You may think you know how to repair a dinghy leak; just like a bicycle tyre, eh? Well, yes, it is very similar but are you sure you are using the best glue? And is your method the right one?
With lockdown restrictions tightening again, we make use of our time once again back in the marina by getting jobs finished, repairing problems on the boat, and having a big clear-out. Jamie goes through all the glues in our glue box. Are there any you would add?
Jamie repaired the dinghy on the pontoon with help from our old friend, Graeme of Artemis III. An engineer by trade and a lover user of all things dinghy, Graeme is was kind enough to show us the way he looks after his pristine inflatable and the method he employs when he discovers a puncture.
There are lots of YouTube videos and blog posts out there showing people cruising and you may be wondering why we’re not doing the same. To put this in context, the USA is just under 10m square kilometres, twice the land mass of the whole of SE Asia. Currently sailors are free to cruise anywhere in the USA.
In SE Asia our options are small. Neighbouring Brunei has opened and closed since March 2020, but when open it is prohibitively expensive to go there. The Philippines is closed. Thailand, over 1,000 miles away, may be entered for US$3,000 and two weeks quarantine. Indonesia is opening up, but only certain ports of entry may be entered. For us these are hundreds of miles away against prevailing winds.
But it doesn’t stop there. Even within Malaysia we cannot sail to other states. Sabah’s neighbouring state of Sarawak closed its borders months ago. Even within Sabah there has been inter-district limits on travel of any kind, limiting our cruising ground to just 50 miles of coast line.
At the time of writing, we have just been told that only commercial vessels may go out to anchor.
This isn’t a moan just an explanation of why we are not off gallivanting around making sailing videos in new countries. While some people have the luxury of being able to explore thousands of miles of coast line, even within their own country, we have been limited in what we can do for the last 16 months.
So please bear with us. We will continue to put out fun and entertaining content. It might not all be sailing but we do what we can! Under these trying times we appreciate you reading our blog here and the fantastic support we receive from Rum Funders, FTBMates and Patrons.
Click on the link below for the full video.
Thanks for popping along!
Peace and fair winds
Liz and Jamie
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Watching and supporting you both in your adventure has been an outlet for many of us also isolated, but unlike you, in homes or apartments here in the US with ever changing rules and regulations, masks on and masks off, stay in, go out but stay 6’s apart unless you are protesting the latest something or another. Whew! Its a mess all over the world so staying in touch with you a world apart is easy and still great fun. Thanks for sharing and as always, stay safe.
Cheers, Bob. It is a mess and the sooner it’s sorted the sooner we can get back to normality. Meanwhile, we keep ourselves amused with boat jobs.
Thought I might reply from Georgian Bay, Canada to let you know I empathize. We have just been allowed to go to our boats this past weekend. It’s a relief to move aboard again and hope we don’t head into another lockdown.
Thank you for you for sharing your sailing adventure (😃), warts an’ all.
It must feel great being back on board, Rachel. Here’s to no more boaty restrictions!