"You couldn't see a thing. I told my client we would set sail at the first break of light, but he insisted (on having his way).

"This is when, as a captain, you have to be firm in what you believe in - you have to put safety first. If I had set off, we could have met with an accident."

Dealing with the drunk

He added: "Sometimes, you get drunk guests who want to jump into the water while the boat is moving. You have to distract them by talking them of out it.

"If worst comes to worst, you'll have to stop the boat. But that hasn't happened to me yet."

With growing interest in boat sales, demand for skippers and crew has increased, but not many Singaporeans are signing up for these jobs.

One reason is that Singaporeans have been squeezed out of the market by foreigners, some captains told The New Paper.

The number of Singaporean boat captains and crew offering skippering, crewing, maintenance and cleaning services is less than 10 - a fifth of that in the 70s and 80s - said Captain Wandi Mohamed Salim, 51, a Singaporean.

"Now, most of the crew are Indonesians and Filipinos," said the 51-year-old.

"Ten, 20 years ago, I would work on 10 boats. Now, it's just two, and whatever part-time work that comes along, usually the weekends."

Indonesian captain Jumari, 39, told TNP that he received a "little" raise in his salary last month but decline to reveal the amount, while Filipino captain Alan Rubelios, 34, said he wished that his salary of $1,800 could be higher.