1:20N, 103:38E

Raffles Marina, Singapore

We enjoyed our down time at Nongsa Point, Batam and feasted on a local seafood lunch with an Aussie couple we met in the marina (S/V Aquarius). The seafood restaurant was an open wooden structure on stilts overlooking the water (well in our case it was mud as it was low tide). We chose fresh seafood and then they cooked it for us in the style we wanted – chilli mud crab, garlic mud crab, Balmain bugs, prawns and sea bass together with rice and local greens.  So tasty and all for the total sum of $40 - they had wash basins at the end of each table to wash our hands – a different interpretation of finger bowls!

Batam is located west of Bintan Island, Indonesia - south of Singapore. In the 1970s the island underwent a transformation from a largely forested area into a major harbour and industrial zone. Shipbuilding and electronics manufacturing are important industries on the island.

On Saturday night we cleared out of Indonesia with the relevant authorities and hoisted the yellow flag ready for our entry into Singapore waters.  We left the marina at 6.30 on Sunday morning for our 7 hour journey to Raffles Marina, Singapore.  We crossed the busy shipping channel (1.6 miles wide) into Singapore in just 15 minutes and only had to manoeuvre around 3 or 4 massive cargo and container ships! Sunday was definitely a much quieter day for shipping traffic – although the AIS continuously registered the maximum of 150 boats around us.  As you would expect the entrance into Singapore is expertly managed – we had to change to 3 different VHF radio channels as we moved through each sector of the harbour and all our paperwork was submitted 12 hours prior.

We negotiated around several fuel, oil and lpg tankers as we entered into the Johor Strait on the way to Raffles Marina and also more fishing traps and fishing stakes.  This strait separates the western tip of Singapore from Malaysia. Greg did a great job of steering Rex into the berth they had given us – we arrived at low tide and the depth was zero so it was an anxious wait to see if we touched the mud bottom.  We didn’t thankfully!  We were only allowed to enter the marina while we waited to be cleared into Singapore by Immigration – a fantastic guy who had a great sense of humour (very unusual for an immigration officer on a Sunday!)  We are now officially in Singapore and can stay for up to 90 days.