In position at Currimao

NOTE: You know about the Feb 6 earthquake in southeastern Turkey by now. On my homepage, I shared the link to the reliable US-based nonprofit Turkish Philanthropic Funds. I am linking their dedicated earthquake relief fund again in case you are looking for ways to help.

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A year ago on Valentines Day, I was on Guam with Nancy who was able to join me during my historic row across the Pacific Ocean from North America (California) to Asia (The Philippines). The timing was perfect as I safely reached Guam where we reunited before I resumed my journey west from there.

As I bicycled from Manila to Currimao, I was concerned about how I would return to Legazpi with the bicycle. Flying with it from Lauag just north of Currimao would only be allowed if we could properly box it. I did not want to take a chance by bus, not knowing whether they could take the bicycle. I even asked whether the flatbed truck which would later deliver my rowboat to Currimao, would return to Legazpi and if so whether they could take the bicycle back for me.

I suggested to my JCI Philippines liaison Mickey Celles to broach the subject with Senator JV. Perhaps his staff could pick me up from Currimao; the Senator was gracious to agree. I arrived at Currimao on Sunday evening, January 29th and the following afternoon, his associate Henz Austria arrived in a utility vehicle with two others.

Henz is an accomplished nature photographer. His passion is the endangered birds of Philippines, including the majestic Philippine eagle, the Haring Ibon found mostly around Davao on Mindanao Island. Henz offers fantastic albums in coffee table format if you are interested.

Once in Manila on the 31st, we visited my friend Apa Ongpin at his apartment where I had left behind my PFD and two spare CO2 cartridges, fearing that the airport security would confiscate them on the way to Legazpi.

On my flight out of Manila back in April, the airport security got on my case about my two spare CO2 cartridges and the cartridge in my PFD. I never had to deal with such scrutiny in the past as one PFD and up to two CO2 cartridges are allowed on flights elsewhere in checked baggage. I was going to fly out on Korean Airlines and I asked the security to take me to their counter. When the Korean Airlines staff behind the counter acted as if they didn’t speak English, the airport security proceeded to confiscate the two spare cartridges and even made me uninstall the cartridge from my PFD. Replacing this total of three specific cartridges cost me $300!

Nonetheless it was good to see Apa again however briefly. Then we visited marine shops around Manila to pick up a replacement anchor, thimbles and shackles. I had to assemble a new ground tackle after I had to sacrifice mine by cutting the rode line in the morning of the day that I pulled into Legazpi last March.

Our shopping spree took all day given the thick Manila traffic, then they delivered me to the bus station. Marc Alvin Tan of JCI Legazpi had already arranged me a bus ticket and instructed the staff at the counter to look for me. The bicycle was secured in the bowels of the intercity passenger bus and I settled on a comfortable seat to Legazpi.

Albay Yacht Club was organizing a fundraising dinner for their youth sailing program in the evening of Friday, Feb the 3rd. I was the keynote speaker and the attraction to draw an enthusiastic audience already willing to support their youth. The overriding message of the event was to improve the tourism potential of this majestic coastal city by cleaning up its rivers and its coastline. Plastics and other debris like empty coconut husks, flip flops and old t-shirts were all refuse discarded into the creeks by the townsfolk.

The Governor of Albay province, the Honorable Edcel Grex Lagman graced the event with his presence. We were all on message and in agreement about the task at hand: to address plastic pollution in their waters. The story of my journey and my advocacy highlighting the plastic pollution in The Ocean was well received. Artist Hazen G. Maldo (Ching Art @mching1986) was inspired and she proudly told me that within one day, she painted oil on canvas depicting my rowboat guided by the light, on The Ocean littered with plastic.

I believe that the event was a good start to greater initiatives and it gave me pride to be able to contribute as an honorary board member of Albay Yacht Club. I am confident that there will be an ongoing discussion about how to proceed and how to leverage national and local resources. It was a privilege and my pleasure to be able to contribute to the youth sailing program at Albay Yacht Club and to the discourse on how to improve the waters of Legazpi. Please see the review on YouTube of the event.

The new AGM batteries that I had ordered were waiting for me at the Oceanfront Hostel. I was relieved that I could fit them in the holds of the rowboat without much trouble. With a diagram of the electrical system in hand, I reconnected everything then the batteries came online without any issues. Next order of business was to nudge the rowboat forward from under the bamboo shed.

John Gochenouer recruited 10 Puro sailors and four of their parents also chose to come help us. We crisscrossed a loop of line under the hull, then in unison lifted and moved the boat forward a few inches at a time. We would carry the pairs of tires from behind the boat to the front as we made progress. Before long, the rowboat was fully out on the grass, ready to be picked up by the boom truck that the City Engineer’s Office offered once more.

The City Engineers were given instructions to help in any way that they could. They miraculously found the same H-shaped spreader which they made back in April when they initially lifted my rowboat from John Gochenouer’s trailer to put it on the ground. They reinforced the spreader with additional diagonal struts for rigidity and arrived early at the Albay Yacht Club boatyard on Wednesday the 8th.

We already had arranged a flatbed truck to carry my rowboat to my intended launch site in Currimao. The owner Ermie arrived with two other drivers Wilson and Plor. We positioned the boom truck alongside my rowboat and the flatbed alongside that.

It did not take long to lift my rowboat and to swing it across the boom truck onto the flatbed. We placed two pairs of large and stiff truck tires under my rowboat to accommodate its chined hull; we set it down and securely lashed it.

With one night of rest in San Pablo City south of Manila, we reached the Omnico Natural Resources port in Currimao around 22:00 on Friday the 10th.

I am forever grateful to Frabelle Group of Companies in the person of their General Manager Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr, for generously sponsoring the transportation costs of my rowboat from Legazpi to Currimao.

As you may remember, Frabelle Fishing was instrumental in lifting my rowboat in May 2008 north of Papua New Guinea, storing it during the typhoon season and returning it to the same location in January 2009, so that I could resume my circumnavigation journey. Without their critical intervention, not only would I not have completed my journey, I most likely would have lost my rowboat or worse.

We parked the flatbed truck overnight at the ONRI port while the Mayor of Currimao, the Honorable Edward “Boyet” Quilala hosted us at his Ranchito Resort. The unloading of my rowboat was easily achieved the next day using the tall crane and the six wide straps we had earlier identified at the port.

This week, I tested all systems once over, made sure that my watermaker, satellite communication options, AIS, chartplotters and navigation light were still working. My handheld gas stove also is in good condition, which means that I will be able to boil water during my crossing to reconstitute my freeze dried meals and to fix myself some much appreciated coffee. Now all that remains to do is to stash the remaining bits of gear and dry bags on my rowboat to become shipshape for departure.

Right now, strong spells of NNE-NE winds dominate as winter weather systems accelerate the winds through the Taiwan and Luzon straits. I will launch into a northerly band of current near shore. These winds can create choppy wind-against-current conditions then once past that, threaten to push me further south than I would like. I must be patient to catch the right conditions to peel away due WNW from Currimao.

Now that you have read all the good news, there also are some hiccups that I must report below:

Yesterday, my expedition partner Tonguç Yaman and I received discouraging news in an email from Myanmar authorities. Tonguç has been intent on bicycling with me from Vietnam to Portugal. He already sublet his apartment in New York, assembled his gear and purchased a ticket to Da Nang scheduled to arrive there on March 6th.  Their email said: “We would like to inform you with regret that both of you are not granted approval by Myanmar authorities concerned, to travel across Myanmar by bicycle due to security reasons at the borders.”

This was a major setback and I quickly wrote to the Chinese Embassy in Manila, seeking their help. China remained our only path west from Vietnam to India. China had previously rejected my visa applications since March 2021 due to the pandemic. The wild alternative would be to take my rowboat from Vietnam to the west coast of Thailand to attempt a row across the Bay of Bengal to the east coast of India, however that variation may well bankrupt me.

So I submitted to the Chinese Embassy in Manila a project proposal indicating my intention to bicycle across southwestern China, from Vietnam counter clockwise around Myanmar to Tibet and Nepal. I was glad to have already prepared two versions of this proposal in PDF format for Myanmar and China.

Their response was: “we still do not issue tourist visa here in the Philippines. Regarding your other concerns, please coordinate directly with Chinese immigration as this will be more in their knowledge.” I would have thought my inquiry had nothing to do with immigration as I do not intend to stay in China any longer than is necessary to cover the distance.

I also wrote to the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi, and to the Consul General of Turkey in Hong Kong for any possible advice. I have not received any response from these yet. Given my past experience, I doubt that the message will be any different, but one can only hope.

Without a clear path to India and beyond from my point of landfall, I hesitate to risk myself or my rowboat on the South China Sea between the Philippines and Vietnam. I really don’t know if showing up in person at the Chinese Embassy in Hanoi after rowing across this dangerous body of water, would engender any empathy to assist me. Therefore there is a good chance that I may decide to cut my losses and ship my rowboat back home, hanging up my oars for a while.