In Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Laughter
Little boxes on an island, Little boxes made of ticky-tacky, There's a green one and a pink one and a blue one and a yellow one and they're all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same. And the people in the houses All go to the university, And they all get put in boxes, Little boxes, all the same. And there's doctors and there's lawyers and business executives, and they're all made out of ticky-tacky and they all look just the same.
Posted on Thursday, May 7, 2009

I'm a Sailor Now!

Written by Yane at 11:55 AM
Most things went smoothly and was quite enjoyable with the company we had ;) We went around Singapore from Harborfront to Changi and Changi to Sembawang and to Causeway then back. Haha. Singapore is too darn tiny.

First day was just full of theory and my head could explode. Did not catch much wind and was pretty hot too :( We did the basics of hoisting the sail, unfurling the genoa sail, tacking and jibbing. Then we spent the night on our boat at keppel bay. Sheena, Terrence and I was so hardworking and actually spent an hour studying that night ;p Haha. Over the next few days my favourite answer when quizzed was the topper! Funny... Also, there was a few type of knots to learn. I hate knots that's why i was in hockey or clubs and never the NCC or NPCC or adventure club. I'm not a knotty person ;p

The second day was COOOOOOOL ! We went out to catch a "storm" ;) Heavy rain and strong winds equates to thrills ! We even had to put on these coats ;)

I like the third day! Well, because while i was at helms I clocked the fastest speed :D I think it was at least 16 knots since we had to do reefing. According to Sheena, we were tilted at least 30 or 40 degrees and water splashed onto the boat from the sides! Poor Sheena was making lunch and we were crossing narrow distances between Malaysia and Singapore so we did a lot of tacking. Haha. The following day another guy took the helms and was pretty quick as well. It was Sheena who was making lunch again! Haha. It's no easy feat in the saloon making lunch when the boat keeps tacking/jibbing because your potteries will just slide.

We also went pass Indonesia waters. Saw Johor while approaching the causeway. It's really amazing how close we are. There was also some interesting facts like tekong is reclaiming A BIG PLOT of land. Sometimes our waters are pretty dirty as well.

Night sailing is alright. Gotta read charts and gps and observe the flashes and head close to the beacons/buoys. Did i mentioned we stopped at Lazarus Island? We did some coconut plucking. Haha. I had to make dinner that night with terrence and glad it turned out okay and timely for dinner at sunset :)) We slowly night sailed to sentosa and watched songs of the sea from the back. We didn't get the story but i liked the water show, flames and fireworks :)

Overall, it was a great experience. Except for the fact that we had to cook our meals and clean the entire boat on the last day. Screw you Keppel Sailing Academy! I didn't pay to clean and cook. I don't even do that at home! When I came home that evening I gorged down my mums cooking. Next lunch I had western. And dinner was seafood! Compensation for the 5 days of crappy food ;p

We braved the scorching sun and rain. I will love to sail again :)