As We Prepared

for the rally, we watched the weather. Being an el Nino year, the monsoon was especially active. We were safe from typhoons but would have to battle the southerly winds to reach Sangihe, our first destination.

Games

preceeded the actual rally by two weeks. Everyone in the marina was invited. Eric from Portland ME USA was competing against a tiny Filipina to get rid of his pingpong balls, without hands. It wasn't pretty.

Stack the Blocks

with chopsticks, in the wind, on an incline. James (in the manta ray shirt) eventually won what seemed to be an impossible game.

The Spoon

game seemed to attract a highly competitive crowd.

Such Concentration

on the faces of these women.

While The Other

team members carefully watched for technique hints and practiced carrying their spoons.

The Bad Boy

team showed their skills at shooting rubber bands. Poor Jerry (to the right) had a whole bunch of "girls" on his team.

Philip

of course was a boy once and he proved he had not lost his skills.

The Games

were fun to watch...when we weren't participating ourselves.

The Needle Threading

game's first contestants were Leslie & Suzi, founding members of the Oceanview (canvas and sail) sewing club.

The Winning

team celebrates.

Then There

was the send off party, emceed again by this comedian of indeterminate gender. A sharp wit and a great set of performers made her show another memorable one.

The Dancers

were popular with the captains but not so popular with the admirals.

An Honored Guest

was the Indonesian ambassador who personally welcomed all to Indonesia.

The Grand Finale

were the fantastic fire dancers who performed well away from the taupilin covered seating area on the beach.

The videos

are better but the slow shutter speed of the still shots, clearly shows the patterns of the blazing batons.

And Then

we simply had to leave. (Shot courtesy of Sherry of Soggy Paws)

The Rally

parade approaches Davao City. These are AIS signals.

As We

paraded down with the fleet towards the city, we passed between Arboles Island and Samal Island and got an interesting perspective on this unusual destination.

Talikud Island

was the first anchorage. This is just before dawn Aug 30th with a full moon setting. Anchored nearby is SV Helena