Mindful of the evolving situation around the world with Covid-19, we started to become more concerned about our situation. With our Malaysian visas running out in less than two weeks, we weighed up our options. Read on or watch the full episode by clicking here:

We were already stir crazy from the prolonged enforced period spent in marinas since January. But Millie’s fight for life had to come first. Perhaps there was time to take advantage of some late season sailing in the Philippines? We reluctantly agreed that we had to be realistic, it would be too much of a stretch with Millie still in need of regular veterinary care.

With the option to sail to Philippines off the table, that visa-problem still hung over us.

We consoled ourselves with the idea that once we had our new visas we would take regular days out of the marina to swing at anchor in between visits to the vet.

So how were we going to get new visas? It would do us good to check out of Malaysia and sail to Brunei where we could stay for a week before returning to Sabah. Millie would be manageable for a week and we would return with a new 90 day visas.

But then we read that Brunei had finally succumbed to Covid-19 and there was talk of a border shutdown. If we checked out of Malaysia but weren’t allowed into Brunei we would be stranded.

We needed to get new visas now, if we left it any later there would be no way out, or at least no way back in. Using SY Esper to do the trip would take too long, so we jumped into the car of a fellow cruiser and set off for the border. Just as we were leaving, we learned that Sarawak (the state between Sabah and Brunei) planned to close its borders the next day. Would we make it?

Was luck going to be on our side?

As always, thanks for supporting us and allowing us to share our adventure with you.

Peace and fair winds

Liz, Jamie and Millie xxx

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