Alan Pape Trengganu Wooden Sailing Ketch

The Alan Pape Designed Wooden Ketch

Solid as a rock Chenghai Wood Hull

Stainless Steel Rails still in Perfect condition after 20 years

Winches all complete & perfectly functioning. Says a lot about quality marine parts 

Beach Culture & Motor Cross in Pasir Ris

I was at the Beach Culture @ WaterCross a restaurant, a sea sports activity venue on the beach at Pasir Ris Park last night. We were having the SPBA meeting. I applaud the entrepreneurial spirit of the owners, Raymond Png & Justin Lee. It is never an easy business setting up a place at the beach in Singapore. Their land lords are the National Park. The rent has gone up 3-fold over the past 3 years. Their lease lasts only 9 years. In Singapore, it is almost impossible to receive friendly help to build one's businesses. The opposite is more often than not the rough reality.
What shocked me about the place was the sea in front of Beach Culture. The POlice Coast Guard had lined up a long string of buoys about 300 meters off the beach to prevent boats from beaching there. Beach Culture's customers used to be the Fish Farmers off Ubin, who would come in for a beer and dinner. Not anymore. The MPA fined them about $300 for illegal landing. These are Singaporeans working their fish farms off Ubin. They cannot land there anymore. No one knows why. It just became so. Have we become so paranoid with fear of terrorists activities that we mistreat our Singapore boaters. Where's the wisdom in all this. Prevention better than cure?
I'll have to give this some very deep thought. Fear is a terrible motivator.

Horsburgh Lighthouse

Horsburgh Lighthouse was named after Captain James Horsburgh (September 28, 1762 – May 14, 1836), a Scottish hydrographer from the East India Company, who mapped many seaways around Singapore in the late 18th century and early 19th century. He was called "The Nautical Oracle of the World". His charts and books allowed ships to navigate through treacherous areas of the ocean, saving many lives and property on the seas between China and India. 
The lighthouse was built over an outcrop of rocks that for centuries was identified on maps as Pedra Branca (white rocks in Portuguese). It was built by John Turnbull Thomson (1821–1884), a government surveyor. In the presence of Governor William John Butterworth and other dignitaries, the lighthouse foundation stone was laid on May 24, 1850 and the lighthouse was completed in 1851. The lighthouse is also known as Pedra Branca Lighthouse.

Horsburgh Lighthouse dwarfed by the Communications Tower. A Navy Vessel patrols these waters  

Horsburgh Lighthouse was a familiar sight to me for 15 years whilst I was in the Navy. It was where the infamous Patrol sectors were drawn during Operation Thunderstorm, during the Vietnamese refugee patrolling days.  

Fishing with Ah Jiang 26 to 28 May 2013

We had glorious weather. Perfect calm seas and light winds. The water was a little cloudy, just the perfect balance for catching squid. Ah Jiang recently commissioned his 5th boat, a beautiful 70 footer with a 23 foot beam. The largest I have ever seem in a charter boat. You could place 8 rod holder comfortably at the stern of the vessel without getting in each other's way. The service on-board was SIA standard. Ah Jiang really paid attention to details to keep his customers comfortable;e and very happy indeed. The air-conditioning was superb and the sleeping accommodations could not be better. It is difficult to make any more improvements to the charter vessel. This coupled with Ah Jiang's fishing expertise made this one of the best fishing trips I have had in a long while. No need to charter the boats at Tg Pinang anymore. Just hop onto Ah Jing's boat at Marina Country Club and off we sail immediate y to the happy hunting grounds north of Horsburgh Lighthouse.   

Fred with a Golden Snapper

WF with a 2 Kg Golden Snapper

The catch after 2 days

Jeffery the Trip Organizer

Fred & WF with a Grouper

Finally a Leopard Ray, very good tasting

The happy Crew hard at work gutting the fish

A Lovely Passage Nongsa Point to Pantai Mutiara Marina

It’s a lovely passage from Nongsa Point Marina in Batam to Pantai Mutiara off Jakarta stretching 500 nautical miles of coastal waters off the East coast of Sumatra to the Southernmost tip where the Sunda Strait divides Sumatra from the Northern tip of the Island of Java. This new frontier will soon become a familiar playground for Singapore boaters. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds. Explore, Dream, Discover.   

Mr Gerry de Souza, the President of the SPBA has a vision of empowering the larger community to be a part of this project. He works to integrate all the comforts of a sea passage into the route to keep seafarers safe, engaged and prepared for the journey. Stay tuned for the unfolding of this colossal project and join the party when it is all complete and ready to receive you, the seafarer in all boats big and small. 

Nongsa Point Marina to Pulau Lingga

However there is a much larger side to this story. This is the part where the SPBA is working to build 1,000 homes on the water along this passage with a clever idea of integrating these homes for a multitude of purposes.

Each home is an independent fish farm for a single family operating on a proven system that guarantees a yield that can be sustainable commercially.    

For a start it is proposed that for Phase 1, about 200 Farm Houses be consolidated along the Riau Straits between Batam & Bintan towards Pulau Lingga about 100nm south. 

Once that is established and the challenges understood and contained we will commence Phase 2 where the remaining 800 Farm House will be spread along the route all the way down south to Pantai Mutiara Marina off Jakarta.

I have personally made this passage on board a Viking 55 Sportsmanship non stop. It only took me 25 hrs travelling at an SOA (speed of advance) of 22 knots. I was constrained by a deadline to delivery that boat to a private marina and hence didn't have the luxury to enjoy the islands along the route. This time I intend to spend quite a bit of time to get to know that stretch of sea more intimately. Well, this vision of opening up the Riau all the way to Sunda Starits will soon a be reality. All it takes is believe and super human effort to see the project to fruition.

WF at a private marina off Jakarta

Time to go Fish the South China Sea Again

WF & Fred with the last Marlin we caught off Pulau Tioman

When it comes to sport fishing, nothing comes close to the thrill of having a Marlin on the line, especially if it's on a standard boat rod with live bait. Unlike trolling, where the Marlin may already have been tired out, I caught this Marlin off the Unjung (FAD) South East of Tioman Island. she swallowed a live Kembong and had plenty of stamina left in her. Fortunately for me she swam away from the Unjang and kept away through the fight. My policy is strictly catch & release for all bill fish species. This one was unfortunate as it had caught the attention of the commercial boat that owned the Unjang and he gently demanded to have the fish to feed his village. According to him, the Marlin would feed the village for a whole month. I was stuck and had no choice but to hand over the fish. Well I guess hungry families have to come first even over Marlins.

        

Meeting the Legendary Capt Mike Hatcher

Mike Hatcher preparing to dive during the Java sea wreck salvage

I recently spent av bit of time with the legendary Captain Michael Hatcher. He is probably still the most successful wreck salvor in South East Asia. Hatcher has raised a total of 50 wrecks in his 40 years as the king of salvage. The most famous ones were the Geldermalsen an East Indiaman that sailed from Nanking with 239,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain and 45kg of gold ingots. The most recent success was the salvage of the Tek Sing which sank in the Java sea in 1822. Hatcher earned about USD 25 million from that salvage alone. It has been a hell of a journey for the now 73 year old, who says he has his eyes set on the greatest salvage operation of all time, that will make the sum total of his past successes seem tiny. His next mammoth project is the raising of the Flor Da La Mar, a Spanish merchant vessel that sank off the coast of Sumatra in the 1512. She carries with her a stash of Gold dust stored in clay jars that will amount to USD 2 billion based on today's prices. Well for now that is in the pipeline. Hatcher will have to raise about 20 million from  investors to fund the entire operation. That would be the mother of all salvages and I eagerly look forward to that faithful day when he successfully raises the Flor. What a story that would be.....

Hatcher with Blue Ming porcelain, fetches the highest prices    

  

Hatcher's ship Norma, the perfect salvage vessel

 

Dreaming about the Aleutian 76

The 76 Aleutian is undoubtedly the grandest GB built to date. She's the perfect size for cruising the coastal waters from S'pore to the Riau Archipelago, Tioman and Phuket and she's all you need to keep you and the family comfortable regardless of sea conditions and weather. There's nothing quite like the versatility a trawler for all purposes on the water. I no longer have the need to rush from one marina to another chomping over waves and trying to keep balance. Boating must be savored and very moment enjoyed void of anxiousness and hurry. If the distance is long, the time allowance has to be longer. When you finally get to your destination, there should be no hurry to move on again until after you've truly immersed yourself into the history and culture of that destination. Boating is for living not leaving...     

     

Dreaming about buying a Grand Banks Europa 42. The perfect boat for S'pore waters and short trips to Tioman & Pulau Aur. I just love the teak interiors & traditional design. The slower speeds suits me fine.

Today's Catch

Caught off the reefs fringing Jurong Island using Apollo Rigs & live prawns 

I've been fishing weekly the past month. Mostly jigging off Pulau Salu and Jurong Island. The catch has been below average for Singapore waters. I would have been glad to just catch the harvest shown in the picture. Alas that picture came from a fishing kaki of mine. Pretty good for a day's fishing off Jurong Island. Well, as they say, a bad day's fishing is far better than a good day at the office.
I hope to post news of my fishing adventures again soon. The month of May would be a better season and I'm booked to fish North of Horsburgh in the South China Sea. Till then, here's wishing you fair winds and following seas.

Wow, It's already February 2013

Wow, time really does fly. I hadn't realised that it's already February, nearing the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. I have not seen my blog since coming back from the Himalayas in November. That's a long time. December has always been my favorite season followed by January or February to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Well I guess it's time to move on and start "working" again. Time to get back on the tread mill, take the bull by it's horns and build an eventful 2013. Time to update my life again on the blog.