In the Philippines

We arrived safely in Subic Bay, Philippines. We left Hong Kong on January 4th and arrived the 9th after a pretty crappy trip. Lots of wind and steep waves, and of course, the ever present opportunity to beat in them. The great weather window we thought we were taking didn't really turn out to be one. We thought we had a pause between two heavy monsoon periods, but I don't think it let up all that much. We figured if we didn't leave that day, that we'd be stuck for a week with a gale south of us. Guess we sailed through it!

Had a few issues -

Wrecked a dodger window panel when a wave tried to exit the cockpit through it. (No, not the other way around!) Easy enough to fix, since a canvas maker is on the next boat over and we have lots of extra fabric.

The backstay wire is wrecked and needs to be replaced. We've got extra wire aboard, so with some trips up the rig, shouldn't take long. Also requiring replacement is our main boom topping lift, which split, bringing the boom down hard on the lifelines, which now also need some repairs, along with replacing the bow netting that got wrecked when Garth and the jib tried to exit the boat through the bow netting.

Spilled spaghetti all over the cushions. Not a good dinner that night - Power bars replaced the spaghetti, which the cushions didn't enjoy nearly as much as we would have. After lots of swearing and some serious cleaning, I think all is restored. Thank God for our fleece cushion covers, as they took the hit. A 5 gallon airtight olive container saved the day, allowing us to remove the covers and get them soaking ASAP while still underway in some heavy seas. Need to empty and check thoroughly inside all the compartments to find out whether any stray noodles lurk.

Piles of smelly wet laundry to clean.

Ah, the romance of the sea . . .

Subic Bay
14�49'N
120�17'E

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