The Balabac Strait

A crossing that reminded us of the nasty beam swell and uncomfortable seas like the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Arafura Sea. The Balabac Strait bridges the waters between the Sulu and South China Seas, a veritable spin cycle. Abe went to sleep and dreamt that he was in a washing machine with jeans and a belt...the sensation was that close, except without being smacked in the head with a belt buckle. 

Swirling sea, nightime snap off the aft deck

The boat wanted to heel to starboard, but the 3m enthusiastic swell coming at us from the port side was not going to play nice. So began 3 days and 2 nights of an extremely uncomfortable trip making our way from Kudat in northern Borneo to Ulungan Bay on the western side of the Philippine Island of Palawan. You may recall that we were planning a different route east over the top of Borneo, however our plans changed dramatically, but you'll just have to read our next instalment to get the full story on that one.

The southwest monsoon had finally decided to turn up this year, better late than never! It brought a constant 15-20 kt wind and swell with it for the ride. With squalls bringing torrents of rain and 40kt wind gales, we were in for a not so fun passage, though Abe was in for a treat as we 'hove to' waiting one storm out (thankfully it was a short one). 'Hoving to' is a maneuver turning the boat into the wind, dropping the sails and waiting for the storm to pass, some boats have stayed in that position for days at sea waiting for a system to pass through. A break in the rain showed off the stunning and rugged coastline, tall sharp cliff faces with low shrubbery, very different to the jungle clad Borneo coast and lots of steep mountainous terrain. It was with much relief that we turned into Ulungan Bay, so flat and calm that we could finally put the 2 minute noodles away and cook some real food, roasted vegetable pasta it was!

After a good sleep Hugh and I Ieft Abe as boat sitter the next day, and went on the 50km over-island journey to Puerto Princessa (PP), the bustling city of the island and home to some 6000 tricycle cabs (motor bike with a metal buggy and roof structure which could comfortably carry 4 passengers, but could certainly fit 6 judging by the locals!) But first we had to get to town, via the 3 hour jeepney trip. A jeepney's distant cousin was the land rover, maintaining the bonnet and axle design, but with a 30 passenger bench seat capacity thrown in behind the driver and 1 tonne strength roof (for carrying 30kg bags of rice, 30ltr blocks of ice, slabs of soft drink, fuel containers, meat and vegetables). Oh, and adorned with rainbow colours, religious paraphernalia and tinsel, nice! The jeepney driver turned out to be the postman, the payer of bills on behalf of the rural villagers, the corner store delivery guy and the guy who gets your fuel cans filled. He also has a team of able young men carrying all these items up and down from the bus and acting as the reverse sensors with a loud 'tap tap' on the roof of the bus. The trip was long and slow, but it was great to see some of the island hinterland and see how amiably the locals got on with each other, a real community spirit and thoughtfulness.

Bright Jeepneys being loaded up for the homeward bound journey

The town was busy, with tricycle cabs zooming along and squeezing into unsqueezable spots. The immigration office was our first stop, to get our all important 'country arrival' stamp and then down to the customs office to check the boat in. Thankfully our tricycle cab driver was in the know and the drive across town to the far flung offices. The lady at the customs office was great and was helping us learn some Tagalog, she also helped us by identifying which words are the same in Spanish as Tagalog. She spoke almost perfect english and it turns out that three decades of US colonialism is still evident in their education system today and many Filipinos speak excellent english, which is a real bonus for us.

Indulging in some barbequed chicken for lunch (with unlimited rice, as is the selling point here in PP), picking up some donuts for Abe and some more fresh veggies and we were back at the bus station, ready to catch our jeepney home. It had been raining while we were doing our admin chores, but that wasnt cause enough for the driver to lower the front windscreen from its open horizontal position as we sat in the front seat, back on went the sunnies to prevent dirt and insects from lodging themselves in our eyes. Well it was a whirlwind tour of PP with highlights being the immigration and customs office, experiencing a new country and its checking in procedures, travelling by boat is always a different tourist experience. 

20/6/2014

Categories: friends, philippines