Position:- 05* 38.4’ S 135* 01’ E
Course:- 335*
Speed:- 4 Knots
Wind:- NW 17 Knots (Force 6 Strong Breeze)
Sea State:- Moderate (3 to 5 feet Moderate waves taking ona more pronounced form. Many white horses are formed. Chance of some spray)
Weather:- Overcast(Complete cloud cover)
Temp 80F
(Wind Sea & Weather are all taken from the Beaufort notation to indicate the given conditions)
Distance to go:- 2130 nautical miles
Our distance to go has now increased as we head north around Wokam (Kepulauan Aru)
It certainly seems our ploy of running to the north and away from the central area of the storm has worked as our route forecast now only shows seas of up to 3 or 4 meters.
The current conditions are very good and I managed to have a walk on the heli deck earlier, in glorious sunshine and strong breeze, trying to top up the bronzy for paying off in about 30 days time.
We have the distance from the storm and the lee of the island as protection. Once we round the northern tip of Wokam we will make good a course of 285* towards the northern tip of Palau Palau Watabela where we will slip through the reefs and head south west (250*)1200 miles towards central Florres.
http://www.charts.noaa.gov/NGAViewer/73020.shtml
The music of today is this magnificent track from a fabulous band.
Sadly the light that burns twice as bright only shines for half as long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaOYeTEKW5k&feature=related
We have just received orders that we are now going to the lay-by berth at Keppel dry dock in Singapore in preparation for docking on the 20th Jan.
Great news as it means I will be able to get a bit of shopping done in Singapore including some new custom made gold earrings as I have managed to break one of my last ones. I may even treat myself to a made to measure silk shirt.
I am also on the look out for a Samsung Galaxy 10.1 (64Gb) as a light weight alternative to my lap top. Singapore used to be one of the best places to buy new electrical goods in the world years ago.
I can remember in 1979 buying one of the first Sony Walkmans there and saving over 60% on the UK price when they eventually arrived.
But times have changed, so you have to search harder to find the best deals and the place is full of rip of merchants selling Chinese copies.
I found this out to my expense when Mrs B had asked me to be on the lookout for an IPod in a trendy green colour about 3 or 4 years ago.
I searched the net to find out what sort of money I should be expecting to part with and then went to buy one.
I stopped at this respectable looking main street store that had all sorts of goodies on sale and asked for an I Pod in trendy green.
He showed me one and the price was about right so the deal was done.
On arrival an Changi Airport a couple of days later I noticed an Apple store so thought I would “accessorise” with an arm strap for when running and an IPort with speakers for in the house.
I told the sales chap what I was looking for and he asked if he could see my IPod to match the colours.
I proudly handed over still in its box IPod and he said,
“The only problem is that this is not an I Pod sir”
“Wha whem Urmn eh? Are you sure I have only just bought it”
“Quite sure sir, here hold yours and feel its weight and texture and look at the apple logo, and now hold one of ours (which is an original) and do the same.”
It was obvious in about half a second that the original ‘felt’ heavier, more metallic, the button ‘felt’ more solid, and the apple logo looked more like an apple. And I ‘felt’ like a prize pratt.
I looked at him, with the face of someone who has just lost a twenty quid note and then found a fiver, and asked the obvious and somewhat gormless question that the recently duped are prone to do
“I have been ripped off haven’t I?”
To the salesman’s eternal credit he remained chipper in the face of my adversity and obvious slump shouldered, dejected, long faced and embarrassed demeanour and said “Well perhaps not sir”
Desperate for a straw to clutch I perked up and said
“Phew that’s a relief, how might I have not been stitched up?”
“Well Sir, as long as you didn’t pay more than $50 Singapore dollars you have done alright.”
Have you ever had one of those moments as small child when you had been given money to buy an ice cream and after you had bought it and were just about to take the first lick, it fell off the cone onto the floor?
That’s the feeling I had at that moment.
I mumbled something about not paying $50 for it, thanked him for his time and trudged off muttering to myself dark oaths about checking and double checking when buying stuff, and wondering how old I was and how long had I been at sea, and how many lessons had I learnt about not buying stuff quickly and snarl gnash fume.
I did go back and buy the arm strap and the speakers after I had stopped feeling sorry for myself.
When I arrived back in the UK I presented Mrs B with her new “trendy green” IPod and she was over the moon with it until I did my best Apple store Singaporean salesman impersonation and said “Yes but the problem is that it is not a real IPod Madam”.
After telling her the story she became less enamoured with the Chinese fake but I replaced it with the real deal a couple of days later (20 bucks less that the originals in Singapore Airport, mumble mumble mutter, lessons learnt snarl, grrr, gnash) and it is still going strong and bursting with great music.
Love and Peace
Bentley
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