October 4, 2011- Arrival in Singapore

The chart plotter was overwhelmed within minutes of leaving the marina. One hundred and seventy three (yes 173) targets was the first report, then it upped to nearly 200! Trying to process all the data kept shutting the whole unit down. Greg first tried limiting the display only to dangerous targets, but obviously the processor has to consider everything first to know what qualifies as dangerous. In the end, Greg just had to pull the plug on the AIS.

The surprising result was a relatively unstressful crossing of the Singapore Strait. By far the majority of the big ships -- and I mean REALLY BIG SHIPS! -- were anchored in vast designated anchorages while the ships that were underway were channeled into controlled traffic schemes maintaining a steady three-minute separation. Until ready to cross, small boats like us must stay to the outside (on the shoulders of the highway if you will) and then, when ready to cross, plunge, darting like bumblebees to cross the traffic lanes in the available gaps. Watching a fellow rally boat crossing to Sentosa Island (where the downtown marinas are located) was a little alarming as it appeared that he was about to get crushed. In actuality he was already into "the median."

We crossed much farther west,, and when our turn came, the fact is, it was not that bad. There is room to pause in between the lanes, as witnessed by the local fishing pangas leisurely line fishing away! Mind you it would not have been any fun if the chartplotter had not been working at all!

The one disappointment was that the atmosphere was so hazy that taking photos of the Singapore skyline or of the clogged anchorages of giant ships was almost pointless. We could see the skyscrapers all huddled together across the strait, but the camera couldn't. Likewise, trying to capture the parking lots of fifty or sixty ships or the vast land reclamation projects was unsatisfactory. However we sat out on the bows for most of the passage and will have to count it as one of the most memorable!

Greg steered us up West Reach, the first leg of the channel that completely encircles Singapore like a moat separating it from Malyasia. Just before the high span of Second Crossing Bridge, we turned into Raffles Marina. Raffles is an historic name in Singapore. Sir Thomas Stafford Raffles....

Raffles Marina is a large pinkish resort complex and marina. There is a high-and-dry storage and haulout facility neither of which we should need, but more importantly several nice restaurants and a sumptuous pool with slide and jets, pool bar and snack area, separate little kiddies pool with a big yellow submarine and another separate jacuzzi, all of which Michael and I made fairly immediate use of. Hey, I had to be there....kids 12 and under require a chaperone!

In the evening we joined Jimmy and Char of Tarahumara, friends of Greg and Chrissie's who've been here a week, for dinner at the one of the resort's restaurants. Don had Pad Thai and I had Laksa, a popular Singaporean dish. How nice to have a menu beyond Indonesia core five dishes!

One more luxury being in the marina affords is air con! Whew, what a relief from the heat! Only, Greg had it set rather on the low side. After Don and I were already asleep, Greg turned it off. Several hours later, Don and I woke up hot and stuffy. WE opened all the ports to the cool evening air...only to have to jump up and close them all about an hour later when a thunderstorm rolled through! The wind was howling and the rain torrential! Closed up, the cabin grew hot again, but Greg kick the air con back on again and by morning, we were once again shivering! Yikes. Land life is complicated. Greg says the hours we put on the air con last night is more than it has been used before!

It is still raining this morning. Greg is working at getting us all checked into Singapore and Don is working at getting us all checked into the marina Internet. Once we are checked in we can start our touring. Once we are checked in to the Internet...we can get a weather report!

By the way, that was the shortest time change we've ever experienced, because upon arrival we had to change right back to 12 hours from home time.