CLAUDIA & CARSTEN'S WORLD EXPEDITION

Flying to Manila

Some months back we had scheduled to join a sailing trip from Philippines to Indonesia, so after Myanmar, we flew to Manila.

Meeting Kriz in Manila

We had a lovely traditional Philippine dinner with a good friend I had not met since the year 2000.

From Manila we flew to Dumaguete

Dinner

Journey to Cebu

The sailing boat was not ready, so it could not arrive to Dumaguete as scheduled. Therefore, we had to spend a full day trying to reach Carmen Bay, in Cebu, where the sailing boat was.

Crossing from Dumaguete to Cebu

Stopped to see the whale sharks

Worst touristic stop ever this place called Oslob. We will never go back there again.

Whale shark being fed

Then go shopping for diving gear

Finally we arrive to Carmen Bay

This picture was from the following morning, we arrived to Carmen Bay late in the night. S/Y Orbit would be our home for 49 nights and we would sail from Cebu in Philippines to Bitung in Indonesia.

Carmen Bay

We would be 3 yachts on the trip. S/Y Orbit, with 10 passengers, S/Y Wow with 5 passengers and S/Y Amazing with 6 passengers.

Working days

Our Captain controls work being done

S/Y Wow and S/Y Amazing

The kitchen area in Orbit

Orbit had been completely renewed, so everything inside it looked brand new and clean. Very different from the other two sailing boats.

Main area and cabins

Main area and cabins

Our bunk area

We shared this space in the bow of Orbit with another couple.

Carsten's bunk

Our neighbours bunk area

Claudia our Brazilian friend

Claudia and her German husband owned another yacht and he worked repairing ships. Claudia helped us a lot getting supplies, especially, good coffee, which was very appreciated during our long sailing days (and nights).

The mechanic team at work

Fixing lamps and ventilators

Very necessary with the high temperatures outside. Our bunk area was extremely hot, so we always slept outside during the nights we were in Cebu.

The shopping team

Buying groceries is a big part of the job and it's not easy to buy food for 10 people.

Buying vegetables

The local supermarket

Stocking up on oat meal....

Waiting for the dinghy

How to carry groceries

Warm dinner nights

Stearing timetable

Finally we leave!

After three days of work, we finally sailed off to Camotes Islands, where we would spend a week, so the people who didn't have them, could get the PADI Open water certificates and the ones who hadn't dived for a long time (like us), could have some refreshment dives.

This was our daily life

Camotes Islands

Getting kayak lessons

I didn't need lessons to learn this

Local kids think the dinghy is funny

Fancy fins and floating devices

I spent a lot of time reading

Beautiful sunsets

Same colors as Gili Lawat

A coral snake visits Orbit

Off we go again!

After Camotes, we returned to Carmen Bay for some days to buy food and get ready again. Our next stop would be Limasawa and Padre Burgos.

Happy skipper

Limasawa Island

Beautiful spot, the diving was very similar to what we had seen in Indonesia. We were very surprised how little wildlife there is to see around Philippines. Unlike the Indonesian islands we visited in Komodo, we couldn't hear any sounds of birds or monkeys in the Philippine Islands. We guessed everything had been hunted or eaten.

Getting ready to dive

The cook

We had turns for cooking everyday, so breakfast was free for everybody to do their own, but everyday one person would be responsible for making dinner and lunch.

Rain!

Our guiding light

It is hot in here!

On the road again..

Next destination Padre Burgos

Getting ready to fish

Lunch

Off to shopping we go

Kåre, S/Y Wow's captain

Padre Burgos

Padre Burgos

Lots of hours to kill

The baker

There were also turns for baking bread every day.

Sailing to Surigao

Surigao would be our final stop in Philippines, where we had to clear migration in order to leave Philippines and head for Indonesia.

Surigao, Philippines

Refilling the water tanks

Orbit has an 800 liter water tank, which had to be filled or topped up every time we were in port. This was also hard work because we had 25 bottles of 20 liters which had to be transported back and forth from the ports to be filled and emptied.

Rain

Final leg

We were saying bye bye Philippines and sailing 555 nautical miles in open ocean to reach the port of Bitung in the Indonesian island of Sulawesi 6 days later.

We arrived to Indonesia!

Bitung, Indonesia

Lembeh Strait

Lembeh Strait is very famous among divers because of its unique diversity in very small fish and crustaceans. In real life, they don't look as spectacular as the pictures you see on books, because you need to have special lamps to illuminate the animals underwater. It was worth seeing anyway.

Dinner night

This tuna was the meal of 26 people that night!

Manado

We reached Bitung 30 days after we joined S/Y Orbit in Cebu and we had to wait on the boat for 3 days until we had clearance from the Indonesian authorities to leave it and go on land. After that, we spent some days diving in the Lembeh Strait and upon returning to Bitung, Carsten and I decided to leave the boat and stay in the city of Manado for the two weeks we had left until our flight to Australia. It was worth having our own bed and a shower again and we had an excellent and chilled time.