Staying overnight at our anchorage in Carmen proved to be a good decision; later on in the evening the wind picked up to 30 knots even within the shelter of the bay, and STARSHIP was describing big circles around her anchor as she was buffeted by the blustery weather! At times anchor-chain was actually being peeled off the capstan, and out in the open we would probably have been contending with 40-knot winds and very rough seas.

Even in the moderate sea we experienced yesterday, you realise that STARSHIP is after all a relatively small boat, bobbing around like a cork in the sloppy conditions, bow burying into waves in a welter of white foam, to be covered by spray from bow to stern; rolling, pitching, corkscrewing…each action being faithfully imitated by my stomach! I was more than happy to get off the roller coaster of short steep waves, and into the comparative respite of a lee shore to eat dinner and rest overnight.

Today has been a vast improvement however, and the miles are sliding by quite comfortably, although it is still grey and overcast. Before leaving Cebu, I picked up a local paper, and read a few interesting bits and pieces which I will pass on; apparently the Philippines is number one in the world when it comes to natural disasters…120 since 1985! These have included typhoons, flash floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, red tides, plane crashes and ship wrecks, (although I am surprised the latter were included in ‘natural disasters’). Typhoons, like the aftermath of the one giving us our current bad weather, occur mostly between July and December, and the Philippines experience an average of 19 per year; hopefully we will be further south before the next one!

Also in the news was our next port of call, Mindoro, where the military are readying for “all out war” against the NPA rebels there, who recently shot eight policemen. It certainly makes you appreciate the relative peace and security in our own part of the world, and what a lot people have to contend with in their daily lives throughout many parts of Asia.

One of the many ship on our radar, passing before the grey skyline of Mindoro.
[ photo - James Frankham ]

That aside, the northern region of the Philippines we are passing through at present is very scenic, many islands with steep bushclad hills and impressive skylines. If the weather allows us, we may get to do some diving and exploring around Mindoro over the next couple of days, so will be interesting to make comparisons between the northern and the southern Philippines.

While in Mindoro Michael attended a gruesome yet fascinating cockfight. 
Pictured is the 'cock doctor' that owners would pay to stitch up their 
winning fowls! More often then not those defeated were deemed 'irrepairable'.

Michael will be rejoining STARSHIP tonight in Puerto Galera, the main port on Mindoro, and bringing us up to date on what is planned for the next few days, there has been mention of a volcano and diving…I'll let you know tomorrow!

Adios, Diver Dave