This marina is part of a larger residential development and will eventually include a resort hotel and island spa. In addition to the usual shower and laundry facilities, wet berths have access to water (free) and power for a small fee. The marina is well protected, and provides long term secure storage for cruisers away from the cyclones further north. There are over 50 berths, but there were only 6 boats booked in during September when we were there. Haul out dry berth storage on the hard is available for smaller boats and there is access by arrangement to another haul out boat yard further south for repairs or anti-fouling. A free shuttle service runs visitors from the marina to the ferry which runs between Samal Island and Davao city. The location right at the top of Samal Island means it is a 30 minute ride over a bumpy road to the ferry to Davao, so organizing supplies from the supermarket is often a full day adventure, taking an hour and a half each way to get to Gaisano or Abreeza Mall from the Marina. Buses or taxis are easily available once on the Davao side. The Davao supermarkets are well stocked, have many imported items, and also sell inexpensive alcohol. The department stores are worth a look if you need new linen or towels, with prices similar to Australia.

The up side of the marina's island location, is that the marina is very peaceful, clean and quiet, so a very relaxing haven in the normally hot dusty bustle of many Asian ports. The smaller village of Babak is 20 minutes away and fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, fish and meat can be purchased easily there. UHT milk and alcohol and a limited number of items can be obtained from a small convenience store catering to locals just north of Babak village. Fuel can be arranged and diesel is available at the service station near the ferry terminal. Marina staff can help get your jugs down there and assist with carrying them down to your boat. The marina staff are all friendly and very helpful. Twenty four hour security ensures your boat is safe at all times. Irish Melody had been at the boat yard and the marina for over a year, with no problems. Cheene in the office can organize check-in and check-out. We needed to fix a damaged steering component and Kjartan and Ellen were fabulous in helping us find local experts to assist.

Booking contact details:

holiday_oceanview@yahoo.com or info@holidayoceanview.com

VHF Chanel 68

Mobile Phone +63 (929)510-5160

Hi everyone,

Here we are! A much overdue for some of you catch up with the happenings on board Kotuku, and off board as well I guess.

Kotuku at Wellesley

Alaska, in a nutshell, has been pretty special! We thoroughly enjoyed meandering up the coast, the further north and west we went, the better it seemed to get. The people are incredibly down to earth, and each community we went to was warm and welcoming – not that there are many communities there…Most of the coastal folk are in some way involved in the primary industry – salmon, with huge fishing harbours, boats of all sizes, canneries, hatcheries, smokers, salmon art and salmon tee shirts. We did, I must confess, catch and eat a lot of salmon…and spent hours watching them tenaciously struggle their way up the streams to reach their spawning ground.

Wellesley

Plans to go into Glacier Bay were somewhat thwarted by an engine problem (water in it – not desirable) but we limped into the most wonderful little community – Pelican, and experienced a couple of weeks of total immersion in a typical example of a tiny Alaskan community gradually getting smaller. The boardwalk streets (not enough flat dry land to build on the ground) lined with delightfully down-to-earth houses, a school with 11 pupils (any less than 10 and they have to close it), a library that encouraged us join in 2 minutes flat, and Rosie’s’ bar eclectically decorated and inhabited. The cannery closed a couple of years ago, all the shops followed suite (other than the bar and a summer café – what prioritising!) so nowhere to buy anything – even groceries. No road access – and a ferry that only came once a fortnight. Loads of float planes on the good weather days though. Terry the mechanic was away getting his back fixed, so we got the books out and did some intensive diagnosing, problem solving and mechanics. Lots of friendly advice from the ever helpful, knowledgeable (and heavily bearded) fishing fraternity… Luckily Terry did come back in time to supervise our work and give us the final all clear.

Columbia

After Pelican we ventured into the Gulf of Alaska (cautiously, having watched Deadliest Catch…), stopped at Lityuia famous for its massive localised tsunami in the 1960’s (and its exciting bar entrance), and Yakutat where it rained so much we missed the postcard views of My Elais, but had a very atmospheric view of the Hubbard - widest tidal glacier in Alaska. A bit big to appreciate the scale really, we will remember it as being our first experience of navigating through ice -frighteningly noisy against the steel hull.

From Yakutat we crossed the Gulf directly to Prince William Sound – tried to choose a weather window that would give us good wind on the beam and pretty much succeeded. A very bouncy ride though, with a very steep short and high swell so after a couple of days of cold uncomfortable wet sea sick stuff I was very ready to sell the boat. Prince William Sound very quickly cured me of that silly idea - hundreds of sheltered anchorages, islands, fiords, glaciers, mountains – we had 6 weeks of intensive exploring/walking/kayaking/blueberry picking/salmon fishing/wildlife watching. The wildlife is pretty out there – I daily felt privileged to be able to spend so much time amongst it all, and to be able to quietly move about in the kayaks allowed for great up-close viewing. We weren’t so quiet walking though – the bears seemed to forage in the same blueberry patches we were after!

Frustrating sailing due to strong currents and very fickle winds – generally if it was blowing at all it was gale force and willi-warring, so we were either hunkered down or drifting/motoring (reluctantly). But on the whole summer there was pretty stunning, with calm clear and sunny days interspersed with the inevitable rain, usually very accurately forecasted and articulated using a refreshing variety of terms – chance of rain, probability of rain, some rain, mostly rain, showers, precipitation, liquid precipitation, heavy rain and even (yes it’s true) sprinkles! Other than a few local boats on the weekends close to the three settlements, the sound was pretty much empty of traffic. Even the tourists that pour in through Whittier and explore the main glaciers by cruise ship were very low profile. We briefly stopped at Valdez (learnt lots about the oil spill and aftermath) and windy Whittier (population of around 200 in the winter, 180 who live in the one building).

Eventually had to find a home for the winter, and chose Cordova – small (aren’t they all?), friendly (ditto), no road access, extensive harbour with room for us – we were made to feel like locals within hours. In fact on our first day we went to the pub (yes, I drink Alaskan Amber Ale now) the barmaid said “welcome, I hear you are from NZ” (even before I opened my mouth)! Cordova is very busy in the summer with 3 canneries and the associated influx of seasonal workers and seagulls. Winter it quietens right down and much of the fishing fleet moves south for annual maintenance.

Left Cordova (by jet!) as the days shortened to sunset at afternoon tea time, and the sprinkles turned to “flurries”. We are in England at the moment – here for three months, mainly to catch up with Ian’s family. I managed to get a short term contract as lecturer at London South Bank University in the occupational therapy programme. I am really enjoying the work and the challenge - it definitely keeps me on my toes. The first couple of weeks were particularly difficult as I tried to force my brain to adjust to academic reading and thinking after that long nautical summer. But I feel lucky to have work I am enjoying in the midst of the recession here and the massive fiscal cuts being introduced in the public sector from government level. I have the use of a friend’s flat at Tower bridge to live in which is a delightful 40 min walk from work along the Thames, and I get to escape to whichever family member Ian is with each weekend. Heavy snow everywhere at the moment, so well on track for a white Christmas!

So that’s us in a nutshell – we fly back to Anchorage in Feb and will spend the rest of the winter in Cordova making the most of the ski hill with its 1938 single-seater chairlift, aurora viewing and the sourdough pancake café. Maybe also the occasional foray into picturesque anchorages between storms…and venture onwards in the spring.

Hope this finds you all well and preparing for a lively and safe festive season. Best wishes, Helen and Ian

Hello Ellen and Kjartan,

Oceana Deck Project

While you are working to refit your engine, i'm rebuilding my boats aft deck for some 3,4 meters. I'm happy that i took everything off, now i have fitted new bows, new blywood cover, 2 x 12 mm, and started to set fiberglass. There will be some 5 layers and on top of that either real or synthetic teak. Still some work to do after this, new contruction for the steering wheel, new railings, bench and winches back to place. In the picture you can also see how she's wintering in the water under cover. Kind regards, timo

A shrimper complete with resident pelicans

Hello friends, We left you one month ago in Puerto Vallartta ready to continue on. We made it to Mazatlan and had some of the best sailing days we have had all year. It has been a most benign year with hardly any wind. We spent 2 weeks there visiting that lovely town with other cruisers (new and old friends) . Then we set off to cross the Sea of Cortez one week ago. That trip takes 40 hours which started off very quietly but then the wind picked up (form the north) and we had a "rollicking" ride into a bay about 50 miles south of La Paz. We travelled with 2 other boats which is always fun. We chat through the night watches and keep 3 sets of eyes open for other sea traffic. There are 2 regular, over night ferries on that run. Then we continued North to the islands off of La Paz. This past week (before Easter) is the biggest holiday for all Mexicans. Every sea side town and every road accessible beach is packed with holidayers. So we elected to stay out here for the week. This whole area is a desert. The sea is that beautiful turquoise blue. It makes for some nice pictures.

Periclees at anchor

There is so much interesting plant and animal life here abouts. The huge manta rays (up to 5ft across) leap 3 or 4 ft into the air, turn a somersault and do a belly flop back on the water to loosen parasites! They were particularly active the other day. We watched maybe 12 doing these antics for 10 minutes. I did catch one far off picture of one just before he landed in the water. I hope you can make it out. As always the dolphins are in great numbers. There are pacific white sided and bottle nose in this area. They are more playful and curious than our northern varieties. These fellows always stop for a little play in our bow wave and usually swim alongside us and roll over to look at us looking at them! Such fun! Snorkelling is amazing here. At any one spot we easily see a dozen or so different species from needle fish to butterfly fish and tangs and parrotfish and the ubiquitous puffer fish and so many more. Walking on the beach we came across an army of little crabs with a huge pincer each. We had to move out of their path! But they did not seem to be using that pincer! Maybe it is just to scare away predators!

Stark hills of the Baja

We have been hiking on the islands in dry creek beds and through scrub bush deserts. We are seeing evidence of rabbits, lots of chipmunks, geckos, spiders and insects (not snakes, thank goodness!) , lots of birds. It is fascinating stuff!! This is a popular area for Kayaking and we are seeing lots of groups paddling by or camped on white sandy beaches in quiet little coves.

Lovely anchorage. Good kayaking

We arrived at Mazatlan on Nov 25th and tied up in the El Cid marina for $36/night . This is a flash hotel resort (with a marina). So we had the use of the swimming pools (swim up bar) and hot tub and all sorts of friendly services. I could live my life out here, I think. We met up with old friends, even people we met while cruising in 2002! Mazatlan is one of our favourite Mexican towns. We shopped at the old market, visited the old town center and went to an evening performance at the 100 year old Angela Peraulta Theater.

hiking in the hills

Tomorrow we will be into La Paz and hopefully this will go out. WE hope you have had a lovely Easter celebration with your family and we wish you well. Rolande and Angus

Hi, We just got back from camping at Fraser Island. It is located in Hervey Bay, about 2 hours from here. You hop on a ferry, and there you are on the biggest sand island in the world. You must have a 4 wheeler just to go there, for you drive on the beach, on sand rutted roads, and through the water. Rocky (our car) got many good salt water baths. We probably drove on approx. 50 miles of beach. It was wild. (This is where they filmed Mel Gibson's Road Warrior movies.)

The Aborigines called the island, K'Gari, which means paradise. Their version of paradise, certainly had Hades nipping at it's heels, for although it is mind boggling beautiful, it is full of Aussie demons. You can not swim in the ocean there. SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN IS LETHAL! It is full of tiger sharks,(one of the few varieties that actually like human meat), box jelly fish, and some itty bitty jelly fish that can kill you in a minute. Well, as an aussie we met there said, "it probably won't kill you. It just stops your breathing for a while until they can get you to a hospital, and get you restarted." And don't forget the rip tides!! Fortunately, they have something like 40 inland lakes to offer a bit of a respite from the heat.

We camped on the beach, of course. We were all by ourselves with the stars and surf. Incredible! Oh, but did I forget to mention the flies...the giant flies, that bit and left blood.....hundreds of them, maybe a thousand. How giant were they, you ask? Well, they would definately occlude a nasal passageway for life. The good news is they were way too big to enter a nasal passage, so, at least body orifices were out. Even though we are a hearty bunch, we were out of our first campsite by 7a.m., swatting like crazy people, mumbling profanities, and setting a record for breaking camp. The next 2 nights, however, we did find a piece of Nirvana and had a most beautiful camping spot on a long, white beach. For some reason, unkown to us, it was bug free. Our only visitors there were the dingoes and a massive guano (which is a lizard about 2-3 feet long, with a cute little wiggle, and a very long tongue. I found him a bit unnerving, as I was alone in the camp at the time, and he just sauntered around checking it out, not in the least afraid of me.)

Now, for the dingoe's. Perhaps, you saw the Meryl Streep movie, about the woman who's baby was eaten by a dingo. No one believed her, and she was convicted of murder for killing her baby. In 2001, a 9 year old boy was killed by a dingo, (not eaten), on Fraser Island. Yes, Fraser Island!!! So now, they are taken seriously and the signboards are full of warnings. Do not feed the dingo's! If approached by a dingo acting aggressively, cross your arms and make eye contact. Yell for help with confidence! Now I thought this last bit would require a bit of practice. No matter how much I tried, screaming for help confidantely seemed to automatically reek of underconfidence. Fortunately, the dingo's just came for a bit of a look, and my confident yell was not tested.

The Aussie's are great for giving advice. On a flashing signbooard on our way to Brisbane, they had a sign that said, 'AVOID CRASHING'! Fraser Island, at the moment, also, has a renegade crockodile that they are trying desperately to catch. It is 4 meters long (12 feet), and they have spent $75,000 to catch it, to no avail. Crockodiles are always in northland Queensland, but are not allowed out of their area, as the people are not crockodile wary enough. Whatever that means!

All in all, we had a fabulous time. The wallaby's were hopping around. The cookaburra's laughed maniacally from the tree's. The guys went surf fishing, and actually caught fish, so we even had a lovely barbie of fresh dart fish. (We, also, had Tasmanian steaks and chicken dijon on the barbie the other nights.)

I know I have neglected tales of the culinary delights experienced aboard Temerarius, so, let me make brief mention of the fresh mango's, $2 luscious pineapples, a huge meal of bananna prawns, and after, a very successful day of kangaroo spooting, we decided to have a kangaroo roast for dinner. What did it taste like? Well, not like chicken! The next day, I turned the leftover's into a delectable stew, and had roo stew for lunch. If nothing else, it is very fun to say.