Pros and cons to mooring in the philippines

[Pelagic]

In a few years the Philippines will be in economic terms..... a vassal state of China, similar to what Malaysia has become

[PeterLIA]

Hi nuccifilms welcome to the Philippines- I feel there is a need to be prudent here but some of the earlier stuff here is VERY negative and not representative of my experience in living and cruising around Subic Bay, the Visayas and Palawan/Coron the past 11 years.
We just got back from Cebu and the worst I can say about it is the city traffic has become terrible.
I own a Marine business with retail locations in Subic Bay, Manila, Cebu, Boracay and on Samal Island so I have seen it all and while a lot of the advice earlier is valid, in my experience if you don't stand out in the crowd and take normal precautions then this country is a wonderful place to settle.
Having said that even I will not take the boat into the Mindanao and NorthEast Borneo region but anywhere is else is open for beautiful cruising from my experience.

[Pelagic]

Completely second Peter's advice.....

[nuccifilms]

thanks everyone for any input. alansmith, you definitely generous with words. i've been to various PH islands over the years. i have felt comfortable imersed in the culture. although, even minor concerns i feel are compounded 10 fold in an american feeling safe living on a new yacht. this adds tremendous weight to your words of advice. however, with all my visits to PH, i must say that i found things very different in the northern luzon region. i was thinking of exploring coron (north palawan) porta galata (just south of manila) in my next visit. after all, my wife currently owns 8 properties; 2 farms, a condo, 5 lots, so divorcing myself of the country would be difficult. plan B would be to buy in hawaii to shorten our frequent traveling distance, but so damn exensive, i'll have to work an extra 10 years, and forget about my early retirement

[nuccifilms]

peter, from all my many stays in PH, i relate mostly to what you're saying. subic bay is not the most beautiful of all the places i've been, but if it comes out as the safest, then subic bay it is. please tell me what marina business you have? maybe i can pay you a visit and use some of your services.

the worst thing i can recall hapoening to me subic bay was when 2 police wrote us tickets for my wife having open toed shoes and a chip in her helmet, while riding on our scooter. funny end to that story. my wife offered to buy them frappacinos from the starbucks across the street. the tickets were torn up, and they volunteered to guard our shopping bags while we were in the resturant.

[PeterLIA]

Hi Nuccifilms (funny name - be interested to know the story behind it).
Your story on the tickets is fun and not unusual because I've found if you treat a Filipina with respect and fairness they respond in kind.
Based on my observations and knowledge of the odd drama here to foreigners who get in trouble is they often deserve what they get because they are loud and obnoxious or worse.
The business I own is Broadwater Marine - we are the largest chandlery business in the Philippines.
In the next few weeks we will take the boat to Puerto Princesa, Palawan to begin work on opening our 6th Branch.
From there we will go to Puerto Galera (PG) late October where we are a sponsor for the PG Yacht Club's All Souls Regatta. A fun few days of sailing and socialising.
PG is another safe anchorage to hang out and also a great diving destination - I know many expats there who came and never left.
Look forward to catching up one day.

[nuccifilms]

sadly, i have an impatient 2 years of liquidating and winding down business in the states, before i can relocate to a life on the water. my wife is in much better position with her family running her businesses and properties in PH. regardless, someday i'll be in your shop loading up on supplies.

one gem i just picked up from the board, that i thought i'd repost... "you'll live a lot cheaper with a little distance between you and the inlaws" love those simple wirds of wisdom.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by PeterLIA

Hi Nuccifilms (funny name - be interested to know the story behind it).
Your story on the tickets is fun and not unusual because I've found if you treat a Filipina with respect and fairness they respond in kind.
Based on my observations and knowledge of the odd drama here to foreigners who get in trouble is they often deserve what they get because they are loud and obnoxious or worse.
The business I own is Broadwater Marine - we are the largest chandlery business in the Philippines.
In the next few weeks we will take the boat to Puerto Princesa, Palawan to begin work on opening our 6th Branch.
From there we will go to Puerto Galera (PG) late October where we are a sponsor for the PG Yacht Club's All Souls Regatta. A fun few days of sailing and socialising.
PG is another safe anchorage to hang out and also a great diving destination - I know many expats there who came and never left.
Look forward to catching up one day.

Great to hear you will have a new branch in PG....(my first home in the Philippines for 7 years.)

Where will it be located... At PGYC?

[Pelagic]

One Cautionary note I would give to cruisers who plan to spend extended time in third world countries:

Be aware that the expat you meet at a bar or yacht club, may be into some really heavy criminal activities!

You need to exercise the same restraint at what you disclose, or get involved in, with them as you would for a local.

A friend just sent me this exposé on some people whom I had casually met over the years at yacht clubs or expat social events.

It was a scary reminder of just who you could be chatting with at a yacht club.

https://mastermind.atavist.com/

[PeterLIA]

Hi Pelagic
You misunderstood my post - the new branch will be in Puerto Princesa not Puerto Galera.
The All Souls Regatta is in PG and we are just helping out with some sponsorship.

[DocBrauer]

I lived in the PI in my boat for four years. My filipina fiance has been with me for four years. Two in Cebu. Rest in Bonbonon, Palawan, Puerto Gallera, Luzon and a few other places.

Firstly filipina that was with beheaded Canadian was released a couple of months ago.

Water is safe some places in others you'll need to buy bottled.

Stay away from Southern PI, including South Palawan. Be careful heading between PI and Malaysia. I am the veterinarian that had the three boarding attempts one night there two years ago that's in noonsite. Not full disclosure. nuff said.

Some tips on understanding Filipinos. As said watch your anger. They are raised in multi generational households living close together and expressed anger not conducive to harmony. You discredit yourself in their eyes.

If you ask a question and they didn't say something it's one of several things:

1. They slightly lifted their eyebrows which means yes.
2. They squinched up their nose which means no.
3. They moved their head. Wherever their nose was pointing it means that way.
4. It means they don't want to answer. For them that is not impolite. Still have problem with that one.

Also if they answer with a double vowel sound (ah-ah, uh-uh, etc.) It means yes. Big confusion when first dating fiance when she said uh-uh and I thought that was a no.

If someone younger takes your hand and puts it on their head it's a sign of respect.

You indicate you want a trike, taxi, or bus to stop by extending your arm at an angle to the ground with palm open. If you want to tell them which way your going same with arm pointing direction.

If someone squeezes by you bowed over with arm pointing to ground it means excuse me.

Loved the Philippines. Finishing the circumnavigation to the Caribbean. We'll stay there a few years. Will then sail back to SE Asia to live out my life. Probably will use Puerto Gallera as home base.

[nuccifilms]

puerta galera keeps oming up again and again. a quaint, but centralized location, that's only a half days trip to aqino int. airport. still able to find nearby white sand beaches as well as close enough for visits to coron. it's definitely the #1 contender.

[DocBrauer]

Water is drinkable. You can rent a mooring from yacht club. You can rent a place from The Moorings where you can look down at your boat. Very sociable bunch.

[nuccifilms]

looking at the big scope of things, i'd agree with the china statement. US had it's hay day, as did every nation before it. nations are like prize fighters, either on the way up or on the way down. the weight of corruption that grows on EVERY political system is no different than aging in the cycle of life. the have's find more ways to extract and manipulate the have not's, until it's a stagnating 2 class system.

however, a 10-20 yr window of things as they are now, is probably all i'll see in my lifetime.

[nuccifilms]

with our selling off all our US properties, and and hopefully some of my wife's mindinao properties tool, i'm hoping to buy something there in my wife's name, that's is close to the yacht club. also, would you know if there's any beachfront, that has the possibility of building my own dock? (the PH permits involved in that is probably a whole another thread)