Hebe Jebes NOV/Dec 2014 | Page 38

FEATURES Features yachts and luxury motor yachts from everywhere to enjoy unique Philippine hospitality and the beautiful club settings and camaraderie. Nautical visitors invariably become fully involved in the Club’s many sailing and social activities, and many of them stay far longer than originally intended, with a significant number of others just staying permanently! The Club’s main activities include running a very popular bar and fine-dining restaurant in a pleasant setting and relaxed ambiance. The week’s highlights include the famous Friday evening Grand BBQ—a weekly meeting place of local residents of every nationality, together with weekend sailors from Manila and globetrotting yachties and their crews staying on the moorings. The Wednesday evening Curry Night is very popular and attracts a similar clientele, and Sunday afternoon family BBQ parties at the clubhouse have also become very popular. Finally there are many other scheduled informal sailing races at weekends, beach BBQs, swimming parties, dinghy sailing, windsurfing, scuba diving, snorkelling and golfing activities which make up the Club’s other activities. The Club operates about 35 yacht moorings in the Puerto Galera Bay (locally known as Muelle Bay) on behalf of owners, ensuring they are constantly maintained to protect craft in typhoon conditions. Some moorings are generally kept set aside for visiting yachts. The Club’s ‘Small Boat Training Program’ has been a considerable success. It now has a fleet of about 25 sail training dinghies—mainly Mirror Dinghies and Optimists. A scholarship course for less-privileged children runs in conjunction with local schools and not only teaches children sailing basics but allows them to develop significant skills with free sailing practice over extended periods. This programme receives significant sponsorship from a number of benevolent organisations and private individuals. The Club runs multiple sailing classes for adults and children, and hosts sailing students from many Manila schools and from elsewhere in Southeast Asia and the Middle East—especially Dubai. Four major sponsored regattas are held annually: the Christmas Regatta, the Easter Regatta, the All Souls (Halloween) Regatta, and the Chinese New Year Regatta. These regattas are very popular and well attended with the All Souls Regatta being by far the biggest regatta in the Philippines with well over 30 yachts. The Club maintains an active website and publishes a monthly e-mail newsletter. The Club is best contacted through details from its website—www.PGYC.org. ‘The Cruising Yacht Club of the Philippines’ Words Trevor De Silva, General Manager Puerto Galera Bay is the holder of the coveted Les Plus Belles Baies Du Monde award for being ‘One of the 10 Most Beautiful Bays in the World’. This dramatically beautiful bay is the home of the Puerto Galera Yacht Club (PGYC) also known as ‘The Cruising Yacht Club of the Philippines’—and the Club organises quite a number of popular competitive sailing regattas. Puerto Galera is a small peninsula enclosing a beautiful lagoon on the northern coast of Mindoro Island, which in turn is the most nort