Peter,
That wasn't very clear, was it... I would have been extremely upset if a fish had pulled the rudder off the rather extravagantly expensive Canadian-made sea kayak I was paddling at the time. If you were thinking of the basic putt-putt outrigger, though, I could easily see it, as many of those things are not held together very well at all. A lot of travellers have had very bad times in those things, particularly between Mindoro or Tablas and Boracay. Looks easy on a map, but the waves can kick up real quick, and as you say, the machines are often unreliable. A boat carrying I think 9 tourists vanished in that area a few years back, leading to all sorts of evil rumours about NPA kidnapping, etc. Pretty sure the boat just broke up, wasn't the first time.
Did your Cebu-Negros run start in Moalboal? That was the first place I ever saw a coral reef, lay there with a mask and snorkel for about 4 hours and burned the hell out of my back. That strait is terrific for whales and dolphins, though you mostly see them when the water is flat.
I have a huge reserve of sea-transport horror stories, mostly amusing in retrospect, though less so at the time. It's actually improved a lot in the last few years, they're bringing in fast catamaran ferries to replace the old WWII-vintage jobs on a lot of those interisland routes.
When were you here?
Steve |
