Overland drive from Singapore to Bangkok and back - 21 May to 2 Jun 2023

Every once in a while, I feel the need to break out of my mandane routine and drive up north. Short trips are usually to Genting Highlands or Ipoh and loger trips would be to Hat Yai or Bangkok and sometimes all ther way to Chiang Mai. These trips jolt me out of the comfort of my routines and I get to see the world around me in a different light again. On two occasions, I got to drive all the way to Tibet in a convoy. Those were the best overland trips I've done to date. So on Sunday 21st May night, I got up early at 3am and made my way to Woodlands check point. It was totally quiet as expected and I got thru with no queue. I had intentionally avoided the Vesak day long weekend on Fri 31 May, knowing the jam would be bad. (on hindsight, it was reported that 250,000 vehicles passed thru the Tuas and Woodlands check point that weekend). It must have been painful. I usually drive all the way across Malaysia to Hat Yai on the first day. This time, I took a break at Cameron Highlands at a friend's place up in the mountain just below Tanah Rata and above the small town of Ringlet. Stayed at Cameron for two nights. It was delightful. Time was spent visiting the vegetable farms on an all-terrain-vehicle (ATV). That was fun. Being back to nature teaches you a lot of people and aboiut living in geenral. I enjoyed the freedom of large open spoaces and the cool mountain air. Everyone we met were happy and friendly. It was a nice change from the stresses of city living in Singapore, where rules and regulations invade into every aspect of your life and you were expected to follow all of them whether you know it or not. Simple living is real living. On the third day, we made our way down Cameron Highlands towards Tapah, then to Ipoh George Town, Alor Setar and finally to Bukit Kayu Hitam. We stopped by the first road side stall that sold insurance for car crossing into Thailand.

I paid RM45 for 19 days of car insurance coverage whilst in Thailand, although I only needed 10 days. All I needed to produce was our passport, Car log card and Singapore Car Insurance. The agent also provided the added service of printing our Thai entry cards with our names and information nicely printed. From there it was just 10km to the Sadao Border crossing. The last time I made the crossing was 9 years ago. Then the immigration & customs were opened till 5pm. The Malaysian side of the CIQ was standard. The Thai side had improved a little with opening hours from 6am to 12 midnight. Since it was only the wife and me in the car, we drove straight to the immigration counter and hasd our pasport chopped. Next we parked the car at the customs building and got off to get the car import permit done. This document is crucial and must be returned on the way journey back. Loosing the import/export permit would incur a hefty fine of 10,000 bath.

The drive into Thailand is always pleasant. You enter into a different and slower-paced world. Thai drivers are alot more courteous. You hardly hear a car horn and when you signal to fliter left or right, you can be assured that the vehicle behind will give way to you. the speed of traffic is significantly slower in Thailand. On highways, cars average 110kmph and you seldom get dare devil cars screaming down the highways, unlike in Malaysia where the fast lane is almost always occupied by "race drivers" tearing down the highways at speeds often exceeding 140kmph. Speed limit is 110kmph. King of the highways are BMWs. You hardly fine one on the slower left lane occupied by heavy vehicles. But then again, the Malaysian highways are a lot smoother than the ones in Thailand.

No more paper charts - its all e-charts the past 26 yrs

I grew up on paper charts. It was in the Navy and I do love exploring the intricate details printed on charts, especiall old charts in B&W. But as soon as GPS came into the market, I started buying and using them. It did not make sense using paper charts on fast open boats. GPS was a dream come true. Chart plotters were not even created yet. So when the first chartplotter arrived, I eagerly bought them. My first chartplotter was a Garmin 276 portable. That was probably 20 years ago. I have only used electronic charts for navigation and passage planning ever since. Today chartpotters are the rage and are no longer just called chartplotters. The new buzz word is MFDs (Multi Function Displays) since you can connect sonar, AIS, Zoom cameras. CCTV, auto-pilot, engine data and so many other sensors to the MFDs. Chartplotting is just one function amongst many. About 8 yrs ago, a new feature was introduced called Automatic Routing. Planning a route has always been done manually until this feature, familar to car drivers came along for Navigation and its so simple. Simply select your start point and destination and the chartplotter will plan the route for you in a few seconds. It is important to to manually set the perimeters before engaging auto-routing. Basically key in your boat's draught, height clearance, cruising speed. fuel consumption and max fuel capacity and the machine computes your route. It is generally safe, but I would caution that you go thru the route offered and make manual adjustments to ensure the route is safe and does not cut thru prohibited and restricted waters or too near shallow reefs. It's always better to keep a wide berth of shallow waters and danger zones. Whatever the case may be, it is going to be very difficult to go back to paper charts for navigation after having used Chartplotters the last 20yrs.

A BOATING CULTURE WE CAN BE PROUD OF

A BOATING CULTURE WE CAN BE PROUD OF It has been said, “It takes a village to raise a child”. This statement opens our mind to a far larger reality. As parents, we hold our children dearly and try to protect them from elements of society we judge undesirable. Family always comes first, and charity begins at home. That’s an undisputable fact. But we know children have a mind of their own and often the bigger influence may come, not from family and relatives but from interactions with the larger community of classmates & friends who they spend more time with and from the influences of culture & popular practices of the village. As fellow human beings, we share similar character traits and personalities. Putting race aside, it is culture that sets us apart and the differences can be conspicuously distinct. Likewise, it takes a whole boating community to raise a boater. Left alone, he/she will not unconsciously learn the ropes and grow into a proficient seafarer, although there will be exceptions. The journey of acquiring one's sea-legs is a long and arduous one. The burden of "parenting" cannot rest on government authority or PPCDL (Powered Pleasure Craft Driving Licence) Schools. It is not a simple case of issuing a driving license. The PPCDL initiative is a sensible start. The journey continues and the learning and experiences never ends. The task of the village naturally rests on the shoulders of the boating community. In our case Fellow Boaters (both professional & leisure), Marinas, Yacht Clubs, Associations and Sea Activity Centers. If we give credence to this adage, (It takes a village…..) it will raise the tide of our consciousness to this obligation and hopefully trigger a new found courage to take up collective ownership of the local boating culture. Simply put: Let’s undertake the task of building a boating culture that’s promotes the OBSERVANCE OF GOOD SEAMANSHIP & BOATING ETIQUETTE. Let’s take it one day at a time, one boater at a time. Every drop makes an ocean. WF

Stay outside the boundary of Raffles Light House

Raffles Lighthouse is a beautiful lighthouse situated on Pulau Satumu. You can't visit and you certainly can't go closer than 300m from the Island. The Lighthouse is protected. The moment you stray into the imaginary boundary, 300m from the light, you'll be intercepted by the PCG (Police Coast Guard. There's no ifs or buts, stay out or face a heavy fine. I speak from experience... one that I do not wish to repeat again. I went to the lighthouse to fish on Sun 6 Jun. The fishing was good. I was distracted. My anchor was dragging. I wasn't paying attendtion... too busy trying to catch a big one. It was only when I saw a PCG boat heading straight for me that I instinctively checked the boat's position on the chartplotter. We had indeed dragged anchor. I was inside the Restricted zone. Too late. I quickly pulled up the anchor but before it was even half-way up, the PCG was already breathing down my neck. What followed was an hour of sending them my NRIC, PPCDL licence and boat documents through whatsapps. They were extremely polite to me, but I knew, the MPA would send me a summons soon. Alas! my quiet day of fishing on a sunny Sunday afternoon turned sour. AFTERNOTE: I didn't receive a summons. Not even a Notice or Warning. The PCG Officer was true to his word. He concurred that I was anchored outside the Restricted zone and saw my boat dragging on her anchor. I am grateful to that PCG Officer. He indeed has a Seaman's eye. I've since upgraded my anchor to a heavier 7.5kg Bruce and increased the chain from 30ft to 50ft. That should be more than enough to hold the 26ft Catamaran.

Everybody dies, but not everybody lives. I have been fortunate to be born in an awesome country where you could make a decent living, have the freedom to make your own life and the security to reach to a ripe old age. I decided at an early age to experience everything, do everything and travel everywhere and live a fulfilling adventurous life. I would not regret, not having done all that I wanted to. Since I love the sea, I bought my first boat, an 18 foot wooden sampan at the age of 16 in 1976. I paid $188 for the bare boat. I couldn’t afford an engine, so I used long oars, secured to rowing-pegs to get around and occasionally borrowed an Evinrude 4hp from my friend Chris who lived in Telok Kurau. The sampan was beached at East Coast Park. It was there, that I learnt many valuable lessons about real life and experienced the seafarer spirit. It felt warm, spontaneous and contagious. We helped launch and recover each other’s sampan, carried each other’s gear and watched for each other’s safety whenever we were out at sea, fishing and netting. My fishing guru was Mr Lim, a local fisherman who lived in a 3 room HDB flat at marine Terrace. He had a larger sampan propelled by a Johnson 6hp. I marvelled at the ease with which he fished and cruised along the East Coast laying his nets. Mr Lim taught me how to repair the nets and maintain the sampan myself. Every few months, I would caulk the gaps between the planking just to keep the boat watertight or risk sinking. I had two bailers onboard. One I cut-out from a used 4-litre oil can and the other a plastic bathing scoop that I secured with a string. I would fish at night and go to school the next morning. Weekends at the beach was packed with onlookers vying to buy the giant prawns that we mostly targeted. $10 for one catty. (1 catty equals 600gm). The most precious equipment onboard for night fishing was my Butterfly brand Pressure Lamp. It lighted the boat and also served as a stove to heat and cook small food. In 1978, I was enlisted into the Navy. Goodbye kampong fisherman, Hello new world. My life took a dramatic change, I was sucked into the work environment of rules and regulations, conformity, discipline and regimentation. You had to account for your whereabouts every minute you’re at work or risk being charged for AWOL. I was forced into a straight-jacket, but I soon adopted and began to love the life in uniform. I grew up quickly from a boy into an officer and a gentleman. There were no ifs or buts, you had to conform or be thrown overboard to feed the sharks. Fifteen years came and went in a flash. In January 1994 I left the Navy and became a civilian. What a strange feeling. I was free again. No stringent schedules, no duties, no routine and no AWOL. They pulled me back July 1994 for reservists, as Commanding Officer of an Ocean Tug. I was elated, I had missed the Navy and felt proud of my Naval heritage. Unknowingly, the Navy had become a major pillar in my life. I felt the pride of being a Naval Officer. I was ready, willing and proud to serve. Today I turned 61. I am fitter, leaner and healthier than I was in my forties; or so I hope. I am optimistic, I am happy, I am content. I look forward to the wonders and adventures that lie ahead of me. The future is exciting. I want to be free and experience everything once again. No staying home. No tip-toeing through life, hoping I’ll make it safety to death. Nope, that’s not me… I’m casting off the bow lines, hoisting my sails, welcome world, I’m off to another adventure. It going to be awesome. WF 1960

Diving at Pulau Biola

A few years ago, my brother and I had the very rare opportunity to dive at Pulau Biola for a Book project named Islands of Singapore which he wrote. It was tough getting permission and after many attempts, we finally secured a slot from all three authorities to dive there for just an hour. I found a day and time when the tidal stream was slack, usually during periods of neap tines (half-mooon phase). As excpected, the diving was incredible. I descriped it as the Tioman of Singapore. The reef was prestine and full of life. The fish populatuon there was something I had never seen before, not even in Tioman. For the first time, I saw large schools of parrot fish going about their foraging and numerous species of small fish were schooled eveywhere I truned. Although I didn't see any large fish, I'm sure there were plenty of them around. Here's a poory done video of that dive using a cheap land camera in a waterproof-case. I can imagine how beautiful Singapore's reefs much have been in the early 1960s

Moorings for Pleasure Craft

 Saving our Reefs in Singapore is certainly a worthwhile effort for the benefit of our children. One way is to anchor mooring buoys in and around thriving reefs fringing the offshore Islands. Namely Pulau Hantu, Jong, Lazarus & St John's, Salu & Semakau. One project that has done this already is the Sister's Island Marine Park project that was 15 year in the making. Fishing and certainly anchoring is no longer allowed around Sister's to protect the delicate fringing reef. Pleasure boats can secure to the yellow mooring buoys already anchored there on a first come first served basis. Diving is allowed, but arrangements must be made prior for the divers to engage in a guided dive. 

Lazarus then during reclamation works

Lazarus today - a popular spot for boaters 

Pulau Jong is rarely visited and maintains a healthy fringing reef

St John's Island. Once used to quarantine migrants; today a destination for picnickers 

The Helical anchor is superior in so many ways to concrete blocks