Log XVIII - Artemis 1 (Localization)

Buying a yacht from USA is usually cheaper than in Singapore as the market is big. There are also a wide variety of boats for you to choose from. The US boat resale market alone is easily more than all the boats in Singapore. However there are other problems to tackle. The most prominent one is to the 110V rating.

A transformer will be required for the boat to receive the 230V shore power. Not to mentioned that it will be difficult to find replacement for the electrical appliances on board.

The screw threads are US threads. Even simple stuff like hose connectors are hard to find when your whole country is using UK threads.

The toilet tap broke and I made use of this opportunity to convert the tap and the sink to local HDB style.

Of course some modifications to the piping was required such as this:

All the cabin mono filament lights were changed to LED to save battery power which is a luxury when out at sea.

And lots of sweat were shed over many days together with my family and friends to clean and polish the boat as it was quite neglected by the previous owner.

All these minor maintenance seemed easy but it was time consuming especially when every experience was my first time.

Log XVII - Artemis 1 (The Maiden Voyage)

The voyage was anything but relaxing. With one engine gone dead the moment we were out of Raffles Marina, we were not sure when the other engine would suffer the same fate. We had to decide whether to turn back to the Marina, which was a only a few hundred meters away; Or continue towards our destination, which was another 20 nautical miles!

I didn't expect the first decision I had to make as the Captain of Artemis 1 had to be such a tough one. I turned to John and he told me calmly "Let's continue our journey." With reassurance from the most experience captain I have ever known, we decided to sail full speed ahead. Full speed may sound fast but in fact we were crawling - about the same speed as those wooden bum boats.

After an hour of sailing, I realised we would be facing another problem - fuel. I had pump just enough petrol for me to reach RSYC as the petrol rates are higher at Raffles Marina. However the journey which was supposed to take about 45 minutes or 1 hour max. had now double fold. After an hour of travelling, we were not even halfway through. By the way, the VHF radio on board was not working too which added more worries.

John suggested to keep the engine RPM low to save fuel. While I was navigating through the busy channels of Singapore waters, John was running in and out of the engine room trying to figure out how to link the port and starboard fuel tanks. As the port side fuel gauge meter did not move since the beginning of the journey, we believed that we were only using the fuel from the starboard tank. If our petrol from starboard tank really ran out, we may still be able to use the petrol from the port side. Little did we know that the fuel gauge was actually not working, which I only found out later when I pumped petrol for the first time - both tanks were only left with a few drops of petrol. Anyway back to the voyage. After turning a few unknown valves hoping that would link up the port and starboard fuel tanks, we just had to keep our finger crossed and leave the rest to fate.

Two hours after we left the safety of the harbour of Raffles Marina, We finally reached our destination in one piece.

Looking at her resting peacefully in the calm waters of the marina, all the anxiety from the journey and the crazy handling of the boat to berth with one engine had subsided to become valuable experiences for the future.

By the way, till now I'm still trying to figure out how to berth my boat smoothly with just one engine operational. This task is exceptionally difficult for a twin shaft engine driven boat. Please share your experiences if you have any tips.

Log XVI - Artemis 1 (Preparation for the Maiden Voyage)

There was a mix feeling of excitement and anxiousness when I saw her for the first time. I think this is the same feeling as meeting your pen pal, or in this era, your online boy/ girlfriend at the airport. Excited because you can finally meet the person that you are so looking forward to see, and anxious because you are worried that she may not meet your expectations.

When I first saw her, she was cuddled safely on top of a trailer.

Though a bit rugged from weeks of sailing across the oceans, she instill an air of elegance as she exited the terminal gate with the police already lined up to escort her. I followed her all the way from the gate until she finally checked in at Raffles Marina.

She was transferred to her cradle the next morning and would spend the next couple of days here for the installation of fish finder and AIS.

After the installation of the electronic equipment was completed, we would begin our first maiden voyage together from Raffles Marina to Republic of Singapore Yacht Club. I asked a good friend, John Hendricks, who practically spent his whole life sailing to help out on this journey. And luckily he was on board because just moments after we left Raffles Marina, her port side engine temperature alarm went off. Frankly I did not know what to do at that time, the natural action was to switch off the engine immediately. And this was my first encounter and a prelude of her many problems that would be coming our way.