The next step in the epic journey “Sail to Pandan“. Hey, we have a title to defend first!
The Accidental Champions
Earlier this year the plan to finally sail to Pandan got screwed up because we did not have enough time, Miriam had a film shoot scheduled for right after Easter. We decided to sail form Maya Maya to Puerto Galera instead and to give it a purpose, to join 14 other yachts and compete in the Puerto Galera Yacht Club Easter Regatta, just for fun. To do at least some sailing on Easter.
We were a crew of 5 cheerful young people and one old, “Grumpy German” boat owner cum safety officer, with the perfect gender balance, having 3 men participating in the crew of 6. Only Skipper Miriam and safety officer Martin knew how to sail. The other four had never sailed before.
We had great fun, came in second in the multi-hull class the first day, second again the second day, and first the third day. To all our surprise we won the overall first in the multihull class, and then overall first for the whole race.
So now we have to defend the title.
Preparations
Getting the crew together – an email
“The stakes are high. After winning the Puerto Galera Yacht Club Easter Regatta earlier this year we want to defend the title. It is going to be a lot tougher. Adjusted handicap, more international competition, and this time they won‘t mistakenly see us as „being a marker and not competing“.
We are going to race Magayon II again during the Puerto Galera All Souls Regatta from November 2-4. We are happy to announce that we will have Skipper Miriam, who led us to victory on Easter, on the helm again. If you are in Puerto Galera during those days, pass by at the club and support us. Since some of the Easter Champions of Magayon II are not available this time and others have not confirmed yet, there might also be the chance to join on the boat one or another day. I will provide updates on the crew and chances for joining next week.
If you have your own boat, join the race.
We are booked in the Sandbar from Oct. 31-Nov. 5 because it is walking distance to the club. But there are also many other resorts on the many beaches. There is usually a BBQ party at the club on the evening before the race (Nov. 1) and in the afternoon of the last day.”
The new Crew for the All Souls Regatta
This is the Magayon II team, including the crew of the Easter Regatta. Some people have expressed interest to join this time but did not confirm yet, they will be added as we go:
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Miriam, Merms |
Kata |
Mavic |
Martin |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Ina |
Shekie |
Angie |
Jean and Brigitte |
The crew table below will be completed during the sailing days, positions will be rotated. We need a gib sheet monkey (Fockaffe), a buoy finder (Navigator), a beer steward (Smutje) and a diversion officer.
| Position | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |
| Skipper | Merms | Merms | Merms |
| Old man of the sea | Martin | Martin | Martin |
| Crew 1 | Ina | Ina | Ina |
| Crew 2 | Shekie | Shekie | Shekie |
| Crew 3 | Jean | ||
What to bring
One race can take a few hours. Also it might rain and waves might be high, in which case a lot of spray water will come on board.
- A light rain jacket, or windbreaker that can get wet. And will get wet.
- Closed shoes. There are lots of fittings on the boat where you can seriously hit your toes. Rubber shoes, espadrilles, even crocks will do.
- Sun lotion, yes, we are not going to pay for you having sun-spots removed.
- Eyewear retainer or lanyard or cat straps, otherwise your precious Ray Ban’s might go overboard. We won’t turn around and rescue crew that dives after their lost sunglasses.
- Swimmers. No, we don’t stop during the race for a swim. But before and after some people might want to go for a dip to cool off.
- Drinks other than beer.
Crew hats will be provided by the Magayon II team. Beer will be provided by PGYC.
Messing about in Boats
“There is nothing-
absolutely nothing half so much
Boats are like barrels without a bottom, you pour money in them and never see it again. Lots of things break, and we also had to fix some problems, like the lashings that came loose all the time. So on October 20-21 Mavic and Martin spent two half days in Puerto Galera to do some basic preparatory work:
- New lashings. Hans had bought us some better rope, and some guys from the Wharram forum had suggested a better technique to do the lashings. We did all the lashings inside, turned out that we need even more rope.
- New speakers. The speakers in the cockpit are supposed to be weather proof. During the last sail we found out that the membranes had cracked in multiple places, which led to a very severe distortion of the sound, and also water entering the speaker box. We replaced them with new ones, and are very disappointed with this German product.
- New ventilator. The solar powered ventilator of the port hull had stopped working three months ago. We replaced it with a more expensive one with stainless steel cover instead of plastic, I hope it is also better quality.
- The radio, actually it fixed itself. It did not work when we turned it on. After some time, when the speakers were swapped, it turned on. Maybe it has a soul, “Don’t waste my time with this lousy, broken speakers.”
Mavic cleaned up the cabins and we removed a lot of unnecessary stuff that had accumulated.
What still needs to be done: Fix the anchor light. Log and depth gauge are not working. Lashings on the outside need to be replaced (need more rope). The fan of the starboard hull needs to be replaced too and then, we need new canvass seats. For the regatta we probably have to put the old white seat in again since I have torn the new blue seat last weekend. We also need to design and make a cover for the lower mast cleat so that the gib sheet does not always get caught in it when shifting sides.
Updates (October 23):
- Inquired at Hyde Sails for professionally made canvass seats – two attempts with localised versions failed. (At the same time ordered the sails for Mathias’ new racing dinghy Sancara III (?))
- Used my special leave days and took half day off to come up with the cleat cover. Not pretty, but I am sure it will do the job and save us valuable seconds usually needed for untangling the gib sheet when tacking. Broke the brand new “Heavy Duty” Singer twice in the process. (Who is surprised in this century of lies?)
Left: The culprit, a cleat for holding the sail down, usually the
gib sheet gets entangled in it when shifting the gib.
Right: Simulating the cleat at home for designing the cover.
Nicht schön, aber sehr, sehr selten.
Update, October 28: Magayon II’s Skipper arrives in Los Baños
Two days after successfully passing her theoretical exam for the SKS skipper license Merms arrived this afternoon in Manila. She passed the practical exam two months ago and is now certified to be skipper on Magayon II and much bigger boats.
November 1, Last day preparations
On Thursday, November 1 we took Magayon for a spin to test everything, in particular the new lashings, before the race. Jean and Brigitte and their three kids joined and the kids got some first sailing experience and all motored a bit to get some feeling for the tiller.
Everything was all right, the lashings really tight for the first time.
The rest of the crew, Ina and Shekie, arrived in the evening and we ended the day with a dinner at the restaurant of the Sandbar.
See also
To be continued….