Chaos to Coral; Battling Squalls, Bureaucracy, and a Near Sinking for Palau's Pristine Reefs

What… more Fishing Boats

Leaving Bonbonon, we skirted the northern coast of Mindanao, constantly vigilant for any nefarious attention. Pushing into the open ocean, we were initially relieved to see only blackness – at last we were leaving the fishing boats behind. This lasted barely two days. We soon hit open water and encountered much larger commercial vessels. This coincided with our crossing from the Philippine Sea into the North Pacific Ocean, at about the 5,000m depth contour - roughly halfway to Palau. Nightmare! The usual – thunderstorms and squalls with fishing boats, at night and no AIS signal! Thank goodness for radar - our best friend - was there to help us thread the needle and avoid the worst of them.

The Palauan Port Ballet

After that one intense night with the fleet, two days of smooth sailing brought us to the outer reef of Palau early in the morning (to give us a chance to us Mark 1 eyeball navigation). Having read warnings about out-of-position navigation aids, it was comforting to use the radar to confirm the location of the channel.

The clearing in process was a different level of awkward - officials insist you dock at the cargo ship pier, which has enormous rubber tire covered bumpers designed for massive cargo ships. In the end, our small yacht had to berth at a 30-degree angle, wedged precariously between these massive fenders. Even more comical were the officials who had to leap down and across the gap to board - I’m genuinely amazed that no one ended up in the drink! My cynical side believes this whole arrangement is a wee money grab, enabling a $38.50 line-handling fee to be imposed for a single guy catching the lines. To add insult to injury, he tied the lines so poorly they immediately started to slip! Between the RSI from signing the stack of clearance paperwork and the delay caused by having to rush off and find cash to pay the line handling fee (we've literally just arrived, of course we have no cash!), more officials boarded with a sniffer dog that looked about 100 years old.

Near-Sinking and World-Class Diving

Matt and I planned a short break in Palau for some rest and scuba diving – it’s touted as one of the world's best locations for diving. We were also joined by our mate, Jack, the owner, who came out to enjoy the passage with us from Palau, across the top of PNG, and down to Australia. We had adjusted our route to Australia because the long-term forecast promised favourable winds. While docked in Neco Marina, we suffered an alarming mishap; the boat was flooded by a badly plumbed in washing machine. Picture this - we were sitting around the saloon table, chatting, laughing, and enjoying a beer when the sudden sound of a waterfall erupted inside the boat! "What the...?" Water was gushing from the front of the washing machine - a quick taste confirmed it was salty seawater. Springing into action, we discovered the machine was plumbed into the pressurised seawater circuit for the air conditioner. Seriously? When we questioned the boat's reps, they simply claimed, "That's how it's done." If we hadn't been aboard, the siphon effect and pressurised circuit would have easily sunk the starboard hull – not the kind of diving we had in mind.

The reef diving, thankfully, was stellar. We saw abundant big stuff; sharks, trevally, potato cod, barracuda, and eagle rays, etc. alongside the usual smaller fish and some truly healthy, pristine, and very extensive coral gardens. It absolutely ranks up there with other amazing places I’ve dived, including the Tuamotus, the Maldives, and Sulawesi.

Alas, our few days in Palau have come to an end. We’re now setting sail to round PNG and begin our leg to Australia.

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