What To Do When Sailing For The Very First Time

Our fishing boat, IJ, sailed off for the very first time a couple of days after the New Year. The operator, Atan, actually wanted to sail right away after having the boat blessed and dedicated to the Lord. However, I was not able to give them the starting capital because our fund depository bank was closed during the Christmas day. Also, most of the fishing supplies stores were closed and they were unable to buy all the things they needed for their first trip.

Tuna fishing boat sailing off to Indonesia.

Ramil explained to me how things would go during the very first trip of the tuna fishing boat into the Indonesian waters. First, it should fish for tuna on their way to the Indonesian port. Once it docks at Betung, Indonesia, it must secure a "pas kecil" which means "a small entry pass" in English. This pass is very important for the fishing boat to be able to dock at Indonesia anytime it needs to.

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At last, the long wait was over...

That's me standing on one of the tuna fishing boat's palatik. 

Ramil hurriedly entered my office when he saw that I already arrived for work to inform me that IJ fishing boat was already set. By the way, it was called "IJ" taken from the initials of my name and that's I for Ivan and J for Jude.

Two Boats Are Better Than One

For three consecutive months the JWDR Fishing boat, the boat where I invested my 50k, suffered major losses due to successive bad catch.

 A depressed businessman. Photo Credits

In the first month, the boat docked at Indonesia to comply with the quarterly docking requirement of their fisheries and marine bureau. They were only able to catch few tuna on their way there. The sales that it brought in was only enough to pay for the corresponding dues. Adding to that, the Indonesian Rupiah has a lower value than a Philippine peso. If I'm not mistaken, the equivalent of 1 Philippines peso was 225 Indonesian Rupiah at that time.

Rolling The Boat Ashore

The boat construction concluded after 4 months...

Usop hammering some nails at the rear part of the boat.

Usop, our boat builder, once again impressed us with another masterpiece.

But, it still isn't totally complete. Usop's part was only to make the structure and to put all the wooden pieces together. It still lacked the engine, final coating of marine paint, ropes, and other peripheral equipment. So, it has to be transferred to Ladol, Alabel for the finishing touches.

Of course, we can't travel the boat by land and, since it cannot float by itself this time, it needs to pulled by another boat. But before that, our newly constructed boat first needs to be pushed on the shoreline.

What Kind of Plywood Works Best For A Boat

Few days later, Ramil and I searched for the electric chainsaw from hardware and electrical supplies stores in Gensan. We inquired from a lot of stores to compare the prices and we ended up buying one from ECCO Hardware in Pioneer Avenue who offered the lowest price. The last price of their 14-inch Makita Electric Chainsaw was 22k pesos.

14-inch Makita Electric Chainsaw

A couple of days after, Ramil and I delivered the electric chainsaw as requested by our boat builder, Usop. At this time, Usop also informed us that he will be needing the marine plywoods to be used in the icebox and sidings of the boat. We went straight to the neighboring town, Kiamba, to look for the 3/8-inch Santa Clara Marine Plywood. Unfortunately, it was out of stock in all the construction supply stores there. The demand for this kind of marine plywood was very high and boat builders won't use other brands aside from the Santa Clara.

First Visit To The Boatyard

It was not until mid-August that I was able to visit our boatyard in Barangay Lumatil, Maasim, Sarangani Province. Ramil and I drove off very early in the morning with our motorbikes. From our hometown, Polomolok, it took us almost one hour and thirty minutes to arrive at the area.

Motor ride. Photo Credits

From the national highway, we took a turn into a narrow and slippery path leading towards the shore. I saw very tall coconut trees in the area and a lot of goats running around. At a distance, there were small nipa huts that seemed to camouflage with the beauty of nature. We went straight ahead and I just followed Ramil wherever he went.

One Man's Junk Is Another Man's Treasure

Have you seen a bote bakal collector?

Bote Bakal Collector In The Philippines.

For sure, if you live in the Philippines, you often see a lot of them on the streets riding on their pedicab while shouting the words "BOTE(bottle)" and "Bakal(Steel)" over and over. These guys collect recyclable garbage from households like empty bottles, cartons, newspapers, plastic wares, nails, electrical wires, and steel of any form. Right after they've collected sufficient quantity, they deliver it to junk-shops who, in turn, pay them according to the value of the garbage they brought in.

When I was a kid, I've had a lot of friends who worked as bote bakal collectors during summer time for fun. Seeing from the look of their faces, I can say that they had a great time doing it and not even bothering the heat of the sun. Adding to that, they did not only enjoy biking around the town but also made some money out of it at the same time. I even remembered one of my friends treating us with snacks after being paid by the junk-shop owner with 200 pesos (way back then, 200 pesos was already a big amount) when he brought 5 kilos of electrical wires. Later did I know that it was because of the copper found inside the wires.