Friday afternoon Richard had his scheduled telephone appointment with the cardiologist which he thought was a waste of time as it just went over the same questions that everyone else had asked him previously. Never mind, despite this, he is being monitored really well by a range of medical professionals.

We picked up our car for the weekend excited that we could actually go out and about now that some of the Covid restrictions had been relaxed. We had sundowners with Steve and Jo in the BBQ area early evening and, for a while, we were the only ones there before a large group of people turned up which made us uncomfortable – so we left as it was clear that social distancing would be difficult to maintain.

Saturday morning we headed off in the car towards the Tamborine Mountain in the Gold Coast hinterland. The road was pretty steep and chicane-like in places but I enjoyed the drive and laughed at the very different road signs that they have here in Australia.

First stop was Gallery Walk which is a small ‘high street’ full of restaurants (closed), breweries and wineries (open for takeaways) and open gift shops selling an eclectic selection of items such as German cuckoo clocks and Egyptian oils and glassware. It was pretty busy and we had to go around the block a couple of times before we found a car parking space. Then we had to dodge all the people to keep our distance. Was a strange touristy sort of place but it felt good to just have a change of scenery.

Moving on we headed to the National Park and into the rainforest. It is possible to hike to waterfalls from here on quite good paths but sadly the terrain was too hilly for us. Right now Richard is really only supposed to be walking on gentle slopes. Was fun for a while although pretty chilly out of the sun.

Leaving the park we headed over to the Sky Walk but, sadly, this elevated (flat) walk through the forest canopy remained closed. We continued driving around through the mountains and found the British pub. Sadly it wasn’t open but we enjoyed nosing around at some familiar sights LOL.

Driving back to the marina we stopped at one of the fresh fish stalls which is selling direct to the public from the trawler so we picked up some supplies including snapper and barramundi fillets for Richard and, of course, lots of prawns.

Back on board Morphie we got ourselves organised and then headed over to the BBQ area where we met Steve and Jo and had a cook up on the provided grills. Guess this could be classed as an Island Packet minivous? This time no-one else came along so we had the place to ourselves which is just how we like it. Was great fun and, yes, Richard is still abstaining from alcohol….

Sunday morning we were up early again and this time we headed down towards Surfers’ Paradise beach in Southport. We easily found somewhere to park on the promenade and walked about a mile along the beach even paddling for a little while in the rather chilly water. The lifeguards were monitoring the surfers and the bathers in the shallows and we really enjoyed people watching. On our return leg we walked the promenade and took a few breaks sitting on benches enjoying cold drinks from one of the open cafes. The police were patrolling the area in beach buggies and most people were being very careful to socially distance.

We then headed to the Southport Marina to have a look around – it is a pretty big place – and we were tempted by the seafood markets but did not want to queue up with lots of people so decided to give it a miss this time.

We returned to Morpheus via the supermarket to pick up some nibbles as we had been invited over to French Curve for the evening. We eventually decided to purchase sushi and, armed with our supplies, we headed over to the Gold Coast Marina next door. Funnily enough, Mark and Cheryl had decided to buy sushi too, so we had lots of very healthy nibbles. Was a lovely evening.

Monday morning and we decided to drive south again expecting everything to be closed as it was Labour Day (a public holiday). We headed to Paradise Point first and strolled around the small town which was pretty busy. Continuing on foot we walked to the river and just sat at one of many of the public seats taking in the scenery. There were lots of ibis around which the locals call ‘bin chickens’ as they spend a lot of time rooting around in the rubbish! Was really nice…. Funny that we sailed (motored) up this river on our way to the Boatworks but it sure looks different from the shore.

Moving on we continued driving down the coast road through Runaway Bay and into Biggera Waters. This whole Gold Coast area is pretty affluent and the houses reflect that with lots of expensive waterside homes with private docks. So lots to look at as we drove around.

On the return trip back up the coast we went to Hope Island where there are lots of communities being built, not all of them that attractive to be honest. We then arrived at Sanctuary Cove. This is a large up-market marina, hotel and gated community which we fancied taking a look at. Sadly the waterfront was largely (temporarily) sealed off so we couldn’t really see much but the shops / boutiques / restaurants / cafes / theatre all looked very nice and, perhaps one day we’ll return and be able to enjoy the facilities.

Back at the marina we popped down to see how Steve and Jo were getting on with their jobs and spent some time with them before having a quiet night on board.

Tuesday morning I taped up Morphie’s eyebrows and starting rubbing down. We are not taking the varnish back to the wood this time round (as we did that last year in New Zealand) but we definitely have lots of areas that need some love and attention after being exposed to the strong UV here in Australia whilst Morphie was in storage on the hard.

Richard wants to help but I’m banning him from varnishing as often you have to contort your body to reach everything. Which is exactly what he was doing in the cockpit when he had his heart attack! So way too soon for that but am letting him do other jobs so here he is working on the new dinghy wheels again. On his first attempt he hadn’t realised that the bar across the stern of the dinghy meant that the new wheels wouldn’t lock into place in the upright position. So he took them off again, made up some teak infills, and then reinstalled them. And, hey presto, they now lock into place. Good job!

Going through the onboard supplies I realised that we didn’t have enough gloss varnish and thinners to do the whole job so headed to the chandlery. Sadly Epifanes, our varnish of choice, is not available here in Australia. They have some excellent products but, unfortunately, are not compatible with the existing varnish. So we decided upon Goldspar Original. When I got the varnish ready for our first coat I was surprised to find it was red in colour and much thinner than we are used to. Anyway, I did the first coat, found that it flowed really nicely and was quite pleased with the initial result.

During the week I had received news that one of mum’s friends had reached the amazing milestone of 100 years old and had duly received his telegram from the Queen. I felt quite emotional to see photos of the occasion. Congratulations Don, hopefully you can have your large party to celebrate once lockdown is lifted at home.

Wednesday morning and I sanded down again and applied another coat. After that it was threatening rain and, despite best intentions of both of us, we didn’t get anything else done other than the laundry! Oh yes and Richard had a chat with his cardiac nurse on the phone who had got his blood test results back and relayed the news that everything was looking very good. They also discussed the heart clinic that he is going to start attending next week for a while. Late afternoon we had sundowners with Steve and Jo again which always rounds a day off very nicely.

Thursday morning and we picked up a courtesy car at 7.30 am and headed out to Woolworths for a bit of shopping – primarily fresh produce as we were running low. After that we headed over to BCF (Boating, Camping, Fishing) to get one of our gas tanks refilled. We had hoped to get our original US Worthington bottles re-certified here in Australia (which is why we can’t get them refilled) but, apparently, that is not going to be possible so we are using our NZ ones instead. We also heard that our in-mast furling mechanism is still in the machine shop as they make a replacement (plus a spare) for us. The price of the needed replacement parts (excluding the worm drive which is fine) from Sparcraft were stupidly expensive so we had gone with the local fabrication option. Hopefully we’ll have that reinstated next week and will get the main sail back on. Obviously we’ll need a very low wind day for that to happen.

Back on board we both cleaned up down below and I started cooking for the evening as Steve and Jo were coming for dinner for our last night together. In the midst of this Mark and Cheryl came over to see us so we caught up with them and their news. Later on Steve and Jo arrived bringing with them a lovely fresh prawn cocktail starter. After dinner we had a couple of games of Sequence (something that the Bracken / Pigram family introduced us to whilst we were home) and had a very social time. It was funny that in the first game Steve and Jo won (obviously beginner’s luck) and then it was boys -v- girls and the boys won…..Certainly not my best night as I was the only one on the losing side twice LOL.

Friday morning we popped over to see Steve and Jo and return their tupperware containers to find them a bit fed up – yes, the trades had let them down so they were definitely not leaving as expected and, on top of that, some cruising vagabond had nicked some of Jo’s bedding from laundry machines which are locked to everyone other than to people on boats within the facility. Really did not expect that sort of thing to happen here! Silver lining for us, of course, is that we get to spend more time with them before they head out.

Back to Morpheus I got on with rubbing down and applying the third coat of varnish on the eyebrows and was pretty pleased with progress so far. Richard was keen to do something so he taped up the rest of the boat in preparation for me so that I can start tackling the capping rail. In the late afternoon we met Steve and Jo and had dinner at our private BBQ area.

We recognised that it was a public holiday in the UK to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day and to give special thanks to all those who served. We hope everyone enjoyed such a special day despite the lockdown restrictions in place.

This morning, Saturday, and I’m up early trying to get this blog finished and published before I start on the varnishing again….

Stay safe everyone, we miss you. Bye for now

Jan

Saturday we did a few jobs and I finally finished the stainless steel cleaning. We also had a chat with Greg and Bev from SV Liberty as they were about to leave the marina. They were very supportive to me whilst Richard was incapacitated and had really looked out for both of us since. Hopefully we’ll see them at some point later in the season out on the hook.

During the afternoon Mark from SV French Curve came by to see us. He is currently located in the Gold Coast Marina next door with his mast down. He told us what had happened and, basically, without going into detail the relationship between him and the rigger had broken down. This was for a total re-rig of his boat and he had been in situ without a mast for months. The marina management had stepped in to mediate a way forward but, one of the future conditions, was that Mark and his wife Cheryl would not be present on board whilst the work was being completed. They were very fed up about this but need to get the job finished so they accepted the condition. As we are not doing much right now with Covid restrictions combined with Richard’s recuperation we agreed to ‘baby sit’ their boat and be their representatives whilst this was going on. Guess this could make the grade as another “international rescue” as they are from California…..

We had a quiet evening on board and watched another rubbish movie. Not sure what film the reviewers were watching but continue to be surprised at some of the official ‘ratings’. Never mind we have 2 GB of movies to get through, there must be a good one in their somewhere LOL.

Sunday morning we had a lazy start and come lunchtime we had a knock on the hull. It was Steve and Jo from SV Tamanu (fellow Island Packeteers) who had come into the marina a day earlier than planned. They are having problems with their engine turbo…. We said a quick hello and arranged to meet them for sundowners in the BBQ area later and had a nice socially distanced time catching up with Richard making do with coconut water as he has sworn off the booze right now. Steve and Jo had been great support to me whilst Richard was in hospital so it was nice for them to see Richard looking so well.

Monday morning we picked up our courtesy car from the marina and we drove to the doctors. Richard had his blood pressure tested, the GP listened to his heart and lungs and checked his ankles for swelling and declared his satisfaction with progress to date. Richard’s recovery is going so well it is hard to believe he has been ill at all. The GP is coordinating his recovery plan so we told them about other appointments that had already been made elsewhere. He also gave Richard a flu jab as we are heading into winter here in Australia and Richard is now in the ‘vulnerable’ category. We collected our printed prescriptions, paid our bill (yes still no Medicare) and headed off to Coles for the weekly shopping.

Back on board, car returned, we unpacked and put away all our fresh provisions. Currently there is a glut of huge fresh prawns around as the fishermen are unable to export them to the Far East because of the border closures. So we are supporting them by buying at least half a kilo each visit LOL. It is also advocado season so Richard is making the most of this superfood glut too. We met Steve and Jo for sundowners again and caught up on the events of the day.

Tuesday morning and we were picked up at 7.30 am and taken over to Mark’s boat. She sure looked strange without any mast or rigging. Mark and Cheryl vacated and then Jason (the rigger) came on board. We were a bit concerned that he would be difficult with us as we were there as Mark’s representatives but he was fine although did a lot of cussing and complaining whilst he was working.

During the day (which was a cloudy and gloomy one) Richard went for a walk and admired the amazingly sleek superyacht Dragonfly in the yard. This belongs to Sergey Brin of Google fame. What a beauty eh?!? Allegedly (and this is just a rumour which cannot be substantiated so don’t quote me) the yacht sailed through the massive pumice stone raft which was created last August by an underground volcanic explosion and floated from Tonga on the trades towards Australia. This scratched up the hull hence why it needed a new paint job.

We got back to the Boatworks late afternoon and had a quiet evening on board enjoying being back on Morphie.

Wednesday morning and Mark picked us up again very early. This was supposed to be the day that the mast was going to be stepped….but there was a problem with one of the new deck plates as the holes didn’t match and Jason had to make new holes to fix it in position. This delayed everything and, eventually, we were told that the mast would be stepped the following day. We were there until about 3pm anyway keeping an eye on progress until he called it a day.

On return to the Boatworks we headed over to see how Steve and Jo were getting on with their jobs and ended up staying for a while chatting. We also said farewell to SV Calagorm who were heading off to anchor out – we hope we see them again later this season too. Was a nice end to a long frustrating day…..

Thursday morning at 5.30 am we were picked up by Mark again. This was finally the day that the mast was being reinstalled. We got the boat ready to depart the slip and I walked the dock to the lift-out area and helped tie the boat up from above. So I watched all the action from this relative place of safety whilst Richard remained on board to check all was well and gave orders about the easing lines as the tide was still dropping.

By 9am the mast was in and secured. We motored back to the slip for the final fixings.

All tied up safely and Mark went off to collect Steve and Jody (SV Enavigo) to help with the remainder of the work as we had to leave to head down to Southport for blood tests. While he was gone we continued to watch progress on the final fittings.

They arrived, we handed over the baton, and Mark took us back to the Boatworks. We got ourselves cleaned up and changed, picked up the courtesy car, and then drove south. We had a bit of trouble getting the tests done for free under the reciprocal NHS arrangements and without a Medicare number as the GP had filled in a ‘private’ form rather than a public one. But we had Richard’s unique in-patient number so that sufficed and we were able to get this done eventually. We also got our prescriptions filled at the hospital on-site pharmacy and, because Richard was in the system, they were able to give them to us at NHS prices which was a result.

We drove back to Morpheus – the roads were pretty busy as more businesses are re-opening – and gave Mark a call to check on progress. They had been able to do most things, everything had been tensioned, and all the sails were reinstated. Around 4pm Mark picked us up and we headed over and the six of us had a nice dinner on their boat. Was a good end to a very stressful period for Mark and Cheryl so we were glad to have been able to help them out.

This morning, Friday, and we are (alone) in the cruisers lounge again whilst the laundry is going around in the tub. Later on we have a car booked as we had a consultant cardiologist appointment at the hospital but this is now going to be done by phone instead as they are trying to reduce the footfall through the hospital during the Covid pandemic. A bit of a shame as Richard was hoping for a repeat ECG / cardiogram to see how things were progressing but guess this will have to wait until we have the appointment at the heart clinic on 13 May. But this week, as well as the GP visit, he has had a chat with his specialist heart nurse plus the pharmacist to check his progress. He is being so well looked after, we just need that damn Medicare number!

This coming weekend is a Bank Holiday in Australia (Monday is Labour Day) and we have a car booked for the whole time which is great. The Covid restrictions have been eased a little (there have been no new cases in Queensland for the last two days) and we are allowed to go out providing we stay within a 50km distance of our ‘home address’. Well, around here, that includes both the beach and the mountains so we are going to enjoy just going for a drive. If there are too many people around we’ll stay in the car but hopefully we’ll be able to just relax on a bench somewhere taking in the breeze and a different view. Such simple pleasures but we are really looking forward to it!

So we have lots of sympathy for our UK family and friends who remain in total lockdown mode and hope that at some stage they will be able to enjoy life’s simple pleasures too. Stay safe everyone and take care.

Bye for now

Jan

Friday afternoon the riggers were on board and took away the worm drive furling mechanism for the main sail. Here they are trying to remove it and the space left behind. It looks very strange with just a hole in the mast. Oh yes and Richard had to check it all out but we managed to keep him away from the winches and the sail flaking.

Saturday morning we had a lazy start and had just got our laundry packed up and ready to go to use the facilities when Steve and Jody turned up on their bikes (they are now on anchor out in the river somewhere). We had collected a parcel for them from the office on Friday afternoon so they had come to pick it up. We had a nice few hours chatting and catching up before they left us to it. By now the desire to do laundry had waned LOL so we had a lazy afternoon / evening on board just reading and chilling.

Sunday morning we took ourselves off to the laundry facilities after breakfast. Of course, this is the most popular day to do laundry in the boatyard so we had to wait our turn for machines. And it really annoys me when people don’t bother to come back to empty them when they have finished their cycle. These ‘smart’ machines actually tell you how long they are going to take, so it’s not rocket science. Rant over…..

Eventually we managed to get the washing on and, as the place was pretty quiet, we took up residence in the cruisers’ lounge. We don’t often go in there as it is too small to allow for proper social distancing but as nobody else was around it wasn’t a problem. Woo hoo! This meant we could use the Boatworks internet rather than our own mobile SIM data package (which is what we use onboard) so we made the most of it and managed to download a couple of our favourite TV programmes to the iPad to watch later.

Finally the laundry was finished and we returned to Morphie, stowed it all away, and had a evening in front of the laptop (having worked out how to mirror the iPad to the larger computer screen). Linking the bluetooth stereo with the laptop means we also have surround sound. Thankfully the evenings here are quite cool as we head towards winter so it is really comfy and cozy down below.

Sunday we had decided was a day of rest so we just chilled and read books, ate heathily, and went for a few walks. Richard has definitely picked up the pace now so he’s going off on his own most of the time two or three times a day. But we do occasionally walk the docks together to chat to people we know.

Monday morning and I had a courtesy car booked.

Richard was waiting on calls from Rene (about the fridge) and Iain (about the rigging) so I headed off to the mall on my own. The roads are so familiar around here now I don’t even need to use a sat nav. First stop on my list was to an Australian bank. Over the weekend I had been googling the requirements to open a local bank account. This is the only way to get refunds paid from Medicare for medical expenses that we have incurred prior to our registration number being issued. I had found one in the local Westfield mall that would consider us even though we are non-residents. So, armed with lots of ID paperwork, I waited in line. The woman in charge of the information desk was surprised by my request, having never been asked by a non-resident before, but when I explained about Medicare only using local bank accounts she understood and got someone to help me. Within half an hour of entering the branch I came out with a new bank account, a debit card was on order, and I had all the details needed for Medicare to add this to my application. Really friendly, helpful and efficient service – thank you Commonwealth Bank.

I then headed into Woolworths (making a change from Coles supermarket as I was parked up that end of the mall) and picked up lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Back on board, I got everything stowed, and then sent off another email to Medicare giving them the new bank account details to add to our application. Was feeling pretty pleased with myself. We then had a quiet evening on board.

Tuesday morning and we heard from Rene that they were coming back on Wednesday. So I left Richard resting down below while I started on the stainless steel cleaning. I managed to finish the starboard side before calling it a day in the hot sun. While I then chilled Richard did his daily walks and also visited some of the trades. After dinner we had a quiet evening watching another couple of episodes of the Peaky Blinders. Not quite addicted to this box set but each episode finishes on a cliff hanger so you end up binge watching just to find out what happens.

Wednesday morning and Rene was back with another of his guys. Look at this lovely new refrigerant plate before it gets bent into shape in the box. Rene was in the lazarette and the other guy was in the fridge as they took out the old equipment and reinstalled the new. The insulation foam had to be cut away in places to allow for the new installation but, once they had checked it all and re-gassed the system, they filled these in too. Take a look at the removed damaged old unit!!!

Really pleased that everything was working well, Richard took himself off for more walks while I got on with the stainless steel cleaning on the port side of the boat. Was really really hot….. We then had another quiet evening on board – not like there is really much choice in the current situation.

Thursday morning and I tried to get hold of Medicare on the phone. Richard has a GP visit next week and it is two weeks since I sent off the documentation (although I do recognise that Easter was in the mix). What I really wanted was confirmation that they had received all our documentation and that the process was ongoing and, to ask if possible, whether they could give me our Medicare number so that we could use this in the interim period before our cards are issued. Sadly they were unable to help me, so will just have to trust in the process and keep all things flexible crossed in the meantime.

So then, of course, the fridge decided to fall over! What?!? We called Rene and, luckily he was working nearby, so he came over pretty quickly. He did another complete check on the system and this time he found the high pressure “quick connect” fitting was now leaking. He quickly replaced this (without any further charge) and, again, all was working well. Great service.

After he had left we rinsed Morphie off as she was pretty dusty and then used the chamois to get off the excess water. I did actually let Richard help me with this so he did starboard while I did port. He is chomping at the bit to get back to work but he has another week before he is supposed to do anything although he remains a good dishwasher LOL. So that was it for the day apart from a couple of walks around the boatyard together and then back onboard for dinner and to watch another film before turning in.

Oh yes and we had an email from the British High Commission here in Canberra, Australia. They had asked all UK citizens in Australia to register and outline their future travel intentions. We had done this and explained that we intended to sit it out here as the risk of travelling home was significant (particularly after Richard’s heart attack) and that our visa did not officially expire until the 11 March 2021 (although we had hoped to return home before then). The UK government email explained about checking travel insurance; enrolling with Medicare for NHS reciprocal arrangements; availability of flights home being very volatile; and replacing expired visas. We had already worked through all this ourselves so the advice was a little late in the day but at least it confirmed we hadn’t missed anything we needed to consider. At least they know we are here….

This morning, Friday, and we are doing the laundry. We had hoped to use the lounge again but there are four ladies in there so that is that. So instead, we have found a nice bench tucked away which is in the shade and we are keeping cool whilst still able to use the lounge internet access.

We are still waiting on Iain re the rigging – he is in discussion with Sparcraft about replacement parts and availability – so that is ongoing and Richard has just gone off to see him in his workshop. Not sure when we’ll get this resolved but we weren’t going anywhere anyway right now. In fact, we have just extended our stay on the dock for another month so that takes us up to the end of May.

Stay safe every one and take care. Bye for now

Jan

By Saturday morning the rain had passed through and we awoke to a lovely hot and sunny day. We had a lazy time just relaxing, reading, watching box sets and generally just chilling down below in the cool. During the day we did two 15 minute walks (flat surfaces only through the boat yard) so that Richard could start building up his strength.

He did really well and it was clear that he was bouncing back very fast. The hardest thing is going to be stopping him doing stuff because he feels so well right now…..

Sunday we had another lazy day with a couple of longer walks. And, of course, during the day the fridge decided to pack up. Was very strange – one minute it was working too hard (which we thought could be because the water here in the river is quite warm); then it went below the set temperature; and then the compressor fell over and wouldn’t restart. We tried to ‘force’ it on by mucking around with the set parameters but that didn’t work. So last option was to re-gas it – so Richard taught me how to do this with the pressure gauges etc – assuming a leak somewhere. This worked briefly as the compressor did come on but then fell over again and wouldn’t restart. The controller was working properly as it was ‘calling’ for cooling at the right time but it just wouldn’t play. We realised that we needed professional assistance so we sent an email to one of the on-site companies to see if they could help us.

Easter Monday and Richard had his first GP appointment since being released from hospital. Yes, the local medical centre here is open seven days a week, even on bank holidays, which is quite something. This was the original doctor who had called the ambulance the week before so we had decided to sign up with him as patients. We haven’t yet heard back from Medicare (not surprisingly really as all the documents were only emailed last Thursday) so we still have to pay for the GP visit which, actually, isn’t too bad at $60 (about £30) a go. But I’m hoping that Medicare will be sorted out soon, especially when they start re-doing his bloods and ECGs. The doctor was very pleased with Richard’s progress and to see him again – reviewing his discharge papers he kept telling him how lucky he was to survive. This is really just starting to sink in for both of us now. Dr Hassan was clearly pleased that he was going to be involved in monitoring Richard’s progress going forward. Next appointment was then fixed for two weeks time.

After the clinic we did a quick shop at Coles for some fresh provisions and then returned to Morphie. This little excursion had worn us both out so we rested up for the rest of the day before having a quiet evening watching some more episodes of the Peaky Blinders.

Tuesday morning and we were up early as I had to return the car keys to the office. Having returned the car we relaxed below waiting for the refrigeration guys to turn up. They investigated the electrical side of the whole system and said that was all good and beyond this, it was not really their speciality, so recommended Rene from a neighbouring marina who is the ‘best refrigeration guy around’. As they couldn’t help us they didn’t charge us for their time either….

So Richard called Rene directly and he agreed to come to us the following day. Richard then relaxed down below while I started tackling the cockpit. I cut and buffed the gel coat to remove the oxidisation so happily got to play with our new toy. There were also lots of fiddly bits that had to be done by hand too. Afterwards I sprayed it all down with water to remove the dust and then wiped it all clean. Phew!

Afterwards, while I was getting cleaned up, Richard went out for one of his daily walks. I wasn’t really happy with him going out on his own at this stage but he promised to be good and took his emergency spray with him, and I can’t keep him tied up down below forever LOL. I was anxious while he was out but he came back very happy to have done a longer walk and had picked up the pace without any ill effects. So all very positive stuff. Oh yes and he came back with a bit of teak that he needed for another job on the dinghy for when he is stronger……

Wednesday morning the specialist heart nurse (Imogen) called Richard for a telephone update. She also confirmed a follow up consultant’s appointment at the hospital for early May and discussed his progress to date. All is apparently going swimmingly and they may change his drug regime as he is tolerating it so well – but still very early days. About half an hour later we got another phone call, this time from Peter at the local heart clinic who are also going to monitor Richard going forward, so that was fixed for 13 May. We remain very grateful that we are here in Australia with this amazing medical service. Just hope that the Medicare registration comes through in time….fingers crossed!

Rene then came by and checked out the fridge compressor in the lazarette. He also monitored pressures and also thought we had a leak in the system somewhere. He had this whizzy nitrogen recorder which confirmed that all was well with the back end of the system. So I emptied the fridge out and he used it again inside the box – and it went absolutely crazy – confirming we had a leak in the actual refrigerator plates. Oh well, never mind at least the mystery is solved. So he ordered a new one and hopes to install it sometime next week. In the meantime he got the fridge up and running temporarily to tide us through. What great service!

Afterwards Richard then went out for a walk on his own again and I started to wax the cockpit now that we weren’t expecting any more trades on board. It was time to get the polisher out again and, as before, there were lots of areas that had to be done by hand. But was pretty happy with the end result. I called it a day later in the afternoon with just the binnacle and the cockpit sole to be finished off.

Thursday morning I waxed the binnacle and then worked on the cockpit sole – all done by lunchtime – phew! Don’t think Morphie has ever looked quite so shiny LOL. Richard headed off during the day on two longer walks on his own and talked to some more trades about some things he wants looked at whilst we are here. The main item is the rolling furling mainsail as the worm screw in the mast is a bit tight and stiff so it is not so easy to pull the sail in and out anymore. They are going to come and check it out on Friday. The rest of the day we relaxed and chilled.

This morning, Friday, for a change we turned right rather than left for our walk and admired our large neighbours that are in the new super yacht area of The Boatworks.

A huge yacht was hauled yesterday and you don’t realise the scale of it until you see the size of the 300 ton travel lift it was pulled out by. Check out the size of those wheels!

We also had a look at the newly-constructed VIP lounge which we don’t have access to but the cleaning ladies let us take a peek. Here is Richard pretending he is a VIP LOL.

It is really very nice – we particularly liked the scuba helmet and the ship’s bell – and the great views out of the glass walls….

We also took a look at the new marina ‘beach bar’ which is currently being landscaped – it is going to be really nice when it is finished. Apparently the next phase of this development is for waterside bars and restaurants – don’t think anyone will ever leave LOL.

When we got back to Morphie we checked on our supplies and realised that we had pretty much eaten our way through all the fresh fruit and there weren’t many vegetables left either. Luckily a courtesy car was available at noon, so I donned my chauffeur hat again (Richard is not allowed to drive yet) and took him back to Coles in the Westfield mall. We did a quick supermarket sweep – very few people around – and returned to the Boatworks.

We popped into Print Image on the way back to Morpheus only to find that they had completed our new logo – a little present for Morphie – and came straight round to put it on. Doesn’t she look smart?!?

No sooner had I returned the car, and then put the shopping away, the riggers came on board to check out the in-mast furler. Sail down and worm drive out….only to find that the bearings have gone. So they have taken that away to fix and hope to get that back early next week too.

Take care everyone – stay home and stay safe. Bye for now

Jan

Friday, apart from doing the laundry, we had a lazy day reading and chilling. In the evening we had to fight a mosquito invasion – hadn’t really suffered much from them here before so was a bit strange – but thankfully we won the battle.

Saturday we went for a walk through the marina to the on-site cafe, Garage 25, for a take out coffee and sat at the bus stop shelter (there are no buses LOL) before returning to Morphie.

In the afternoon after a bacon and egg brunch, Richard decided to start tackling the cockpit. He scrubbed it vigorously with boat wash and was using the chamois cloth to wipe off the residual water when he had a sharp pain in his chest which felt like he had pulled a muscle. So I finished off and we had a long evening and night of him feeling under the weather, but really all the symptoms appeared muscular combined with severe indigestion / reflux, as sucking Gaviscon tablets helped.

Sunday morning Richard said that the pain had eased slightly after having taken some anti-inflammatory tablets but was still persistent. So we had a lazy day but in the evening it worsened again – not helped by his struggle to get any sleep as it hurt to lay flat so he ended up sitting up all night again.

Monday morning we made a doctors appointment and got a courtesy car from the marina to go there. When we arrived, they decided to do an ECG just to make sure everything was OK before considering other reasons for his discomfort.

The ECG was not good and the doctor said that it looked like Richard had actually had a heart attack, although obviously he was not a specialist. As non-essential hospital appointments are being scaled back in Australia due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the GP decided the most efficient way forward was for him to be transported to the Gold Coast University Hospital in Southport so he could get into the system. So the ambulance was called….and then the nightmare really began. The paramedics said that he was actually still having a heart attack – and had been for two days – and they gave him lots of medications as they whizzed us down the M1 motorway. In the meantime the Boatworks sent a couple of their guys out to collect the courtesy car from the mall’s car park.

We arrived at this extensive modern teaching hospital and were put straight into Resus 1 where the paramedics passed Richard over to the on-site staff.

He was quickly stripped off and gowned up and there were at least 12 doctors / nurses plugging him into multiple machines, taking measurements, taking blood, and monitoring all the outputs. They sent the results to the on-duty cardiologist and, suddenly, Richard is being whisked up to the theatre for an exploratory procedure.

Throughout all of this I was able to stay with him, but at this point I was sent to a waiting room, and the reality of what was happening hit home. Couldn’t fault the amazing Australian medical services nor the facilities of this five-year old hospital – have never seen anywhere quite so clean. We were concerned over Covid but they explained that those poor people are isolated elsewhere so we didn’t have to worry about contamination.

Thankfully after what felt like hours I was taken to the recovery room to reunite with a sedated Richard whilst they continued to monitor him – they had found a blocked artery and had inserted a stent there and then.

The lower-left ventricle heart muscle has also been damaged as it was ‘stunned’ by the lack of oxygenated blood for a period of time although it is possible that the functionality could improve over time and under treatment. The team worked hard doing constant ECG monitoring and scans. But Richard’s blood pressure and heart rate was all over the place. The machines were constantly sounding alarms and this was very scary – it was quite clear even to me that he was unstable. After an extended period in recovery they decided that he was OK to move to critical care. So I followed him on his journey along the corridor and he was taken into his own room. Richard remained pretty cheerful throughout the whole time and even managed to flirt with the nurses a bit. He was still being constantly monitored and it soon became clear I was in the way – I probably wasn’t supposed to be there anyway. So a nurse walked me off the premises – in a tearful daze – I really didn’t know where I was. Thankfully there was a huge line of taxis waiting and I was able to get back to Morphie for $50.

Back on board and the whole situation hit me really hard especially when I started contacting friends and family back in the UK – some by phone, others online. I also walked the docks to tell some friends who are on boats here in the marina. Then back to Morphie again for more calls, more internet, and lots and lots of tears. I was so scared and every time the phone rang I thought it was going to be the hospital bringing me bad news. I didn’t get much sleep for sure.

Tuesday morning, at 7am, I went to the marina office. Without any dramas they had booked the free courtesy car for me for the whole week through to the Tuesday after Easter. The manager of the site even came out and bought me a coffee from the on-site restaurant. He also explained how I was able to get out-of-hours support if I needed it from the Boatworks family and said that all I had to do was shout. Unbelievably supportive and they definitely live up to their reputation of being Australia’s Greatest Boatyard.

By 9am, google maps at the ready, I headed out in the car (very thankful they gave me an automatic rather than a manual) towards the hospital. On a good run it takes about 25 minutes but the roads were rammed – they couldn’t all be essential workers, could they??? Anyway, I managed to find the hospital and the car parking, grabbed a drink from the vendor in the main hospital reception and wandered aimlessly towards a lift block. The wards here do not have names just their location – so I was heading towards Floor 4, B block, North. Got a bit lost but eventually I made it to the ward, checked in with the nurses and was escorted to his room. It was a very emotional reunion and I quickly got told off for bawling everywhere as I was supposed to be there to support him!! Just so damn relieved. The doctors came on their rounds and they were very pleased with his progress. They explained that they would keep him in for a minimum of four days while they introduced him to a whole new drug regime. They also explained that he was in AF too. They confirmed that this was genetics rather than lifestyle so he could have had a heart attack at any time – thank god that we were locked down in a marina because of the Covid problem. The medics said that he was lucky to have survived and the horror of this happening underway or in a remote anchorage someplace doesn’t bear thinking about.

During my two hour visit (maximum allowed daily) we were visited by Justin who is a specialist heart nurse. He talked us through the problems, the symptoms, and the recommended changes we needed to make to keep Richard safe from other episodes. All very sobering stuff. Quickly my time was up so I drove back to Morphie – again surprised by the amount of traffic around. I visited the office to keep them updated and then walked the docks again to update our friends.

Back on board I did some research into Medicare here in Australia. The in-patient and future out-patient appointments are all covered free of charge as Australia has a reciprocal arrangement wth the UK. We are also entitled to sign up for Medicare to give us free access to GP services which is going to be required going forward. Although prescription medication, apparently, is charged at cost to everybody. So I rang them to see if I could make an appointment for Wednesday afternoon to be told you have to come in and do it in person. So I got the form printed off.

Another night on board but was delighted to speak to Richard in the evening to find that he had eaten and he was very happy with his three-course dinner service! In the evening, for an hour or so, I joined Steve and Jody – at an appropriate social distance of course – and it was nice to get off the boat for a little while. It is incredibly strange to be onboard Morphie without Richard – we are always together 24/7 and it just felt plain wrong. This was followed by another busy evening of messaging updates on his condition but sleep still remained elusive.

Wednesday morning, again at 7am, I headed into the office to update the office staff. Back on board I filled the 13 page form in and gathered all the original documents ready to take with me. They wanted quite a lot of information that I had to sort out. Armed with all this, plus the address of the local Southport Centrelink office, I drove back down the motorway to see Richard. The traffic had quietened a little – with lots of messages about essential travel only – but still more than I would have expected. The motorways aren’t too bad to navigate as at least they drive on the correct side of the road in Australia LOL. They also have roughly the same speed limit as us which is 110 kph / almost 70 mph.

I arrived to find Richard sitting up in a chair watching the TV. He was so much brighter I couldn’t believe it. They had got him up and about with a mobile monitoring device so he had been able to shower too. Here he is looking surprisingly well considering. After the photoshoot I got him to sign the documents.

The doctors were incredibly pleased with his progress and said he may even come home on Thursday – which is a day earlier than we thought was the earliest release date. So we were pretty chuffed. Again Justin came by for another chat this time about support going forward. Basically Richard is going to be monitored very closely and has been allocated a specialist nurse practitioner who will be keeping in touch with him and his GP (when we have signed up with one) and monitoring his test results and tolerance for the drugs etc and also organising his out-patient check-ups. There is usually a rehab clinic to attend too but this is not operating at the moment due to the pandemic. The reality is that the medics have asked that we don’t move away from the Gold Coast for the next three months whilst he is closely monitored….and, as we are virtually in lock down here with non-essential boating prohibited, we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon anyway.

Leaving him again after my allocated two hours I headed off in the car to find this Centrelink / Medicare office. I found a free public car park and watched the queue up the street. Great…. I joined the queue (suitably masked up) and had to keep moving to maintain my position in the line but also to keep away from the damn people who clearly had no regard for the social distancing practices put in place. After an hour I made it into the office itself and then to the check-in desk – only to be told that they no longer do enrolments here and I have to send the documents in via email. Great, what a waste of time. The experience was certainly an education and people watching never gets more interesting than that!

Back to the boatyard, I did my now customary dock walk and visited the office ladies to give them some chocolates as a small token of my appreciation for their help and support. Then I started the process of collating pdfs of documents in readiness for the submission. And, of course, at that point my scanner packed up! Really…..I only had two more documents to do……sigh…. So that was the end of that for the evening so again another evening of messaging and keeping people informed. Another lonely and pretty sleepless night on board followed as I was by now feeling increasingly anxious about everything.

Thursday morning, again at 7am I’m back to the office, to get these last two documents scanned. They did it on the spot – amazing service or what?!? – and back to Morphie to get them all sent off. Phew, job done, and then back in the car down to the hospital. I did my usual two hour visit but Richard was still unsure of whether he would be released or not as the doctors were late doing their rounds. By this time he had been moved into a two-man room as his original one was needed for someone who was in a very bad way. That’s when you start counting your blessings!

So I left as usual and asked him to call me. When I left him this time I headed straight to Coles supermarket in the Westfield Mall (which we have found to be the better stocked supermarket locally). And, being the day before a long holiday weekend, with numbers being restricted inside the store, I had to queue for a long time to actually get inside. I was after some new essential ingredients to help Richard with his new diet plus lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. The weird thing was that the seafood stuff was all gone – so no hope of getting some fresh prawns and salmon then?!? Also eggs seem to be the latest things to be in short supply but there was lots of toilet paper instead LOL.

When I got back to the car I had missed a call from the hospital. So I rang back and it took me quite a while to get through to Richard – not great for my stress levels! But it was very good news and he confirmed that he was coming home and I should return at 4pm. So I rushed back to Morphie, unloaded the shopping and did a quick clean up job in readiness for his return. Then I headed off down the Pacific Highway towards the motorway as I wanted to pop into the rug shop. I know that this was non-essential (was actually surprised they were still open) but if we are going to be sitting on the dock for a long while we really need the saloon to feel more homely. Richard had given me permission to choose it on my own LOL. Anyway, job done, I headed to the hospital for the second visit of the day.

I arrived in good time and Richard was sitting in his chair, watching TV, all packed up and ready to go. The pharmacist was with him going through all his drugs and the regime he needed to follow and what each of them did. We still had to wait around for the discharge papers which are usually posted to your doctor – but, of course, we don’t have one yet – so we waited and waited. Realising that time was getting on I headed down to the hospital pharmacy to get the prescriptions made up in preparation for our departure. We got one month’s supply of eight different drugs for a total cost of $127 (as we elected for generic rather than branded ones) which didn’t seem that bad actually.

I headed back to the ward and he was still sitting there…..so I chased up the documents. I really didn’t want to drive back in the dark if I could avoid it. Anyway, finally, I was able to take him home. On arrival back we slowly walked around and visited three boats (at a social distance of course) to show them that he was well and then had a quiet evening on board whilst he phoned around his family after a very healthy dinner. We both slept pretty well.

At this juncture, I just want to praise the Australian healthcare system for being so amazing – fantastically prompt, efficient, professional, no-nonsense service. I’m not sure the outcome would have been such a good one if this had happened back in the UK right now with the current emergency situation. Grateful to be here in Australia and on the Gold Coast which has a relatively low number of Covid cases to date.

This rainy morning, Good Friday, and Richard is resting and reading in the saloon (with the new navy rug that he is not keen on, typical!). We’ll go out for a short dock walk later but don’t plan anything strenuous for him for the next two to three weeks as he builds his stamina. Guess the boat jobs will fall to me soon and expect to be tackling them going forward under direct supervision – not sure that will be fun LOL.

Happy Easter everybody. Take care, stay safe, stay home and to let you know we are thinking of you. Plus a huge thank you to everybody who have been phoning me; messaging me; and emailing me with supportive messages throughout this difficult time. You were all awesome!

Bye for now

Jan

Friday morning it was cloudy and windy with rain in the air. During the morning showers we took the chance to sort out down below so that finally all manner of things were tidied away. With two headsails; the liferaft; grab bag; and other miscellaneous items relocated to the aft cabin (our ‘garage’) the saloon looked much better. Sadly we no longer have rugs on the floor though as the backing deteriorated on the old ones so we dumped them before we left Morphie in December. The intention was to purchase new ones for the saloon but guess they are not ‘essential supplies’ right now. Having cleared the space so that we could actually see the floor we then did a bit of a spring clean.

In the afternoon we ‘spot’ cleaned the topsides to eliminate some dirty and rusty marks and then thoroughly scrubbed the topsides with boatwash and Morphie looked much better.

We finished this just before the afternoon showers and, of course, once the rain had cleared the annoying biting midges came out to play. So we retreated down below for a quiet evening in front of a great box set.

Saturday morning neither of us felt very motivated by our list of boat jobs so we decided to have a lazy weekend. We sat in the cockpit and watched the traffic – rocking side to side or nodding vigorously as every vessel passed us and watched the mayhem that is an Australian leisure weekend up the river LOL. Jetskis were going around at top speed so they were pretty annoying like bees constantly buzzing and seemed to particularly love doing 360s in front of the piers. Then there were two motorboats that came in under tow – one had sunk (OMG!!) whilst the other had engine problems. And then there were the fishermen trolling and the small tinny boats taking families out for a day in the sun with some big boys from the marina going out to play too. Was absolutely mad although we enjoyed our leisure activity of people watching. After sundowners in the cockpit we headed down below for some peace and quiet which was just as well as the heavens opened and there was heavy rain throughout the night. Here’s the view from our stern…

Sunday morning we had another lazy day ahead of us. Here’s the view from our bow…

Richard decided to treat me to breakfast so headed to the Galley for a take-away. I caught him on camera on his return as he was modelling one of our newly-designed rash shirts and very smart he looked too. Thank you Laura (customsailingshirts.com).

We felt guilty taking another day off so actually did do a few bits and pieces and cleaned up the stainless on the topsides. The stanchions and outer rails will wait for another day – they are definitely on the long list of jobs we have compiled. The recreational madness continued and was quite fun to watch so long as you hung on tightly as you rocked and rolled LOL. Clearly the Queenslanders do not consider social distancing measures need to be adhered to when it comes down to leisure and boating activities at the weekends. There were even boats having BBQs plus a few social get togethers ashore.

Monday morning we had another courtesy car so quickly headed to the nearest Coles for some fresh produce. Social distancing measures had strengthened over the weekend and we were relieved that we managed to do a fresh fruit and vegetable run with very little interaction. The staff even disinfected the trolley before we used it and were disinfecting self-service tills after each customer. Many shops in the mall had now ‘temporarily closed’ so it was clear that the economic impact of the virus was just starting to bite – and, like many other countries, the Australian government had taken measures to secure employment by offering payments to employers to enable them to maintain their workforce whilst we are living in this strange new world.

Back on board we scrubbed all the non-skid areas on the topsides and washed them off. Then we applied Woody Wax and, once it had air dried, we washed off the residue. This process brings these areas back nicely and doesn’t leave them slippery so pretty happy with this product.

In the evening we just lazed around, read books and caught up online. What made sad reading are the numbers of UK nationals who are stuck here in Australia with little or no practical official help. Our Government have sent rescue flights to people that are in some remote areas, eg Peru. However limited commercial flights are continuing to fly home to the UK so the official advice is just to book one of these. But the prices are absolutely ridiculous – from £1500 for a single economy ticket and we have seen some more than double that. Most travellers have lost their original flights (nor have received any refunds yet) and, with additional living costs, many of them are up against it financially. I recognise that people, especially in stressful situations, have very high (and to be fair often unrealistic) expectations of what governments can achieve but all the UK really need to do is to subsidise the costs of the commercial flights through an arrangement direct with the airlines so that people could actually afford them and get home. It’s really not rocket science. Rant over! Just very grateful that we are not in that situation.

Tuesday we started on the topsides with restorer wax which removed blemishes and deoxidisation and she came up really well.

Took us a while with all the fiddly bits on the coachroof and it was the first time we had used the new polisher but we were pretty happy with the result. But, of course, the process leaves dust everywhere so we had to finish off our day with rinsing down and drying off by hand. Phew was a pretty hard day particularly in the heat and fierce sun.So we ended up with another early night and consequently slept very well. The nights here are quite cool so it’s quite pleasant with just a sheet covering us.

Wednesday morning we were working on the bits that we couldn’t do with the polisher and cut and polished those by hand. At this point Jody and Steve turned up on Enavigo. They anchored in the river and came ashore – they had some spares they wanted to get plus their outboard needed attention. We maintained social distancing and chatted to them from our cockpit whilst they were on the dock. It felt very strange and was sad that we couldn’t catch up properly over a glass of wine. Oh well, never mind….. Anyway, it was nice to see them for a while.

During the day the Queensland Covid-19 restrictions tightened. National parks and areas of natural beauty (including their shorelines) were closed and no recreational boating was allowed. The exceptions were fishing for food and for exercise reasons like stand-up paddleboarding. And it was apparent to us that this meant no sailing from anchorage to anchorage. Various liveaboards online were saying they should be treated differently and that this didn’t make any sense for them but, to us, it was very clear. A liveaboard means your boat is your home – the message is ‘stay home’ – and only go out for essential supplies / medical appointments etc and exercise social distancing whilst out and about. The arguments continue but have little merit. Our view is that they should find a safe anchorage (or pay to go into a marina) and stay there other than for essential reasons. Some people could come unstuck as large fines are being threatened by the water police.

This morning, Thursday, and we got up early and waxed and polished the topsides. We managed to get it finished by noon before the heat of the day. Morphie is definitely enjoying this love and attention. Doesn’t she look pretty! So we are just relaxing now and tomorrow will be another day of boat jobs in isolation.

We would like to remind all our family and friends to take care of themselves. We love you, miss you, so please stay safe. Bye for now

Jan

Wednesday afternoon having had a reasonably long day having moved Morphie to the works yard, we sat in the cockpit up on the hard chilling out while we waited for the beer to cool down in the ice box. The Australian neighbours next door shouted up and said that they always had sundowners in the yard at 5pm so why didn’t we join them? So we took a beer downstairs and, keeping a decent distance, we got questioned over our return to Australia. They particularly wanted to know why we had not been quarantined on arrival for 14 days. We explained that our arrival predated this policy and, when we travelled, although the virus existed there were very few known cases in the UK. The actual WHO pandemic announcement occurred as we arrived in Australia. That seemed to placate them and we had a nice evening with a number of other cruisers.

Thursday morning we prioritised provisioning over boat jobs as the news continued to deteriorate and we knew that there had already been fights in supermarkets over basic supplies. The Boatworks is an amazing place as they offer complimentary trucks and cars to liveaboards for three hourly bookable slots, all for the cost of a few dollars in the kitty towards petrol.

We quickly headed out to the first shop – a newly-opened large Aldi – but the pickings were very disappointing and there were lots of empty shelves. We were only looking for dried and canned food (in the absence of any refrigeration whilst on the hard) but even that was hard to find. We did manage to buy a single bag of pasta and rice but that was about it. So we headed off to another one – this time a Woolworths in the new smart Westfield mall . This was much better stocked and we managed to get some basic provisioning done albeit with a few exceptions. Not very exciting stuff but would keep us alive in an emergency. We were, however, delighted to find canned Fray Bentos pies which were definitely a blast from our childhoods LOL. We also got one of our gas bottles filled with LPG whilst we were on our travels.

In the late afternoon we headed down to the yard and, this time, no one joined us. The night before we had heard some mutterings about the self-isolation issue and clearly that had taken hold so we decided that we wouldn’t bother again. We had deliberately avoided the BBQ area – despite being invited – as it was not a big enough space to keep a decent distance so felt that we had been acting responsibly. Oh well, never mind.

Friday morning and the detailing guys turned up as they had got ahead of their schedule. We worked down below cleaning the fibreglass, polishing the wood and generally tidying up. The boat is still a mess but looking better each day LOL. The end result was that Morphie’s hull looked really shiny – very pleased with the job that they did. In the late afternoon we did sundowners in the cockpit after a busy day and had an early night after watching some TV series we had recorded. Oh yes, and the sail locker returned our sails, all checked and re-stitched where necessary. Great service from Evolution Sails.

Saturday morning and we were off out again. This time it meant that Richard could visit his favourite hardware store Bunnings where we successfully purchased some power tools – another small hand-held vacuum cleaner (the other one had died) and a buffer/polisher. The price for the hull was OK but the subsequent quote for the topsides was for more than we wanted to spend. After some debate we decided to invest in materials and machines instead so that we can do it ourselves. Whilst out we filled up some of our diesel cans and visited another supermarket Coles. This was surprisingly well stocked and we managed to get most things left on our list.

Whilst I tried to find a place to stash all these stores, Richard started anti-fouling the hull. I continued cleaning down below and also checked our instruments were working etc. After a hard day’s work we enjoyed sundowners in the cockpit and were surprised by how many cruisers were now congregating in the yard for a chat – we, however, decided not to join in and stayed in splendid isolation.

Sunday morning and Richard was doing a second coat on the waterline, the leading edge and had taken the bow thruster propeller out for cleaning, which he reinstalled later once the tunnel had been painted and dried. He also worked all the thru holes. What a great job he did! In the afternoon we chilled out and enjoyed a quiet evening down below as it was raining.

Monday morning and we were doing final jobs before splashing. I was doing the laundry plus checking out all the cleaning materials we had on board. Armed with a list I headed to the on-site chandlery and managed to get everything I needed. By this time Morphie’s topsides were a mess with our coming and goings on top of all the dust and dirt of the works yard. Never mind, she’ll get a good clean up soon! Here she is all ready for splashing.

Tuesday morning and I headed to the office to pay our bill – as per usual, ‘no cash, no splash’. By this time the Covid-19 advice had taken another serious turn with the FCO advising UK nationals to return home if they could – which was actually about a week too late with most of the transit hub airports closing their doors and prices for those flights left available being seriously uplifted. This news didn’t concern us as we had already got agreement to stay but we did double check once again with our travel insurance and, yes, they remained happy. This was then followed by both New Zealand and the UK locking down. The advice in Australia toughened up with cafes and restaurants only allowed to offer take-out services and bans on group activities / weddings / gyms etc. Boatworks, at this time of significant business uncertainty amazed us with their generosity to their staff as we saw boxes of free sandwiches / cakes / pasties delivered to both staff and trades from the on-site restaurant. This generosity was also surprisingly extended to us! They announced that all time on the hard from the 19 March onwards plus time on the dock would be 50% off. So when they could have doubled their fees as they had us by the “short and curlies” they heavily discounted their services. We can certainly see why this place has so many loyal and regular customers.

As the virus situation was becoming more and more unpredictable we decided that, once splashed, we would remain here in the marina tied to the dock. The individual states in Australia had, by now, introduced border controls and as well as social distancing they have requested that nobody travels unnecessarily. If you do have to cross a border – for example we would have to cross from Queensland to New South Wales if we wanted to get to Sydney – then there is a 14 day compulsory quarantine period in place. Sailing around, even within the state, is non-essential travel in our eyes so we paid up to stay here until the end of April.

Having paid the bill, by 11 am Morphie was on her way to be splashed.

She was eased into the water – we quickly checked our thru hulls then started the engine, motored around to our slip and got tied up. We got the fridge and freezer up and running – with the fridge needing a little bit of gas to help it – and by 2pm we were back on the road. This time we were looking for meat and fish. We headed to Coles again as the last visit there had been so successful and were surprised that we were able to get pretty much everything we wanted. We also stopped by the adjacent liquor store and got supplies from them as well. Our habits have definitely changed though as we now clean car interiors before we set off and clean handles of shopping trolleys. When we have to touch anything – like the keypad at the checkout – we immediately sanitise. We are taking this virus seriously and ensure that we keep distant from everyone.

We finally got back and stowed everything away. This means that we are now fully provisioned and self-sufficient for a while. So if we go into lockdown we are ready. We had another quiet night on board reading and enjoying the movement of the water beneath us before turning in. Well, it was supposed to be a quiet one but Morphie makes a terrible noise with the self-furling foil banging around inside the mast every time we get ‘wobbled’ by a passing boat.

Wednesday morning we were up very early and got the mainsail re-installed. Phew, thankfully it went very well and there was only light winds. We have decided not to reinstall the genoa or the staysail yet – we are not going sailing for the foreseeable future and it seems pointless to expose them to UV damage unnecessarily.

Feeling pleased with ourselves we cleaned up and headed out. We are thankful that we no longer have to use the shared shower facilities now that we are back in the water as we have emptied the water tank and refilled with fresh. It feels nice to have nice hot showers back on Morphie once again. The marina includes water and electricity in the slip price, so there are no worries about wracking up additional bills.

The final external job was to register at a local doctors to get a prescription. We had pre-filled in the forms and got an appointment so we headed over to Oxenford. We popped into the Woolworths there as we were a little early just in case we found something we couldn’t get earlier – would you believe tinned potatoes and cling film were the only things that we hadn’t yet found?!? Well, yes, we managed it. Woo hoo!

We got to the doctors and finally came out with the prescription. Went into the pharmacy – expecting to get the five month supply as prescribed – only to be told you can only get one month at a time. Apparently that is Government regulation here. Well, we are OK as we bought three month’s supply into the country from the UK (the maximum importation allowed by Australian customs) so we now have just under four month’s supply on board. Arriving back we cleaned up yet again and were relieved that our final trip out was completed. We are now keeping ourselves to ourselves.

This morning, Thursday, and it was finally time to prioritise boat jobs. Today’s was to get dink off the deck after breakfast which means that we will be able to open the hatch in both our cabin and the heads. Although the fans have kept us cool enough at night, some fresh air will be much appreciated! Here’s Morphie enjoying being back in the water.

We pulled dink up with a spare halyard and then pumped air in before hoisting him over the rail to the dock. Richard is currently working hard replacing the wheels while I’m blogging (multi-tasking as I’m also doing laundry). We purchased the original solid plastic ones in New Zealand but they turned out to be absolutely useless in sand….we just got bogged down and were not man enough for the weight of the outboard engine. So we are replacing them with proper pneumatic wheels which we have seen and envied on loads of dinghies for a couple of years now LOL.

Then we’ll clean dink up and hoist him onto the arch. And I think that will be it for the day. Lots of boat jobs to do to keep us busy while we self-isolate here on the dock.

So I’ll sign off with a thought for all our family and friends who are in lockdown wherever you are. Please stay safe and keep well. We are thinking of you all constantly and miss you lots.

Bye for now

Jan

Thursday (12 March) we were picked up at 3am for the ride to Heathrow. We arrived in good time and checked in for our flight, navigated through minimal security queues and were soon ready to go. We boarded our Qatar Airways flight to find that economy passengers were in the minority with only 70 in total – so after takeoff everyone took multiple seats, we all stretched out and enjoyed the first flight into Doha (Qatar). A few people were wearing masks and gloves but they were very much in the minority. It was a great flight with tasty food and wonderful service.

At Doha we had a couple of hours to kill so just wandered around and took the opportunity of freshening up before boarding our next flight to Sydney. This was busier and we were lucky enough to get seated upstairs in the double-decker Dreamliner. Again great flight, more food, more wine and even some sleeping on this 15 hour leg.

Finally, after a mammoth day, we arrived into Sydney. For some reason we found ourselves fast tracked through immigration, customs and security and, with little effort, we found ourselves legally in the country. Woo hoo! We then simply crossed the road to our hotel for the night and checked in.

The room was lovely and comfortable so we just dumped our bags, headed to the bar for a few recuperative cold ones, and caught up on the news. Well, it was a different world we had landed into than the one we had left behind. The WHO had officially declared the Coronavirus a global pandemic and restrictions were starting to be implemented across the globe. Australia, however, had very little infection and the locals were carrying on their business as usual. Although we did overhear some loud idiot complaining that she had to self-isolate (having just returned from Bali) and we saw her wandering out and about with no concern for anybody else – we quickly got out of her way.

We had a good nights sleep and at 6am on Saturday morning we headed back across the terminal to the Qantas check-in desk for our domestic flight to Brisbane. We were able to check the bags in before getting the shuttle bus over to the other terminal. We then headed to the Qantas Business Lounge and enjoyed breakfast while we waited to board the plane. This will probably be our last business class flight for a very long time as we have now sadly exhausted our collection of air miles.

Again we took off on time and, by 9.00 am local time (as Brisbane is an hour’s time difference from Sydney) we were off the plane and met by our driver. He was an interesting fellow and gave us quite a commentary of the history of Brisbane as we drove to our apartment hotel. We arrived by 10 am and our apartment was ready for us so we were able to dump our bags straight away! That was a result….

The hotel was pretty empty and people had clearly cancelled at the last minute as the hotel had introduced a Coronavirus waiver on arrival. By this time we found out that the St Patrick’s Day parade had been cancelled….which was a shame as we had been looking forward to that. Anyway, we unpacked, then headed into town for a wander before returning for a breather. Brisbane is a mixture of old and new buildings plus some pretty up market shopping although, unusually, there was no Chinese tourists queuing at the Gucci or Chanel stores LOL. It was pretty busy and everyone was carrying on as usual – the only sign of anything untoward going on were the signs in all the pharmacies stating they had run out of both hand sanitiser and face masks.

In the early evening, after a rest, we headed across the road to the pub for a quick bite to eat before returning to our room for a quiet night in front of the TV catching up with the news. The world was changing so fast….unbelievable….although Australia still seemed to be immune to the crisis.

Sunday morning and we headed over to the South Side to catch the river cruise up to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which was formed in 1927 in the Brisbane suburb of Fig Tree Pocket.

We loved the sleepy animals – having never seen a koala, a wombat, a Tasmanian devil, a platypus, a dingo or even a kookaburra before. Australia certainly has its share of weird and wonderful looking animals! We had a great time in the sanctuary and particularly enjoyed petting and feeding kangaroos and emus.

Richard even took a selfie with a particularly friendly kangaroo – Richard is the one on the right of the picture LOL.

The 70 minute river cruise each way was also informative checking out the amazing old properties nestled alongside very expensive new real estate. We learnt about the devastating floods in 2011 and even heard the story of the historic (1886) Regatta Hotel which became submerged to its top balcony but continues to thrive to this day.

Returning to the City I was even allowed to drive the boat – check out my captain’s hat LOL.

Back to the city we wandered to the riverside pub and had another average meal before returning to our apartment for another quiet night in. The coronavirus news was getting more serious now with a State of Emergency being declared and advice not to use public transport, avoid crowded places, and constantly wash hands etc. Damn…. We talked it through and decided that the situation could only deteriorate from here. So we decided that we would leave on Tuesday rather than Thursday and return to Morpheus.

Monday we headed back into the city and the atmosphere was much more strained.

We couldn’t really explore much with all the museums, art galleries and theatres beginning to shut down. So we felt that we had made the right decision and we contacted the boatyard to let them know our change of plans. In the late afternoon we headed to a recommended Chinese restaurant but found the food to be average at best – oh well, never mind. We then headed back to our apartment and had a nice chilled bottle of wine in front of the TV watching the increasingly surreal coverage of the pandemic.

Tuesday morning we packed up and checked out. There was no refund for the unused portion of our stay but hey ho, our decision. By 11 am, we were on our way back to Morphie. We arrived around noon and checked into the boatyard where she was waiting patiently for us.

Back on board (in the long-term storage yard) we just unpacked our gear and made the bed in preparation for the night. Then we headed out in a complimentary courtesy car to try and get some supplies as the food cupboards were bare. Interestingly enough I had stocked up on toilet paper before we left so the empty shelves were not a problem to me LOL. We visited a few stores and managed to get enough dried and canned foods to see us through although the pickings were limited to say the least. Back on board we had an early night feeling quite weary.

This morning, Wednesday, and Morphie was moved from the storage yard to the ‘works’ area of the hard stand. While they were getting ready we had a quick look at the SuperYacht area of the Boatworks which was under construction when we left in December. Check out some of these big boys!

The crew were pretty efficient and we were securely in our new position by 10 am.

Looking at Morphie’s hull we decided she needed to be cleaned, cut, waxed and polished professionally as she was looking pretty dull having been stored in the strong UV here in Australia despite our hard work prior to departure. So we called on a few businesses in the boatyard and found someone who was willing to do the work for us called the Boat Butler. He expressed concerns about a future shutdown and wanted to bank as much work as he could in advance so we agreed a price and he is coming to us at 6am on Sunday. Great, thank you so much. We have also spoken to the sail loft and they are returning our sails on Friday (although we won’t be able to install them until we are back in the water).

We reinstalled our canvas to give us some shade; replaced the dead ensign; and Richard has just installed two lovely new LED stainless steel lights in our cabin. Here are the before and after pictures – I think they look much nicer than the originals. And yes the original would look much better if it had been polished post storage and pre-removal but what was the point?!? Will clean them both up before we stow them away as spares, promise LOL.

There are lots of boat jobs to be done so we won’t be idle or bored while we practice some social isolation.

Today the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised against all unnecessary travel for a month with immediate effect. Obviously we are concerned over where that leaves us – usually if you go against FCO advice, your travel insurance becomes null and void. But, unlike other countries like Canada, the FCO are not specifically advising UK citizens to return home. So I have sent an email to our travel insurance company to say that as our November 2019 annual policy pre-dated both the pandemic and the FCO advice it would make sense for us to stay here and sit it out to avoid unnecessary travel and potential exposure to the virus. Getting home with all the global restrictions currently in place on top of the ever diminishing airline capacity would be problematic and can only get worse. There would also be the threat of being quarantined as we can’t fly back without touching another country. The insurance company should be liable to fund this under the ‘curtailment / disruption’ clause of our existing policy. We think it is safer (and obviously cheaper for them) for us to stay onboard Morphie. After all, we can easily self-isolate if a “lock down” is instigated. We are waiting for a response – so have organised to stay put in the marina until we have further clarity on the situation.

In the meantime our thoughts are with all our family and friends across the globe who are living through this situation – some of whom have got locked down and cannot return to their boats, others have visa pressures. And then, of course, there are those who are in the ‘risky’ age group and may have to bunker down for many months at home in the UK. Lots of love everyone – just please stay safe and well!

Bye for now

Jan

We arrived home in early December 2019 having completed a 4,500 mile season taking us from New Zealand to Australia via Fiji, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. The season wasn’t without its difficulties and challenges ranging from mechanical failures through to being chased around or thwarted by weather. Despite that we still had some really great experiences and look forward to revisiting some of these Pacific Islands again another year. Here are some of our favourite memories….

Christmas started with a theatre trip followed by a family affair and then a cruise to Hamburg and Bruges for New Year. Phew! Then it was time for family and friend reunions and days out for my 60th birthday celebrations. In fact, I haven’t stopped celebrating the whole time I’ve been home – definitely one to remember. Thanks to all my family and friends for being so generous and making it such a special time. In the meantime Richard was back at work topping up the sailing kitty, so thanks to him for that. Eventually Richard retired again and we headed off to Lanzarote for a week in the sun – after a miserable windy, wet and stormy time at home – but nature even tried to ruin that with a massive sand storm grounding flights and now, of course, there is the coronavirus doing its rounds. Back from Lanzarote and we had more reunions, only this time it meant, sad farewells…..

Now we are in full preparation mode for the next season. We are flying back to Sydney later this week immediately followed by a few days exploring Brisbane and then back to Morpheus in the boatyard. We know there will be quite a bit of work waiting for us on return to get her ready to go. Once all that has been done we plan to sail slowly north towards the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands exploring the east coast along the way. Then our plan is to meander back south towards Sydney in readiness for Christmas and New Year celebrations. During the year we have plans for family school holidays; some land exploring; more reunions and just having fun. So we will stay in Australia for the whole year – the visas have been granted – so we are on our way.

Unusually we are not carrying back huge amounts of spares which certainly makes a nice change. Most things are available in Australia so it is just some key bits and pieces we needed like new reading lights for our cabin; winch springs; more maintenance manuals; new Morpheus rash shirts etc. And, of course, don’t forget the tea bags LOL.

Anyway, that’s it for now folks, welcome back and hope you enjoy the next season. Looking forward to seeing our girl again….

Bye for now

Jan