tiny motor on sailboat ???

Are there times on the ocean where the wind is still too?

Well, yah, but it is a beach cat and you really need to look at wind forecasts before going off the beach for a day of fun.

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R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

When sailing on the gulf of Davao, (some size to it) will I need to take a compass or some type of GPS? What do people take when sailing NOT open ocean but gulfs to make sure they do not get lost?

Most people never go out of sight of land in a beach cat. A gps could be helpful, but there is probably lots of traffic in and out of Davao city so you could always find someone and follow them back to port. Dunno what (if any) cell towers cover the gulf, you might even be able to use your phone's navigation app. There's no nav lights on these boats, so you have to be diligent to not be caught past sunset or risk getting run over by someone who doesn't see you. Figure that it will take about 3 hours on average to pass along samal island so I suspect you won't get lost in daylight.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

1200 square miles?
Yeah, I'd take a compass, probably a GPS, and a marine radio for whatever frequency the local water patrol monitors. Also flares and a bright flashlight.
That's serious water. Opens to the ocean, so you get tidal effects that can pull you out. How's the fog situation?

I sailed on Lake Michigan (22,000 sq mi), and treated it like an ocean, with all of the above. I now usually sail on Lake Mendota (15 sq mi) in Wisconsin and carry a radio and compass and flashlight, because you never know.

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks

So I don't have GPS right now never did, is that on a fancy cell phone?

Ok so someone mentioned the Davao gulf is just under 1200 sq mi so not as large as I thought and yes I plan to always keep some land in site, and not be out after dark, should be easy to do since it is not REAL BIG like lake Michigan. 22,000 sq mi. I asume everyone wears a shorts wet suit on these small cats right? I would need to do that because of tropical storms that can come up, don't want to catch pnemonia. Want to stay warm even it I can't stay dry with rains, splashing.

Your ave temp is above 75 year round, I doubt you need wetsuit.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

Hello thanks for the temperature comment. years ago I was out with my wife on one of those small motor boats the filipino's have and a rain storm came, I was SOAKING WET and there was hard rain, wind. It was terrible, I was chilled and shaking back at the dock, shaking on the bus to the mall where we bought dry new clothes. I learned a GOOD LESSON to always wear a shorts wetsuit after that

1200 square miles. 3080 square kilometers. That's pretty darn big! I've never been there, I'm just looking at the maps. It appears to be about 40 kilometers or more across. It's big enough that I would treat it like big water. So at a minimum, VHF radio (in your PFD, not the boat. If you fall off the boat and it blows away...), Compass, bright flashlight (to signal, or shine on the sail if you get caught out at night), and flares.

Don't compare it to Lake Michigan and think "well, Davao isn't so big". Michigan is an inland sea. You can easily get hours offshore in Davao. I've gotten dead wind on 15 sq mi Lake Mendota and been stranded out after dark paddling my way in, or caught in a sudden squall a dangerous distance from shore.

I don't know how well your cell service coverage is there, so I don't know if a phone gps would work, or if you should have a dedicated gps. I know you don't PLAN on sailing out of sight of land, but things don't always go according to plan. I didn't carry a gps on Lake Michigan, but I had 2 compasses, and now I have a deck mounted compass. On Lake Michigan, fog would come up quickly, but all I had to do was sail to the west and I would land somewhere civilized.

I always carry a rain jacket with me, and in the fall I carry rain pants as well. For just the reason you stated, if rains or cold winds come up. I used to have a wetsuit for Lake Michigan, and now I have a sailing drysuit for big water, or late season sailing.

How much sailing experience do you have? I'm getting the feeling you don't have much experience?

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Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks

Yeah pretty good sized, will spend most of my time visiting beautiful beaches on Samal, talicud and the other 2 tiny islands there. Tiny bit of experience many years ago, but do have experience with motor boats, skiing, barefoot skiing, hydrosliding, scuba diving, jet ski, still have. Small amount of sailing toppers.

My 2 cents here to be properly prepared. I have gone out for short near shore trips on Lake Michigan with no extra gear. I also do more extended trips where I take a VHF, flashlight, leatherman like multitool, GPS and compass. Whenever I am on a big lake I frequently look back to the boat launch to find references to use on the return trip.

Stuff happens when you are on the water, so if you go far out be prepared to deal with it. Sometimes storms pop up, or the wind dies. Sometimes your boat breaks. I have lost a rudder once and twice lost part of the mast. Stuff happens, having the right combination of experience and equipment will allow you to deal with it.

Oh yeah, I believe you, stuff happens just like you say and it is always a worry to come back to where I came from rather than 5-10 miles north or south of where I took off. How did you lose part of a mast?

The first time was the upper boom/spar of a sunfish. I turtled on a shallow lake and stuck the boom into the mud. It broke while I was trying to right the boat.

The second time was a bit more significant. I was about 4 miles mostly downwind of the boat launch on Lake Charlevoix when the comp tip broke off on my H21SC. Without a halyard the mainsail started to slide down, but this was stopped by the sail jamming up as it was pulled into the mast track at the top of what was left of the mast. I sailed the boat back to the launch without too much trouble. I couldn't sheet in much on the main as the tension would pull the sail down, so I had to tack more than I wanted to. I was passed by several monohulls as well, but what can you do?

The bolt rope on the sail was torn up a bit, but other than that the boat suffered no additional damage. I suspect the comp tip was damaged by leaving the topping lift attached to the boom while sheeting in hard to trim the sail. At the time my topping lift was not a very stretchy rope.

I have now replaced the mast with a slightly extended H18 mast, which is easier to raise and hasn't broken yet...

Maybe you can help with this question. I am used to using on vacations the resorts hobie waves. Can't remember if they have a boom but I know the getaway does not. My wife, very picky says she has to crawl around on the wave so she only like monohulls where she can sit deeper than the boom and not crawl. Maybe the getaway would work for her because she can sit on the forward part of the sitting benches or the black forward trampoline and not worry so much about crawling, any ideas, thoughts?