We left Santa Ana Bay on 11th March shortly after 9am and just motored the 13 miles to Iloilo, the last 1½ miles up the Iloilo River which at the entrance was quite clean but by the time we got to where we anchored was a real cess pond and stunk. We were anchored virtually right in the city and on the other side of the river was a flour mill. When we arrived some locals on an old barge were waving and yelling at us madly but we could not understand what they were saying but we could see a bridge a couple of hundred metres further up river and realized that we could not got under there. However, once we were anchored and settled down looked up to find there were low power lines a 100m ahead of us!! We had anchored by a catamaran and when the owner popped over to see us (his name was Dave) he told us that he had come in in December, did not see the power lines and his forestay hit them, sending sparks etc. and did quite a bit of damage to his electrics. It knocked out the power for 24hrs to the flour mill who actually owned the line but also to the local Government building which was out of power for 4 days as it turned out that they had hooked up to the flour mill power line and the flour mill was paying for their power. Then the local Govt wanted to charge Dave 1 million pesos but the flour mill owner told them in no uncertain terms that they had no right to fine him as they were taking his power illegally. The owner of the flour mill was apparently very good about it all. Getting ashore was a bit of a mission as while we were there the tide was out most of the day so we could not take the dinghy up to the wall to embark so had to tie up to a local barge and then from the barge was a narrow bridge like structure roughly constructed of boards to walk on and resting and tied to bamboo poles. I did not like it at all and certainly was not going to carry anything when crossing. Iloilo was a busy city and we had three really good supermarkets within walking distance plus a really nice shopping mall and close to it markets. Our Autohelm is really giving us grief with a clutch problem and the computer. However, Dave managed to get the clutch problem fixed in Iloilo but the computer needs to go back to a Raymarine Agent or else we get a new one. A new one in NZ is $NZ4500, however have managed to locate them in the US for $US1999 but as yet have not decided what we will do. We do have a wheel steering one as back up but it is no good in heavy conditions as it is really only for boats under 40ft (12m) and we are 46ft (14m). The computer for it, although looks the same is not made for the Type 11 linear drive Autohelm that we have. The linear drive is too heavy for it. We think we will make a final decision when we get to Pulau and if need be have one sent there as a lot of buck shee goes on here in the Philippines. In all we spent 6 nights at Iloilo, did plan on leaving last Saturday but when we came to leave we could not pull the stern anchor which we had down to stop us swinging too much with the strong current that was in the river. The current was running too fast so ended up getting up at 5.30 on Sunday to lift it up at slack tide. Had breakfast and then took off just before 8am and did a 30 mile trip further north and anchored in Canas Bay arriving there just after 3pm. We had the current with us until 10.30am but slowed down considerably after that. Getting into Canas Bay was a bit of a mission as there were so many fish traps and sticks in the bay that it took a bit of negotiating to find a good place to anchor with a reasonable amount of clearance. We left Canas Bay just before 7 on Monday morning and what a day, the sea was like glass and absolutely no wind - the first day we have had like that since being in the Philippines. We decided to do a short trip and moved 16 miles east and dropped anchor at Tagubanhan Island - a lovely spot and off a fishing village. The local Pastor stopped by in his spider boat and asked us to come and see him ashore and sold us 2 lovely crabs for 100 pesos ($NZ3) which we had for dinner that night and were lovely and so sweet. We said we would go ashore later in the afternoon but by that time the tide was so far out and the shore line all corally we decided we weren't going to risk putting a hole in our dinghy. However, Pastor Tan came back later, sold us some squid and asked us if we would like to go across with him to the main island (Panay) the next morning but we declined but he wanted us to go ashore the next day so we decided we would stay an extra day and visit him and his family the next morning when he arrived back from Panay. We duly went ashore around 11am and we were introduced to countless numbers of his relations and given a drink of coconut juice from fresh coconut and the coconut to eat, along with local apples which we had always wondered what they were and are actually very nice. Quite different to our apples. Tan then took us on a walk further around the island, half of it being scrambling over rocks etc. on the water's edge, just below high tide to see his church which is called Hard Rock Baptist Church and the church sits on a hard rock right by the sea. As we came out of there an elderly lady (79) invited us to come and have coffee with her at her house. She was a delight and spoke a little English and we sat out on a tiled terrace to have coffee. Then all the relations came around to watch and those that could speak a little English to ask questions etc. This was a separate village and the houses were mainly made of concrete and brick whereas the Tan's village houses were all made of bamboo with thatched roofs and dirt floors or if they were built out over the water were bamboo slat floors. We walked back via a track and ended up in another house and the lady gave us a banana and another fruit which we had not tried before and also insisted that we wait to try bananas she was cooking in a pot of water. These were short fat bananas and were cooked with the skins on. We thought they were better tasting raw - a bit dry and like taro cooked. She sent us away with the various fruits and would not let us pay her but I did give her 20 pesos and told her to give the children some - she had four. We finally got back to the boat just after 3pm and Pastor Tan came out with us, along with more squid - half a kilo, 200 pesos but I had no more small change other than a 500 note. Before Dave took him back to shore he and Dave went out to his crab pot in our dinghy and came back with a small assortment so Tan gave us another lovely crab and four little wee tiny fish so that night had a variety of squid, crab and the two little fish each for dinner. Dave took Tan back to shore but he did not have 300 peso change so sent his brother to another island to get change. The brother arrived back with several on his boat and we ended up entertaining a few more of the relations on board, including Tan's sister Virginia who is delightful and speaks really good English. I have since had about 15 texts (SMS's) from her since leaving the boat. Tan also gave us some home baking, still hot, and wrapped in a banana leaf which turned out to be cassava bread which is actually very nice. In fact yesterday we ate more of it for lunch toasted with tomato and cheese on. Tan and Virginia both asked us if we had son's that were not attached that might like their younger sister who is 20. All in all it was a lovely visit and wished we could have stayed a bit longer. They were all so friendly and kind and yet they are so poor and have nothing. We did give Tan and the banana lady some clothes for both the adults and the children but it is impossible to give them all things. Virginia is 40, has 3 children, separated or divorced from husband and the two eldest - 10 & 11 are both top of their classes but she cannot afford to educate them - asked me if there was any chance of getting a house maid's job in NZ but had to explain to her that in our country people don't have housemaids, only casual workers that sometimes do house cleaning. She would be ideal for some elderly lady who needs live in care. Grandparents seem to do a lot of looking after the children and Tan and Virginia's parents are the same age as us. We left Tagubanhan Island at 6am yesterday and did a 33 mile trip to Bantayan Island where we had to battle to get an anchorage between fishing stakes and traps. We did manage to turn off the motor for 1 ½ hours en route. We dropped anchor there at 1pm so had a bit of a relaxing afternoon, although did have a wee bit of a rolly night. Another early start this morning - 5.45am to Matapascua Island just north of Cebu Island, arriving at 1.30pm - a beautiful spot and looks as though there are quite a few resorts here and the island is not that big. Will head down to Port Carman, Cebu tomorrow, about a 46 mile trip but we hope we will have the wind behind us. Do hope everyone has a Happy Easter.