Even in lousy weather this serene clipper rules the waves
TiEd up alongside singapore’s futuristic new Marina Bay cruise terminal were three monster cruise ships. They towered above us like blocks of social housing. Our transport — a four-masted barquentine from the golden age of sail — was tethered at the end of the row.
The white hull, classic raked bowsprit, overhanging stern, tall ship’s rigging and 36,000 sq feet of furled canvas had the quality of an hallucination. We hopped up the short gangplank and entered her 19th century world of polished teak and davits.
singapore to Phuket was a seven-day sail. We were 115 passengers and 76 crisply laundered crew. The air temperature was 27c, the sea 30c, our cruising speed was eight knots, and a monster gin and tonic from the Tropical bar cost £4.90.
i am ashamed to say that 12 embarking passengers were caught smuggling duty-free booze aboard. We would get our bottles back on the last evening, promised the cruise director.
Next day the sky was leaden, the rain persistent. A weather chart placed on a polished table in the ship’s library predicted strengthening wind and rain. And nothing but. The day after that it was enlivened by a mob of isobars crowding around a livid red blob to the north west. A cyclone.
‘i have been sailing these waters for 20 years,’ said cruise officer Peter from Bavaria, ‘and never have i seen a weather chart like this’.
Our fairy-tale ship ploughed through the shallow, tepid sea. The Malacca strait is the busiest sea lane in the world. The third day was darker still. The hiss of rain on the awning of the Tropical bar drowned out the clink of ice cube on glass.
The unfailingly cheerful Alberto, chief steward of the Tropical bar, held my eye gravely while he shook out another stonking measure of gin into my glass, as sumatra passed slowly by on the left and Malaysia on the right.
i took my drink to the library for the daily ship’s lecture. Leaning languidly against the library mantlepiece, Peter the Bavarian, spoke compellingly on the maritime history of south-east Asia and the spice Trade; the 2004 tsunami; and the history and development of the sailing clipper. i was pleased to learn that, in theory, the star Clipper could heel over before the wind by as much as 90 degrees without capsizing. disappointingly, the cyclone struck only on the last day at Phuket. We were already disembarked and studying the hotel restaurant all-day menu. As we waited for our burger and fries — my shipmate was perkier — we sat and looked in disbelief at the beautiful ghost ship riding at anchor in the bay, obscured behind a veil of rain.
After her, we decided, cruising under sail was the only way to go. We took our last loving look. Then the sky fell in, a banshee wind tried to snatch away our tablecloth and we fled indoors.
TRAVEL FACTS
A SEVEN-night cruise from Singapore to Phuket costs from £1,495pp, excluding flights and transfers, Star Clippers (starclippers.co.uk, 0808 231 4798).