Relaxing in Nongsa

We do like Nongsa Point Marina. The pool is nice, the staff are sweet and the internet is fast. I'm sitting in an open air lobby with a gentle breeze keeping me cool as I look across the Singapore Strait at the endless stream of shipping. 

Another boring tropical sunset

This a rough life. Last night Kiwi friends with a lovely sixty foot power yacht invited us over for a barbee and a little libation. They are a most interesting couple and have adventured around the world. There aren't a lot of guys who can tell stories of ten years buying coffee in the highlands of New Guinea. 

Dinner with Alistair and Melody

Scott is getting a little education in international bureaucracy today. He got up before 0500 to catch the ferry to Singapore. The purpose being to go to the Myanmar Embassy to apply for tourist visa. I was not on the boat when he called and told Janet the embassy would make him wait a week before he could be issued a visa because he was a tourist in Singapore, not working. 

It's a John Deere main, his genset is the same Yanmar as our engine.

He thought he needed to give them his passport for a week and since he needed it to get back to Indonesia he declined the honor. Now he's heading back where he will learn from us that he doesn't need to give them his passport for a week, they won't need it until the visa is approved. So tomorrow I think he'll end up going through the process all over again. This builds character in a young man. Whereas it just makes an old man mad as hell. My patience with bureaucracy hasn't gotten one little bit better over the years. 

Lighten up, Bill.

So the boat is in good shape. We plan to hang here until we head for Myanmar, hopefully about the 1st of August and we'll be up there for a week or so. And that's flying up there from Singapore, we'll leave the boat here at Nongsa. The Myanmarese make cruising their waters difficult and expensive. You have to buy a cruising permit that costs several thousand dollars and then you have to have one of their government guides on board at all times and provide for him. Not worth it.

So life here is good but I envy our friends who have the Indian Ocean passage behind them or are en-route now. We're considering our options  but the Indian Ocean isn't happening for us this year. 

Love to all,

Bill, Janet and Scott