Our New Banka – Miley Kate – is in the Water

I’ve been quiet about this because you know how things work in the Philippines….slowly, slowly and more slowly…..  Well, finally our new banka boat is in the water and ready for diving……

Miley Kate (named after our daughter) is 20 meters or 70 feet long she is a much bigger and more comfortable boat then our other Adventure dive boat. Licensed for 20 passengers she will easily handle 16 divers with 3 tanks each, but our target will be 12 divers max.  With a comfortable little cabin with coffee and hot tea onboard the now only 30 min ride to Apo Island is quicker then ever.

Monday Oct 18^th with typhoon Juan still in the area we headed out to Apo Island to bless the new boat. The boat was full of staff and a couple of guests, Karen and Laurence…

Halfway there the clouds closed in on us bringing the visibility down to zero… wind and waves where wild… Staff (the girls that can’t swim) were starting to panic…

Our experienced captain kept the boat on course even though he couldn’t see anything… after 30 minutes the storm passed and we could see Apo Island not so far away…. The seas calmed a bit and soon we where on the island enjoying roast pig and fresh fish. The blessing was done by Pastor Jec Jec, manager of our Adventure DiveShop branch in Dumaguete branch.

After a trip like that a thanks to God was in order…. All in all the boat handled the seas with out problem and proved to be just what we where looking for a safe, comfortable and reliable dive boat.