23 June 2016 One:15 Marina, Singapore
At £30 per night, it’s relatively expensive to stay in One:15 marina, but it’s so convenient - only 10 minutes on the free courtesy bus to the huge shopping mall at Vivo City, where the fabulous “MRT” underground system starts. From there, it’s easy to explore the whole of Singapore City.
Our main mission today was to apply for an Indonesian Visa. We’re planning to meet a couple of other boats (“Amulet” and “Sea Monkey”) at Nongsa Point Marina at the end of the month and then sail to the Anambas Islands. We’d like to spend a couple of months exploring the small archipelago; hence we wanted to get a 60 day visa.
The regulations for a yacht entering Indonesia have changed in the past six months. Previously, one had to apply for a “Cruising Application for Indonesian Territory” (CAIT). This was a lengthy process which involved an agent and an Indonesian Sponsor and took weeks to process. Now they have finally simplified the process and a yacht can arrive at a clearance port without any prior permissions or visa. They will give a 30 day visa on arrival and yachts are asked to submit an on-line form 48 hours in advance of arrival.
Our visit to the Indonesian Embassy didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked. Our first minor problem was that they wouldn’t let me into the embassy because I was wearing shorts. Fortunately, Glenys had made me bring a pair of long trousers in my rucksack, so after a short visit to the toilets, we were soon through to the reception desk.
Unfortunately, no one seems to have told the Indonesian Embassy in Singapore about the demise of the CAIT and they were insisting that we have a full Cruising Permit and an Itinerary of where we would be going. Our arguments about the regulations being changed fell on deaf ears and we were instructed to contact a shipping agent in China Town to get the correct documentation.
One of challenges of cruising is that we often we don’t have a phone, so we had to catch the MRT to China town - 20 minutes away. A nice lady at the Shipping Agents told us that we no longer needed a CAIT, so we were in a Catch 22 situation… The lady gave us a chink of light by giving us a copy of a memorandum issued by the Indonesian Marine Authority, which explained the new regulations in Indonesian. All we could do was to go back to the embassy tomorrow and argue our case.
We spent the rest of the day shopping. Our first stop was at a scuba shop to get some of our gear serviced; then a chandlers to order rope and a few other things; then a dive camera shop to get some parts and ending up at the legendary Sim Lin Square - five stories of shops all selling and repairing electronic and computer items…
We found that prices for a printer and Samsung tablet were the same as in Vivo City, so we might as well buy them there instead of lugging heavy boxes around. Nobody would repair our existing Acer TV projector, so we will have to buy a new one. We wandered around all five floors for a couple of hours, so that I could get a list of all the projectors available and I’ll have to do some research to find which one will fit in our existing space.
24 June 2016 One:15 Marina, Singapore
I was up early, putting together a pack of documents to support our visa application. I filled in and printed a Cruising Declaration form (that we’re supposed to submit to the port captain when we arrive in Indonesia); printed out a copy of the memo explaining the new regulations; and printed a bank statement showing that we had sufficient funds to buy a ticket out of the country..
Fortunately, our arguments worked - the embassy accepted our new documents and fifteen minutes after arriving, we were finished - we pick up our passports with 60 day visas on Tuesday 28th.
Flushed with success, we took the MRT back to Sim Lin Square and I bought a portable VHF radio that we’d looked at yesterday. We also tried to get the GPS repaired on the iPad, but the guy aid that they couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Ah well, looks like a new Samsung tablet.
One of the nice things about South-east Asia is the Hawker Centres where there are many small food vendors around centralised eating area - A kind of food court. I love these places. You can get Chinese food, Malaysian food, Indian curries and strange local delicacies like Spicy Frog in Rice Porridge or Pig Offal Soup - Mmmm - maybe the sweet and sour pork would be best.
After lunch, we went back to Vivo City Mall, where we bought a nice, new, shiny Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 for £400 (ouch!) and a Brother laser printer with spare toner for £70 (not so ouch). I took our new toys back to the boat, while Glenys stayed at the mall to do some shopping without me following her around, moaning and groaning.
I set up the new tablet and downloaded the Navionics chart app for Asia and Africa for an astounding £25. The tablet looks great and the GPS is spot in showing us at the correct berth in the marina, so I’m well pleased. All I have to do now is to download the latest detailed charts from Navionics, which will be a slow process on the public network in the marina.
I’ve received four quotes for main sails - Extreme Sailing, a North Sails dealer in Singapore; Rolly Tasker in Thailand; Island Planet Sails, a US company that gets the sails made in China; and Elstrom, the maker of the original sail in Sweden. Rolly Tasker came out cheapest at $2300 with the others at $2800-3000.
After a lot of deliberation, I’ve decided to go with North Sails because I can get the rig measured by them, they can deliver and fit the sails in Singapore, plus they can sort out any problems locally. They’re coming to measure up on Tuesday morning. BOAT stands for “Bring Out Another Thousand”.
Yesterday, the UK held a referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union and the result came in today - we are leaving the EU. I don’t know what the future will bring, but the value of the British Pound has plummeted, so everything will cost us more now - Oh Miser!
25 June 2016 One:15 Marina, Singapore
After all our running about over the past few days, we spent morning on board - Glenys did three loads of laundry in the marina launderette while I caught up on some admin and bemoaned the fact that the stock market has wiped thousands of pounds from our pensions because of the UK leaving Europe.
In the afternoon, we went to the Giant supermarket in Vivo City and did a major provisioning - enough food to last for three months in Indonesia. Being a Saturday, the place was heaving and there was a long thirty minute wait for a taxi.
26 June 2016 One:15 Marina, Singapore
We had a quiet Sunday on board. Glenys spent most of the day unpicking the edging tape from our dinghy cover. We bought the tape in New Zealand and it definitely isn’t UV resistant because it is disintegrating.
I spent the morning on various admin jobs and in particular, working out which TV projectors will fit our boat. It’s fairly complicated in that the distance from the projector to the screen is fixed at 1.65 metres and the maximum width of our screen is 1.25 metres - these small LED projectors have no zoom facility. The manufacturers quote various figures including image diagonal sizes and the “Throw Ratio”, which is supposed to be the distance/image width, but the information is conflicting.
I worked out that I needed a Throw Ratio of 1.4, which at 1.65m distance gives us a 1.2 metre wide image. It was then just a matter of downloading the specification sheets for the various models of projectors and comparing the manufacturers’ data. I whittled it down to three models - Vivitek Qumi Q6; Optoma ML750 and Viewsonic PED-W800. They’re all about £450, so it will come down to the deal that I can make tomorrow.
27 June 2016 One:15 Marina, Singapore
It was another Shop-Till-You-Drop morning. I went to Sim Lin Square to buy a TV projector, bought a new tap for the galley sink and then picked up a load of stuff from Marintech, the chandlers. Glenys went to Mustafa’s, a huge store in Little India, where she bought lots of spices and some other bits and pieces.
Back at the boat, Glenys got on with sewing the new UV-resistant edging tape to the dinghy cover - a tedious job. I spent the afternoon fitting our new Qumi Q6 TV Projector on to the ceiling. In the evening, we watched a movie. The new projector is great - brighter and clearer than the old one.
28 June 2016 One:15 Marina, Singapore
I’m getting excited about going cruising again. The other two boats in our little fleet (“Amulet” and “Sea Monkey”) are raring to go. “Amulet” is already in Nongsa Point Marina and “Sea Monkey” will be there tomorrow. I spent a couple of hours putting together the paper work for clearing out of Singapore and into Indonesia.
The local distributor of North Sails came to measure up our rig for the new mainsail - a nice guy called Paul. He runs a sail loft and boat yard in Batam in Indonesia and he’d come over to Singapore on the ferry. His loft is only about 30 minutes from Nongsa Point Marina, where we’re going tomorrow, so if we’d known, he could have met us in Nongsa Point Marina - bummer.
Paul will submit the measurements and then someone in North Sails will design the sail, which will be made in Sri Lanka. We’re hoping that the sail can be made and shipped to Paul by the time that we come back to Nongsa Point Marina at the end of August, so that he can fit and adjust it, if necessary.
After lunch, we went to the Indonesian Embassy and were pleased to pick up our 60 day visas. We then went to the Port Authority’s One Stop Centre and cleared out to go to Indonesia tomorrow. There was no charge at all because we’d paid one year’s port fees (£30) when we were here in October last year and I’d remembered to keep the invoice.
We’re all ready to go to Indonesia tomorrow. We just need to get fuel in the morning and pay our marina bill - hopefully we’ll be leaving the marina soon after nine o’clock. I can’t wait to get to the Anambas to do lots of snorkelling and diving on coral reefs.
29 June 2016 One:15 Marina to Nongsa Marina, Indonesia
I leapt out of bed at seven o’clock and rushed about tidying up, checking the engine and getting ready for sea. By eight o’clock, we were ready to go to the fuel dock, but there was a huge power boat moored there. I went over and talked to the captain, who said that they had refuelled yesterday, but were not leaving until eleven o’clock when their pilot would arrive. Bummer…
We spent a frustrating thirty minutes hanging about waiting for the marina staff to arrive, but thankfully, they were able to clear a space on the inside of the dock, so that we could squeeze in and fill our diesel tanks. By half past nine, we were clear of the marina and motoring over to the Immigration Western Quarantine area.
There was a long 30 minute delay while we waiting for the immigration boat to arrive, but they soon sorted us out and we were cleared to leave. It’s only a mile from the quarantine area to the very busy shipping lanes through the Singapore Straits. We had a few anxious moments as we crossed the 1.5 mile lanes and had to stop and wait for ships to pass us a couple of times, but it wasn’t too bad.
Again, there was no wind, so we motored the 20 miles to Nongsa Point Marina (01°11.82N 104°05.83E), keeping well away from the south edge of the shipping lanes. The approach to the marina is okay, but a little confusing because there are two channels marked, the other one going to a ferry terminal. We had the current with us for most of the way so we made good time and arrived at the marina at about 13:30.
The marina is very pleasant, with low red-roofed houses dotted about the slightly sloping land around the beach. Four of the marina staff helped us tie up, then one guy took away our documents to get us cleared in, returning two hours later with our passports - very efficient and the service only cost us 500,000 Rupiah (£25) including both the inward and domestic clearance to the Anambas.
Chris and Nancy from “Anthem” and Carlos, Sarah, Sidney (11) and Indie (8) from “Sea Monkey” are in berths next to us, so we had a chat and agreed that, we’d share a minibus tomorrow to go into town and do some last minute shopping. The plan is to get our domestic clearance to the Anambas tomorrow afternoon and we’ll all leave together on Friday morning.
Glenys and I had a quick walk around the marina, which has a hotel with a swimming pool which we can use. There’s a small shop selling alcohol, snacks and souvenirs, so we bought a couple of cases of Bintang beer for 450,000 Rupiah (£22) each. Otherwise, there’s not a lot else to see or do - the nearest town is 12 miles away.
We had a quiet night in and watched a movie.
30 June 2016 Nongsa Marina, Indonesia
The clocks are one hour further back than Singapore, so I was awake at 06:00 when the sun came up - I much prefer these lighter mornings.
We pottered about for a few hours and I replaced our topping loft with some new rope that I bought in Singapore. In the middle of the morning we all piled onto a minibus, which took us into town. I was hoping to go into the town centre and have a wander about, but the bus driver dropped up off at a very posh mall - it felt like being back in Singapore.
Glenys and I left the others and had a quick wander about outside the mall. There was a ferry terminal and a Hawker centre for food, but being Ramadan, all the stalls were closed. We found a kind of park next to the Shopping Mall, which looks like it was built for an expo or something, not terribly interesting, but we got to stretch our legs for half an hour.
After doing a little bit more shopping for fresh food, the minibus dropped us back at the marina. It cost 700,000 Rupiah (£35) for the trip, which is expensive, but with six of us it wasn’t too bad. We chilled out for the rest of the afternoon, tidying up ready to leave tomorrow.
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