06/30/2009, Mecharchar
We put the polish on Mecharchar today. Mecharchar is a surprising area. The inside, which looks safe and cozy on a chart or sat image, is treacherous, with coral bars everywhere, isolated rocks, deep anchorages where you find any, and a rare plot of sand without some hard stuff on the bottom.
When you look at the outside on a chart it looks, well, like the outside. Exposed. However if you look around you will find some of the most beautiful anchorages in Palau on Mecharchar's southwest and south coasts. There is even a lake accessible by dinghy with hundreds of Jellyfish swimming about, much like the official Jellyfish lake in Mecharchar's interior.
We had a great day exploring and running routes. We left around 9AM and got home around 7PM. It was nice in the morning and then rained on us at lunch time. We found a great limestone arch on the south coast and ducked in to eat while the rain came down. The afternoon was another blue sky stretch allowing us to work late to finish up. I don't think we've ever come so close to filling the Garmin's track memory.
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06/29/2009, Mecharchar
We finished up Ulong this morning and headed over to Mecharchar. Mecharchar is the group with the famous Jelly Fish Lake and not so famous, but very cool, Clam City. We got about half of the place surveyed today. There is a large pass on the east side between Mecharchar and Ngeruktabel suitable for big boats. Some of the islands in this area have the most lovely beaches. It was a beautiful day so we got a lot of great photos for the book (and the web site when we get to a decent internet connection).
We are anchored in the back of Mecharchar which is tricky to get into. Strangely there are coral bars blocking every path to the back part of Mecharchar. We know of two passes but are hoping to find a better route usable at low water tomorrow. We shall see...
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05/25/2009, Yacht Harbor
I spent the day tricking out our dinghy for cruising guide survey duty. It has been a key start dinghy for some time, though the battery has been dead since Gizo. We were anchored in the harbor there for a while and the standard dinghy ride to the docks was less than a minute. This constant starting with no time to charge (and maybe leaving the lights on that one time) killed 'er.
The only battery I could find that I really wanted to own was one of those fancy spiral AGM deals sold at NAPA. It was painfully expensive and required a new battery box because it is way bigger than the old one. It cranks like crazy though.
After replacing the bat I had to hook up the new depth sounder (basic Garmin NEMA model) and mount the little GPSMap Chart plotter. There is a short somewhere in our lights and after fooling with them for a bit (and eating through a pack of fuses) I just unwired the lights and wired the GPS power and the Sounder power to the switched side.
It all worked out well and it is particularly nice to be able to go out recording tracks with depth without having to worry about the batterries running out.
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04/30/2009, Malakal
Eric, Hideko and I went diving off of our dinghy today. We have been sitting right next to one of the more famous Palau dive sites since we got here but have never dove it. A case of, "oh we can dive that spot anytime, let dive over there instead". I didn't want to miss it in the long run though so we made a point of it today.
The dive site in the anchorage is Chandelier Cave. It is an underwater cave that has three (four depending on how you count) chambers with air pockets and a maximum depth of 60 feet. It is pretty dark in the cave as there is no overhead illumination, just the faint blue glow from the underwater entrance. It is pretty errie.
I took the video rig in while Eric ran the reel. I had two lights on the video and a backup and Eric had a primary and a back up. Hideko was set as well but after the first chamber her mask was giving her problems and she signaled that she was going back out. Eric stayed in chamber one while I buddied out with her.
Eric and I spent about 20 minutes exploring the cave and the various chambers. There is not much to look at in the dark limestone interior but just the strange lightness enclosure is an interesting experience. The structures inside the cave are intriguing and there are some small fish here and there hiding in the black water.
On the way back out my lights shut down. the lithium batteries have an astonishing propensity to die within a minute of each other if turned on at the same time. When the lights went out Eric was at 50 feet coming up from the absolute back bottom of the cave and having troubles reeling in the line, so his light was pointed at his lap. After floating in the dark at 40 feet for a bit my eyes adjusted and I could see the faintest blue glow from the entrance. It was an experience.
Once Eric got the reel under control I turned on my back up light and then after we were in synch I shut it back off and returned to filming. The footage is amateur but interesting. I'll try to post a clip.
After a surface interval we set out to one of the ship wrecks in Malakal harbor. Hideko ran surface support and Eric and I did the dive with the video again. It was a nice wreck but the vis in the harbor was pretty bad, maybe 30 feet. fun dive all the same with a 120 foot bottom. We stayed around the deck level at about 100.
Back at the big boat I loaded the footage into Vegas for some editing so see what I could cut together.
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Safe travels and smooth sailing
GPS
04/29/2009, Koror
We had planned to go diving with Sam's today but we discovered that Hideko was on her last day of visa validity, and though it was a close call, we decided that extending her immigration credentials took precedence over scuba.
Parker, the local cruiser cabbie, dropped us off at the Immigration office above the police station. We had to fill out a form and run across the street to pay a $50 extension tab. On return with the recipt we were issued a 30 day extension. Hideko gets one more 30 day extension and then if we want to stay longer we have to fly her to yap or tokyo or something for a day. then she can come back in for another 90 (at $50 per 30 days).
US citizens get a year before having to depart. Hideko has a green card but that didn't make any difference. Other than USA, RMI and FSM, all nationals of other countries get 30 days in Palau and can extend twice for a total of 90.
After getting Hideko extended, which was pretty easy, we brought the big boat in to Sam's for fueling. We came in on a half tide and parked on the north side of the dock near the fuel pump. The dive boats are out during the day and most of the dock is available. You have to watch out for some shallow rocks just north of the dock at any tide. We came in close to the double raft of power cats at the end of the dock and settled in with no problem.
Ramil helped us top up the gas jugs for the dink, the diesel tanks and the starboard water tank. At $3 a gallon we were pretty happy with the tab after paying some pretty radical prices in the hinterlands from whence we came.
The Whistler crew, hideko, Miki and I as well as Zack from another boat in the anchorage made way to the sushi place below Taj for dinner. That's a long name, "The Sushi Place Below Taj", but it is all anyone has been calling the place and we can't come up with the name. I'll post the proper name asap.
It was the best sushi we have had on Palau, which only rate ok to good depending on what you ordered. Some things were very good butt the toro was severely lacking and not doing the toro right is a sushi sin in my book. The tab was sushi like (large). We had fun and the staff were great so I would rate it a neutral.
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04/28/2009, Malakal
We spent most of the day today getting caught up on Internet tasks. It is possible to totally unplug (I've seen folks out here who have done it) but if you have any possessions, property or interests back home you will need to keep tabs. If you don't the banks, storage facilities, tenants and other suspects will decide you are abandoning your possessions and take action to claim them for themselves. Perhaps slowly over time, but never the less.
Credit Cards are famous for giving you a balance, which you dutifully pay, and then charging you interest on your next bill (which you don't check for 6 months because you "paid the whole balance"). Then they charge you interest on the interest, late fees, damage your credit and when you finally discover what is going on you owe them a thousand bucks on an 18 dollar balance and they have canceled your card. The world does not understand an individual who doesn't check mail daily and wants to do things over the internet with a once a quarter check in rate. Pessimist or realist, you decide.
End soap box.
The internet here on Palau is painfully slow much of the time. It often takes an entire afternoon to update your computer or book a single airline ticket or pay a couple of bills online. We have recently realized that we have been simply trying to use the limited pipes into and out of Palau at the same time as everyone else. After school things get tough, after work they get unbearable. A rainy Saturday, just forget it. Mornings are by far the fastest time of day if you want to be productive.
End second soap box
It is Tuesday and that means Kramer's spaghetti night here on Palau. Kramer's is always happening and is a big expat hang out. Spaghetti Night is a great deal at $4.50 for a plate piled high with Spaghetti Bolognese and yummy garlic bread.
The restaurant is named after the 1800s Kramer, who was a German researcher. He produced the definitive early works on Palau natural and cultural history. The owners of the restaurant are Jane, a lovely Palauan lady, and Rene, a German guy who is a popular character around Palau. Unfortunately for us Rene is off to Peleliu for a month soon to feed the Philippine Survivor film crew that has taken up residence there. Too bad the contestants won't be enjoying Rene's great cooking.
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04/27/2009, Malakal
We spent a lot of the day working on the Internet after a nice breakfast at the Palau Royal Resort. The PRR is close to Sam's and has a nice spot with a little man made beach and dive shop with dock on the property.
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