Singapore Visit

Nongsa Point Marina and Resort

Chartplotter showing lots of boats between us and Singapore

Some of those many boats!

Lots of bargains!

Typical specialized product store front

Downtown mosque

One of the many modern looking buildings

Singapore Visit

Dec 1 to 3, 2015

We couldn't look out on the skyline of Singapore from the boat and not go over for a visit. It is not the best place to take your own boat. The marinas are very expensive, and the boat traffic busy. You are required to have AIS on your dinghy to use it in the harbour. The plan had been to take the morning ferry Mon and return Tues. But after leaving the marina at 8 and getting to the hotel at 12, we decided to add an extra day to the visit. We had some specific boat things to find and buy, but had time then to see a few of the sights. When we fly back we can do some more.

The fast ferry takes 35 min to cross the straight. Quite a few freighters passed close in front of or behind us. Last Sat the evening ferry hit something in the water and started to take on water. The passengers were all put in the life rafts with the life jackets and eventually picked up by other vessels. Lots of complaints in the papers about the quality of some of that equipment but everyone was safe. We had no such trauma and enjoyed the ride and sights. The subway and bus systems in Singapore are great and easy to figure out so we used them to get around. It is the first train system I've seen where the tracks are completely sealed off with walls and doors.

Downtown hotels can be very expensive but we found something online for $150 in Little India which is where the marina store was. The subway stop was right beside the hotel so it was easy to get around. But we also walked all the way downtown Wed taking in the atmosphere. The city is very clean, especially after Indonesia. There are many cultures living together but over 80% are Chinese. There is the old colonial architecture from the British days, as well as very modern buildings. The number of specialty stores was impressive-whole shops of screws and bolts, or pipes, or wire. There must be a lot of wholesale business. It is hard to imagine that all those hardware stores could be making money but the city as a whole is affluent. We found a marine store that will order parts and supplies for us ready to be picked up when we return. That will save us shopping from home and carrying them back on the plane.

It was more fun for me to see the shops full of textiles, or buttons, or gold bangles, or carpets. Mustafa Mall in Little India was 2 blocks square and just crammed with dept store items and food. Also in that area was Sim Lim Tower and Square which are all electronics stores. Rob managed to get some of the things on his shopping list there. We also picked up a suitcase to carry everything back to the boat and then to return some things to Toronto.

Wed evening we took the subway downtown and had a Singapore sling at the Raffles Hotel where it was invented. At $32 each it was definitely just a tourist thing to do, and a chance to see the famous hotel and enjoy some live music. From there we took the train out to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel on the harbour. There was an entire high end mall there elaborately deco

ish I hadn't forgotten the camera!of the business district buildings and waters Hotel where it was invented. inese.na store wasrated for Christmas. From the top floor you have a view of the business district buildings, ferris wheel and water. Wish I hadn't forgotten the camera!

Thurs am we took a brief visit to Chinatown. Except for the aggressive salesmen, it was worth seeing. The Buddhist temples, Hindi temples, and huge Christian churches seemed to be spread out over the city regardless of neighbourhood. Another time I would like to see the prime shopping area of Orchard St with its numerous malls, the Botanical Gardens, and some of the museums.

We booked our flights home leaving late on Mon, Dec 7 here. With the time change we will be home midday Tues the 8th. This flight has a stopover in Shanghai. (You can also fly the other way and stop in London.) We're hoping for a clear day and we can see that futuristic Chinese city from the air.

Passage to Nongsa Point Marina, Batam Island, Indonesia

First Starbucks Coffee in a long while!

Meeting with Jimmy Cornell

Passage to Nongsa Point Marina, Batam Island, Indonesia

Nov. 29 2015

Three days were scheduled for the passage from Belitung to Batam Island, about 350 nm. We were all expecting a long motoring trip with no wind. But what could be worse than that? All day Thurs we had 18 to 20 knots NW winds, right on the nose. The true sailors' solution is to tack to windward which we did for one morning, but you make very little forward progress. We covered less than 100 nm that day, even motor sailing most of the time. It was one of the worst days of sailing for everyone. We have been spoiled by a lot of downwind sailing. Pounding in to the seas isn't fun! We were getting water into the anchor locker from the opening for the secondary anchor. Eventually the anchor locker was full of water, which wasn't draining for some reason. Then the water was running into the boat via our mattress and front cabin. Working up there cleaning up was painful.

The proper solution would have been to find an anchorage and wait a day to continue. But Jimmy Cornell was flying from London for a Fri/Sat meeting with the fleet and we all wanted to be there. The Maggie crew were very happy to finally be tied up in a slip in the marina here. Our engine stopped 4 times on the passage. Changing fuel tanks, cleaning filters and bleeding the engine eventually worked but traumatic as we got into busier shipping traffic areas. Especially with a broken windlass which would make an emergency anchoring job harder. We need to get at some of these repairs before moving on. Batam Island is right across a channel from Singapore. This is one of the busiest shipping areas in the world. The AIS is showing lots of boat traffic out there.

This marina stop marks the end of our Indonesian cruise this year. For the next few months we are on our own to cruise. Everyone is making different plans. Two boats are leaving tomorrow for a marina in Malaysia, about 150nm away up the Malacca Straights. One is going to a Malaysian port near Singapore and then further into Malaysia. No Regrets is waiting for Bob and Barb to arrive Sat to cruise with Tim over Christmas and some of the new year. We are going to leave the boat here and fly home from Singapore. Bill leaves Sun so we will look for flights shortly after that.

Jimmy's visit was very intense for info presented and decisions to be made. Quite a few changes were made from original plans. The Red Sea route is worse than ever and private boats are not doing it because of war issues. Now with climate change the route across the Indian Ocean is becoming more difficult. The North section to Andaman and Sri Lanka needs to be done in the first 3 months of the new year with the NE monsoon. But late season cyclones in the South Indian Ocean (recently one in May), means not crossing the equator too soon. There are issues both in Maldives and Chagos about stopping with a private boat and not many other places to stop at all. In the end we have altered the route from Southeast Asia. We are going to meet on Palua Weh on the northern tip of Sumatra March 28. That is only a bit over 200nm from Phuket, Thailand.  From there we will cruise along Sumatra's west coast inside an archipelago of islands until we are south of the equator. After May 1 it should be safe to sail west towards Chagos or Mauritius/Reunion and on to South Africa. The route from there will be via St Helena, to  Brazil and then the Caribbean.

On Sat night Jimmy did a video presentation of his NW passage trip to us , the media, and others in the marina. It was wonderful to see the photos, but the temperatures wouldn't appeal to me to sail. The media from several local papers interviewed us as a group about our trip, our impressions about Indonesia, and thoughts on the climate.

Sun night Chapter Two had a farewell dinner on their boat. Pat may be going back to work and when they return they will probably ship the boat to the Med. Mon night we had Luc and No Regrets crew for another farewell and thank you to Luc. But Luc will probably return to travel through west Sumatra with us. Most of out time is being spent doing laundry, cleaning and repairing. In North America we typically replace broken items but here rebuilds are common. So Rob went off yesterday to a shop where they are going to rebuild the anchor windlass motor (rewind it). When we pick it up Fri we'll see how it works.

Tues we are heading to Singapore on a ferry, a 30 min ride. Mostly we want to see the city, but there are many marine shops we hope to visit. We have the name of an agent who can arrange the shipment of boat parts. We always have a list on the go.