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01/11/20 Sun. The new covid cases in Kudat soared again yesterday with another 35 cases. Neil needs to go to hospital in KK for a scan, so we are looking into the possibility of hiring a car and getting a police permit to travel to KK this coming Wednesday.
02/11/20 Mon, This morning we went into the police station and applied for a travel permit to KK, which was granted but only for two people, so Ana will stay onboard while I go to KK with Neil. After the police station, we rented a car from Weds. to Fri. to make the trip in.
04/11/20 Weds. Walked into town and picked up the car about 11.30, then set off for KK about 12.30. Not a bad drive down there, less traffic than normal (as expected) and only 4 road blocks to negotiate. Arrived at hotel about 3.20pm only to find that hotels have a curfew at night - no entry or exit between 8pm and 7am.
05/11/20 Thurs. Heavy rain during the night and all day today. Took Neil to hospital at 7am then went for a wander around Centre Point for an hour or so until Neil came back to hotel. Then we went to Inanam for new batteries, two for me and two for Neil before going back to hospital for a second scan as they apparently messed up the first. Early night with take away pizza!
06/11/20 Fri. After breakfast, we went to the police station to apply for travel permit for return journey, then set off for Kudat. A bit slower going back for some reason and 5 road blocks this time - all ok except for the last one where a jobs worth young policeman created a bit of a fuss over some part of the form that was blank, demanded passports and had a moan before waving us through. Returned car to Immigration office. Kudat was like a ghost town, almost everywhere is closed and no people about, no cabs either so it was a long walk back to the boat in the mid-day sun!
07/11/20 Sat. Spent most of the afternoon changing the two four year old batteries for the new ones and checking all wiring of same.
12/11/20 Thurs. The original plan was to go to Sandakan memorial for yesterdays Remembrance Service but of course that wasn't possible with the Covid19 situation around the World. Perhaps next year will be different? The NASA BM1 battery monitor that I have is playing up a little and I no longer trust it's accuracy so I have ordered a new Victron BMV 702 to replace it, or at least work alongside it if I can wire both together.
13/11/20 Fri. Last night I was woken up at 2330hrs for some reason, then heard a faint noise repeated several times. I got up and looked around the cockpit and deck but could see nothing. This morning, the rubbish bag had been chewed open and strewn around the aft deck..........a rat! This evening, we set the trap at dusk and placed it next to the stern rope to Neil's boat. By 1945hrs, we had a rat in it, which then got a float test before resetting the trap and placing it again on the aft deck.
15/11/20 Sun. My new Victron BMV702 is on it's way and last tracked in Kuala Lumpur, I have made a new fascia plate for it in readiness. Last night as we were getting ready to sleep, I heard Ana say "we have a problem!" She had gone to the shower and discovered a leak from the toilet, the duckboards were floating in about 6 inches of water. Luckily, I knew what the problem was immediately, the little anti-siphon device on the Lavac pump had become blocked and was allowing the flush water to siphon into the bowl, overflowing into the shower drain. Once removed and the hole cleared with a needle, problem solved! Neil caught another rat last night by his stern rope - they come along the rope from shore, a perilous 40 metre walk across a swaying rope before crossing a shorter stern rope between the two boats - we will keep the traps ready for any future visits!
17/11/20 Tues. Neil returned to KK today (Mark drove him down this time) in preparation for an operation scheduled for the end of the week. We went over to Penuwasa yard today and collected my two envelopes from the UK, injector heatshield washers and driving licence renewal form - 7 weeks for air mail delivery? Maybe the Wright brothers were the pilots and suffering from covid19?
21/11/20 Sat. Neil, who returned to KK on Tuesday, today goes into hospital for his operation - we wish him all the best and hope he soon makes a full recovery. In the meantime, a package has arrived for him and is being held in a couriers office somewhere in town, we will try to find it on Monday.
24/11/20 Tues. Neil will be discharged from hospital today, so we need to go and pick him up. We went into town, (in awful weather!), rented a car and obtained a travel permit from the police station, setting off for KK about 4pm. It rained hard the whole way but we were able to make fairly good progress until we got close to KK where the traffic and roadworks worsened.
25/11/20 Weds. Spent most of the morning at the hospital trying to sort out money issues with the staff there. We decided to stay another night in KK, allowing Neil to rest more in the hotel. Ana and I went to Karamunsing for a look around the shops and to buy another torch for the boat, some silicone to repair the galley sink fittings. In the evening, we all went to a waterfront restaurant for a steak dinner!
26/11/20 Thurs. After breakfast, Ana and I went to the police station and filled in the application forms for a travel permit before picking up Neil at 10am. The journey back was another day of rain and flooded roads but we stopped at Kota Belud for some lunch and arrived back at the boats at 3pm.
30/11/20 Mon. I collected my Victron BMV702 from the yard on Friday, so that's another job that will need doing over the coming days. The rainy season is most definitely with us now and we have almost constant rain each day.
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