Singapore to Port Dickson

This is our third time into Singapore and we did the drill of clearing immigration at the anchorage where the officials come to your boat and process your documents as you float. One15 marina was full so once again we went into the rocky noisy Republic of Singapore Yacht Club. The small ferries bringing crew in and out from the tankers at great speed which makes the docks wave up and down. You can almost get seasick walking out to your boat and the monohulls roll incredibly. We were in a quieter space than last time and were tied up alongside several cruising boats. We invited Peter, an Australian teaching in Singapore living on his boat and Peggy, a Canadian waiting for her husband to return from a family visit to Cop Out for happy hour. We had a great time and once again the happy hour went way beyond sunset. Next morning along with Peggy we caught the bus and train and cleared in at customs at the “One Stop” this meant we did not pay any fees to the marina—they charge an exorbitant amount for the easy clearance. We managed to avoid the fact that although now Singapore requires AIS we do not have one. I think that we were lucky and it will become harder to just omit the number each time we are asked for it. Deepavali (the Indian festival of lights) is approaching and Little India was bustling with noise and colour. It is one of the highlights of Singapore and offers lots of great photo ops. The one thing we still had not done was to go up to the top of the “boat” so as the sun was setting we went up to the top. There are two options, one is to pay $20 and go up and the other is to go up to the bar at no charge but pay their exorbitant drink charges. We opted for the “drink option” and joined the multitudes of the “young upwardly mobile” Singaporeans for our almost $30 drinks. After one drink and the obligatory photos we headed back down and back to the boat. We spent the next few days picking up small gifts for family and Ken bought a spotting scope ready for hunting next fall. He had ‘loaned” his to Aaron and he is not sure who now has ownership!! Also bought a Blue Ray DVD player as in this part of the world they are unlocked and we will be able to play all of the DVD’s collected from various parts of the world when we get home. A final highlight was the arrival of Migration with whom we had been trying to coordinate one last visit before we become “landlubbers”. We had first met them in 2006 in Tenakatita and we have sailed on and off with them since that time. We spent time in Ecuador and Panama with them and they had been in NZ for several summers with us as well. We have spent many happy times with them over the years and they will always be part of our wonderful “cruising family” memories. They had been frantically trying to get there from Indonesia and we were happy to wait one more day for them. We had an enjoyable dinner with them on Cop Out and then a last waffle breakfast with them on Migration before we set off again sadly bidding them farewell. They are from the US so we do hope to see them in Canada in the not too distant future. We set off for the Western Immigration Anchorage once again to clear out and then back into Malaysian waters to go to Puteri Harbour to fill with diesel. At 90cents a litre it is a lot cheaper than the $1 40 in Singapore and we wanted to get enough to take us to Langkawi. As we pulled in we spotted Atlantia in the marina. After being invited for supper by Will and Margaret we got permission from the marina manager to stay the night even though we were not checked into Malaysia. We had another great evening with them; we had first met them in Vanuatu and have been with them on and off ever since. This return trip of ours has been rewarded by meeting up with “old friends”. Early the following morning we set off for the passage to Port Dickson. We were helped along with some strong favourable currents making it in two days.