January 2, 2010
Philippines surfing is not quite a destination that would conjure up images of brilliant surfing breaks. Truth be told surfing in the Philippines can be fickle, but if you are after an adventure, are willing to go off the beaten track and are not afraid to try something different, then surfing in the Philippines will not disappoint you.
With 7,107 islands, the roaring Pacific Ocean bordering the eastern coastline and the South China Sea on the western coastline and attracting more typhoons than most neighboring countries, Philippines surfing is alive and well. In fact the Philippines are not a new surfing destination, with surfers enjoying the waves here since at least the sixties, maybe even earlier. Let’s face it who wouldn’t want a perfect left or right hander all to yourself!
Philippines surfing can be both temperamental and seasonal, it is important to know when the best time to come is or you may be disappointed, nothing worse that a surfer without surf.Best Time To Go?
You can either surf the east coast or the west coast. The east coast probably gets the better surf.
The east coast - which is the Pacific Ocean side gets it’s swell from the monsoons, low depression tropical storms and typhoons. The first monsoon to hit the east coast is the south west monsoon which arrives in May and lasts through to about October. Philippines surfing is not that reliable even during the monsoon. The better and more consistent surf is during the north east monsoon or the amihan, during November to April. On top of the monsoons throw in a typhoon or many and you can imagine that surfing in the Philippines can really pump. The typhoons usually come in from the east of Mindanao and head in a north westerly direction hitting the southern Luzon and the islands between Luzon and the Pacific.
The west coast of the Philippines is more inconsistent than the east coast, it relies on the winds through the Taiwan Straights during the north east monsoon. This wind created swell hits the west coast of Luzon. The swell can also be really good when the odd typhoon heads towards Hong Kong. The swell that hits Palawan can be hard to pick, but you are guaranteed to have fantastic waves if you leave your surf board at home, typically if you bring it the surf will be flat!
So when is the best time to go surfing in the Philippines? Well your best to try the east coast during the north east monsoon. But like everywhere surfing the Philippines is inconsistent, however on it’s good day, totally unforgettable.
Where To Go SurfingSurfing in the Philippines, most popular surfing spots are:
1. Baler, Aurora Province. East coast of Luzon
2. Catanduanes, Island province off east coast of Luzon.
3. Daet, Camarines Norte Province. East coast of Luzon
4. La Union Province. West coast of Luzon.
5. Samar, the east coast of Samar Island
6. Siargao Island, north east of Mindanao
7. Vigan, Ilocos Sur Province, west coast of Northern Luzon.
8. Zambales Province. West coast of Luzon.
Philippines surfing has many spots that catch waves, true sometimes you may need to be a bit lucky. Your access to waves is really only limited by your own imagination and how keen you are to head off the beaten track.
Brett Jankowiak is the owner of http://www.philippines-travel-guide.com, Philippines Travel Guide, his passion for the Philippines is reflected in his writings and articles on his information based website.
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April 18, 2009
It’s that time of the year to start planning vacations. I personally took a lot of vacations by myself to explore and enjoy the many great vacation spots the U.S. has to offer. I really enjoyed taking in the scenery, but felt kind of lost when seeking places to find women. I was unfamiliar with where the “hot spots” were to meet single women.
So, with this problem in mind when taking a vacation by yourself, let me offer some advice as an alternative selection for a vacation in which you will be around lots of single women in a confined environment. And that choice would be going on a single’s cruise.
So, what is a single’s cruise? These are specially designed vacations catering to singles. There’s plenty of “hot action” (if you know what I mean) and shipboard romances are the rule. Everything is so conducive to romance. There’s just so many planned activities where you are thrown together with lots of single eligible women.
All you’ve got to do to meet women on these cruises is to simply say, “Hi.” That’s what they are there for, to meet a guy like you. Also, they are far away from home and more inclined to be free and loose. They are more open to having a good time, being wild and crazy and inclined to having a shipboard overnight fling.
If you are thinking about taking one of these single’s cruises, I would suggest checking out these sources:
This article written by Don Diebel (Americas #1 Singles
Expert). If you would like more free dating tips on how to
successfully meet, date, attract, and become intimate with
women, please visit his website at: http://www.getgirls.com.
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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU RUN AGROUND DON’T PANIC — doing the wrong thing can put you on harder.
Now that you’re on the bottom, take a minute to evaluate the situation. Check the bilge to be sure that you haven’t holed the boat and aren’t taking on water. What is the nature of the bottom? If it’s soft sand or grass, chances are good that the boat is undamaged, and that if you need to motor or kedge off you won’t grind a hole in the boat.Your objective is to get safely into deeper water.
Motoring off — If you have a motor or engine your first inclination will be to start it up and try to back out. This may work, but be careful. In sandy or muddy bottoms you are likely to suck sand up into the cooling system and render the motor useless. A powerful engine in shallow water can actually push sand from the stern to under the keel, making the situation worse. If you’re on rocks and you reverse hard, you may drag the hull along the rocks and damage or even hole the boat.
Set out an anchor. One of the first things to do is to set out an anchor to keep your boat from being pushed even farther onto the shoal. If you have a dingy you can use it to carry out an anchor. If you don’t have a dingy, and if conditions are calm, maybe someone wearing buoyant flotation gear can swim an anchor out. Be aware that this is not an easy task and a person can become totally exhausted very quickly. If your boat is a small one, your anchor is also probably small enough and light enough for you to be able to throw it far enough for it to work, but be careful if you do this. You don’t want to go overboard with it. Keep as much tension on the anchor line as you can. This alone may help free you up, especially if you have a rising tide, or if passing boats create enough of a wake to raise you up momentarily.
What is the state of the tide? If you’ve gone aground on a rising tide, you may just be able to wait a couple of hours until it rises enough to refloat the boat. If you’ve gone aground on a falling tide, however, you need to get into deeper water fast, or you may be stuck where you are for an entire tide change. If this happens, and if the boat is likely to end up lying on its side, close up hatches and companionways to keep it from flooding. If you’d be better off lying on one side than on the other, try to kedge off an anchor from what you want to be the low side. You may also be able to control which side ends up high by shifting crew and gear weight. Where is the deeper water? It may seem obvious that deeper water lies behind you, but it might be even deeper beside you. Of course it’s not directly in front of you — if it were, you wouldn’t have run aground in the first place. To find where the deeper water is, you have some options. If you have a lead line you can lower it off the boat from all sides to get a measurement of the depth. You can make a lead line by taking a light line and attaching a weight to the end. You could also very quickly put a boat hook or an oar in the water.
How do you get there? If you have a centerboard, raise it. This will decrease the draft, possibly enough to free the boat. Can you sail off? If you were sailing down wind when you ran aground, harden up and try to go to windward. If you were sailing close hauled, tack immediately and move crew weight to leeward. If sailing off on a reach or downwind would put you into deeper water, ease the sails and fall off toward the deeper water. Move crew weight around to heel the boat in the direction which is most likely to help it to slide off - this alone may reduce the boat’s draft enough to free her up. If this doesn’t work, drop sails, as the wind on the sails will continue to push you harder onto the shallow water. Furl them out of the way. On deck they will become a slippery liability.
Kedging off — Once you’ve set an anchor in deeper water, you may be able to winch it in and pull the boat off that way. Again, moving crew weight around may help immeasurably. It may help to rock the boat by shifting crew weight back and forth as you winch in on the anchor.
Use a halyard — If you know that heeling the boat in one direction will help, hand a halyard to someone in a dingy who can then carefully motor off the boat’s beam and pull it over farther. If you don’t have a dingy, a crew member can grab a halyard and swing out over the beam of the boat to try to increase heel.
Get off and push - This technique is obviously only safe and effective in very shallow water, and thus will only work with a very shallow draft boat, such as a day sailor or a multihull. Before getting in the water, be sure to put shoes on. Make sure that the boat won’t sail off without you, and that you have a way to get back onto the boat.
Accept tow? As a last resort, if all other options have failed. This may require a VHF call to a towing company. Be careful — a big powerful powerboat may be able to pull with more force than the boat’s equipment can handle–the boat’s hull can be damaged. The boat must have a cleat strong enough to take the strain of a tow, which may be considerable. If there is no cleat strong enough, consider tying off to the base of the mast. If the mast is stepped through the deck it will take the strain, if it’s stepped on deck it may not. The line used as tow line also must be strong enough to take the strain of towing — if it breaks under the strain of the pull of a tow boat, it will become a lethal weapon.
When you may not want to refloat the boat — if you have a hole in the bottom you may be better off right where you are, at least until you’ve been able to carry out enough of an emergency repair to keep the boat from sinking.
Linda Cullum is from Cape Cod, MA, with a second home in Vermont. She is the author of Learn to Sail! with Multimedia! an Interactive Sailing training CDROM which teaches all aspects of Sailing incliding Knots, Piloting, Rules of the Road, Weather with digital video from Sail Magazine, narration, animation and quizzes.Visit her site at http://learntosail.net Happy Sailing_/)
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April 14, 2009
Hawaiian Cruises are everyone’s dream cruise to the Hawaiian
Islands on an exquisite ocean liner. Being pampered from dawn
to dusk with exemplary cuisine, entertainment and fun for
all that too for a moderate sum on a Hawaiian Cruise is
definitely something out of the world. An increasing number of
cruisers and liners are now regularly calling on the
Hawaiian ports as also at the neighboring islands of Kaua’i,
Maui, Kona and Hilo.
Hawaiian Islands, a cluster of 137, provide adventure - sports,
relaxation and a new insight to oneself. The islands make one
wonder whether you are at land or at sea.
Hawaiian Cruises transport you to a heavenly state. Because of
the tropical latitude, the weather remains the same through
most of the year. The eastern side has more rainfall
while the western part is the dry land. Locals enjoy skiing and
snowboard in the snow-covered areas of the Big Island.
The Hawaiian culture is very diverse and almost every nation’s
culture is found here. Hence, any newcomer is automatically
drawn into the Hawaiian culture, which is enjoyment and
adventure. Honolulu is the capital city. It is believed that
the first permanent inhabitants of this island had sailed in
from the islands of Marquesas in the southern hemisphere
between 300 and 800 A.D.
Hawaiian Cruises along the different yet distinct islands
provide an insight into the uniqueness of each island. Hawaii
Island is a big one with Kilauea crater, said to be the
home of the fire Goddess, Pele. Maui, once the sole property of
the royals, is famous for its exquisite swimming spots. The
rainbows across the cliffs and waterfalls of Honolulu
are nature’s splendor. In spite of the diversity the common
thing of these islands is ‘aloha’, the spirit of welcoming.
World know Hawaiian people for their hospitality and
friendliness. They can mingle easily and in no time have others
dancing to their music and enjoying themselves thoroughly with
their cuisine. The Hawaiian Cruise enables the visitors to
participate in the Hawaiian culture. The vacationing people get
unlimited happiness aboard the floating cruise liners and
fabulous treatment for little fare.
U.S and Canadian citizens need both proofs of citizenship and
identity to board Hawaiian Cruise. Proof of identity could be
driving license, Government’s identification card and in case
of children between ages 6 to 17, a school identity card is
good enough. In addition to these, a valid passport to sail is
also necessary. Permanent residents of the United States need
to have on them their Alien Resident Card (ARC). In cases of
children traveling without their parents, the legal guardian
with them should possess the parent’s consent letter
authorizing the minor to travel with the guardian, which is
also important in case of emergency of any kind.
Looking for information about cruises? Go to: http://www.whatcruises.com
‘What Cruises’ is published by Colin Hartness -
An excellent resource for Cruises!
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