ABW Dec 2020-1

Coron, Palawan, 26 October 2020. My husband, Raul,
and I woke up 7am in the midst of Typhoon Quintathe
17th typhoon to hit the Philippines, with 150
kph wind gusting to 185kph, 50-100 mm rainfall,
epicenter passing over Northern Mindoro. We immediately
made the 5-minute drive to where our sailboat Esperanza,
a 45’ Jeanneau Sun Odyssey, is moored and the sight that
greeted us made us weak in the
knees. One of a boat owner’s
worst nightmares just happenedher
mooring lines, specifically
the pennants, snapped and she
was rapidly drifting unmanned.
Luckily, our boatman, Ariel, and
the boat mechanics from shore,
Plong & Tirso, saw what was
happening, quickly got into a
speedboat despite the punishing conditions, made it aboard
Esperanza and put her in control just a few meters before
she crashed into Bacau Bay Resort’s concrete pier (miracle
#1).
However, amidst the confusion, one of the mooring lines
still attached to the cleats caught in the propeller and stalled
the engine, rendering it useless. A line was thrown and tied
to the speedboat and Esperanza was towed back and tied
to the mooring with available ropes on board (the mooring
buoy and down-line were secure). But the pennants broke
again for whatever reason, the speedboat ran out of fuel,
and Esperanza was loose once more. Ariel and Plong on
board quickly dropped anchor but it did not hold in the
mud. So Esperanza was drifting again but with no engine,
no speedboat and she ran aground 1 meter before she hit
the concrete pilings built years ago for an abandoned marina
project (miracle #2).
...the anchor dragged again
and for the third time,
Esperanza was adrift and ran
aground once more 1 meter
before the concrete pilings.
All these was happening as Raul and I watched helplessly
from shore, unable to get on board due to the raging
wind, torrential rains and limited visibility, too stunned for
words. During a brief lull in the weather, Raul and Manu
Mantecon jumped into the foaming water and finally
boarded Esperanza 100 meters from shore. Dive speedboat
Picasso, 7.98 meter length with 75hp outboard, c/o Eric
Zurcher and 2 crew, saw what was
happening from shore and came to
help. Picasso picked up the anchor
and set it farther and properly until
it held. Raul successfully pulled
Esperanza free from the mud with
the anchor line using an electric
winch (to add to the mounting
problems, the windlass has been
broken for several months) but
the anchor dragged again and for the third time, Esperanza
was adrift and ran aground once more 1 meter before the
concrete pilings (miracle #3).
Raul and Manu were soon joined by 5 young strapping Coast
Guard men who I called for help. I asked the Coast Guard for
a speedboat but they sent manpower instead because their
boat is too small for the severe weather. One of the Coast
Guard men swam against the wind and current with a new
rope to tie to the mooring 100 meters away. They spent the
next 5 hours- in the cold howling wind driving the relentless
rain sideways, with Esperanza bucking like a horse due to
the crashing waves- trying to free Esperanza’s keel using
the lines tied to the mooring and the speedboat all to no
avail. Our dinghy engine, which has been problematic for
some time finally gave up, a disaster since it was being used
to ferry supplies and people, and precious energy was spent
paddling against the wind and waves.
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