BY TERI HOOPER PUBLISHED IN HONG KONG WEEKEND MAGAZINE EASTERN EXPRESS NEWSPAPER 10 TH september 1994 THE ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH _________________________ The yacht ploughed gently through the Philippine waters, it's smooth passage aided by a fresh breeze. I stood at the helm, guiding the boat slowly past the green jungle of Panay island's mountains. This, I thought, is what cruising is all about; a cutter, it's full set of sails filled by the winds, carving a spray-soaked swathe through some of the most idyllic waters in Asia. Then without warning came my introduction to the real world of ocean sailing. `Within seconds a squall blew up, the howling winds cranked up to 30 knots, and the boat began to heel. Within seconds, it was bucking wildly. The tiller felt like dead weight in my arms as I tried desperately to muscle it towards me, and keep the bow out of the wind. Crew members dived for the safety of the cockpit. In the galley the cook swore as pots and pans clanked across the floor. The Australian captain quickly took control, issuing abrupt commands and advising me to anticipate the movement of the boat. I put my whole body into righting the vessel for the next squall, wishing I had built up strength by spending my free time on deck doing push-ups rather than sunbathing. The skipper finally rescued the situation by releasing the large genoa sail; with the pressure off the, I rgained control and everything returned to normal. We had lived to sail another day. I was one of a group of crew members who had pain $35 a day to cruise. The boat's captain and owner, Alan Phillips, a sailing fanatic who, like so many modern day yachties, has decided to spend the rest of his life travelling around the world by the aquatic route. To help subsidise this lifestyle he takes paying crew members on his 13 metre steel yacht, Wallaby Creek teaching them the delights of sailing. This Aussie is an old salt with a full log of adventures; among his harier escapades was being shipwrecked on a Venezuelan island. There was plenty of time for him to spin seafaring yarns during our cruise through the mountainous islands of the Philippines; most days were spent in contented idleness. Only on rare occasions did we get a good wind, with the adrenalin-pumping experience of a near knockdown. Sailing is 98% boring and 2% sheer terror insisted the skipper, who has clocked up 30,000 nautical miles since sailing away from suburbia. Yachties can sail to places denied to ordinary tourists. With 7,000 volcanic islands to explore in the Philippines, that secluded cove around the corner could be hiding a pristine reef, perfect for fishing and snorkeling. Many people cruise for long stretches. We will be cruising together for six months. Sailing at an average of 30 miles a day is the best way to visit remote fishing villages and coconut plantations. Our captain steered the yacht according to his philosophy; a thousand miles a month is too fast. A good anchorage can be found anywhere. Once anchored close to a beach, cocktail hour begins, with all crew gathering on deck to watch the setting sun. As the moon rises the cook serves dinner- anything from canned tuna to fresh snapper bought that day from the local fisherman. The night's entertainment generally consists of drinking rum cocktails, made with fresh coconut milk and calamansi while listening to a crew member strum a guitar. By dawn the crew are up watching monkeys bounce in the tree tops, or chatting to a fisherboy in an outrigger canoe trying to sell his night's catch. As the sun came up caressing the village huts in a pink glow the cook usually posed the question of the day: Would you like breakfast before of after your morning swim ? After both the yacht hauled anchor and sailed out to sea once again, searching for the next island dream. Wallaby Creek sleeps six accommodating our crew of five - two men and three women - quite comfortably. This motly crew was made up of the free spirited Australian captain, an English accountant as first mate, an Austrian engineer turned diving instructor, an American wanderer and an American travel writer. Apart from the first mate the crew were inexperienced sailors, a fact which did not seem to bother the skipper. "I can teach them all they need to know !" The beginning of the journey was the toughest, making sailors out of us all as we took a week to cross the 1,000 kilometre stretch of the South China Sea from Hong Kong to Subic Bay in the Philippines. The worst weather in the world blows through the Philippines where there is an average of 22 typhoons a year between July and October. When crossing during the typhoon season, as we were, a high-seas adventure is a real and alarming possibility. During our passage the waves never exceeded two metres and the winds stayed under gale force. The closest we came to losing control was when water filled the cockpit during a squall. It would have been a different stort if Typhoon Tim had hit us with its killer 150 knot winds. In the event of a typhoon, explained the skipper, sails are taken down all hatches secured and everyone takes a cushion and huddles on the floor. "ALL YOU DO IS PRAY" he said. The boat will ride it out as it has before. Among our duties we had to look out for changing weather patterns, watch out for passing ships and steer the boat on an even keel. Cook days come around every five days. The-cook-of-the-day was the galley slave, responsible for three meals, hot drinks and general cleaning below. Every day at sea held some kind of new excitement. On rough passages with wind on the nose, standing on the bow as the boat bucked up and down in the four metre swells made for a roller coaster ride. On calm days we watched dolphins break the surface all around the boat. Hot afternoons were spent swimming and being pulled behind the boat on the life ring as "shark bait". We talked about pirates and kept an eye out for suspicious motor boats. Warnings to stay away from the potentially hazardous island of Mindanao and the Sulu Sea we ignored. The globe requires a minimum of three years to circumnavigate; many cruisers take over twelve years, following the trade winds in a westerly direction. Our captain's first voyage was in 1981 when he and his family sailed the tropical zone. This route is called the "milk-run" because it is the easiest and most sailed passage goes from Darwin Australia across the Indian Ocean thru the Red Sea and Suez across the Atlantic and thru Panama to Tahiti and back to OZ. It was in the Carribean after he had flown his family back to Australia that Phillips almost came to grief. His boat ploughed into a coral reef, crashing through rocks until it came to rest on its side in a nest of coral 160 kilometres off the coast. "I was Robson Crusoe living on a deserted island" he recalls. " I thought I would just eat through the food and then just die". With no communication and little food Phillips sat on the beach and contemplated his impending death. But his luck was in. The desert island turned out to belong to the President of Venezuela and eventually the stranded salor was rescued. The boat was pumped out and made sea worthy and he sailed it single handed back to Australia. Wallaby Creek is not a luxury yacht. There are no modern conveniences like air conditioning television or washing machine. The crew have to bath in sea water or rain. And you will sometimes be wet and cold and sea sick whatever price you pay on a yacht. But a few months on Wallaby Creek will give you enough happy memories to last a lifetime. Real life adventure! Alan Phillips will be sailing the oceans of the world for many more years. He says " It is not the destination that matters. It is enjoying your life as you are getting there. Slowly. " Teri Hooper 1994