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New Friends - See Blog Photos 6September 25, 2006 We are still in Subic Bay, but are making plans to get underway. The work on the upgrades/repairs should be finished this week. Our next stop will be Maya Maya (14º 06.93 N - 120º 36.762 E), a port just south of Manila. It will be a short hop that should take less then a day to complete. Our new First Mate has been with us for about a week (see Blog Photos 6). His name is Geronimo Paul Montgomery Gaerlan. Geronimo has a Bachelor of Science in Marine Transportation (BSMT) from Saint Joseph Institute of Technology and has his Seafarers papers. While he does not have much in the way of hands on experience his enthusiasm and willingness to learn more than makes up for this. He has already proven to be a great help while I am recuperating from the knee surgery. When we move on he will be a valuable addition to our watch schedule especially when we are forced to make overnight passages. Last week we woke up to find a 40’ steel cutter tied up next to us. Her name is Kuro-Shio. On board were Clement Martinez from Quebec, Canada and his girlfriend Sarah Hebblewhite from England (see Blog Photos 6). They purchased the vessel in Japan and sailed her Subic with a stop in Taiwan. They are also headed west to Europe. We have become good friends, sharing meals together and exploring the attractions of Subic Bay. We have an SSB radio installed on Alchemy and I have been trying to figure out how it works so we can use it for communicating with other vessels and to send email when we are not in a port. In talking to Clement I discovered that he has a similar set up on his vessel and he volunteered to help me set up mine and teach me how to use it. He is a real wizard, within minutes he had everything hooked up and running. Now comes the hard part, teaching an old seadog how to use it. Last Saturday we planed to sail Alchemy to a bay just north of here for a barbeque and some snorkeling. Unfortunately we ran into 10’ swells at the mouth of the bay and Yu-ching became seasick so we had to turn back. We wound up cooking T-bones on Alchemy’s grill in the marina, but that did not detract from the great time we had. Yesterday we hired a cab to take us to Ocean Adventure (see Blog Photos 6). It is a place much like Sea World. We enjoyed visiting their aquarium, wild life rescue center and seeing the sea lion, dolphin and false killer whale shows. On the way to Ocean Adventure we stopped to watch a small group of monkeys and to see the giant fruit bats that were sleeping in the trees. Every evening, just as the sun is going down, the bats leave the trees and fly high above the marina on their way to search for food. It is quite a site to see hundreds, if not thousands, of bats with wing spreads up to 5’ flying by. We now have the beginnings of a web site up and running thanks to the help of Yu-ching’s cousin Paula Thomson. Actually it was more than help; Paula selected the host, designed the site and got everything up and running - all I did was to provide content. It is a work in progress as I will be sending Paula some more material to add to the site The address is http://alchemy-trawler.com. More later. Interesting Week - See Blog Photos 5September 9, 2006 The last week or so has brought a new twist to our adventure. At about 5:00 PM last Friday (September 1st) as I was coming down from the Sun Deck to the Pilot House my right knee gave out. I spent Saturday and Sunday icing it to bring down the swelling and on Monday began a search for a hospital that had an MIR and an orthopedic doctor who could do an evaluation. On Tuesday we traveled to Manila and I checked into St. Luke’s hospital. To make a long story short, I saw Dr. Gonzales and had an MRI. He told me that my meniscus was in bad shape and I needed to undergo arthroscopic surgery. On Thursday evening he operated and on Friday I checked out of the hospital and returned to the boat. The surgery went well and my knee feels much better. In a few days I will be able to begin an exercise regime and hopefully be back on my feet soon. The medical care and treatment surprised me. St Luke’s is a first rate hospital with all of the latest diagnostic equipment. The nursing care I received was equal to, if not better, than one would get in the states. Dr. Gonzales is a first rate surgeon and knows more about sports medicine than most of the orthopedist I have known. The trip to Manila brought some surprises. I had assumed that the Philippines were like most developing countries. I had expected the small towns and country side to be littered with trash. We found just the opposite to be true. The road sides were free of trash, the grass along the side of the road was trimmed and there were people cleaning the streets in the towns. Despite the fact that this is a poor country we noticed that the people take a great deal of pride in their personal appearance, especially with their children. This may not seem like such a big deal, but given our experience in other countries it came as a surprise to us. As we drove from Subic Bay to Manila we followed the trail of the infamous Bataan Death March. There are small monuments along the way marking the trail that was used. The road also took us along the path of the lava flow from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo. There is a church along the way that is half covered from the flow. An amazing site. Most people in the states do not think of the Philippines as a vacation destination. This is a big mistake as it is a beautiful place with over 7,000 islands to explore, great beaches, scuba and snorkeling sites abound and the friendliest people one would ever hope to meet. Needless to say, the knee problem I’ve had has caused us to rethink our plans. One option we are considering is to use Subic Bay as a home base, while I rehabilitate my knee, and explore Southeast Asia. We have not made a final decision, but are thinking about our options. See Blog Photos 5 for a few pictures from Subic Bay that I hope you enjoy. Fragrant Harbour Article About Alchemy - See Blog Photos 4September 3, 2006 See Blog Photos 4 for a two page article that appears in the new issue of Fragrant Harbour, a yacht magazine published in Hong Kong, which features Alchemy and her crew. No, Yu-ching did not get a new husband named John. That is a misprint in the last line of the article. |
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