Keelboat Training: Day 4
On the final day of our training we boldly made our way across a busy international shipping lane, dodging more than one giant container ship along the way. Were we foolhardy or just foolish?
2 October 2016
The weather turned on the charm for the final day of our Competent Crew Course. Trainer Jian Guo met us in the training shed, just as the wind was picking up for the morning. We ferried out to our trusty J/24 Keelboat and got her ready for the day's sail, feeling more comfortable and setting up quicker each time we got onboard. We motored upwind to the Changi Beach Club, and under the gaze of its members, we did drills back and forth across the shipping lane to the fish farms of Pulau Ubin, an island about 3kms away.
It was exciting to be holding our own against the massive ships being towed up the Singapore causeway, getting as close as 20m to these 150m giants. And we got quite an education in the realities of proper sailing, working hard for an hour in order to inch just 1.5kms up the coastline. It would be quicker to walk! But it was both rewarding and fun to be firmly in command of a vessel powered solely by the wind and water.
Our last morning of the course really cemented for us that this is the life we want to lead, away from technology and living the slow life aboard. Even in the busy waters of Singapore we were surrounded by nature; jellyfish, eagles and egrets. What a beautiful way to see this little corner of the world.
We rounded out our final day at Changi Sailing Club with a little bit of theory on mooring under sail and anchoring under motor, before putting words into action. With the wind and current both working against us, the conditions were perfect for some real-life experience on the practicalities of parking a yacht, under the watchful eye of our experienced trainer.
We are pleased to say that we not only survived the course, but even enjoyed it. It was hard, intense and rewarding, and with certificates-in-hand we can now boast that we are sailors (albeit with not much experience)! Although the club is not currently taking memberships, we'll put our names down as extra crew in order to get some more experience under our belts. And until then, it's monthly theory to help keep our eye in.
It's safe to say that there was a lot riding on this course. The entire happiness of our future rests on being able to sail, and even enjoying it. But with thanks to the Changi Sailing Club our confidence has increased 10-fold and we finally feel like we've taken the first big step to becoming fully-fledged liveaboard nomads. The future is looking bright!