We arrived Palau under a blanket of clouds and rain. Visibility was poor. I was a bit worried as we knew the charts are wrong and we will have to navigate visually. The Cmap charts are definitely wrong and when I plotted the suggested waypoint for the entry I noticed that the raster chart was more accurate. I decided to use the Visual Navigation program and the raster chart, and although it is not as detailed as the Cmap, it was dead on. Luckily the visibility improved when we reached the outer reefs. The entry channel is well marked, lots of boat traffic and the current was fairly strong. You certainly do not want your engine to fail at this point. We proceeded to Malakal Harbour and had to spin around several times as our VHF calls were unanswered. Finally they heeded our calls and we were instructed to proceed to the government wharf for checking in procedures. The officials arrived one by one and we were checked in fairly fast. After checking in, we rounded the island clockwise to the other side where Sam's Tours/Royal Belau yacht club is. They were quite helpful and showed us where to anchor.

Addendum: I seem to recall the first buoy marking the entry is behind the reef instead of ahead of the reef.  So have to watch carefully.

We were in Palau for about 2 months. After that long passage from Kavieng, we were now more relaxed in waiting for the right weather window.

We waited for the line of ITCZ to move downwards towards the South Pacific and the high pressure system to be established in the Pacific Northwest. In this scenario, the NE trades are then established and chances of typhoons forming down. On December 18 we set off towards the exit channel on the west side of Palau. Our strategy was to head WNW until we hit about 9 or 10 degrees north so we will not enter into the equatorial countercurrent area. Once we are about 200 miles from the east coast of northern Mindanao, we will start heading south with the prevailing current. We still encountered some weird currents, so in hindsight, it would have been easier to head due north first, then west. We felt the current start to change southwards at around 8 degrees north and 129 degrees east. This was where we changed course onto our rhumbline straight to the cape of San Agustin.

We were hit by squalls during the passage. Twice we were running on bare poles. About 150 miles from the coast of northern Mindanao, we encountered the FADs (Fish attraction devices) which I've read about. They are big floating steel drums anchored in very deep waters used by fishermen to attract fish. Not fun to hit those things at nights. By this time, we turned southward and sailed very fast with the current to the point of Cape San Agustin. By 7 pm we rounded into the Gulf of Davao. Fishermen in outriggers were there without lights. They approached us quietly to have a look-see, but never bothered us. We passed more FADs along the way, but this time, they were just floating bamboos marked by coconut fronds. I have written about our sailing experience in the Gulf of Davao under the Davao / Samal section in "Sailor's Lair", with a picture of the chart. Do check it out.

Finally, I am home. I never imagined I would arrive Davao by sailboat, and here I am, almost a year later. This passage took us 5 days, 640 nautical miles.