PGYC News May-June 2022

Tony Stephens working hard aboard Tayana Lady

The fifth Six-Pack Series race took place on Saturday, June 04, 2022, under a dazzling blue sky with not a lot of wind, making it a hot but stunningly visual day if not ideal racing conditions. The wind was from the SW and consistent at 4-8knts apparent. However, that didn’t slow down the competitive action with quite a tussle around the first-mark and an intense duel between Columbus and Neptunus on the beat-leg. Columbus took first place with Neptunus in second place. Tayana Lady was DNF, but provided us with good pictures of the action.

Race #4 took place under brilliant sunshine on Saturday, May 07, 2022. Another hot day on the water, but with 14-16knts of wind, gusting up to 22knts, making it a great day’s sailing. The new ‘quasi-trapezoid’ course was a nice change with short legs covering all points of sailing, one after the other. Columbus was once again first over the line (something to do with that big red Code Zero) followed by Mike Tucker and Commodore Tony on Tayana Lady who were really flying along with their shiny new bottom job. Camille still in boat-shake-down mode was DNF, bit all had a great day in the water.

Race #6 will be on 2nd July 2022 (final race in this series – the new Six-Pack series starts in August 2022), and the usual short form NORI document will be issued-out in due course.

As part of the Sailing Committee’s brief to bring PGYC sailing to the forefront again as per recent AGM mandate, the Committee has purchased perpetual regatta and race trophies to be awarded to the overall winner of the Easter Regatta, All Souls Regatta and the Six-Pack Series.

The trophies were sponsored by Tricom Projects and will complement the existing Christmas and Chinese New Year Regatta trophies. We have a full suite of perpetual trophies for all current major PGYC regattas. It is also intended to additional perpetual trophy add an additional perpetual trophy once the proposed ‘Round Mindoro, Four Islands Race’ is fully established.

A display shelf for all trophies is now being made and will be installed in the Clubhouse Bar area alongside the new Six-Pack Series leader board. The committee will review the club files and engrave all past overall winners on the respective trophies, beginning with Seahawk / Mark Amdal as the overall winner of the 2022 Easter Regatta, to be followed soon by the Six-Pack Series winner in June.

While many of the PGYC Fun Sailors group are busy fun sailing elsewhere, cruising the various islands and waters of the Philippines, Columbus has stayed the course with two recent outings. Most recently John and crew, with the EACY divers group aboard headed off to Sombrero Island for a day’s diving and BBQ lunch. They took the scenic route back via Caban and Bonito Island islet passages noting a number of beaches to be explored on future outings. The trip over was one of glassy seas and little wind, with a slight sou’wester on the way back, so motor sailing was the order of the day. It was a great day for diving and the divers reported that the diving at Sombrero Island is ‘fantastic’.

Columbus also took a trip over to Lobo recently. Lobo is a third-class municipality located in the south of Batangas, and known as a haven of light gray, sandy beaches, mangrove forests and a sanctuary for the many schools of fish frequent this protected area. 

While there was very little wind going there, a decent breeze brought them home. All-in-all it was a three-hour trip to get there (under cloudy skies that cleared in the afternoon. A bit of excitement for all when the engine alarm went off a few hundred meters off of the Lobo foreshore. The engine had thrown the engine FW/alternator belt, so it was out with the headsail and onto a broad reach. The belt was changed (always carry a spare) under sail.

The general consensus was that Lobo was okay, but better value in going the extra distance around the lighthouse point to Laiya Beach.

After a more than two-year hiatus due COVID-19 lockdowns and safety protocols that suspended face-to face classes and training programs like the PGYC Small Boat Program (SBP) our local youth are now back on the water.

The weekly training courses are currently run by seasoned staff members Mavic ? and Joel ?, with our local young sailors doing a half-day session on Sundays and the Stairways Foundation’s* students doing the same on Fridays.

The SBP program was started in 2005 to introduce sailing to the local schools and with a long-term plan to improve the livelihood and income of the town by promoting Puerto Galera as a water sports and sail training destination.

The program provides free sailing for students from local schools on weekend, and gives them the chance to develop social, as well as sailing and sports skills, through healthy, carefully supervised competition. The program also rents the dinghies and runs Basic, Intermediate and Advanced level dinghy sailing courses catering to visiting family groups from Manila and tourists to help support the scheme.

More than 500 youngsters have participated in the SBP to date and our best young sailors compete in regattas in Subic Bay, Puerto Princessa, Punta Fuergo and Manila, including the National Games. Two of our graduates have sailed with the Philippines National team in regattas in Malaysia and have represented the Philippines at the World Mirror Dinghy Championships in Australia (2011) and Ireland (2013). In the latter they finished 8th overall out of a fleet of more than 90 crews from the best dinghy sailing countries in the World.

The SBP has a fleet of 10 Lawin (local-made and modified Mirror-class dinghies) and 10 Olympic-class, Optimist dinghies made possible by members’ donations and the Hong Kong based charity, Round Table 10.

*The Stairway Foundation Inc. is a non-stock, non-profit, non-government child-care organization located in Aninuan, Puerto Galera. It an alternative education program for the marginalized and endangered street children of the Philippines.

Is your boat (skiff, jet-ski, sailing dinghy, sailing yacht, speed boat, motor yacht) in the Philippines? and, is your boat Registered somewhere? If “yes” to both then you do not need to read this:

from 30th June, 2022, if your boat is within Philippine waters and is not Registered in the Philippines nor anywhere else then your boat may be impounded by Philippine Coast Guard and you may have to pay a fine (unspecified) in order to regain possession of it.

During the past five years MARINA – the Maritime Industry Authority, responsible for regulations that affect all water-craft – has developed a simple registration system for Recreational Boats (sailing, powered, on-water craft, under-water craft, over-water craft). During the same period MARINA have been open to register any Recreational Boat, whether new or second-hand, whether currently registered or not, whether out of registry in another country or not, without penalty.

Registering your Recreational Boat under Philippine Registry can be accomplished through email in the first instance, with a follow-up of cash payment and presentation of original documents at your nearest MARINA office. The Philippine Registration covers a period of five years and the Registration Fee is typically Php5,000 – Php10,000, depending on a computation of boat Length Overall and Maximum Beam measurements.

You will be required to complete an Application Form and email this to your nearest MARINA ofiice along with: four photographs (bow, stern, port-side and starboard-side); proof of ownership (Proof of Purchase or Affirmation of Ownership); identification document of the Owner(s) (Philippine ID, Passport, Certificate of Incorporation etc.); and, a “sketch” plan of the boat (could be from the Internet).

A week or so later MARINA will email to you an Authority To Accept Payment (ATAP), which you must pay over-the-counter in cash (no debit/credit cards accepted). A week or so later, MARINA will send to you a copy of the Registration document and Certificate of Ownership by email. You should keep copies of both documents, on the boat or with the person in-charge of the boat, at all times while navigating. Original-stamped versions of these two documents may be collected from MARINA after a few weeks.

Note: you should make you application for Registration at the MARINA office nearest to your place of residence or the nearest MARINA office to where the boat is normally kept.

If you need assistance you may contact Martyn Willes and he will point you in the right direction.<mwilles@pgyc.org>

This year’s Furthur adventures started with a passage from Subic Bay to PGYC for the holidays. We celebrated Christmas at the club house with the famous PGYC Christmas lunch. During the feast the mystical barefoot Santa Clause and his trusty elf passed out gifts from the members to the staff, grabbing a hug or two along the way.

After a mellow New Years Eve, some epic exploring and diving the crew cast off the mooring lines and we left our beloved PGYC. Relishing in the glory of a rare flat calm passage through Calavite Passage, we dropped the hook inside Apo Reef for a solitary star-studded night. Not sure of the regulations and proceeding by the rule “better to ask forgiveness than permission” I took Priam for an epic dive at Apo. He saw his first shark! As there have been few if any divers for two years the abundant fish populations seemed unmoved by our presence.

Again, in pure “trawler weather” calm seas we made the loop around Busuanga Island and returned to another of our “homes”, Busuanga Bay. On assignment to cover the newly-minted Busuanga Bay Regatta, we waited in solitude for the fleet to arrive. Soon the bay filled with racers, crews and the party was on.

Leaving our Coron friends, old and new, we ventured around the tip of Palawan and down to El Nido. We were pleased to see this divine little town had come back to life after Covid. We enjoyed beach parties, diving and even put on El Nido’s first Hash Run.

After waiting out a five day blow another window opened up and we headed back around the tip of El Nido, across the open water to the tiny island of Cuyo, then across to Nasu Pt where we dropped the hook right in front of a hot springs. After a long soak into the dark hours and a bit of sleep we headed to Tambobo Bay. Hiring motorbikes, we made the 261 steps to another hot springs gem. Sadly, the pools in this jungle oasis had been destroyed by a recent typhoon generated landslide. Priam and I worked with a local guy and made our own pool, combining the boiling water from the spring with the cool creek water, it was sublime.

Witches, rope swings and tiny fish nibbling at your toes awaited us at Siquijor Island’s land of enchantment. We grabbed the courtesy mooring at a five-star resort for a couple magical days.

A stop at Bohol to see tiny, big eyed critters, Chocolate Hills, and cave pools, then off to Cebu. A large low-pressure system approaching we took sanctuary at Porter’s Marina for a week. Renting a car for exploring, we enjoyed big Malls, city life, and a couple trips into the mountains.

Seeking solid Internet for Priam’s exam week we anchored in the protection of Palompon town. Then off to the gem of the area, Calangaman Island. With bath warm crystal clear water, impeccable white sandy beaches and small picnic areas on shore this place became a favorite.

We found other cruisers in the Medio Island group and were welcomed by a local character for a house party, a place we will return to for sure. Priam’s school finished we dropped him off at Sorsogon Bay after celebrating his birthday and Papa’s with a village outing to the local hot springs.

Now without our beloved son, the much quieter Furthur headed back to PGYC to finish our epic year of cruising from where we started. Next stop Subic Bay for repairs and a little R&R.

Magayon II, a 26-foot Wharram design catamaran and probably the smallest yacht in the PGYC fleet, recently made the journey from Puerto Galera to Botolan, Zambales. A regular competitor in the PGYC regattas, Magayon II is regularly outclassed by the larger cruising Multihulls, but that doesn’t faze her feisty skipper, Miriam and the Gummert family crew, who more times than not manage to place in each regatta.

The Gummert family usually sail Magayon II from Puerto Galera down to Pandan Island every year for a family holiday, a trip of 90nm, so the 145nm trip to Botolan was not considered a stretch. The journey took four days sailing an average speed of 5.4kts under sail and 3.6knts under motor in mixed conditions of both strong winds and high waves, and little wind with slight seas. The crew, father Martin and daughter Miriam, lived on board for the journey and mum Mavic provided land support following by car in case of difficulties. Setting off on May 13, Day 1 saw them travel from Puerto Galera to Calatagan, Day 2 to Mariveles, Day 3 to Anawangin, Subic, and then the final leg on Day 4 to Sundowner Villas at Botolan, arriving in the late afternoon on the May 16.

A highlight of the trip was sleeping under the moon and the fluorescence in Calaguagin Bay.

Jeremy Flint from Makati City, Metro Manila, who has recently taken our Basic SBP Sailing Course and is keen to do more sailing activities. He plans to be a regular at the club and will work his way through the levels of the SBP Sailing Courses.

Michael Bridges is the new owner of the Farrier F-44SC catamaran Tiamat and will be here later this month to start work on outfitting her and getting her ready for cruising. We hope he has time to join the PGYC fleet in a regatta or two before he sets sail.

Jason Ellis recently arrived in Puerto Galera, having sailed his 28’ sloop Fleeting Glimpse from Perth, Western Australia with his fiancé, Wenifreda Acson.

Branimir Bumbak Croatin who is the proud new owner of Logoff.

Jason Ellis and his financé Wen Acson sailed into Puerto Galera in early June aboard Fleeting Glimpse, a 28-foot sloop after a six-month journey from Fremantle, Western Australia. Jason sailed the first leg of the journey from Freemantle to Samal Island, Mindanao in just over a month with a stop in Indonesia for fuel. Wen joined him in Samal and they spent a couple of months exploring Davao and the Davao Gulf before setting off for Puerto Galera via the east coast of Mindanao in May.

This was a much more leisurely trip taking in the sights along the way with Jason and Wen arriving Puerto Galera some 26 days later. Jason has joined the Club and has taken a mooring in Muelle. He and Wen are setting down roots in Puerto Galera having bought land last year in Sinandigan and they plan to start building later this year.

Welcome aboard Jason and Wen!

All Souls Regatta 2022 – three days of the best of yacht racing and camaraderie in the Philippines set against the challenging conditions and stunning vistas of the Verde Island Passage. All Souls Weekend: last weekend of October. Watch this space for final dates and Notice of Race.