Singapore to Port Dickson. May 2016

Nine days in Singapore, at the marina with no room!

"no room at the inn" - well apart from this space!

During this time, the watermaker man has been down and confirmed all is well with the system. Tick.

The leak of coolant from the thermostat has been fixed , under warranty. Tick.

One intrepid adventurer, Steve, has departed and another arrived, both needing the appropriate, correctly and timely lodged  paperwork , and use of our engaged agent to supply same. Trouble free -if not cost free, experience!

The crew is still  three.  Roz, has joined us. This will be a new experience sailing on a catamaran, after all those years on the monohull.
I should say,  Peter appears to have come over from the 'darkside'. That seemed to happen quite soon after the first adventure from Vietnam.

Whilst waiting for the water maker man and the thermostat man, we did a spot of electrical shopping for "gadget guy".and generally relaxed.

Gadget guy (well his head at least) and his handywork

Gadget guy Peter, a handy electrical man in his other life , fitted two fans in the saloon one morning.I should have had them fitted during construction, but figured  that when  at anchor I would be sitting to the prevailing breeze anyway , so just open the huge and magnificent windows.
Problem with that strategy, as I now realise is, that it rains a lot in his part of the world in the SW monsoon season. That precludes the opening of the windows. When   its not raining, there is quite often absolutely no breeze at all, so in either scenario, something is needed to circulate the air.I had brought them up from Oz , so that they would match all the other fans on board, knowing that there would somewhere ,over the next few months, be a day when they could fitted.

Tuas Bridge connecting two countries. 1.9km long opened in 1998

We were at a marina on the western side of Singapore. Just near the Tuas bridge ,which is one of the two connecting roads between Singapore and  Malaysia.The other being the Causeway,  on the northern side,which the Japanese cycled  across in 1942 to take Singapore.
 To depart Singapore- (yes, just as convoluted as the arrival), all we needed to do was have the appropriate paperwork lodged by the agent, pay the agent for his services, get a port clearance ( this comes from the marina), and then take all those crew departing and K'Gari back to the same Quarantine and Immigration we had spent those 6.5 hrs in previously. There would be   just that 15 mile trek to get the boat there.
Three hours to get there and three minutes after entering the Q+I anchorage, passports in and out of the net routine again , and we were free to go.

Back tracking around Singapore- never mind the traffic

As were heading north up the West coast of Malaysia , we then back tracked at least 12 of the 15 miles , to a position we had been in  5 hours earlier and could now escape from Singapore, back into Malaysian waters.

o goodness Buffy on watch.

that's better- probably safer too, after all dont really need binoculars to see what's coming

moving slower than us- wonder why?

Next time I go to Singapore will definitely be on an aeroplane. Been there, done it by boat. Never again.

How not to arrive in Singapore. Circa2016

"Western Immigration, western Immigration, this is sailing yacht  K'Gari, K'Gari,, Kilo Golf Alpha Romeo India."

"K'Gari this is Western Immigration, are you  clearing in or out?"

"Clearing in please, just arrived in Quarantine anchorage"

"Entering, ok . What is your number?"

What number, my sail number , my non existent telephone number, my boat registration number? On board  we just look at each other - wondering what number he wants.

"What number do you need?"

The number at the top of the ICA form , starts  AA2016.....

"I don't have that form"

Who is your agent?

What agent? We don't need an agent we are a sailing boat.Why would we have an agent? We are all a bit puzzled on board now.

"I don't have an agent , we have just arrived, we are a sailing yacht."

"You must have an agent- standby K'Gari"

Thus began six and half hours of being, an almost stateless person( except we had passports), but we weren't allowed to move.
We had entered the Quarantine and Immigration area, but due to a change of rules implemented at the beginning of April, of which I was totally unaware, we couldn't enter the country, as we didn't have the magic number which should have been supplied to us, after our non-existent agent, had submitted our non-existent paper work, 72 hours before we arrived!  Nor could we leave the  Quarantine Anchorage, as we had entered it, so we were " arrived but not processed" I guess.

Ho hum, at the end of a very long day- all the previous day and night, this was not what was needed.

The problem was resolved by a very accommodating Immigration Officer , who found an agent, willing to act on our behalf,  then came out to K'Gari and came on board, with a phone, which allowed me to speak to the newly appointed agent and give him the details required, so then correct paperwork could be submitted, which would allow us to enter Singapore.We had no phone, as the Malaysian sim cards were all we had, as we hadn't arrived ashore yet to get Singaporean sim cards.  The Immigration Officer went above and beyond , in helping us. Thank you, to that nameless officer, for your assistance and patience.

Whilst he was on board, I asked how many other yachts had managed to do this, since the change of rules.
None!
So K'Gari was the first  he had had to deal with, that had  arrived so completely under prepared. Not a good record to have , but that's life. Or maybe, not many yachts had arrived!!!

Being in an immigration vortex, was a bit of nightmare, which unfolded very slowly. For me the experience has put a whole new aspect on just how desperate the people all around the world who are fleeing from their countries , sometimes using smugglers to gain access, must be. They truly are stateless people when they do that. We knew that there would be a resolution in our case, as we held valid passports and this was really no more than a technical glitch,caused by my own ineptitude, which just needed  to be resolved. We had food, we had water, we were comfortable, not in an airless hold with no ability to see what was even going on, . The refugees do not have that luxury.

Once the required form had been submitted, the Immigration Officer appeared again, on his boat. A net on a six foot pole is offered from the bow of the Immigration boat, in to which our passports are dropped. "How many on board" is asked, and as we were all standing in the cockpit,  we were all sighted. The boat backs off, the passports are stamped and the net reappears, with passports and a piece of paper, which the skipper is required to sign and keep on board. The whole process takes less than five minutes......as long as you have an agent and a magic number!

One of the many questions that had been asked when we arrived was which Marina we were heading for. There is no option to anchor in Singapore, its a marina, or nothing.

When we had departed Kota Kinabalu we had had a different arrival location in mind, a small Malaysian Island called Tioman. This destination had changed for a couple of reasons, to Singapore.
One reason being the extra time that the no wind had added to the trip and the second being a small difference of opinion about the quality of the water being produced by the watermaker. As there was an agent definitely in Singapore for the watermaker, and as water, not food, is in fact the "staff of life", we deviated straight to Singapore.

I mention this, only to show K'Gari is not sailing around aimlessly  on a totally unplanned adventure.However the change of destination mid way across,  is why we had arrived so totally unaware of the rule changes in Singapore.We hadn't set off to go there initially, and whilst in Tioman, I had been going to read up the information I needed to know about Singapore!

Having been asked the question of which marina we were going to, I named the only one I really had heard of with the rider, "if they  have room".

We had no phone, so the only way to contact the marina was by VHF. Every marina in Singapore (4 of them) seem to use the same channel, as do hundreds of other people, it appears.
Communication was impossible. It was all half sentences  being cut off by other calls. In the end I gave up- the marina  was not the immediate issue, whilst we couldn't actually leave the Quarantine Anchorage.
I tried to sleep, whilst we waited.

Then the clearance was done , and the last words from the Immigration Officer were - "Ok now you go to marina  ok".

Yep, that's the plan!
The nominateded Marina was in fact still 15 nm  from the anchorage, so heave anchor and set off in the straightest line to a marina that doesn't really know we are arriving and we don't know if they have room.
Halfway there, we managed to make clear  contact with the marina, to find that "there was no room in the inn"

Now that is a problem! Immigration and Customs think we are heading to a place, that is telling us, has no berth.

What we really need is some sleep.
We also need water, not desperately, we easily have a days supply left, but we also could do with some fuel. We still have the spare fuel we took on board in KK, but that means jiggle hosing it into fuel tanks and the waters of Singapore harbour are not flat and mirror like, by any stretch of the imagination.Nor do I think it would be favourably viewed if we managed to spill any fuel whilst transferring it!

Only thing left to do was ask if we could at least come in and get fuel and water.
"Yes we could but  cannot stay the night , no room"

Due to the proximity of the neighbouring countries there are Singaporean border control/police boats,  every couple of miles, just sitting ,floating, watching.
Minutes before we entered the marina, we were called on the VHF by the one who had been shadowing us for the last 15 minutes, requesting that once in Marina "no one go ashore till we check papers".
That was a bit of a p.i.a., as whilst two of us were taking the fuel and water, we had planned the other  was going to shoot ashore to the nearest sim card shop and come back armed with some means of speaking to the world, other than the VHF, so that we could try to sort out somewhere to go.

Sure enough, we were taking the fuel, when the border patrol chaps turn up. They wanted to know who the Master was. It was clearly on the crew list that had been submitted!
He naturally had approached one of my fellow adventurers first and had shaken hands with him
"I am" - I offer my hand to the officer to shake. With a very startled look on his face, he withdrew his hand. His offsider,literally winced and  looked very apologetic.
 OK, cultural difference here then!
They want to see my licence.

" I'm a bit busy taking fuel now,as you can see, so I can't actually get it right now."

 I'm also not used to being treated as 'second class'.
 In my head I can hear the little voice saying "settle petal, settle"

My fellow adventurer , standing on the jetty by the fuel bowser, in his full 'meet and greet , hands across the water' mode explains "yes - she master, yes she has licence, big ships".

They still want to see something.

 I'm still busy!

They left, apparently satisfied, after Peter produced from his wallet his Queensland drivers license with the acronym RMDL ( Recreational Marine Drivers License) on it.
I wonder if they know what it means?
I don't really care, to be honest.

After they left, and during conversation with the marina staff who were fueling us, it turns out (magically)that there is in fact  a berth we can go to for the night. The contact number for the watermaker man is also produced.One of the guys we are talking to, is friends with the Seawind rep in Singapore- the very very long day, is starting to look a lot better.

Once we finish fueling, I take the papers up to the marina office to check in for the night.
"How long you staying?"
"How long can I stay , I need to get some repairs done?'
"No problem stay , do you need electricity?"

Now, we have arrived in Singapore. Its 1800/26 April 2016

Now we can have that safe arrival drink and then I can sleep!

Singapore Straits- that was fun.

We entered the Singapore Straits, from the East. We were abeam of the Eastern Anchorage about 1700/25th- ANZAC Day.

Approaching the Eastern Anchorage Singapore

Singapore has a traffic scheme for ships, just like roads. The ships transiting through the Straits in the Singaporian waters,  are obliged to check in at various points, by VHF Radio and obey the rules.
The Straits are shared with Indonesia to the South of Singapore Island and with Malaysia to the West and North of Singapore Island.

Ships, there are hundreds of them, an endless stream of them 24/7!
Through the instigation and use of the traffic separation scheme, ships transit through in an orderly and safe procession, either west to east or east to west, cutting out of the scheme as they approach their various destinations. The container ships can do up to 25 kts. K'Gari can't!
The ships are supposed to move through at roughly  ten minute intervals, I have been told, which of course doesn't really work when a 20 knot ship is overtaking a 10 knot ship, but as a general rule of thumb, its close enough.

Snapshot going through the Singapore Straits
Blue triangles are ships in the traffic scheme.
Magenta sweeps around the ships is my radar ,picking them up.
The magenta thick line to the right of the photo is the imaginary, but charted, traffic separation zone- unlike roads, the ocean has no lines on it!
K'Gari is the black vessel to the south (or bottom) of the picture.
yellow land to top is Singapore, to the bottom  it is Indonesia.

We were sticking to the Indonesian side, letting the big boys play by themselves, at speed, in the traffic scheme.
Something this snapshot does not show, is that although it appears to be daylight in the photo, it was in fact  black, apart from the hundreds  of lights from  ships navigation lights, fishing boats, fishing nets, and shore lights!

So what have I gleaned prior to entering the Singapore Straits in an 8 tonne  yacht moving at 6kts, as opposed to something, say , a 100000 tonnes moving at speed.

Firstly the current is going to have a huge effect. Heading into a 3 kt current effectively halves our speed, where as a ship doing 15 kts merely does 12kts  instead. So try to time arrival to carry the tide as far as possible in the right direction. As the distance we were going to need to cover was about 50 odd miles, we were going to be transiting over a change of current direction, no matter what time we entered. The only way to avoid that, was stop and anchor and wait for the tide to change. Not a preferred option really, may as well just keep beetling along.

Secondly although K'Gari looks quite big when you are standing on her, she is really just a speck,  (beautiful, but still a speck) when being looked down upon from the navigating bridge which is 30m or more , above the water line,  of a 100000 T container  ship doing 18- 25 kts
I already know the rough distance ahead of them, that they cant see you, if you are on the waterline , 300-400m roughly.

Thirdly, try to avoid the transit when visibility is reduced.Smoke ,rain squalls etc.I wonder if nighttime counts ? Well it doesn't come highly recommended in  available yachtie literature, but I'm quite happy with my background, that it wont cause too many issues.
Backup contingency plan is stop the transit over near Nongsa Point Marina ( Indonesian waters) and wait till daylight.

So away we go.... Step one, drop and stow the sails, this is going to be a night of motoring only.

Did I mention the fishing nets?
As we were navigating up the Indonesian coast , well to the south of the traffic schemes, we did find the odd ( well actually many, many, many) nets, set by the Indonesian fishermen.
The first of these we encountered just on dusk. They are simply, a couple of 100m long and deployed from very small,very fast boats.They are marked at either end with a stick and a strobe light flashing away. The rest of the netline  ,that we could see, is marked by floats or old drink bottles or polystyrene. The actual net hopefully sits about 2-3m below the surface.
Somewhere in attendance, nearby are the fishermen. What we found was, that suddenly a torch beam would flash at us  from out of the darkness, if the fishermen thought we were getting to close or hadn't seen their net. They are incredibly hard to either see or judge the distance to, in the dark.Faint strobes flashing  against the background of all the other lights.

All the way across from KK, the three of us had been keeping loosely timed navigating watches  of about 4 hours on and eight off. Always someone was awake and on watch. Tonight there was no way I was going to sleep and to make it easier, spotting the nets etc, we decide to have two up and about, for the transit.
By about 2300, I was beginning to flag, so had a wee camp on the saloon lounge, leaving  Peter  on watch , with me just a couple of feet away inside, with my eyes shut. Possibly even asleep!
Just after midnight, I awoke, hearing  my name being shouted and our torch, (nicknamed the lighthouse) waving about somewhat wildly.
We had unexpected visitors sitting right beside us, on the port quarter, definitely keeping pace with us, at our 6 knots.
Four gentlemen, outfitted in black , one complete with balaclava,sitting beside us  in a black unlit ( no navigation lights )RIB dinghy.
They asked Peter to "please turn off the torch, its blinding".
That's the idea, when you sneak up astern of us at 30 knots!
Indonesian Polisi! ( not overly decorated with identifying insignia). Quick chat, about what we were doing, where we going and they bade us a "be careful, safe journey" and disappeared as fast as they had arrived into the night. My heart rate subsided about an hour later- not of course  helped by the cup of coffee that was immediately consumed upon their departure.
Guns or no guns? I don't know, I cant remember seeing any.The incident is keenly etched in my mind, but that detail is beyond me.
 I'm reliable informed, having just asked, that they did have guns, in holsters.

Wide awake now , can't imagine why, and on we go. Then it started to rain, light at first followed by the usual equatorial deluge. That was fun.Just a couple of tug and tows to negotiate our way around, during the rain.

At 0530/26th , we did the obligatory right angle alteration of course, to get across  both lanes of the traffic scheme.The total distance width of the lanes , is only 1.5nm (2778m). The nearest lane to us was the east going lane,no problems there. Then we were momentarily in the miniscule "invisible" separation segment,(the thick magenta line similar to the one in the photo above) before dealing with the stream of ships moving to the west. At the speed we doing against the current it was going to take about 7.5 mins to get across.Lucky the ships are allegedly  10mins apart! It's still dark at this time of the morning and it had been a long night.
Time for "Mach 1". Both engines on, both just about flat chat.
OK, here comes the gap I'm looking for. A container ship doing 15 kts- that will do. Initially by steering at 90 degrees to the container ships bow   , means we will never hit it- unless she stops, and that isn't likely.
So with everything we can muster in the way of speed, we cross the scheme, passing easily astern of the ship I had started aiming at.

Half an hour later at 0615/26th we arrive in the Western Quarantine Anchorage Singapore.
Its still dark, but dawn is breaking.
With the exception of the unexpected visitors just after midnight, that had all gone rather splendidly.
All that needs to be done  now is call Immigration on the VHF and in no time at all, we will be cleared into Singapore. Find a marina and have a sleep.
Another 830 nautical miles clocked up, across the South China Sea.

We have made it.....

Not quite!

The Fish

On the way to Singapore, K'Gari became  a 'proper' cruising boat, when the first fish was caught, landed and duly dispatched, to the dinner table and freezer.

We had been trolling a couple of lines from  aft for days. Each evening recovering and stowing them, in case we had any sudden and bizarre course alterations in the night and forgot about the lines.
The thought of wrapping a line around a prop or rudder , is not one  to  be contemplated.

A casual glance at one of the lines one relatively windless afternoon appeared  to indicate  it had a plastic bag on it. So far the total had been 4 bits of floating seaweed, so we were definitely moving up in the piscatorial hunter gather world, having now captured a piece of plastic!

I started to haul it in and when it gave a bit of a jump  I realised it was in fact, a fish!

Battle stations. Totally unprepared to actually catch anything, we had nothing ready . Didn't even own a gaff.

In the interest of squeamish stomachs, not to mention WHS inspectors possibly finding the odd deficiency in the JSA paperwork, the video stops before the blood flows- it is safe to view, but still might not pass WHS requirements.

https://youtu.be/pr6kDw7579M

For the record on the plundering of the ocean front, so far, the stats for K'Gari stand at 

1 fish for 2287 nm. One lost lure and 4 bits of seaweed!

Th first cutlets were on the bbq about an hour and half later!

Kota Kinabalu to Singapore April 2016

Track of K'Gari.  Kota Kinabalu to  Singapore (green line) 

As the previous afternoon had been somewhat occupied with cleaning up the  freezer and fridge debacle, nothing was in fact ready for the arrival of the crew. Steve and Peter arrived on two different flights, within an hour of each other, the next morning.

When  K'Gari is left for any extended period, all the cockpit seating cushions etc are removed and stored inside , along with the jib, dinghy oars, life buoys etc. These are distributed equally into the spare cabins. So when the keen and willing fellow adventurers stepped aboard, it was to a scene of "useful piles" of stuff all over their beds. Just what you long to see, when stepping off an overnight long haul flight!

Over the immediate next few hours , with combined effort, everything was made ship shapeish, I was still cleaning the freezer , which had been unhinged but still in situ. The boys went ashore for lunch, leaving me to my self made mess and the scent of decaying weevils, mixed with oil of cloves and vanilla. Couldn't purchase any vanilla extract, but had found vanilla "flavouring", which is a far sweeter (sickly) smelling substance, but needs must, so it was left in the now completely washed out ,wiped down inner cabinet of the freezer, to do its thing.

Job two: The dripping mixer tap in the galley was made drip free, by the insertion of the new mixer valve (flown in, direct from Australia,only the previous day-with me) and the damp area which had developed under the sink top was taken care of, by Steve  one of the incredibly handy chaps who were joining  for the trip.

Job three: The face plate of the switch in the cockpit fridge was reversed, so that the numbers were in fact visible , and the new  fridge fan , which I had bought as a replacement with me from Australia , as the original one had malfunctioned, was fitted by Peter the other  (returning after the delivery from Vietnam) adventurer.

Yes, its all based on the fact that the devil makes work for idle hands , so there would be no idle hands on board!

Job four:The fresh water accumulator which had failed in January, was replaced next,  having again  carried the replacement part up from Australia. The temporary bypass, so ably constructed in January by my accomplice on  the day it failed , and which had worked splendidly, was retired.

Call me suspicious , or by now, just plain wary,
but I don't think the replacement (R) is going to fit in the original bracket or space!

The new accumualtor, which naturally had to be not only fitted, but slightly relocated to enable it to fit, works wonderfully. Far better than the the one originally fitted in every sense. The spare plumbing fittings and pipe, purchased in Oz,"just in case" we needed to relocate the new accumulator, which was naturally a different size to the original, were jolly handy!

https://youtu.be/zv--4TpofBM

More jobs:The jib was bent onto the forestay, props debagged, seacocks on the engines opened, everything tested ok , fresh water filled, spare fuel purchased and stowed , outboard given a test, so in those few busy days K'Gari was made ship shape and ready to depart. The rigging aloft was inspected for wear and tear , putting an  unprotected head on the line, whilst being attacked by angry birds! Thanks guys, couldn't have done it without you.

https://youtu.be/KYdQgK9a508
'angry bird's 

Port master, Customs and Immigration clearances all obtained.

19th April 2016,  1044 hrs.

Roti Canai

We slipped the berth, having said goodbye to the wonderful people I had met over the last ten months.I'm sure that somewhere around the world we will meet again.


Found just enough time for a last roti canai for breakfast.




Topped up with fuel, fresh water, courses laid off. By 1115 we were on course for Tiga Island, main and jib set and zipping along in a 12kt N'ly , averaging 7.5 kts.

The adventurers.

That's better- knew something was missing from that first photo!
The full crew- meet Buffy the 'world traveller' cat

Passed Tiga at 1540,flashing along, K'Gari was having fun, as were we.
The wind started to drop about 2200 that night. One of the things in my mind when planning this trip, was that we needed to carry the last of the NE monsoon as far as we could. Being unable to get back any earlier to K'Gari, due to work commitments, meant that we were leaving right on the tail end of the season. The wind  must surely die  soon and then the SW'ly monsoon would come away for the next several months. Maybe we would sneak it in , maybe not.

Every picture tells a thousand words, so here the story unfolds pictorially:

https://youtu.be/M_80FGV4wc4

   evening one
        

https://youtu.be/WKBQjeQ7pqs

                                                                                      Morning two

https://youtu.be/zgNiJH8IdoA

Morning three, having a dip in the South China Sea.

Reason for dip was to investigate the seawater intake for the Water maker.

All good now.

Morning, all day, evening and nights four ,five and most of day 6 are summed up in this shot.

                

However that means you get shots like these!

https://youtu.be/aP9VWShiaOk

https://youtu.be/Mr7jPJ1EFoY

https://youtu.be/eDsPejX36pA

Ever wondered what its like sailing in the middle of nowhere at night? On  a nice night its beautiful. This is the best I can do. 

Bet you have never  wondered what swimming at night in the South China Sea would be like?
No, nor have I.
I have however, now seen it done. Just before midnight one night, I was having a look around as we sailed quietly onwards. Check the sails with a torch,  everything seemed fine. Then I thought I' d just check  the rudders and props, to the extent that is possible, with a torch, from above the water line. The anti foul paint on K'Gari is three coats , black, blue then black. The paint is ablative, meaning it wears away over time, thus by having a blue coat between the blacks, gives an indication as to how well the paint is holding up. In the beam of the torch, something looked odd on the port side rudder. There was an obvious patch of a lighter colour showing up. A plastic bag? Piece of rope?
The sea is full of garbage unfortunately, it could be anything. Whatever it was, it shouldn't be, and needed to be checked out. As midnight rolled by, it was time for me to go to bed. Once two of us were up, I pointed it out . Yep, better check it out.
So there and then, in the middle of the night, in almost glassy calm, in the South China Sea , we dropped the sails, and let K'Gari drift to a halt. Rigged a safety line over the stern, talk about being a wuss, and in went supercrew, Peter, armed with a waterproof torch and a knife.

 I was still "on watch" , so obviously it couldn't be me who went in, could it?

Whatever had caused the paint to rub off to the blue layer on the rudder, was gone. No damage , nothing undue to worry about. What "supercrew, the midnight swimmer" did find however, was a remora fish, hitching a ride on the hull. Not my cup of tea at all, coming face to tail with a remora in the middle of the night under the hull!