Monitoring weather, waiting for parts

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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On Feb 10th, we safely unloaded my rowboat at the Omnico Resources Inc (ONRI) Port in Currimao. The port is a U-shaped facility with its entrance facing due WNW making it vulnerable to arriving swells. This time of the year, cold air from Siberia rushes over Yellow Sea then down the east coast of China, accelerating in the Taiwan and Luzon straits. Cyclonic patterns around Australia power this NE monsoon wind pattern. The resulting local winds at Currimao are typically northerly along the coast.

Looking at the forecast, it appeared that I would have a spell of relatively weak ENE winds starting on the 17th lasting a few days then between Feb 20-23, the NNE winds would pick up to 35 knots just offshore. The potential to be swept too far south was great.

On Feb 13th, the Governor of Ilocos Norte, the honorable Matthew Marcos Manotoc was hosting an “Open Capitol Day” in Laoag, the capital city of the province. This was when the public could mingle with their leaders and develop a sense of pride in their community.

The Governor had already reached out and offered any assistance that I may need. Currimao Mayor honorable Edward Boyet Quilala was kind to suggest including me in these ceremonies. When we arrived I was in a t-shirt and lamented that I should have put on my barong, the more formal Philippine shirt. The mayor had his in the car and his staff fetched it before I was introduced to the Governor.

The Governor was young, courteous and represented an energetic leadership with an inclusive can do attitude. Our participation in the ceremonies led to public acknowledgment by the Governor and later they hosted my presentation in the Capitol building. I am grateful for their gracious attention.

While I ruminated on whether to launch on the 17th, my partner Tonguç Yaman and I received that long anticipated email from the Myanmar authorities on Feb 15th. Contrary to our best hopes, they were declining our request to bicycle across their country, citing that they would not be able to ensure our safety at the borders.

This meant that our only path west to India was counter clockwise around Myanmar, across southwestern China. We would have to negotiate a total of about 100,000 meters of hills and valleys, traveling across the grain of the Himalayas to reach Tibet then Nepal before entering India. While we could steel ourselves to travel this arduous path, we first needed the blessings of Chinese authorities.

I immediately wrote to the Chinese Embassy in Manila. Their response was that they still were not issuing tourist visas in Manila. The Chinese government has not granted me a visa on account of the pandemic ever since my first application in March 2021. Their approach may be different in Vietnam, a neighboring country, so I wrote to their Hanoi embassy. I have not yet heard from them. Perhaps if we show up at Hanoi in person, we may engender some empathy.

I deliberated for a few days on whether to risk myself or my rowboat on the South China Sea if Vietnam was going to prove a dead end. With the ONRI Port harbormaster Captain Antonio Kho, we quickly explored our options. I could (1) truck my rowboat to Manila then put it in a 40-ft container to ship home, ending this project, (2) store the rowboat in Currimao and return next February, by which time either Myanmar or China might allow passage, or (3) carry on as planned, store the rowboat in Vietnam then continue once either country grants us a visa.

Although very tempting, I did not yet want to throw away all the effort, goodwill and funds invested in getting me and my rowboat this far. So that left me with options (2) and (3). The mayor offered a warehouse, ONRI Port a convenient spot in the shade. We had a good size forklift in town to move the rowboat. I am monitoring the weather forecast in favor of option (3) and asked to clarify long term warehousing costs in Vietnam.

During this episode of hesitation about the visas, I let the 17th launch window slip. I did not like the 35 knots gusting to 45 winds that would have battered me starting on Monday had I launched.

The gusting winds at the ONRI Port were fierce. When I visited the port on Monday the 20th, the gusts were rocking the rowboat as it sat nestled across two pairs of truck tires. There were big mounds of river sand at the port destined for markets all over southeast Asia. We were there to put a tarp over the rowboat; the gusts were picking up sand and depositing it on my deck. Needless to say while wrestling the tarp in the wind, fine swirling sand crept under my t-shirt, in my mouth and in my ears.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my VHF antenna leaning away from the wind; as Murphy’s Law would dictate, the gusting wind had broken it at the base and it folded. This antenna is crucial for ship to ship communications not only for voice calls but also for overall safety. VHF Channel 87B is dedicated to the AIS system which gives situational awareness to all vessels to ensure collision avoidance. In addition, Channel 70 is dedicated to DSC alert communications. I rely on AIS proximity alarm especially when I sleep…

I have a handheld VHF radio on board. Old school way would be to sleep in short intervals for visual scan of the horizon and to hail approaching vessels. I could also rely on my active radar transponder but my experience suggests that most vessels do not operate their radars in fair weather and if they do, my rowboat tends to hide well in the background wave noise on their radar screen.

In the end, I decided to order a replacement antenna. I ordered one online and just to be certain, I also asked my friend Brian Johnson, an excellent marine electrician in Seattle to assemble one and ship, costs be damned. These are due to arrive during the first week of March, and forecast suggests that by then another launch window may appear.

I suppose this scenario was better that the antenna broke while still on shore with time to spare, than after I launched. Still the extra work and cost is annoying me… I take a deep breath, take it in stride and let it go.