RBYC 2012

FEBRUARY 20, 2012:

Greetings from Royal Belau Yacht Club,in Palau, Micronesia!

Just a short note to let you know that RBYC is still alive and kicking in 2012. Information will be updated over the next few weeks. For Vessel Entry Assistance to Palau in the meantime, please contact: info@samstours.com

Alternate address: dermotpalau@gmail.com

Regards,
RBYC

Good News for American Cruisers in Palau!

On March 23, 2009, Koror State Government amended their Rock Islands Management and Conservation Act to clarify definitions of Tourist, Citizen and Non-Citizen, with respect to Koror State tourist permit requirements. For American citizens visiting or cruising Palau for extended periods this change is a welcome clarification that clearly states the rules with respect to residency and notes the process required to secure a Koror State Resident Identification Card. That’s good news for American cruisers!

Palau enjoys a very special relationship with the United States under an agreement known as the Compact of Free Association and in return American citizens are entitled to a one-year Tourist Visa at no charge. As a result, many American cruisers opt to remain and cruise in Palau for an extended period however, unless they are considered residents, they remain subject to the Tourist Permit requirements of Koror State Government, which can be burdensome in the case of extended stays.

Presently, all visitors to Palau’s Rock Islands, which are located in Koror State, are required to purchase a permit. Funds raised from permits are used to maintain a system of mooring buoys at dive sites, maintain shelters, barbeques and bathrooms at popular beaches, maintain docks and trail facilities at Jellyfish Lake, provide marine safety and law enforcement patrols including monitoring conservation areas. There are two types of Koror State permits as follows:

Rock Island Permit $25 – Valid 10 Days: Permits holder to visit the rock islands, snorkel, dive, kayak, sail, and use designated beaches throughout the rock islands.
The permit does NOT permit access to Jellyfish Lake.

Jellyfish Lake Permit $35 – Valid 10 Days: Permits holder to visit Jellyfish Lake and the rock islands, snorkel, dive, kayak, sail, and use designated beaches throughout the rock islands.

For cruisers who wish to venture beyond Malakal Harbor (official Port of Entry) to spend time in the Rock Islands an additional “30 Day Cruising Permit” is required for their vessel at an approximate cost of $10 per foot, to a maximum of $80.

For American cruisers who are automatically permitted to stay for up to a year, the Koror State permit process and costs can be both administratively and financially burdensome. The clarifications under the new law however, make it easy to understand and simple to comply with the residency requirement and should encourage U.S. cruisers to spend more time (and more moeny) in Palau. That's a win win for all!

With proof of legal entitlement to remain in the country for more than 90 days and the intention to do so (as evidenced by a Vessel Entry Permit valid for one year and a Tourist Visa valid for one year) American cruisers can register their vessels in Koror State for a nominal fee and purchase a “Resident Identification Card” from Koror State Finance Office for $5.00

RBYC thinks that's great news!

E-mail: rbycpalau@gmail.com for a complete text of the new law.

Welcome to RBYC's new Blog!

Greetings from RBYC in Koror, Palau, Micronesia and welcome to our new Blog! This is just a first post to check some settings. The blog will be updated shortly and fully activated. Check back in a few days.
Port Captain

Farewell Colin! Cinco de Mayo, 2007

Visiting cruisers celebrating Cinco de Mayo, 2007, at the Royal Belau Yacht Club, Koror, Palau. The club hosts a great party every Cinco de Mayo, with a Mexican Food Competition, John Mc Cready's Magical Margarita's, and lots of locally brewed RED ROOSTER BEER!

We are saddened to learn that Colin (blue shirt) died recently in an accident on board his boat "Deja Vu". We really enjoyed Colin's company during his visit to Palau and will miss him. Farewell Colin!

M/Y SURI

The 173 foot motor yacht SURI, pictured lying off Malakal Harbor, Koror, Palau in Jan 2009. SURI and her fun crew spent a few months in Palau and quickly became part of the local community. Skipper Neil Anderson and his fun-loving Fijian crew were always on hand for adventure, fun and games. SURI is the penultimate gentlemans "Toy Box" with a list of on-board gadgets that includes a helicopter, hovercraft, landing craft, dune buggy, 45 foot
"Intrepid" launch, Hobie cats, Lasers, kayaks, row boats, Waverunners, jet skis......just to mention a few. SURI is the tender to the 150 foot superyacht JeMaSa, and is a superyacht herself in her own right.

A former Bering Sea fishing boat, SURI underwent a major conversion in Washington State, USA, supervised by Neil Anderson and his crew. Sam's Tours served as local agent for SURI while RBYC served as her home port and primary "wateringhole" for the ships crew.

M/Y BLUESTAR

12/4/2008

Our good friends and the most frequent visiting superyacht to Palau, M/Y
BLUESTAR, completed her last stay in Palau for a few years, as she now heads
to the Caribbean for awhile. BLUESTAR has been to Palau about five times in
the last few years, spending several months at a time either on standby
awaiting the owners arrival or entertaining the owner and family who are
avid divers. Skippered by David Thornburn, of Vancouver, British Columbia,
BLUESTAR has been a fixture in Palau in between her very active travels
around the Pacific that included visits to Hawaii, Marshall Islands, Truk
Lagoon, Yap and the outer islands of Yap and Asian Pacific Rim countries.

Crewmembers Engineer Mark and Chef Chris, were always out and about sharing
fun stories and tall tales with the gang over at Kramer's, the local ex-pat
hangout when not enjoying sundowners at RBYC located at Sam's Tours. Our
good friend and former Sam's Tours staff member Kevin Davidson who had
served as local guide to Bluestar for many of her visits, joined Bluestar as
full time crew on one of her last trips and recently departed with her on
the long journey to the Caribbean. Planned route was via Truk, Marshall
Islands, Marquesas, Panama Canal, uo to Caribbean. Kevin now resides full
time in Guam when not gallavanting around the world on Bluestar.

Farewell BLUESTAR and safe sailing!

Majestic NORDKAPEREN

The majestic NORDKAPEREN visited Palau for a few months in 2008. Picture is NORDKAPEREN cruising through Palau's Rock Islands 9/11/2008.

MY/ CODENE

M/Y Codene just spent a few months in Palau. On board was our good friend
Jaap, formed dive guide at Neco Marine dive shop here in Palau, and before
that of Manta Ray Bay Hotel in Yap. CODENE is about 90 feet and built to the
specifications of her owner who has had several other yachts before Codene
and obviously applied that knowledge in creating Codene. She was beautifully
laid out with nice spacious accommodations, very functional work spaces, all
the latest toys, and yet was clearly well built as a sea-going exploration
vessel. Her Kiwi skipper Robhad spent many years in the southern ocean and
polar regions on research vessels.

EARTHRACE - Wave Piercing Design

5/6/2008
EARTHRACE, the radical 78 foot wave-piercing trimaran, skippered by Kiwi
Peter Bethune visited Palau on both of her round-the-world-record attempts.
Fueled by bio-diesel, the space age looking machine, was chasing the record
set by Cable and Wireless many years ago. Earthrace failed in her first
record-setting attempt due to technical problems with her engines however,
despite a number of challenges on the second attempt, that included damage
to her propellor and shaft from hitting sea-debris near Palau, EARTHRACE
completed her circumnavigation in record time and beat the previous record
by about 14 days.

RBYC served as Ground Crew for EARTHRACE on her record setting second trip
and welcomed Skipper Bethune, an RBYC Honorary Lifetime Member, and her crew
back to Palau. Earthrace's Palau "pit stop" was sponsored by Budweiser
distributor Shimbros, Sam's Tours Dive Center, Royal Belau Yacht Club,
Roll'em Productions, and local TV station Oceania Television (OTV). The
program included a short welcome / farwell ceremony, crew dinner, boat tours
for the public, and media interviews, all of which took place RBYC Yacht
Club.

Members of EARTHRACE crew were awareded with Honorary Lifetime Membership in
RBYC for their contributions to circumnavigation and the spirit of
adventure. RBYC is proud to be associated with EARTHRACE and honored to have
such distinguished and accomplished individuals as Peter Bethune and crew on
our membership rolls.

CADENCE cruises by.

The catamaran "CADENCE" cruises by "Anthea" on Sunday, April 27, 08, in Malakal Harbor, Koror, Palau. "Cadence", whose homeport is Half Moon Bay, CA, is now resident here in Koror and is frequently out on the water with skipper Frank and friends onboard.