Quote:
Originally Posted by Gone2long
Dale,
Help the rest of us guys by giving some details about where exactly you ran into problems, and what were the circumstances that applied.
See my PM for more, and reply there please, if more appropriate.
Thanks,
G2L
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Hi G2L, I spend most of 2015 and some of 2014 in the Philippines, thought the people and country.are great , particularly enjoyed Palawan and then the trip from Puerto Galera down to Cebu and southern Leyte.
There was 3 incidents. The first happened at approx6 48 .07 N 126 18.966E. I'm almost tempted to not mention the first as I believe it was a isolated incident and is very different from the other two experiences.
We had intruders enter the
boat while we slept and stole my
phone and several other things. Susan woke me with "someones on deck". I ran up to find two young guys paddling away in a canoe. I through
kayak in and paddled to shore. My yelling woke the village and I was met on shore. The short version is, the villagers were fantastic , very embarrassed, and went out of their way to find the culprits and get my
phone back. There was no threat of voilence or any aggression what so ever. A very Christian village.
The second and potentially more serious incident happened approx
05 32.612N 125 29.235E.
We had left Samal marina 3 days earlier, this is appropriately 2 weeks prior to kidnapping. We had just exited the Gulf of Davao when several Bankas ( small
fishing boats) started approaching. I was downstairs when Vicky came down to tell me fisherman are coming. I've experienced fisherman all through
Asia, always friendly and never a problem. As I walked up the companion way to say hello one guy ran to the front of his boat and jumped on Freeforms starboard quarter, we were motorsailing at approx 6 knots. I sensed aggression straight away. He was standing on the toe rail outside of life lines. I stepped forward to prevent him getting further onto Freeform. He aggressively started saying "money" . At this stage ive got the situation under control, I'm in a much stronger postion than he is, but with more boats approaching I'm concerned. He can't speak
english (much) . I asked Vicky to
head downstairs and
radio friends in a achorage approx 3nm away to let then know we hand a potential situation and also to grab a smallbag of pesos off the chart table, which she did. I wanted this guy off the boat before several others arrived. I enticed him back to his boat with the
money. I couldn't leave the
cockpit. I asked Vicky to go get my club (battern) and also increased speed to full throttle. If need be I was planning on ramming their boats as I couldn't out run them. A second guy approached our stern quickly, I communicated firmly do not board my boat. He ran forward and went to grab the pushpit, I swung and grazed his
head with my club which made him back away, he is now screaming and very aggressive but staying clear of me. The situation ended with me pretending to talk into handheld
vhf, they went away when they saw this. These guys were Muslim and had come from Mindanao. Once I entered the anchorage I found four other boats that I new, they had heard the
radio conversation. Some offered their
advice on what they would have done. Ive thought about the situation a number of times and are happy with the way we dealt with it, we stayed calm , didn't get over aggressive until required and all ended well. Vicky haddled the situation very well.
For those that have commented in the past about us and others being in that area, keep in mind that most of us that were in the samal marina were not fools, this includes John that has just been murdered. We had researched the area prior to going. The marina is a modern marina with
haul out facility on a predominately christian island, with no reported dangers. Even Davao due to its mayor was considered one of the safer Philipino cities. Easy to judge from far away.
Also fate plays a role. John was planning on being with us heading to Raja Ampat. He became ill prior to the trip and that's why he was still at the marina. Also from what other friends have told me , he went to help David and his wife, this is how he got taken. Both kjarton and John went to help, which is a reflection of their characters, they could have kept their heads down but chose not to.
Hope this helps and isnt to much rambling.
Cheers Dale.
Freeform.
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