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08/10/18 Mon.  After a week relaxing in Brunei we sailed back to Labuan yesterday afternoon.  Paul loaned us his dinghy for our stay and I did a job up his mast for him.  Not much chance to test the rigging or furler, only used the mainsail on the way over to Muara and no sail on the way back (flat calm, no wind).  Today we did the usual check in procedures with Jabatan Laut and Immigration.  In Brunei, the deckwash pump once more refused to work and we had to wash the anchor chain off with the time honoured method of a bucket on a rope!  Today I found the in-line fuse holder for the switch was trapped in the junction box, which had severed the cable, so fitted a bulkhead mounted screw in type holder instead - hope that will solve any further issues!  My dinghy has not yet been sent from Phuket as they needed my phone number for the transport package.  Should be on it's way here soon!

11/10/18 Thurs.  Over on Brent's boat this morning to reset his port engine tappets, then back in my engine room to refit the repaired exhaust elbow as I cannot find any engineering shop to make a new one.  Discovered a load of crap and water in the fuel filter sight glass, so stripped that, cleaned and new filter inserted, bled fuel lines.....a bit worrying though as the tank was emptied and cleaned in Kudat about 2 years ago.  Also fitted a wire net, sort of like chicken fencing, across the soundproofing on the engine access hatch.

15/10/18 Mon.  We've been busy with the sewing jobs.......mostly for other people!  Late this afternoon, we took off my mainsail and the 'stackpac' cover with a plan to make a new cover over the next couple of days.  My new dinghy is currently in Kuala Lumpur airport, or was at the last tracking check-in 3 days ago.

19/10/18 Fri.  The new 'stackpac' sailcover is now made and the mainsail back on.  Ana has also made a new cover for the outboard engine. The dinghy has arrived from Phuket and we are still busy with other jobs prior to sailing north for a while.  Today would have been my Dad's birthday, still miss him even though he's been gone over 40 years.

 

 

20/10/18 Sat.  We unpacked the new dinghy this morning, inflated it and gave it a trial run with the engine.  Then we went into town to buy some clear plastic non-stretch material with which to make a pattern in order to make 'chaps' for the dinghy - a job neither of us has done before and supposedly difficult to make, so we will see if the end result is any good!

 

 

21/10/18 Sun. Trafalgar Day.  Today, after the rain stopped, we started making the pattern for chaps, with a little disagreement along the way, but we perhaps have it sorted now.  Shane and Brent departed for Phuket at 0630.

 

 

23/10/18 Tues.  With the chaps patterns all made, we cut the Sunbrella to shape and Ana started to stitch the pieces together.  This is the progress so far, some minor adjustments may have to be made as we go along.

 

 

 

27/10/18 Sat.  We came to a bit of a halt on the dinghy!  The chaps are all but made and we need to glue on velco to the hypalon fabric.  I understand the process but the glue is another matter.  Polychloroprene based glue is hard to come by and the small tube supplied with the dinghy for repair purposes is polyethylene glue, which is a little confusing!  I mailed the dinghy supplier in Phuket for advice and he basically told me to get lost, which was really helpful.  Dunlop LP glue is available here (and various other places online) but I cannot find a data sheet for it, although Amazon specify it as polychloroprene.  My tin of Rema SC2000 is a chloroprene adhesive.......but chemistry is not my subject so I am further confused by the 'poly' part (I know it means 'many').  I am thinking that I will sand the area where the velco is needed - and use the SC2000 glue!

28/10/18 Sun.  The GGR update - Susie is still in 4th place (made because of the two dismastings), but still some 3,500 miles behind the race leader.  I gingerly sanded the dinghy tubes where the Velcro will be fixed and applied the first coat of glue to the inner side of the tubes.

29/10/18  Mon.  Completed the gluing of Velcro onto the dinghy tubes - took all day to do!  We also filled Garry's gas bottles from mine, then exchanged my depleted bottle for a new one.

 

30/10/18 Tues.  The dinghy chaps are complete!  OK, it's not a perfect example but it's the first time either of us has had a shot at making these things and I think Ana made a really good job of sewing it all together.  One thing is sure,....it's a better job than a lot of others I've seen!

 

 

 

31/10/18 Weds.  We hoisted the mainsail this morning while there was no wind, to check if I had all the reefing lines rigged correctly through the new sail cover.  Later, it rained hard for a couple of hours before we were able to go out to the shops (twice) for some supplies in preparation for departure.

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