Singapore pilot exemption

As I joined my most recent command it was also requested that I do the pilot exemption for Singapore in order to save on pilotage fees going in and out of the marina as we are 499GT, in Singapore pilotage is compulsory for any vessel over 300GT. 

At the centre with the course done and dusted

Singapore

Woke up again early morning and got myself packed up and had some breakfast at the hotel before checking out. Then I rushed  to the Thai embassy to pick up the letter for my ex and mailed it from nearest post office.

Thai embassy in Singapore

From there it was straight to Changi airport where I went to claim the GST for the camera I had bought. As it was in my hand luggage I had to go through immigration and claim it in the tax free area of the airport, not at the counter before immigration. I guess they are afraid the goods will come back onto the Island. Well, I went through immigration & went to the GST counter there and got my claim back in cash without any problems.

In the MRT on the way to Changi

After this I browsed the expensive tax free stuff for sale and waited for my flight and eventually the time came to board. I was lucky as I go the emergency seat and had plenty of leg room. Otherwise Silk air is not an airline to shout much about at home.

Inside Changi airport

Singapore

In the morning Lena dropped me off to Larkin bus station where I took the bus into Singapore. I arrived Queen Street at 0930hrs from where I took the MRT to the Thailand embassy as I had been asked urgently to provide a letter of consent to my deranged ex for applying new passport for our kids.

The neighborhood near the Cameron Hotel

MRT station, no rush hour yet

One of Singapore's Canals

After sorting out this issue I took the MRT to Simei station. I went to see my old agent and friend Angie Ng at her office. She gave me a hand in booking a hotel for me, Hotel Cameron 65SGD/ night, and then she invited me for lunch.

One of Singapore's shopping heavens (or hells)

We had a dim-sum lunch at the Kam Boat House, as usual the Cantonese cuisine is best when eating like this. After lunch we parted ways and I continued to my hotel for check-in. After this I ventured out on town and my first stop was at Golden Mile shopping center. Here I walked around and could see that the Thai hangout mall had changed into a Thai-Vietnam hangout mall. Could not see anything interesting here so I continued to Funan Center.

Orchard Towers

At Funan I splashed out on a SLR camera, Canon 550D EOS complete with flash and objective and filters. After burning my VISA with this I continued to Wheelock Place to look for some books at Borders, big store but mediocre selection in sci-fi, fantasy & horror. Maybe the genre doesn't sell with the squeaky clean Singaporeans.

Chinese God in front of Hilton

After Wheelock Place I went to Orchard Towers for a couple of drinks and could see that it was business as usual over there but quieter than it used to be when I went there first time some 10yrs ago. After the whole day of walking I decided to call it a night and took the MRT back to my hotel.

Tips for yacht visiting Singapore

Here are some services I found good and reliable when I have been visiting Singapore:

SHIPCHANDLERS:

Wei Hsing Food (S) Pte Ltd (best at big orders in advance), not the cheapest on the market but supplies good stuff:

Mr. Allan Chiang or Willie

Tel: +65 62705818

Fax: +65 62705679

Email: whfspr@singnet.com.sg

AGENTS:

I have used both APS services and ISYS and found ISYS giving a better service.

International Superyacht services, Ms. Angie Ng

Tel: +65 96739460

Email: angie@superyachtservices.com

Angie got the backing of the whole Chinese community and loads of contacts to suppliers, drydocks etc. She also helped me out in tricky visa issues for Malaysia and Thailand.

Furthermore, there are a multitude of agents in SIngapore but only 2 catering to yachts, the rest are for commercial vessels and the fees are accordingly.

CARPET CLEANING:

Big Red Environmental Pte Ltd

Mr. Alven Low

Tel: +65 92209220

Tel: +65 62419443

Fax: +65 62429042

Email: alven@brenv.com

Superb service, carpets are assessed first by their professionals and the action taken accordingly.

COFFEE MACHINES:

Spinelli Coffee Company- they overhauled our Jura Impresa machine.

Mr. Ross Bright

Tel: +65 97894780

Tel: +65 63394849

Fax: +65 63397539

Email: ross.bright@spinellicoffee.com.sg

www.spinellicoffee.com

HULL SURVEYORS

POLYNDT Pte Ltd

Approved by RINA to carry out non-destructive hull surveys (ultrasound). The oldest Company of its kind in Singapore.

Mr. Chong Kah Fook

Tel: +65 67754011

Email: polyndt@singnet.com.sg

www.polyndt.com

ENTERTAINMENT VENUES:

Apart from the touristic night safaris etc that can be found in all guide books I mention a few bars & restaurants that I find worth visiting.

Esmirada: on Orchard Rd near Orchard Towers, serves a wide Mediterranean cuisine. Good food & nice ambience.

Muddy Murphy's: Irish Bar just around the corner of Esmirada, get your Kilkenny's here.

Orchard Towers: The "must see" for Singapore first timers ;)

The Golden Mile Mall: The place to get decent Thai food.

The Peoples Park: The place to get cheap and absolutely delicious pepper crab.

Clarke Key: Loads of high end bars & restaurants, take your pick. For the big boys there are Hooter's ;)

Riverside Key: Excellent wine bar at the beginning of it, sorry I forgot the name of it.

ELECTRONICS:

Funan Mall : Laptops & computers

Sim Lim square: Digital cameras and gadgets

Sim Lim Tower: Electronic & electrical components, it is like a MEGA radio shack.

MARINAS:

Raffles:

At the W end of S'pore Island, very far to the center. Deep draught.

Map of Singapore marinas

RSYC:

Good location but those who knows best says that there is a lot swell from passing ferries disturbing the boats.

Keppel:

The most expensive and best marina in Singapore so far. Located inside Cruise Bay, very near main roads and close to center of city.

1deg15' marina:

New marina currently promoted with cheap rates, entry in marina can be done only at slack water due to very strong cross currents, I suppose with a smaller yacht one could hazard an entry but it is really narrow. Once you are in the basin you need to crash stop and berth stern to on your port side. Bow lines are attached to buoys that are a nuisance when you are backing in. I got one of them stuck in my stabilizer fin and had to go fwd to release it. To go to city you need to pass the Cuaseway bridge off the Sentosa Island which can be pretty congested during rush hours. The bars and restaurants at the marina don't accept cash, all billing is done to ships account. This creates a problem if crew wants to enjoy a drink or two...

My research on marinas for the Singapore rally in September:

Distances by road from marinas to center of city:

Keppel: 7 km, very quick access to hwy

RSYC: 14 km, very quick access to hwy

1°15’: 10 km, first 4km on trunk roads and through causeway bridge (bottleneck).

Pricing:

Keppel: SGD 625/ day

RSYC: SGD 490/ day

1°15’: SGD 420/ day

Raffles: SGD 552/ day

www.marinakeppelbay.com/

www.one15marina.com/

www.rsyc.org.sg/

Captain's Blog - Langkawi - Singapore - Langkawi - Phuket

As in previous blog it ended when we arrived to the drydock in Langkawi, which lasted 14th Aug to 18th Sept and was a very tiring affair for the whole crew.

Kalizma got a fresh coat of paint on the bottom, new zinc anodes, overhauled overboard valves, some new shell plating, additional echosounder and a muffler on the centre engine. Now when we’re idling one can barely hear the engines any more, I need to look at the rpm meters to verify I have propulsion. It is so silent.

Well, for crew matters we received a new Stewardess from the Niladri household, Ms. Martula Walling, her profile is posted in the crew section. Richard came back full of energy after his long odyssey into the Indian bureaucracy and Jessica went for a well deserved vacation.

Finally on the 18th we we’re on the way to Singapore and major washing up took place to remove all the drydock dust and dirt. We arrived 1deg15’ marina on the 20th Sept and was met by ships agent Angie Ng. After clearance was done it was time to coordinate all efforts for Bosses visit. Flowers had to be ordered, carpets cleaned, food ordered, dayworkers arranged etc., we had 5 days on us.

Finally the weekend arrived and the F1 qualifications took place, on Saturday the time races and finally on Sunday the actual F1 race. The race was in fact very exciting with Force India team briefly at 3rd place but unfortunately was dropped down due to safety car was brought out. Then Sutil crashed his car avoiding another car and Fisichella finished 2nd to last, I suspect due to filling fuel too much.

When the weekend was over it was time again to pack everything away and feast on leftovers.

Next two weeks was spent repairing our radars that suddenly gave up on our arrival Singapore. During this time we had a Beer Festival at Fort Canning, delicious Pepper crabs up in People’s Park, Teochew dinner in Mong Hin restaurant, Mediterranean cuisine at Esmirada on Orchard, Kilkenny’s beer in Muddy Murphy’s and of course shopping at Funan, Sim Lim Square and Orchard Towers.

Eventually we left on 14th Oct for Langkawi and arrived there on the 16th, weather was excellent.

In Langkawi we picked up some chemicals and re-fuelled, our agent John took great care of us once again.

Vivek & Juergen Zimmerer

Crew went for a jungle canopy excursion. The operation was run by a German, Mr. Juergen Zimmerer, who had been on the Island for 16yrs. We started with easy rope walking and principles of abseiling as well as we “trollied” over a short expanse on a wire until we got to the highlight of the trek: A wire ~100m long suspended up to a rainforest tree 60m tall. The ride up there was adrenaline inducing and when all was up in the tree we got to abseil down to the ground 30m. The whole trek gave a very good insight of what mountain climbing is about.

In the evening agent John treated undersigned for dinner at Teo’s where we had squid, steamed snapper and wild boar washed down with Tiger.

On the 17th we bid Langkawi goodbye and headed for Thailand, in the afternoon we did a dive at the Butang’s at Hin Takon Chet, hopping in straight from the swimming ladder. We found 2 big shell’s that we ate for dinner the same evening. For the night we anchored at Phi Phi Island and next morning at 9am we continued towards Yacht haven where we arrived at 3pm.

Next day Monday was full with activities meeting old acquaintances, getting technicians onboard to sort out some electronic problems still pending, hiring storage space and making up shopping lists for provisions and interior stores. As of writing this we have settled in Phuket again for the next 3mths or more waiting for the Boss or guests…

Singapore Beer Festival

On last Sunday I went with a colleague Captain out to the Singapore beer festival held at Fort Canning, one of the oldest areas in Singapore. The park was covered in a huge air conditioned tent and of course there was beer, lots of beer and more beer. From all over the world and in all shapes and colours of bottles and taps. I met with Captain Nick on his boat before heading off to Fort Canning and we had some refreshments before, beer naturally. Eventually we arrived Fort Canning at 3pm and people was starting to pour in. We got our tickets and entered the tents and started drinking beer, lots of it. I can't really say anything about the beers as I'm just a consumer, I like beer almost all sorts. I'm not a too keen friend of stouts though, too heavy stuff for my palate. But wheat beers, lagers, ales, amber ales - all goes down the windpipe. Anyway, I had my share of beer and about 9 pm I headed back home with a slight list. All in all it was a nice event, but unfortunately my mobile was pinched there. I was such a bastard that I did a police report on it so next time somebody switches it on the men in blue can jump the user. If I'm here next year I will definitely join it again. What happened next day I'm not gonna tell you.

Cheers,
Jari


Below is an article that I found of the event:

SINGAPORE: Singapore now has its very own Oktoberfest, and the inaugural Singapore Beer Festival is being held at Fort Canning Park.

Beer enthusiasts can get to taste nearly 300 beers, including a hundred which are appearing in Asia for the very first time.

The Asia Beer Awards was held on Thursday at the festival, and the award for Asia’s top tipple — picked by a panel of international judges — went to Brewerkz’s Steam Beer.

Adding to the merriment were comedy acts as well as local and international bands.

"Putting on a beer festival, that's just like throwing a big party" or so people keep telling my friend Tom. Yeah, much like to make great beer you just gotta boil some grain, beer festivals are that easy. Well, not really. But there is a grain of truth in that thought - to be able to put on a good beer festival you have to know how to throw a good party - and in that sense the Singapore Beer Festival (SBF) has got it right. The three guys most responsible for this upcoming event (Irvin, Matt and his brother Tom) have a good party sense. They know the essentials; Good entertainment (music, dancing, a guy to crack a few jokes), nice food and most importantly a whole lotta interesting things to quench the thirst. The beer line-up for SBF promises to pique the interest of even the most discerning beer connoisseurs. Matt and Irvin went all over the world to procure the beers for this event. There will be over 300 beer from over 50 countries across six continents (what, no more beers from Antarctica ?) . It's a pretty amazing list, especially for their first year out.

So - the bottom line; even if they make a few minor mistakes and forget a few of the small, small beer fest details (note: next year order more portable toilets, don't hire the biker gang for back stage security, and #@*! sake - ban the Durian beer!) they will definitely have the key elements covered.

Go see for yourself October 2 through 5 at Fort Canning Park. Over 300 beers from around the world, packed with great entertainment from a cast of international and local artists, (live music, DJs and stand-up comedians some more) and plenty of good Makan.