Words of Wisdom from an Old Salt

I spent a good 3 hours speaking to an Old Salt at one of my favorite haunts, Raffles Marina. It was here that I got my first taste of Marina life. I have YP Loke, then the GM to thank. Back to the Old Salt, I'm keeping my end of the bargain by not mentioning his name, as he treasures his privacy, so lets just call him JL for short. Now, what did I learn from JL. For one it was humility. JL received little formal education on marine engineering and naval architecture, yet he knew more about pleasure boats & marine engines than most naval architects. He had kept paced with the latest development in the pleasure boating industry, whereas naval architects were schooled on well & proven science (hence outdated now). JL built his first boat at the age of 12 and soon his obsession with boats became his career. He told me the biggest setback with boating in Singapore was the lack of a playground for boats, so boaters need to travel to Malaysian & Indonesian waters to experience the fullness of boating. He remarked, You don't become a boater by buying a boat, You'll enjoy the sport when you become good at it. How true. His advise for new boaters; Start with a small boat first, learn the ropes before progressing to a larger boat like a cabin cruiser. Its not how much money you have, its your level of proficiency that determines your boat choice. Too many new boaters buy a boat based on their budget. Hence many start straight away, with a large cabin cruiser, with no idea how to handle it and end up with a whole load of trouble. JL sited an example of a new boater who damaged his prop and drive, in a grounding incident. He came back to the marina and demanded a warranty on the craft as the drive no longer functioned properly. An examination showed the badly chipped prop and damaged drive. It was obvious that the boat was grounded. Unlike cars, boating is much more complicated, it pays to start small, learn the fundamentals, then progress to something larger when you are more proficient. Anything that can go wrong at sea usually does and you're often alone to handle the crisis yourself. On a brighter note, it is great to see the boating population increase each month in Singapore. If you ever need advise on a boat purchase, navigation or seamanship lessons, just email me at wf@wfmagic.com. I'm on a crusade to make safe boating fun. Happy boating.