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Vic Istchenko, Muffy Macdonald, Kent Hansen, and Captain
Toni Strub
The Yacht Club at Puerto Galera offers an idyllic anchorage
off the scenic little port town that is home base for
Little Swan. 
It is hard to believe, but the population of (greater)
Puerto Galera is listed
at more than 20 thousand,
and
takes in the more bustling
nearby resort communities of Sabang and White Beach. Marine
maps show the entire area is a scuba divers paradise.
After a couple of days sightseeing and shopping for supplies,
it is obvious to us why even a globe-trotting vagabond
like Captain Toni could decide to ‘settle’
in Puerto Galera
Feb 3 Tuesday – Anchor up by 6:30
and we’re headed for Apo
 Reef.
Sailed with a good east wind powering us nearly 60 miles
across the north coast and around the northwest corner
of Mindoro Island; anchored in Palauan bay. We toasted
the sunset with anchor beer and freshly roasted garlic
peanuts, and watched the brush fires (slash and burn farming)
that raged across the island skyline.
Motor sailed to Apo Reef the next day passing many a
small fishing vessel.
 Calm
seas made for a perfect mid-afternoon anchorage in the
middle of the huge reef. It is a protected marine sanctuary
and a world famous diving destination although we saw
only one other cruiser that day. Snorkelling was fantastic
in the 30 degree Celsius waters - saw the most incredibly
coloured fish, electric blues, turquoises, yellow, oranges,
greens. Back on the boat a huge pod of dolphins about
100 meters long glided by and later in the afternoon the
strangest large fish (mammal?) with a shark like fin swam
by breaching and crashing continuously like a large whale,
before it disappeared on the blue green horizon. 
Feb 5 we sailed all day to reach
Busuanga Island and the Calauit Island
wildlife preserve. Our
guided ‘safari’ the next day is disappointing
for Toni as there are not as many animals as last time
he visited 10 years ago (no giselles or springbocs), But
we did see giraffes, zebras and the tiny Calauit deer
endemic to the island. Fed the giraffes (the friendly
ones) which was great fun.
 Next
stop Coron town – it’s the commercial centre
for wreck diving in the area as numerous Japanese warships
were sunk in the vicinity during WWII.
There is a major new pier facility under construction
in Coron but the waterfront is woefully crowded, with
diving resort hotels nestled tightly among tarpaulin and
bamboo housing that dominates the shoreline. We restock
beer, wine, bananas and chicken and sail for El Nido which
will take at least two days. Farm homes and fisher-folk
dotted the shoreline of our Culion Island anchorage and
again fires burned on the hill sides around us all night.
Feb 8 - Sailed SSW all the way to the
glorious setting of El Nido. Beer on the beach in El Nido
then spaghetti dinner on Little Swan while we rock and
rolled (due to the swells rolling in from the north) all
night!
 The
hundreds of islands that make up the Bacuit Archipelago
around El Nido have created a fantastic seascape. We motored
to Miniloc Island where Vic & Muffy checked out Big
Lagoon by dinghy; low tide forced us to abandon the dinghy
at the entrance and walk in. But it was a magical swim
once inside, with birds chirping all around the high karst
cliffs. Checked out a few more islands and beaches (every
island it seems is lined with beaches, each one prettier
than the last) but the coral reefs usually made anchoring
safely impossible.
We anchored at Seven Commandos Beach just a stone’s
throw from El Nido and it was fabulous. Swam to shore
(white sandy beach) and back, had lunch, then snorkelled
back in. The coral was excellent, and the fish psychedelic!
Capped off the afternoon with some photos of Little Swan
under sail and anchored off Corong Corong for a glorious
sunset and a nice calm night!
To El Nido by trike in the morning for WiFi and breakfast
at the uptown El Nido Art Café. Spent the afternoon
motoring around the islands and beaches but never did
find the snorkelling anchorage we were after.
Feb 11 - Good bye to El Nido - could
have spent more time in Palawan but it’s a 3 day
sail to Borocay and time
is flying. Smooth sailing (motor sailing) with a few dolphins
for company allowed us to make good time to a nice little
cove in a bay of an island in the middle of nowhere. We
called it Sombrero Island because of its profile from
a distance. Saw some incredible corals snorkelling (it’s
like another planet down there!) but couldn’t get
to the beach because of low tide and the sharp corals.
Interesting beach with a few cows, a calf, some, dogs,
and banana trees. There was a small fleet of fisherman
beached in the bay, who headed out just before sunset
- we could see their lights all night (fishing for squid?).
Also saw lots of bioluminescent creatures glowing in the
water around the boat when it was dark.
Strong winds on the nose forced us to detour back to
Coron town the next day. Anchored below the cliffs inside
a cove on Coron Island and went for a swim in brackish
Kayanga Lake. Snorkelling offered a fantastic view of
the underwater cliffs - like a film set from Star Wars
or another planet.
The next day’s sail was no more productive as we
arrived at Semirara Island in pitch darkness (but with
a glorious sunset on the way). Anchoring by GPS in unfamiliar
waters is no fun but all went well. Morning light showed
we were anchored in a busy industrial port which we later
learned feeds Manila’s coal-fired power plants.
 Feb
14 - Happy Valentine’s day - Borocay here
we come! Sailed through some fairly heavy rain squalls
to be anchored off the famous White Beach at Borocay by
early afternoon! All around us seadoos, para-sails, banana
boats and every manner of watercraft imaginable are speeding
up and down the beach until sunset. 
What a playground. In town we found the ATM, walked the
shops and explored the beach. Even on a cloudy drizzly
day, the white flour sand on this immaculately clean yet
crowded beachfront was a real treat. Saw what we thought
was a huge flock of very large birds fly over at sunset
but Toni informed us they were fruit bats off to feed.
Next
day the weather has turned
nice and hot. We lunch on the  beach
with wireless WiFi, stroll up and down the White Beach
highway and another day is gone. It’s not easy to
find souvenirs worth buying but Borocay is a beach resort
we could visit again. Apparently the Kiting on the east
side is excellent.
Feb 16 - Bye bye Borocay. After a very
noisy night (the discos go until 3 or 4) we sailed north
for Looc on Tablas Island. This is no tourist town but
we snorkelled in their Looc Bay Marine Refuge and Sanctuary-
(lots of starfish and some blue lipped clams) and got
in ‘trouble’ with the locals for not first
getting ‘permission’ (I.e. paying) After a
nice chat with the “mayor” at the port office
we donated 200 pesos and everybody was happy. 
Next stop 40 miles north to Maestro de Campo Island and
the town of Port Concepcion. It is a quaint and tidy non-touristy
little town. Friendly locals directed us to the neighbourhood
beer vendor and we cooled our heels in the town municipal
yard. Saw a pair of lion fish while snorkelling but the
Japanese warship at the bottom of the bay was far too
deep.
 Feb
18 – Anchor up by 6 for the home stretch
to Puerto Galera. Full main and genoa for a bit but later
had to fire up the engine. Nice last day motor-sailing
with dolphins passing several times in the distance but
they didn’t swim with us. By
4 we’re back in Porto Galera for our last anchor
beer and peanuts on Little Swan. In
15 days we have sailed almost 700 miles and still seen
only a small part of the Philippines. We celebrate our
cruise with a fancy dinner and too much wine at Puerto
Galera’s waterfront French Bistro.
Adios Little Swan, and thank you Toni for another wonderful
vacation. |
