problem, the starboard stabilizer ram broke a seal and i needed help. the group there all tried to help and brought a good mechanic.  They put in a four day effort to find the seals with several trips to a distant Manado.  This was again a result of my poor planning.  the stabs have over 7000 hours and the port ram broke a seal a while ago, i should have figured if one is shot the other one is short lived,, another lesson learned. While we waited we were royally entertained with side trips for the girls and a dive trip for me along with many meals. Like other parts of rural Indo, the people are amazingly friendly and they love to have their picture taken with us, “Picture with you Mr.?” is a common call. Makes me feel like a rock star, hahaha


King Neptune pays a visit

a make shift repair and limited results we head south on a cloudy equatorial morning.  We have about fifty miles to go for the Togian Islands and the equator lies right in our path. This is my seventh time across that mystical line in the middle of the earth.  King Neptune always makes a visit at this time initiating all the pollywogs into full fledged Shellbacks. This is when one should celebrate the turtle, the symbol of the veteran Shellback and we did by getting all the girls stuffed terrapins. I prepared certificates for each noting this worthy equation.

 i asked Chloe just how many of her college friends have crossed the equator on a boat, not many she guessed. This is one of those occasions when we must reflect on the very small percentage of people we know live such a life. As we travel in groups of likeminded and experienced folks, we sometimes loose awareness of how small a group we are. So the toilet flushed the other way now and we are off for great diving adventures.


official certificates and new Shellbacks on Furthur