Sebana Cove
Fleck
Tue 26 Apr 2011 06:55
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Tuesday, 26th April
Location Sebana Cove Marina, Sungai Santi River,
Malaysia
Position, 1:24.722N 104:09.83E
Very pleased to say that I am recovering well, but
slowly, from my fall two and a half weeks ago. Yesterday I sailed (well,
motored, never any wind here) around Singapore Island to reach this strange
place, and physically managed quite well: things 'jar' when I jump about the
deck, and using my right shoulder muscles for winching is very sore, but I can
swim a bit, and walking on land is no problem. Odd that running is quite
impossible, is it just the 'jaring' effect, or do we use different abdominal
muscles? A couple of incidents en route made me a little sheepish. First I
invaded the Navy's 'no go zone' off the SE tip of Singaopore Island: two
gunboats came streaking out of the harbour, but when they saw I was a yacht
(so what do terrorists look like then?), one of the gunships turned back, and
the other very politely informed me of my transgression, and escorted me 'off
the premises'. My excuse, I'm good at excuses, is that the electronic charts
that I use dont have all the printed information showing at all magnifications.
On the projection that I was using I did notice a thin purple line, crossing my
path. Had I 'zoomed out' I would have been able to read what the line was all
about! In my efforts to keep up with the gunboat my engine overheated, which
reminded me of this ongoing unsolved problem, so I had to stop to let it cool
down, and try to explain to the gunboat skipper that I was not going below
decks to detonate the fuses!! Finally parted the best of friends (not), and
I was then confronted by several miles of reclaimed land not showing on any of
my charts, whatever the zoom! Finally worked out, by trial and error, which way
round to go, set the autopilot, and for a few secs, well, it seemed like only a
few secs, retreated below to make a coffee. Very loud sound signal! Up the
companion way, ribs forgotten, and wheel hard to starboard, before even I could
turn round to face forward and catch site of a large tug bearing down
on me! In fact I did well, his blast may just have been out of concern, but a
single blast means 'I am altering course to starboard'. So, if we both alter
course to starboard, having been in danger of collision, we should pass port
side to port side, the correct rule of the road. And this is what happened. I
looked up to the bridge of the tug as we passed and offered a friendly smile and
a congenial wave: the sort of greeting that seafarers offer one an other the
world over. Odd then that the skipper didn't seem to wave back.
Just on the subject of excuses, I will mention
that I revisited the accident scene at Raffles Marina and found that
the polished stone steps that I fell on have been the victims of quite
severe subsidence, being tilted sideways and downwards. Subsidence has
affected much of the ground around the marina. Lucky for the management I'm not
from the USA! I fact I was quite ressured to find a reason for the
accident. Now, its just a matter of avoiding things that tilt.....!
I am four miles from the sea in a marina
carved out of the banks of a river, and the dense mangroves on its banks.
Ashore is a generally oppulent hotel complex, with a rather ecclectic
collection of accomodation around it, plush bungalows on the waterside, and
other dormitory blocks that are well past their sell by date, and where the
jungle is re-establishing itself. There is a big golf course, which is possibly
the main attraction. Today however the resort is a ghost town: a few yachts
cocooned on finger pontoons, a few more, like Fleck are occupied, but there is
no sign of anyone staying in the resort itself. Promised myself a meal out last
night, having economised with food on board during my expensive extended stay in
Singapore, and I visited the hotel restauraunt at tea time to check the menu.
The chef, the waitress, and the maitre d' were playing cards and smoking (we are
back in Malaysia now!). "When is supper?" says I. "When you wish,
Sir". "I would like to eat with the others, says I"."That will be when you wish,
Sir". "But when do the others eat?"says I. "Sir, you and the others are just one
person, and that person is you". Intensely mataphysical, and accurate. We all
had supper at 20.00 hours, though it was a rather quiet affair.
Today I took the shuttle bus to the local town,
whose emblem, rather promisingly, is a large shrimp. Shampoo, distilled water
for my batteries, and oil for my engine, all nice Malaysia prices from little
stores along the main street. Sadly no sign of the prawns. Newspaper and a cup
of hot sweet coffee for a ringet from a cafe (that's 25pence, as opposed to £3
for a Starbucks in Singopore). We left for the return journey as soon as I got
back to the waiting bus; it felt quite crowded, what with me and the driver on
board.
The past receeds so quickly, I must just mention a
couple of Singapore things. Firstly the Singapore Biennale, 2011. This is the
Far East's answer to the Turner Prize, except that you get the chance to see all
the entries, not just the four finalists, and anyway there is no prize. So,
actually, it's just a huge modern artfest, spread over three established
museums, a disused airfield. and the Iconic Merlion on the Esplanade. An hotel
room has been built around the statue; by day anyone can go in and get up close
to the Merlion, or you can book the hotel room, and spend the night with him!
There is a vogue for transplanting things like this. When Hannah and I visited
the Tate St Ives this year there was an Artists Studio relocated from the North
of Scotland. The hanger of the disused airfield housed a life sized recreation
of a Dutch barn, with a stuffed cow. The exhibition has not received rave
reviews, and when I took the free shuttle bus from the Singapore Art Museum to
the airfield at Kampong, I found meslf, once again, quite alone.
Not so at a Gala concert of the Sigapore
Symphony Orchestra. Midori, (but I do rather get irritated by the rich and
famous who adopt silly names: 'Sting' is especially upsetting to me)
pushing 40, has lost her youthful figure, but
none, to my ear, of her talent, and Tchaikovsky's violin concerto was
otherworldly. (Late birthday idea: Midori and the Berlin Philharmonic's
recording of this?). Conservative Singapore likes this sort of thing much more
than video installations, me too!
And finally, and not for the first time, I must
mention again how clean this city is, and how utterly pleasant it is to enjoy
the environment that results. There is no graffiti anywhere, there are no
cigarrette butts or spat out chewing gum on the pavements, and because no one
can eat or drink on the underground, there is no litter, and nothing is sticky
or smelly. Singaporeans love their Island State, why oh why can't the rest of us
show a similar respect for our own surroundings?
What then am I doing here? Collecting my indonesian
Cruising permit is one answer, and so far as that is concerned mission
accomplished, or more accurately permission for mission to comence has been
granted and received. A month ago I had to provide a forwarding address for the
documentation, and Sebana Cove sounded nice, and I havn't been here before. The
guide book says of the trip upriver 'It's a Maughamesqe experience'. Not finding
that word in my Australian dictionary, I thought that my own trip might
unlock the meaning of this adjective. Well, I don't know how Somerset made so
much of basically dense green river banks, although there is something
about the increasing sense of encroachment as the river narrows around you that
is a little eerie and strange. I would have used the adjective Apocalypse
Nowesque, as these days I think more poeple will have heard of Marlon Brando
than Somerset Maugham.
Tomorrow I am off to
Indonesia.
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