Swaggie's wanderings

Vessel Name: Sir Swagman
Vessel Make/Model: Seeker 42
Hailing Port: Pittwater, Sydney
10 October 2013 | Na Jomtien, Thailand
07 October 2013 | Koh Samui
06 October 2013 | Koh Samui
03 October 2013 | Redang to Samui
02 October 2013 | Redang
01 October 2013 | Redang
30 September 2013 | Terengganu
28 September 2013 | Tioman
27 September 2013 | Singapore to Tioman
26 September 2013 | Singapore (still)
21 September 2013 | Raffles marina, Singapore
18 September 2013 | Nongsa Point, Bataam
17 September 2013 | Nonsa Point, Bataam
14 September 2013 | Sirutu
14 September 2013 | Sirutu
13 September 2013 | Sirutu
10 September 2013 | National Park
09 September 2013 | Tanjung Pintak national Park
08 September 2013 | Kumia township
06 September 2013 | Kumia township
Recent Blog Posts
10 October 2013 | Na Jomtien, Thailand

Last Leg

The early start was moved to a late in the day one, calculating arrival times etc seemed to make this sensible. The weighing anchor again was problematic, taking some time to get fully raised and stowed with jamming in the hawse pipe the issue. The chain was twisted and jumping off the gypsy causing [...]

07 October 2013 | Koh Samui

Island Time

Koh Samui is a bigger island than I expected, not that I am sure what I expected, just that the expectation was smaller as far as islands go. We had anchored at the first spot that afforded some shelter and a chance for rest, but it meant that we would be on the ‘wrong’ side of the island for the [...]

06 October 2013 | Koh Samui

Gulf Wars

Now I know there were two Bushes that had done this before us, but they had the benefit of doing it from a nice comfortable, stable office. In one case having nothing more taxing to decide than how many is a Brazilian and whether a nucular device was called for, or in fact would work, if pronounced and [...]

03 October 2013 | Redang to Samui

Paradise Left and Lost

Raising the anchor proved to be a problem, we had been in such calm water that it had not thrown itself 'flat' in the well, so piled up and jammed in about every place possible on the way back in. Rob and I provided an immense amount of amusement to the fishermen as we tried to correct this. Eventually [...]

02 October 2013 | Redang

Handy Andys

The genset started leaking water into the boat, tracked down to an end plate on the heat exchanger that had cracked. We jury-rigged another plate out of some spare stainless I had lying around and used a new gasket that was in the spares kit. It worked, so the drinks could be kept cold again! It seemed [...]

01 October 2013 | Redang

Illegal Eagles

Now, I realise those keen enough to follow these ramblings closely (and perhaps you need to get out more, if that is truly the case) would note that we had checked out of More Lazier and were now going to stop at another part of the country, technically not permitted, in fact legally not permitted. Given [...]

Heavy Metal

21 September 2013 | Raffles marina, Singapore
Paul
Leaving early to set course for Singapore, there was wind! Sails up and motor assisted, making 7-8 Knots and following the northern edge of Indonesia, Singapore skyline in the distance and haze, framed in the foreground with many. Many BIIIIG ships heading East and West in the traffic lanes - I had to get across this somehow.
There is a controller on the VHF, and the corridor is 'zoned' with frequency changes needed. Even so the radio never let up. Nobody wanted to talk to me though, I was what amounted to a speed bump for most of the traffic there.
In the end it proved to be a fairly simple task, sliding between tankers and large freighters to get to the Northern side of the channel and away from most of the organised chaos. My major hazard proved to be small dugouts, no engines, that were fishing between and amongst the ships. Dozens of them between the 'lanes', some right in the middle of them, and invisible in the troughs even with a slight swell. The large ships were constantly sounding their horns to try to get them to move. An effort that could have been saved as it was always ignored. Probably these things are so light they would be pushed aside by the bow wave, rather than run down.
Turning up the channel that separates Malaysia from Singapore, there were even more ships, as this is the parking lot for tankers. I was being edged over by a LPG carrier. Maybe these guys get bored and so to while away the time by trying to get as close as they can to yachts? It came within about 30 metres of me and showed no signs of easing away. I was tempted to threaten him by going to the bow with a cigarette lighter and waving it about, but the wind picked up, I added some more sail and pulled away into relatively clear water. It still amazes me what speeds this fat-bottomed boat can achieve at times!
A long, long way up the channel I finally spotted the marina. Radioing ahead they allocated me a berth and I edged into this very confined marina. Older marinas were designed when people had a 36' yacht as a big boat, now 50'+ seems to be the norm. Terry and Christine were waving cold beers and cheering me as I passed them, they having got there earlier in the day. I had managed to score a berth in one of the most remote locations in the place and also the most restrictive in terms of manoeuvring. Thank god for prop walk, saved my bacon once again. Here the staff took my paperwork and it was all done for me, entry into Singapore was simpler than coming in by plane! No interest shown in what I might have onboard at all and the process what completed in an hour or so. Now, off to get some bits and pieces to make permanent some of the jury-rigged systems I have concocted to date and catch up on sleep, lots of catching up to do....
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