Tuesday 26th February 2008
Just off Angaur Island Palau
Position : 6.51.482N 134.11.676E
8pm

It's nice to be out at sea again. We left Palau at 1.20pm, a bit later than planned due to the Philippines embassy not telling us it was a Philippines holiday yesterday when we were due to pick up our passports with visas. Dennis a local yachtsman kindly drove us into town again this morning to pick up our passports. Bill arranged for Customs and Immigration to meet us at 1pm. All yachts entering and leaving Palau must do so at the shipping wharf. It is a delicate operation to tie the yacht up unscathed against a big brick wall with large tyres held on by big nasty rusty chains. It wasn't particularly windy but it did push us against the wall. Linda made sure our fenders were in the right position and Bill threw the ropes to a helpful 'Post authority' young man who tied them around the huge yellow bollards meant for big ships. The Customs man arrived in his little airconditioned car next to the wharf. He sat in it and about 15 minutes later the Immigration man arrived. Both were young Palauns. We paid our $20 each departure tax, had our passports stamped and we were on our way. We needed a crew list once again. I have lots of spares for a Bill to sign and date each time we need one.

Due to the lateness of our departure the captain decided not to head out through the west passage through the reefs. Rain squalls are typical around here and we could see one coming over which means visibility would be minimal. Instead we have sailed right around the east side of Palau and will be rounding Angaur Island shortly. It's been a pleasant sail until now. We were cruising along nicely at around 6 knots but now we are down to about 3 knots. Bill changed the wind vane for the repaired electric tiller pilot as there isn't enough wind. We motored a little and will probably do so again to keep up a bit of speed. Fickle winds make the captain cranky. It is supposed to be from the East(which it was) but is now from the south.... The captain will be staying up until we are well clear of Angaur island then we'll start our 3 hour watches.

I bought a book at the Palau Museum about an American couple who lived on Angaur island just after the war. It's called 'Number One Pacific Island' by Cecilia Hendricks Wahl. Throughout the book she refers to the Palauns as 'natives' not a term used these days. The Japanese had set up Phosphate mining on the island and had forced 3 villages of people to live in the one area on the southern tip. The Americans were stationed to keep an eye on things as there were constant scuffles and disagreements between everyone.

Last night at the yacht club we noticed a Harley Davidson motorbike with 'Australia' written on the front and the whole bike was covered in stickers from around the world. The dates and places it had been were written on the panniers. We noticed a middle aged couple who looked fit enough to be bikey types so we introduced ourselves. Their home base is in Redcliffe, Queensland. We ended up talking to them all night about their trip over the last 12 years. Jim and Jeanette of 'Dancer' and Carol and Dennis also joined us. The funny thing is the Aussie bikey couple Peter and Kay Forwood were originally from Canberra and Peter even went to Telopea Park High where I went. (He was a few years ahead of me) Peter and Kay have broken a record for the most number of countries visited in the world on any type of vehicle. They have visited all the countries in Africa, Europe, most of Asia, USA, Canada, Mexico etc. They have 8 countries to go - North/South Korea, Taiwan, China, PNG, NZ, Timor and Palau. They were inspiring to talk to and had some great tips on how to not pay bribes. They refuse to pay them and have got used to going past officials with guns. Their biggest challenge is finding ways to ship their bike from country to country. They have their own crate now. We haven't had a chance to see their website yet but for those who are interested here it is: Anthony and Gary I am sure you will enjoy looking at this.
www.horizonsunlimited.com/forwood

We haven't caught a fish yet - must be the bananas in the galley! Instead we had a delightful lamb stew with potatoes heated up in longlife sachets. Quite edible really. I found the equivalent to Gingernut biscuits in the supermarket in Koror. They are called Gingersnaps and are from USA as is most food there. (even the apples we have on board are from California). Ginger biscuits with a cup of tea are nice at sea and settle the stomach.

We hope to be in the Philippines within 5 days. We will anchor off a couple of islands before and during the passage down Surigao Strait before we officially check into Cebu. We will most likely stay at the Cebu yacht club there for a few days before heading north to explore some of the small islands we have read about. The winds are light and are supposed to be blowing E - NE.