Trip #4 (#24)
Weather: Drizzly and then sunny
Waters: Choppy, then calmer much later
On board: C, A, J2 and R
The weather has been bad for boating lately, but today... today, the weather app said it would be fine in the afternoon.
It was wrong, of course.
A drizzle fell en route to the marina, and didn't let up even as we headed out to Lazarus Island, our destination. We picked to go there because its bay is relatively deep, so although the tide was to be at its lowest at 2pm, we would be able to anchor there.
We had hardly reached the Elbow when Captain C made the call to turn back. If the waters were so choppy even in such relatively sheltered water, it would be far worse out in Sinki Fairway.
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| Captain C: The safety of his passengers comes first. |
We decided to do a float instead of making for a particular destination. Spot #1 was near the long jetty about a third of the way to the Elbow. We dropped anchor, but the waters were so choppy that J2 was feeling ill.
Spot #2 was halfway to Puteri Cove, just off the Singapore Armed Forces' live-firing area. Sure, we heard some muffled booms on this Saturday afternoon, but since the Coast Guard wasn't around to shoo us away (like they did once last year, when we were fishing off Puteri Cove), we anchored, broke open the sandwiches and pretzels and beer, and turned up the music.
That didn't last. A few minutes later, a Coast Guard patrol boat came by and, through their loud hailer, the officers advised us to move out of the area.
Spot #3 was about 200m from the entrance to the marina. Dropped anchor a third time, and this time, we stayed put till the end of the outing.
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| An eagle soared overhead, and at one point, went into a tight tuck and barrelled seaward. We thought it was going after a fish, but at the last minute, it pulled up and shot away skyward again. Dang, left my telephoto lens at home. |
The drizzle had stopped and the sun came out with a vengeance. It was hot, so J2, C and then R went into the water to cool off. The water was also calmer now, but only looked that way. The current was strong; one needn't swim to be swept 3m from the boat in 10 seconds; the swim back to the boat was a strain, they found!
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| The dip in the water was to tire them out far more than they knew. They were zonked by dinner time. |
So what looked like a scrappy outing - the drizzle, the inability to find a good spot to drop anchor - turned out quite nicely after all.
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| This landlubber stayed on board, fighting her demons about treading water. |
Back at the marina ...
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| Raffles Marina cements her reputation as the place to watch sunsets. |
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