Boating in the Philippines

[Numbknots]

While in the Philippines we took two days and went to a small island (Puerto ????) and relaxed, snorkeled, scuba and even rented some dirt bikes to check out the surrounding area.

The Boats they used for water taxiis were pretty cool, about 50ft long powered by a small diesel and with the outriggers made of Bamboo they were quite stable. We had 5-6 ft swells and 10-15knots of wind on the way back (2 hours at 8-9 knots.

Here is a photo of one of the boats landed on the beach. Oh yeh did I mention the water temperature was a cool 85 degrees.

Tim

http://gotorandall.com/photos/watertaxi.jpg

[Go Aweigh2452]

looks like a great "canoe" to go out into the sea with...

[pkrogh]

Oh man, that blue sky and warm water looks soooo inviting!!

Pete

[Fred P]

A cool looking boat but it looks like it would be hard to fish from.

Fred P...............

[bradvo]

Nice radar arch on the stern. Sounded like a good trip though Tim, looking forward to more pics.
Brad

[SomeSailor]

The diving used to be just great in the PI as well. First went in 1982 and was AMAZED at the water clarity... gosh last time I was there (1993 or so?) you'd think you were diving the perfume river itself (we called it something else).

You've gotta be careful in the PI though. Some parts are still the wild west over there. I saw more gunplay than I ever did anywhere else in the world. Nothing will sober ya up faster than a little guy running through the bar with a n AK-47 over his head. :)

[Go Aweigh2452]

the perfume river

I watched sailors throw loose change in that river just to watch the kids dive for them. It was disgusting then and to think that river had every imaginable bacteria known to man in there... argh!!!

[Numbknots]

For sure "river front" property is not a premium over there. All one has to do though is get out to the islands and the visibility was well in excess of 100ft. We went diving out of Puerto Galera. Dove on a boat wreck and another site at between 90-120 fsw. You could see shadows from the sun and great color. Personally I like cold water diving in the PNW as well or better. Diving was inexpensive though!

It did look like there were plenty of Fish to catch and for sure Spud would have a blast with his speedy Trophy running from fishing hole to fishing hole!

Tim

[SomeSailor]

Yeah... its a beautiful place. Doug and I were there under much different circumstances. Olangapo, Magsaisai, Subic City, Manila and their barrios were a different world all to themselves.

Great fun, but dangerous places if you didn't know what you were doing. I lived out in Olangapo for 9 months in the late 80's. The 'real' exchange rate was 28 P (pesos) to a dollar. My rent was 480P/mo and that included the electric, food and two girls that came with the house. A beer cost 2P in the bars along Magsaisai Blvd and was generally free with food in the barrio.

It was an amazing place... and amazing fun... but still got hairy from time to time. I remember seeing bodies in the river, NPA checkpoints, and folks getting shot by the Lanegra on the fences on Clark AFB. It was just like the movies... only more real. :shock: