TAIWAN.....Cruising

We have arrived here in Taiwan.....how did we get here?...we sometimes felt as if we were stuck in the Philippines and would never get away. But the wind blew favourably and the time was right so we untied from Vascos and headed north to San Fernando and did our exit there. Brian has now got very good at looking the corrupt official in the eye and asking them..."are you a christian?....."yes, oh a good catholic....have you heard of the commandment..thou shall not steal. Did you know that wanting money from us is a bribe and is stealing?" This has been a very good way of getting them to stop asking. Brian of course always checks to see if they are wearing a gun before he goes through this routine.

We sailed to the top of the Philippines, checked the weather and thought..okay it looks good, lets go. Of course the real weather and the weather forecast just didn't agree. What was meant to be a great sail turned into a two nights, (from dusk to dawn) of winds between 34 to 38 knots. The day between was calm...down to 15 to 20 knots.
We lost count of the ships we saw heading north, south,east and west. As we got closer to Kaohsiung we began to concentrate on the moving ships and ignoring the ships at anchor. The harbour is inside an island that runs parrall to the coast. Entrances are at each end. We needed the north entrance and followed a HUGE container ship in. Once inside we were intent on being out of the traffic and findin g the marina. Suddenly we say a big orange flag being waved at us and it was clear that we were required 'over here..NOW'. So we tied up at the security wharf. We had a brief security search. Then it was decided we were not dangerous...and we were given a six pack of beer, a specially cooked meal of noodles. They organised health and immigration. And then a guy (Kao)from the marina arrived and helped us move to the marina. Kao then took me on his scooter to the bank for an ATM and then organised marina paperwork for us and then got us a sim card (so we are now connected in Taiwan).
the cruising fraternity here in Kaohsiung is small (maybe 10 people)...they are so helpful and are looking after us so well.We have been given beer, had a curry, rice and lychee beer for dinner. Nothing is to much trouble. Currently I am sitting in a private office with a large cup of milk tea, using the company wifi connection.
The temperature is a lot cooler...down to 24 from 34 and we both feel great snuggled under the duvet at night.
We got a bit of water onboard during the crossing so we have spent the day drying out. Next on our agenda is to brave the traffic and head to the tourism office.
To all of you out there.......thanks for following our travels.