sv evi

HOV has been our home for the past 5 weeks. It is a lovely and unique place. First of all, it has no website, and the only way I found out how to get a hold of Dina, the manager, was word-of-mouth from another cruiser. Dina is super helpful and kind.

We chose to come here because it was a lot cheaper than hauling out in Lombok at Medana Bay Marina (We paid $800 for a month in the marina, haul out and launch, and workers to help sand for 2 days). In addition, it was closer to Raja Ampat, and finally, it was dry season here and wet season in Lombok. I was excited to come to the Philippines because I’ve had many Filipino students over the years. I first heard about HOV from Sherry on SV Soggy Paws, a long-time cruiser who was based here for seven years.

In September 2015 four unidentified gunmen (from a Muslim separatist group) came into the marina and abducted four people at gunpoint, two of whom were later killed. After this tragic incident, the marina (and adjacent resort) beefed up security: there are now two sea-gates and two gates on land, with guards on duty 24-7. We have felt very safe here for the past five weeks.

Many cruisers here jokingly refer to HOV as the Hotel California, a place you can come but never leave. Some boats here have definitely seen better days.

After being here a few days, we realized that they only haul out or launch one boat every two weeks, on the spring high tide at full moon or new moon. Instead of a travel lift, they use a backhoe to pull the boat on a cradle. Here are two videos, Phase I and Phase II from our haul out process, which was on February 12th-13th. It was quite nerve-wracking! When we were successfully in our spot in the yard I felt so relieved and also amazed.

While on the hard, we stayed on board. We washed dishes by lowering a bucket off the side, walking to the marina, washing them, then hauling the bucket back up. We used the toilet at the marina. We got in a good routine of Riki working super hard all day every day, and the kids and I doing home school in the morning up on the balcony of the marina building. In the afternoons I would cook/do laundry/plan for the China trip/general life maintenance stuff.

We also have met some lovely folks from all over the world here — and had many of them over for dinner. 🙂

Chris is from Calgary. He used to do disaster relief work for the U.N. and oversaw the first-ever elections in Afghanistan. Before that he worked on movie sets, such as Pirates of the Caribbean.

Maki has traveled by motorbike all over the world, rode a horse across Mongolia with nomads in the winter, and lived a nomadic life on horseback in Japan for several years. She captains her boat. She taught the kids how to fold origami cranes. She’s so inspiring!

Frits is originally from The Netherlands, but has lived in New Zealand for thirty plus years. Linda is Kiwi. They are lovely folks! Linda and I have been on two provisioning missions together.

Ignazio is a single-hander from Sicily. He and Tomu play chess everyday. He is a whiz at languages, and is currently learning Japanese. We hope to buddy boat with him as we head back to Indonesia.

Jim is 82 years old, and Lia is his caretaker. When I first met Jim, I asked him how long he has been here, and he answered, “I don’t know. I lost my memory.” Whoa. He seems happy enough here. He spends a lot of time in that chair, watching TV. He still lives on his boat, Defiant, which is in the yard. Lia is super sweet, and has been giving me Visaya lessons.

All the workers work 6 days a week here. Joan probably spends about 60% of his time sweeping! There are tons of birds here, who love to poop on the boats, the staircases, the patio… Sometimes I am washing up bird shit, and I swear they are laughing at me as they shit on my hat.

We launched on February 27th at 5 pm, after two weeks on the hard (maybe a record for HOV?)

Then we left at 5:30 am on February 28th for China. February 28th was also the day our Philippine visas expired.

Now we have been back for a week or so, and the to-do list keeps growing longer! I did a big shop, thinking we were leaving soon…

But now it turns out neither Riki nor I are in a big rush to leave (though we will do by the end of the month) because we are enjoying the relative luxuries of marina life: unlimited starlink (internet) so we can stream movies; a freezer that we can use in the marina clubhouse; cold beers for $1; unlimited cold showers; more space for the kids to stretch their legs. I’m also using the time and space to plan our next trips! (Singapore in June, back home to Tacoma/Port Townsend/Santa Fe in July, and Japan in August.)

The kids started a new English Language Arts curriculum on Monday, and Riki has been coming to read with Jade at the beginning of home school. That takes some pressure off me having to help 3 kids at different levels at the same time.

The kids have also been helping with boat chores.

Last Sunday we took a day off from boat chores and went to the pool with our Filipino friends. We were the only non-Filipinos at the pool! 🙂 We had a great time!

Dina told me yesterday that she would miss us when we leave because she loves having the kids around. She also said that our family reminds her of a Filipino family, which I took as a compliment. 🙂 We will also miss HOV when we leave!