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01/04/22 Fri. Happy Birthday Ana! We went into town first thing this morning, and into the Immigration Office. We sat there almost an hour before anyone acknowledged our presence! When Ana told them what we wanted and that I was having treatment at KPJ Hospital in KK, they asked us to take a seat and wait. A little while later, they gave us our passports with a 30 day special pass which as far as I'm concerned was a result - 30 day visa in just under 2 hours, and only 200 ringgit. That was Ana's special birthday outing!
02/04/22 Sat. No sanding today as we had heavy rain from 11am, so we had a day off. It's the start of ramadan which will go on for a month at the end of which will be a holiday. That will affect our visa renewal, so we must remember to go to immigration a day or two in advance.
07/04/22 Thurs. Back onboard this afternoon after a couple of days in KK. Good to have a little time with Neil, Anita, Theresa, Julian, Jason, Mark, Kim and Glynne. What was not so good was the result of the biopsy, and I am going to have to do some thinking about what to do next.
09/04/22 Sat. Ongoing problems with FedEx and the import of my cutless bearing. They have had the bearing in Sepang, KL, since the 16th March and it wasn't until the 6th April they made any contact with me via a telephone call. Now we are exchanging daily e-mails because they can't get it through customs. DHL and UPS never have this trouble so why are FedEx so grossly inefficient? I suppose I will have to pay customs duty and import tax at the end of the day but I'm not very happy about it! It's a marine spare part imported under customs tariff code 9800.00.700 and as such it should be both customs duty and tax free but not in FedEx's eyes! Now they are going to re-submit it to customs on Monday. The new rudder bush (made here) doesn't fit because it's been turned 1mm too big. Is there anything else can go wrong? The main worry of course is the health issue, 20,000 ringgit spent already and now they want a further 40,000 for the next treatment.
13/04/22 Weds. The cutless bearing has finally been released from customs after I agreed to pay 147 ringgit tax - they must need the money for Ramadan! I have fitted the new navigation light (port side only at the moment) after drilling new mounting holes and making rubber gaskets. My CT Scan in KK has been booked for the 19th, so we will be driving down again on the 18th, staying two nights and then back to Kudat.
15/04/22 Sat. The TNT/FedEx saga rumbles on! They are still demanding I pay the duties and taxes on the import of my cutless bearing - even though I have already paid and they have the bank receipt to prove it. There is no way to complain to the company about the appalling service which they give, only an online 'complaint form' which I have twice filled in and sent, only to get the same unhelpful response of "contact your local branch." I used to drive for TNT many moons ago and they were a good company in those days and selling out to FedEx was the worst thing they ever did!! If you are a yachtie, do NOT use TNT/ FedEx because they are completely useless.
17/04/22 Sun. The starboard nav light is fitted and this morning I took off the exhaust elbow to see if I can get a new one made in KK. I've written an e-mail to Mr Frederick W Smith, the CEO of FedEx pointing out the inefficiencies of his Malaysian branch of the company but I very much doubt if anything will come of that! At least the character played by Tom Hanks in the movie Castaway was a dedicated FedEx employee!!
18/04/22 Mon. Drove down to KK this morning, calling at two fridge repair shops on the way, in a vain attempt to get a new door seal for my broken one. The same response as experienced in Kudat and on line - what fridge make and model, and give me a sample and I will order one for you. It seems impossible just to order several metres of seal and make one myself. I also took my exhaust elbow into a SS workshop (new one to me) and asked if they could make one just like it. They asked if I wanted 304 stainless or 316 - so I left it with them to make one in 316.
19/04/22 Tues. Into hospital again this morning at 0930 for another CT Scan and an ultrasound of my liver. Then up to Dr Goh in ENT for the results of that, to be told that nothing showed up on the scan and he doesn't know if he removed all the errant cells during the biopsy. Onto another floor to see the radiotherapy consultant who was very nice and answered all the questions I had. Now to arrange visa extension so that I can have 4 weeks of un-interrupted treatment.
20/04/22 Weds. Back to Kudat today, chat with Mark and Kim over coffee on their boat. As a result of my e-mail to the CEO of FedEx, I have had mails from various departments of FedEx in the UK promising investigations and action on the delayed parcel. We wait in anticipation!
21/04/22 Thurs. Today I ground out the areas of osmosis on the starboard side of the keel (that seems to be the only place). Then I cut out a new plywood top for the fridge door and surrounding seat. The door seal is totally kaput and I've no idea where to get another to replace it, so I'm thinking that I might have to make a new fibre glass door with a different seal arrangement.
23/04/22 Sat. FedEx continue to balls things up. I had an e-mail from a senior representative in the UK this morning telling me that the phone number given on the address is invalid and also the address is unallocated. I give up!! The address is correct and they have already phoned me once, so they do have the right phone number. It's now 43 days since the parcel was collected from the sender and I am waiting until it actually arrives before answering their questionnaire "what do you think of tnt/fedex service". I will leave my answers to your imagination! On the good news front......my new 316 SS exhaust elbow is ready to collect in KK.
25/04/22 Mon. We had a gathering of most of the yachties yesterday for a BBQ, there were around twenty of us (with the influx of boats from Brunei and the Philippines} and the amount of food brought would have fed a whole fleet for a week! Today, my rudder bush was finished and I collected it from the office AND FedEx actually managed to deliver my cutless bearing this afternoon - only 45 days from the UK! Needless to say, I've fired off several e-mails voicing my discontent with them.
26/04/22 Tues. We dug the hole under the rudder somewhat deeper early this morning, and with Mark, Kim and Peter's help we managed to get the rudder back into it's upper bearings. It's very heavy (about 60Kg) so we used a hydraulic jack to push it into the final position.'
29/04/22 Fri. A fairly wasted day today - we walked into town to the Immigration Office to apply for another 30 day visa. Arrived there at 11.45 only to find they were closed for lunch from 11.30 until 2.00pm! Two and a half hours for lunch while Ramadan is on? They re-opened at 2.15 and we waited while they decided what to do. Finally, they gave us forms to fill in, get copies of just about every document onboard and submit them to the office on the 9th May when they come back from 'holiday.' Friday night gathering of yachties at the marina cafe with lots of new faces from Philippines and Brunei.
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