The Coconut Milk Run

Ellen cited her reasons: “We wanted to be close to the family for as long as possible. Besides, my brother (Ronald Bangayan) promised a place for us at the Holiday Oceanview Village in Samal to build a home overlooking the marina where our boat will be.”

Ellen describes life on the yacht as “Lots of sunshine and clean air.” It is however far from glamorous. “Our lives depend so much on our boat and the integrity of its equipment.”

Before a passage, Kjartan checks and double-checks everything. As for Ellen, she checks for favorable weather and uploads the navigation waypoints to their GPS equipment.

She takes charge of the medicine and food supplies. In some countries, food is expensive so they adjust.

“I have learned from other cruisers on how to preserve meat and vegetables. Occasionally, we throw in our fishing line to catch fish. We collect rain water when we can by putting buckets underneath our canvass cover,” Ellen says.

Important documents are updated and kept in order. “We also have a ditch bag ready in case of emergency when we have to jump ship. It is a grab bag with our passports, money, medical supplies, food, handheld GPS and VHF radio,” she says.

Once all gears are set, the couple then waits for the right weather to set sail This can take as long as a week or up to two months of waiting.

Once the boat casts off, the couple takes turns sleeping. Someone must always be awake.

“We watch for other vessels close to us, changes in weather and wind direction, our course and heading, any damages to sails and equipment and recording our positions in a logbook,” Ellen says.

Since their boat is on autopilot, life is pretty easy when the winds remain steady. Time is spent on eating, sleeping and doing chores. But it is another story when the wind pattern changes. The couple will have to change sail plans and even their route even up to several times a day.

Upon arrival to each country, immigration becomes the next hurdle. Ellen explains that they fly a yellow quarantine flag and the host country’s flag. Once anchored, they radio port authorities on instructions to check in.

“The usual way is that all officers — Port, customs, immigration and quarantine, will board our boat to check us in. If the port doesn’t have easy access to our boat, then we have to go ashore to the different offices ourselves. On departure, we have to go to immigration for passport stamping and then get a departure clearance from the Port Captain. This is important, as the next country will be asking for this clearance certificate,” she said.

Sailing alone has its dangers. But the couple acknowledged their luck. “We have never been boarded nor robbed…. And we’ve always been so lucky to catch and repair equipment failures before any great big damage is done,” Ellen says.

Although no major storms passed their way due to careful planning, they once encountered gale force winds while anchored on a leeshore inside an atoll in
French Polynesia.

“With lightning and big waves all around us, we couldn’t do anything but pray that our anchoring system will not break apart. Lightning is quite scary and I have seen it strike the water just right behind us,” she narrates.

One wonders if all of this is worth it. Ellen recounts memorable moments like sailing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco; cruising besides the US Navy warships and destroyers in San Diego; sailing the Baja Peninsula of Mexico; crossing the largest body of water, the Pacific Ocean, from Mexico to French Polynesia; crossing the equator; and visiting several islands in the Pacific.

“Any difficulties encountered at sea in getting there are almost always forgotten,” she said.

While most of us pay will pay for the chance to see dolphins and whales, it is a common sight for them. “We see a lot of dolphins. They like to frolic around us,” she says.

On sails to Mexico, Tonga and the South Pacific Islands, whales were aplenty. “Our living quarters below deck is partly under water and we can hear the sounds of the whales communicating to each other. It is like a soothing music especially good for putting you to sleep. They also spied on sea turtles and sunfish and seabirds ranging from gulls and pelicans in the California and Mexican coasts, to boobies, Terns and Frigates in the South Pacific,” Ellen says.

It was interesting to note a suggestion Ellen has for Davao’s tourism sector: Make it enticing for cruisers to come — security, hassle free port clearance and immigration.

“Yachties contribute to the economy of local business and it also places the names of these countries/islands on the “map” as word of mouth spreads like fire in the yachting community,” she says.

When asked if she will be staying in Davao for good. Her answer is: “One good thing about our way of life is that plans are never written in stone. They remain flexible and change just as fast as the wind. For now, we take one place at a time. From Davao onwards, who knows? The boat is our second home, and wherever we travel to, we always have our home with us.”