Moved back aboard! Finally!

But not really in. Most of the 'stuff' is still in the 2 store rooms on shore just in front of the boat. We moved most of the stuff from the apartment directly into the boat, food, clothing, bedding, cushions, etc. All the boat gear is still in the store rooms.

I didn't intend to polish the brass (door hinges, locks, knobs, coat hooks and light fixtures). But, like the big brass toilet, I go t ribbed and bullied into cleaning most of it up, "You aren't going to put that nasty thing back in the shiny boat like that, ARE you?". And I don't intend to polish it each week from now on either. Maybe it'll go green gracefully again!

Looking forward from hall

Looking forward from companion way stairs

Looking aft at saloon and galley

The new table is hard to see already!

There is still a lot to do. We are getting the deck ready to re-paint white. And put the non-skid on. It will be tiny glass beads like the walk-around we did in Hawaii. Only a few weeks and we can get out of the marina/work yard and do some cruising. I can't wait to relax!

Trinda lost her wallet for a few days. Just long enough to cancel all the bank cards. So we'll be hanging near the post office a few weeks anyway. She spent the day shopping in Cebu with a friend. They stayed too late so she was really tired. When she got off the bus, she hired a tricycle to bring her the last 1/2 mile into the DryDock. She got a coin purse out of the wallet to pay and forgot all about the wallet. It must have fallen in the floor of the tricycle.

When she noticed (30 minutes later) that it was gone, we searched back to the highway. Not there. A bunch of local guys we had waved to often saw us and offered to take us to town to try to find the tricycle she rode in. I couldn't believe it, but we found the guy asleep in it in the terminal. He searched the seats but no wallet. I bought gas for our friends and we came back to the boat.

Yesterday, the guy that took us to town, came to the boat WITH her wallet! Unbelievable! And it had all her cards (now canceled) including drivers license and local CostCo-like card. She only haqd about 40 pesos (1 buck) so that was no loss, but she also had two rings, her mother ring and her aniversary ring. The mother ring is gone, but they missed the other one. Some of the folks here are so nice to us!

Moved Back to the Boat!

So busy moving that I forgot to take any pictures, but we ARE BACK ABOARD!!!

Nothing is unpacked, everything is in the workers way, but we are out of the apartment.

Pansit and Linat-an Dinner

This afternoon our neighbor in the apartment, Meredith, came over to help Trinda fix dinner and teach us to make a couple of dishes. Pansit Bihon in the wok and Linat-an (pork stew) in the pot.
They were both delicious!



The ingredients seem a little unusual. The pansit has Golden Bihon noodles (rice I think) but that's last. First saute onion and a few fresh garlic cloves in a little oil. Add finely chopped pork and stir-fry. Add water for the noodles(4 cups this time), but not the noodles yet. Add seasoning(salt, black pepper, soya sauce and Magic Sarap). Magic Sarap is half bullion and half MSG I think. Now boil until the meat is tender. Add vegetables (carrots, snap beans and English cabbage. Now add the noodles! Boil a minute or two, turn the noodles and boil for another couple minutes till soft. Stir in gently a dozen fresh hard boiled quail eggs!

The Linat-an, boil pork (looked like short ribs) until tender with whole pepper corns, Maggi Man Sabaw (pork flavoring with MSG), garlic and onion and a little salt. Normally would have put a little fresh ginger but we are out. Add vegetables, potatoes then a little later chayote, red bell pepper and napa cabbage and boil a few more minutes till just tender. Add a little soya sauce. I'm sure there was more because it didn't taste like any "boiled pork" I've ever had before coming to the Philippines.

They would have served it with rice and fed 3 times as many people, but I'm fat already.

Jimmy's Tricycle

I have mentioned tricycles before. They are the primary means of local transportation for most folks. If a family has money then they buy a motorcycle, more money, a personal tricycle, and then a car of some kind, most often a multi-cab. They are tiny minivans or pickups. The rest walk or pay to ride these. I pay 8 pesos (19 cents) from the apartment to Drydock(2 miles) where the boat is and 10 pesos(25 cents) from there to Danao (3 miles), where the hardware stores are. Otherwise it is a bus for $1 each way to Cebu(20 miles) to the real hardware stores.

A tricycle is a motorcycle with a side car. Most are Honda 155 because that is the largest Honda that is imported to the Philippines. Trinda had a 'discussion' with a neighbor cause she thought Honda didn't make larger, but Trinda said we used to have a 250.

Anyway here is a street full of them. They seem to be mostly the same style in each city area. This is Bogo on the north tip of Cebu island and here they are like a mini 2 seat stagecoach. And they usually put 4 adults plus toddlers inside and 2 or 3 more plus the driver on the bike.

Around Carmen and down to Cebu they are more like a one seat buggy with 2 stools that fold down inside the front for 2 more. So 8 total again.

Jimmy is having a custom tricycle built at a welding shop in Bogo that specializes in tricycles. He will probably be the first foriegner here to own one. Almost all of them (us) buy cars or import big bikes.


These photos are here just to show the quality of this guy's work. Most of the tricycles around Carmen were not ever pretty or stylish, just functional. But these have very nice paint jobs and quality looking workmanship.



A front view of Jimmy's. It is big, open and the driver gets a windshield too. In Carmen they carry a sheet of plastic and tie it up where they can barely see over it in the rain.

Again from the back, open wide and long. It will have wooden slats for the floor and padded cushion seats.

The roof will cover the entire rig instead of 2 separate roofs. Where the hand is will be padded seat at a matching height with the motorcycle. The reasoning for Jimmy to get one is cars cost more, lots of ways, insurance, gas, oil, parking, etc. But he needs to cary boat and building supplies from the near stores. So the floor is long and flat enough to carry a stack of 2x4s or such. It should seat his whole extended family (more than 8) or a couple of couples for an outing.

Dinner and Varnish

We went to dinner at one of the very few local restaurants with friends. This one is known as "The German Place" even though its name on the sign out front is clearly "RuMi Pic Nic" for Ruth and her German husband, Mike".

Anyway the food is always really good and of a variety of ethnics. I usually have "Hunter Strussel", Trinda orders "Chicken Cordon Blu" and we share a "Chop Sui" just cause it has lots of vegetables.


This is James, s/v Fandango and friend Mildred. She used to be the waitress in the cafe in Zeke's marina. There is a long story, but I won't put it in print. He had hopped to discourage her affection, but failed...???



April is a boat girl and girlfriend of the owner of the boat next to Jimmy's s/v Mango. Trinda and she go shopping often together. Next is Jimmy's niece Chiree and Jimmy himself.
We had a very nice dinner and BS session.



There are two covered work sheds in Pepe's area. Both are now littered and hung with wood from our boat! These are mostly doors.


And these are hatches, sliding cabinet doors etc.


It is getting shinny down below. The varnish we chose in Majuro was semi-gloss. All that is available here is high gloss. It will be pretty, and we can always add a coat of semi-gloss over it later if we can't get used to it.