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01/06/18 Fri. Yay! My package arrived this afternoon, 22 days after posting in the UK. Another untracked package was sent at the same time but that has not yet arrived.
03/06/18 Sun. Pam and Anton left today to fly home. Took the repaired sail cover over to Barry on Misteeza and tried to complete an order form for fabrics and fittings from the USA - to make a new sprayhood, bimini and sail cover for Rhumb Do.
04/06/18 Mon. We are still being plagued by flies........hundreds of them in the cockpit and saloon, they always seem to be the worst during the Ramadan period? Bill and Lyda went up to KK for a few days this morning, so we are looking after their boat.
05/06/18 Tues. Completed the replacement of the heads light today, the old one had gone to half power and 9 of the 18 leds were out, so I've fitted a led strip light in it's place for now. Placed my order for Sunbrella and various other materials with Sailrite in the USA - delivery scheduled for the 12th.
06/06/18 Weds. D-Day Anniversary. And I am on the attack with a few places here in Labuan because I am tired of waiting! An electrical repair shop has had my Dremel drill for 5 weeks now and still not repaired, so they have until 5pm today. I am still missing a parcel, so went to the main post office to complain, they said I have to go to another office (where I went before) so that is tomorrows mission. It was posted on the 10th May but untracked. The package which arrived on the 1st was posted the same day. 3 packages posted last year have also failed to arrive and I'm fed up with it. Surely the Pos Malaysia organisation have a duty of care to deliver to the addressee? I think that anything which is 'untracked' and sent from a western country is not 'lost' but stolen by either sorting office staff or delivery staff.
07/06/18 Thurs. Round to the electric repair shop this morning and surprise, surprise, they had completed the repair! Having said that, the guy told me the armature needed rewinding but they were unable to do that and so had done a 'temporary fix' which was not guaranteed to last........hmmm. Then off to the post office complaints department where the girl took my name, address and phone number, saying she would look for the missing package but was unable to do anything about the other 3 packages as it was too long ago. Now we wait and see again.
10/06/18 Sun. Ana busy sewing again! I removed the dinghy valves for cleaning and tightening, then inflated the dinghy to see if it remains up overnight.
Completed the fitting of the new (stern) anchor light minus the lamps which have still not arrived. My VHF screen has got the black death. At first I thought it was moisture on the inside and was about to take it apart to clean but closer inspection with the backlight on ........and it looks like delamination! So, although it is possible to renew the screen, the amount of time and effort required is more than that of getting a new unit!
11/06/18 Mon. Patched another couple of holes in the dinghy today, it has done very well to last 15 years - so I don't believe everyone who says you have to have a hyperlon version in the heat! Mine is PVC and on deck all the time, has no covers fitted when in use, nor does it get 'sticky' in hot weather! I guess a new one is required soon but they are so difficult (and expensive) to find, all the new ones I have seen friends buy have all failed in the first year. Ana removed the liferaft cover this afternoon and made it a better fit as it was always too loose.
12/06/18 Tues. Rented a car for 24 hours and went out of town to New Tech hardware, bought a single mattress - purely for the foam inside! We have been unable to find foam anywhere to make new cockpit seat cushions. My two parcels from the USA arrived, so now we have the material to make a new sprayhood, bimini and sailcover, as well as renew the UV strip on the torn genoa.
13/06/18 Weds. Returned the car at lunchtime, had lunch in Sharifah cafe before returning to the boat. Ana then made a new dodger for Bill and Lyda to replace their worn out one. Tomorrow we will check out for departure to Brunei on Friday.
15/06/18 Fri. Sailed to Brunei, enjoyable trip, enough wind to have all sail up and anchored in the usual spot. On the way to the anchorage we could see what I thought was light rain heading in on the port side but just after I had zipped up the mainsail, the heavens opened and it poured for an hour!
20/06/18 Weds. Happy Birthday to me! A very nice sunrise this morning showing some of the new Pulau Muara Besar bridge.
21/06/18 Thurs. A terrific squall started around 5.30pm, just as we got back from shore and lifted the dinghy engine off. The sky was very black, the thunder and lightning intense with numerous very close strikes. At 6pm, while standing in the companionway, looking aft and keeping check on our anchor position, we saw Paul's boat swing side on as his moorings broke and the boat was driven off towards the bridge. Visibility at the time was very poor and we were unsure if the boat hit the bridge column or narrowly missed. With no phone my only option was to call Muara Harbour control on the VHF and warn them of a boat drifting in the harbour, they in turn contacted the yacht club and several Filipino workers eventually went by dinghy to the dock area and recovered Paul's boat, bringing it back to the anchorage with a police escort boat when the squall abated. Fortunately, Barry had departed in the afternoon, so his mooring was vacant for the night. Thankfully, there seemed to be no damage to Paul's boat.
22/06/18 Fri. After an enjoyable week in Brunei, doing the usual things along with a 3 day job repairing Barry's mainsail cover for Fourth Dimension, we went down to Immigration to check out. Groan!!! They really do live in the 18th century, drowning in paperwork and not doing the job they are paid to do. It took us 2 hours to check in last week, and checking out was no different. It goes like this.......first visit Health Department where you have to first fill in an A5 form, in triplicate, with no carbon - exactly the same form as you filled in on arrival except the departure box is ticked instead of the arrival box. Then another form giving same details. Then it's the Marine Department (the guy is seldom there) where you again fill in a 3 part A5 form, hand in 4 crew lists and get all stamped. Then it's Customs, who ask where the other form is! Hold on, ......what form? Ah, you need this other 3 part form from the Marine Department, so back there.........and the guy has gone! Back to Customs, tell them no one is in the other office, they phone him and tell us to wait as he is coming. 40 minutes later, he turns up - by which time steam is coming out of my ears and I tell him that whatever his salary is, it's too damn much! No apology, just a shrug and eventual production of said form. Back to Customs, hand in the yellow copy of form, take white copy back to Marine Department, keep blue copy to light a fire. Then it's immigration, passports, another copy of crew list, questions about when are we leaving (yeah, 2 hours ago), and finally we are free to go. Back on the boat, I told Ana we would stay and go tomorrow as it was too late now.
23/06/18 Sat. Up at 4am, but the weather was awful, deep black skies, thunder, lightning and rain. Waited until it eased and brightened at 10am before weighing anchor and heading out to sea on the ebb tide. Back in our berth in Labuan around 1.30pm. Joined Craig and his Mum Barbara for a BBQ on his boat, along with Bill, Lyda, John, Carol and Alistair.
24/06/18 Sun. Wandered into town to check in with Immigration - total time in office 5 minutes. Brunei take note!!
25/06/18 Mon. Received sad news this morning that my mate Bob Rigg passed away last night in Manchester. We were run ashore oppo's on the Hermes and had some great times in Asia and Australia. We had lost contact after leaving the Navy but regained it while I was in Turkey and he and his wife Sue were living in Cyprus. They came to visit me in 2009 while in Marmaris and we had a wonderful weekend there. Rest in peace Bob.
27/06/18 Weds. My new furler which was ordered from the USA in March and was out-of-stock, was finally delivered yesterday. Interestingly, the UPS tracking service showed an estimated delivery for the end of day, today. Yesterday morning I received notification that the estimated delivery was now Friday 29th - yet it arrived yesterday afternoon! The tracking service is still showing it in Kuala Lumpur with another revised delivery time of today. I don't think they know where it is! Another parcel, with new VHF radio was ordered and sent on Monday 25th from the UK via DHL and is now in Kota Kinabalu - good going so far!
28/06/18 Thurs. Said goodbye to Bill and Lyda this afternoon as they sailed to join the Sail Malaysia East Rally in Kudat for onward passage to Tawau, Sandekan and ultimately Australia. Ana busy all day making new cockpit cushions.
29/06/18 Fri. My new VHF arrived safely - now I have to fit it and sort out a wiring problem at the same time!
30/06/18 Sat. My favourite job again today.......taking down the deckhead and bulkhead panels in the nav. berth! We ran the new cable for the VHF remote mike to the aft cabin and replaced all the panels - an all day job, only to find the saloon lights no longer worked!
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