Surigao has a good reputation for being one of the friendliest ports in the Philippines. We sent our pre arrival notice to a few dozen email addresses and were told to meet a lady from the tourism office who would take us to all the offices. We did and everybody was very friendly indeed, but it took the whole day. Partly because it took the… Continue reading »
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2026
12
Mar
15% discount on all pitufinos!
During long nightwatches the Pitufino is my best friend: Thanks to Christian’s boat-data gateway I can sit on the comfy sofa and still have the nav instruments in front of me on the smartphone. I can also track AIS targets, watch subtle changes in the wind direction/speed with the log function and even remote-control the autopilot with the phone! Of course I still go up… Continue reading »
2026
10
Mar
Passage to the Philippines
860 nautical miles was the longest passage we’ve done in a while. Ever since we got Smurfy we’ve avoided trips longer than a day or two, as he gets very impatient and bored and we constantly have to make sure he doesn’t do anything foolish–like jumping on the bimini while the boat is rolling wildly… We needn’t have worried, the weather was nasty enough for… Continue reading »
2026
06
Mar
2026
11
Feb
Life with Slipping Rib Syndrome
Today we celebrate my not-quite-dead-yet day. 3 years ago we somersaulted with a local boat in a pass in Fiji and got rolled over the reef. Christian managed to climb on the stuck, semi-submerged boat, but the skipper and I were swept into the pass by a strong current. Nobody had witnessed the accident, nobody could help. He drowned, but I managed to swim back… Continue reading »
2026
06
Feb
2026
03
Feb
2026
20
Jan
2026
19
Jan
2 magical, but bouncy weeks on an uninhabited atoll
Olimarao atoll is small and looks nicely surrounded by a barrier reef, so we expected a calm anchorage. Unfortunately the barrier reef is so submerged, that swell makes it in from all sides and at high water we were bouncing every day in crossed seas despite different stern line attempts to try and face the swell… We ended up sleeping in passage mode (one on… Continue reading »