About Me

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Alaska, United States
I am owned by Pauline and Mark Blasky. My hull was built at the Duncan Marine Yard in Taiwan and launched in Dec of 1980. It is a William Garden design based on the Pixie Design and called by Duncan Marine a Freedom 45. They are the fourth owners and have owned me the longest. They have done extensive refitting to me including replacing my entire deck structure and rig. My masts are roughly 10% taller than original and now are made of aluminium as opposed to the original wood ones, which, though pretty, were always problematic. You can read more about me under "MORE ABOUT SARI TIMUR"

April 17, 2011

Cebu


We left the repair yard and Port Carmen on Apr 1 (no joke) and arrived at the Cebu Yacht Club located on Mactan Island.  We have been here since and will be leaving on Tuesday, Apr 19 for Palau.
Mactan Island is connected to Cebu by two bridges.  A taxi ride from Cebu City to the Yacht Club is about 15 minutes away and costs about 160 pesos (about US$4).
close up of the bridge we used to ride over to Cebu City
the 2 bridges connecting Mactan n Cebu Islands
Mactan Island was a Muslim settlement before it was colonized by Spain in the 16th century.  When Magellen first arrived he befriended the Cebu Rajah.  The people of Cebu and Mactan were at war when Magellan arrived and unfortunately the Mactan people killed him and they never returned his body.
The Mactan-Cebu International Airport, located on Mactan Island, is the second busiest airport in the Philippines.
Cebu is one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines, consisting of Cebu Island and 167 smaller islands, including Mactan Island where the yacht club is located.
Cebu City is the capital city of Cebu and is the second largest city in the Philippines and known as the first and oldest city established by the Spaniards in the country.
The city’s most famous landmark is Magellan’s Cross.  This cross is reputed to have been planted by Ferdinand Magellan when he arrived in the Philippines in 1521. We did not visit the chapel where the cross is.  A few steps away from the Magellan’s Cross is the Basilica Minore del Santo Nino (Church of the Holy Child).  We did attend mass there.  The image of Santo Nino de Cebu (Holy Child Jesus of Cebu), the oldest Christian image in the Philippines, is enshrined and venerated in the Basilica.  According to history, Magellan gave the statue of the Santo Nino to the wife of the Rajah of Cebu, who converted to Catholism, as a symbol of peace and friendship.  We also attended mass at another beautiful church, the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.
Cebu City was the capital of the Spanish East Indies.  It was ceded to the United States in 1898 after the Spanish-American War and the Philippine-American War.
While we were at the yacht club, we did some boat work, hang out with our friends, John and Sal from Jaraman.  Although for a week, they and Mark took ill and we mostly stayed on our boats.  We spent the last couple of nights with them before we took off to our respective destinations.
We would definitely recommend a visit to Cebu City and Mactan Island.
inside the Basilica Santo Nino (the venerated Santo Nino on the extreme left)

the painting on the ceiling inside the Basilica Santo Nino

outside the Basilica Santo Nino

the history

the altar of the Cebu Cathedral

the bell tower of the Cebu Cathedral

the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral

the altar inside the Cebu Cathedral (during Palm Sunday, they covered the crucifix)

Posted by SY Sari Timur at 02:30

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