Friday December 16th, 2011

Part 2 - Sailing the Corsair 28RS from Vietnam to the Philippines

*** To read Part 1 of Ralf Kock's story, click here.***

During this time we had our first experiences with the boat and the very various weather conditions. After a very short while, I began to build up a big trust to the boat and its capabilities. The nature taught us to keep the respect. Almost every day we met tropical fronts. Sometimes they came with thunder and lightning, sometimes with very heavy rain, sometimes with gale force winds, but mostly all together. So, we were taught to be really aware about dark clouds... In the meantime we almost always had very calm conditions with tropical sun and slight winds. To experience this power and the different faces of the nature was really amazing, fantastic and - to be honest - a few times also a little scary.

We were not as fast on the journey as expected. I had calculated before the trip an average speed of 5 knots. This means in 24 hours a distance of 120 miles. With such a fast boat it shouldn't be a problem to get this result we thought. In fact for 24h periods, our distances ranged from 58 nm to a maximum of 128 nm. So, what was the reason? I think, there worked some reasons together. At first there were many times where there were very calm conditions which I have talked about. The SSW monsoon wind was already very weak at this time of the year - especially during the nights.

Often we sailed in the daytime for hours with 8 to 10 knots. Sometimes much more. Our maximum speed was 15,5 knots. But this doesn't lead to a high average speed when, during the following night, the wind was almost absent. Many nights we cruised only with 2 to 3 knots. Sometimes, all night, we had nearly no speed.

Another reason was our principle of safety first. Both Jorg and I are neither very experienced in multihull sailing nor are we experienced in sailing under the tropical conditions. Respectful, we reefed down the sails during the tropical fronts. So we felt much better while still sailing with 7 to 9 knots in such a front instead of looking for maximum speed while having a feeling of sailing on the edge.

However, I don't want to talk only about speed data. There are also other interesting subjects to talk about.

For example, our rhythm of boat life and keeping watch. The intense use of the tiller pilot made longer terms of keeping watch possible. Very soon, we found our best fitting rhythm. In principle, we divided the day into four parts. Jörg took the afternoons and the second parts of the night. I took the mornings and the evenings until around 01.30 a.m. We also took naps during the daytime. We didn't focus on an exact time to change. We focussed more on the individual fitness of each other. In this way it worked very fine in an atmosphere of team spirit and consideration.

Every morning we celebrated a very nice ritual. We stopped the boat and jumped into the ocean (of course not in the same time). After this we got always a shared breakfast with a hot coffee. This ritual gave us the great feeling of a good start into the day... Also the dinners came with the daily joint beer which became more and more a nice ritual. In this way, day after day went on...

And we had guests on board during crossing the South China Sea! After two days there were suddenly two swallows in the cockpit. They obviously needed a rest and were totally trusting. We could touch and stroke them. After a short while they started to fly again and disappeared. Not for a long time. A couple of hours later they returned again. They used our boat as a base. In this way they escorted us to the Balabac Strait. We just had to teach them, not to stay inside the boat. The first (and last) time we got lot of bird shit inside. They accepted this, so we were friends.

What did we eat? We had no fridge on the boat. So we started during the first days with fresh meat, vegetables and loads of bananas, mangos and apples. Later on we had to change more and more to tinned food in combination with noodles and rice and rice and noodles. Jörg brought also fishing equipment on the journey. The (maybe little bit embarrassing) result was, that we never caught something to eat. So what, we thought! We're not fishermen and we've been simply very kind to the marine nature... ;)

On the morning of the ninth day, we arrived at the Balabac Strait. Wow, what a great feeling to see after sunrise for the first time land again since our leaving of Vietnam!! The island Balabac, the first part of the Philippines, presented itself with a wild jungle appearance. Hills up to 600m height and dark green trees almost everywhere. Along the coastline, loads of palms on white deserted beaches...

At Balabac we made a very short stopover of only around two hours in the Calandorang Bay to get fresh food. Luckily, we met very nice people there. They helped us very kindly to get the needed stuff in a short time.

Why not a longer rest after nine days of sailing? The wind conditions had again changed in a way that we began to worry a little bit about the time. We still had mainly slight winds but since the last days from northeasterly directions.

Our next destination was Puerto Princesa, the capital of the island Palawan. Look at a map and you'll know that it means simply tacking against the wind.

A little more than two days later we arrived after a long lasting tacking cruise to Puerto Princesa. There we succeeded our clearance with the immigration and customs. And we met also nice people there. The Abanico Yacht Club is a very good recommendation for sailors in the region! Already after two nights we left again, equipped with fresh water and food.

Jörg’s wife and her family were really waiting for us. Jörg missed his wife too and I had to ensure that I caught my flight back to Germany.

We still had to cross the Sulu Sea. Our final destination was the south east of the island, Negros, not far away from Dumaguete City and still around 300 miles away. This cruise took us finally another four days.

On Sunday, the 23rd of October, we beached our trimaran, MISS VISAYAN in the darkness at 08.40 p.m. directly in front of Jörg’s house. The last meters we were guided by light signals from Jörg’s family. It was a great hello after a happy landing

We are both lucky guys who experienced a great sail for 16 days and 1,324 nautical miles... without serious damage to boat and crew... but after arriving, we also felt really tired... ;) 

So, what to say in the end? I can say that an old wisdom became true again.

Unknown distant areas seem to be much more dangerous than they really are. In the eyes of many friends, colleagues and family members in Germany, our plan seemed to be very risky and maybe a little bit stupid. Luckily I've been not too frightened and I took the chance. Of course it was a challenge. But what should be wrong with taking a challenge? And yes, of course there were some risks. But you can prepare yourself as well as possible.

This too excessive focus on threats and risks (I call it insurance thinking) is in my opinion not very productive. It can lead to self locking mind blockages. I felt myself, during this sail, in a very intense way that made me feel totally alive! This close connection to the amazing nature, day and night...

We saw flying fishes every day, dolphins, a big sleeping sea turtle on the surface of the sea directly in front of the boat, a big jumping swordfish, a group of whales (6 – 8m in length) crossed our course very close to us and and and...

Sometimes I only could pack my satisfaction in a loud screamed “WOOOOOOOW”!!

So, would I do it again?

YES!!! Anytime...

Photo Album

• Click here for Photo Album! (including a number of new photos that have been added with this story)
  

 Please note:

• The writer volunteered to write this article and accordingly, has written it independentl

• Corsair Marine has not given or offered any financial or non financial inducements to the writer.
• Some parts of this article have been edited by Phil Johns of Corsair Marine, a native English speaker, to clarify meaning. Every attempt has been made to retain the original intent and tone.
• Corsair Marine thanks Ralf Kock most sincerely for sharing his and Jorg's story.