Waiting for a plane

[Dave Hounddriver]

This is a bit of a rant, so bear with me.

I am sitting home waiting for a plane!  Why, you ask?  Well I am glad you asked that, you see I was planning to take the boat from Sibulan to Santander so I could catch a bus up to Cebu.  Here is what happened.

I get to the ferry terminal and there is no rain, there is no wind, there are no waves, and there is no boat.  Someone wiser than myself  decided to post a Signal 1 storm warning because of a storm hundreds of kilometers away.  Many people were waiting around the port in faith that someone with a brain would lift the signal 1 and allow the boats to go but I have seen this before and I cannot afford to take the chance that someone would grab a brain and see that there is not a chance in hell that the water could get rough during the 20 minutes it takes to cross the channel.

So I came home and booked a plane to Cebu, 3,000 pesos instead of 300 for the boat and bus but they don't cancel planes during a typhoon.  (I once took one from Cebu to Tacloban during a Signal 3 when all the boats were cancelled but it takes about a signal 4 to shut down the planes).

Sometimes I wish I had the patience of Filipinos to hang around ferry terminals for hours or days until someone decided to let them go on the boat and cross to the other side but I just can't handle stupidity.  Don't misunderstand me, I know that the Philippine authorities used to do it the other way and let the ship's captain decide if it was safe to go.  That was up until 2009 when the Princess of the Stars sank in a typhoon.  Now they shut down the boats if there is a storm anywhere within some hundreds of kilometers because it is better to be safe (as in keep their job) than sorry (as in get fired).

PS.  For those who are thinking that maybe the the "authorities" knew something I don't,  it is now 2 and a half hours after I left the port and there is still no wind, no rain, and no storm.  Maybe it will come tomorrow and then they will be able to say:  I toldja so!

[Old55]

Dave, Dave, Dave..... Some brave unselfish bureaucrat saved all those poor people who would have drowned in the worst storm this year by posting a flag warning that CHANGED THE WEATHER! 

Enjoy your flight buddy! 

[allancomeau]

As much as I appreciate your inconvenience and expense, I am glad to hear what happened. When I lived here in the 1990's there seemed to be a ferry incident every 6 months resulting in significant loss of life.  Maybe they are over-cautious now, but it sounds much better than what was happening before.

[sonjack2847]

Maybe you could have gone up the coast and got the cargo ferry.That`s what my wife had to do one time.

[Dave Hounddriver]

15 minutes ago, sonjack2847 said:

Maybe you could have gone up the coast and got the cargo ferry

Yeah I thought about that.  Its even possible the boats could be running by now.  But I had to be sure to get there so I booked a plane ticket just in case lots of others had the same plan.  I needed to be sure I could get a seat so no time to piss around.

[Dave Hounddriver]

28 minutes ago, allancomeau said:

As much as I appreciate your inconvenience and expense, I am glad to hear what happened.

Welcome to the forum.   I shall return the "gladness" the first time you have to be somewhere and the ferries don't run 

30 minutes ago, allancomeau said:

When I lived here in the 1990's there seemed to be a ferry incident every 6 months resulting in significant loss of life

Just so you know how much that means to me, I lived in England in the 1990s and I would not presume to tell people who lived there now what they should and should not do in this present era.  But by all means carry on.

[sonjack2847]

8 minutes ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

Yeah I thought about that.  Its even possible the boats could be running by now.  But I had to be sure to get there so I booked a plane ticket just in case lots of others had the same plan.  I needed to be sure I could get a seat so no time to piss around.

Well I just saw this so that would not have helped you.

 

[Eddie1]

Dave,  Although I am of course feeling your pain at being ****ed around this morning by overzealous officials there is nearly always an upside to such news............ and this is it......... Noime is delayed in Cebu and cannot get back here to Duma so I will just have to go out on my own tonight and find something to do to take my mind off of the situation!!    Hahahaha.

  

Safe flights my friend.

[Dave Hounddriver]

12 minutes ago, Eddie1 said:

I will just have to go out on my own tonight and find something to do to take my mind off of the situation!! 

Careful.  She may also figure out there is a plane this afternoon   

[Jollygoodfellow]

5 hours ago, Dave Hounddriver said:

PS.  For those who are thinking that maybe the the "authorities" knew something I don't,  it is now 2 and a half hours after I left the port and there is still no wind, no rain, and no storm.  Maybe it will come tomorrow and then they will be able to say:  I toldja so!

Been raining in Cebu for the past 4 days including now but the forecast winds did not eventuate or have not yet.