MV Greenpeace / PC 8023
Noon Position: Alongside, Manila Harbour
June 8th, 1996
Day 23

Something I have often heard mentioned by the local people since being here is a story about a mine tailings dam in the Marinduque province that broke and poisoned most of the Boac river. The livelihood and health of many people was destroyed. Also in the past day there has been a `red tide', an algae bloom outbreak and six children have died from eating shellfish.

Most of the day all our new crew mates have been arriving on board. I'm sure it is even more bewildering for them than it is for us. Now there are 32 of us.

In the afternoon I went to the Seamen’s Mission and had one-and-a-half hours of frantic letter writing before coming back to the ship, which was being prepared for a concert in the evening.

Local NGO's had organised 5 bands to play, all good musicians. Roland our Tahitian delegate impressed us all by joining in with one of the bands, getting the crowd going and feet tapping. A musician from way back. Many of us got a good sweat up, dancing in this tropical heat!

It seemed a unusual setting for a concert. The ship alongside a working dock, huge coils of steel, pallets of timber, trucks and forklifts driving crazily everywhere. When you are walking on this quayside you really have to keep your wits about you - forklifts seem to lose their loads regularly. In amongst all this bedlam a couple of hundred people enjoying the music.

Just before the farewell concert the crane`packed a sad'. A seal gave way on the winding drum and hydraulic oil was pouring onto the deck. A mad rush by the crew to clean up the mess and the engineers checking out the problem. Due to having to get another seal our departure has been delayed to 1800 hrs Saturday instead of our intended ETD of 0800 hrs.

This has been our 3rd delay since leaving NZ and I find it a little bit unusual. But tomorrow we will be making our way to China.

Tanya Popp