Greetings from Little Grove

We are still based at Princess Royal Sailing Club in Little Grove near Albany, Western Australia.

Walking alongside the golf course

We were contacted by our travel agents, Flight Centre, and, as expected, there was not an option to have our money refunded. We accepted travel vouchers, which have conditions attached: we have to use the vouchers on Malaysian Airlines; we have to leave from Australia to any destination; we have to book by 31/12/20; we have to travel by 30/06/21.

Kangaroos close to our path

On the same day, Jeremy checked his bank card balance and discovered that his credit card had been hacked. After one hour and fifteen minutes on hold (annoying music and inane announcements), he got through to the call centre. His card was cancelled and a new one issued. Nine transactions originated from Mexico and almost two weeks later, only one of these fraudulent withdrawals had been cleared from his account.

Becalmed

We have developed a routine for shopping. Once a week we motor the two miles across the bay to Albany and use the free short-stay visitors’ pontoon. We shop at the IGA supermarket and return to the sailing club. Once a fortnight, we stay the night in the marina at Albany, use the laundry facilities and go shopping.

Name the tree?

We continue to enjoy walks around the public golf course and on other off-road tracks. Jeremy occasionally swims round the marina. I swim if the wind is light and the sun is shining (that is...rarely).

One of our longer walks!

Last week our neighbour, Jason, was working on his boat. We heard a loud yell and rushed outside. Jason had been drilling and had slipped. Sharp metal had cut right through the centre of his finger nail and it was bleeding. He was in a lot of pain. Jeremy stemmed the blood and I passed him material for a makeshift dressing, which he wrapped round tightly with Micropore. Social distancing was set aside for the moment. Jason’s girlfriend, an Emergency Room nurse, was able to take him to hospital. He had two fractures in his index finger as well as a severed nail. After a few days’ rest, he was back on his boat.

Spot the skipper

The weather has been changeable as autumn arrives. Last week we had two gales and two days of strong wind warnings. The lowest temperature was 6C and the highest 25C, with plenty of rain showers. We have been fine in our pen, shaken but not disturbed.

Ah, there he is

Many friendly people have offered to get supplies for us from Albany. A local sailor, Geoff, wants to share a bottle of wine with us while maintaining social distancing. One or two have viewed us with suspicion as an overseas visitor who might just have sneaked into Albany from abroad.

The Australian Government wants all foreign nationals who can’t support themselves to go home. Our visas expire in December, so we don’t have to leave yet. We keep in touch with the British High Commission and monitor the UK Foreign and Commonwealth website. There are still Malaysian Airlines’ flights to London, but currently the costs are three times the amount of our travel vouchers and would require a six day stay in Kuala Lumpur airport. We’re staying here for the time being.

One day's steps on our new App

Some Covid-19 restrictions are beginning to be lifted in WA. Schools are open to all children from tomorrow (Wednesday 29^th April) and groups of up to 10 can meet as long as social distancing is observed. Leisure boating is allowed once again, but only locally. No regional borders have been opened and state borders remain closed. Of the 9 Covid-19 cases in our region, all have recovered. There are very few new cases in all of Australia.

Our new hi-fi

Jobs on SD continue to be done. Jeremy has fitted a new hi-fi system in the stern cabin, so we can listen to CD’s once more. New hardwood steps have replaced old, cracked ones on the stern and new bungee has been put on one of the horseshoe lifebuoys. A gentleman strolled along the walkway, looking for his octopus trap. Jeremy owned up that he had used it as a securing weight. He found an alternative weight and returned the trap with apologies. I have checked all our tins of food for rust and cleaned out the lockers. Both sails have been washed and scrubbed to free them of salt and sand. The leak from the hot water tank has been sorted. It occurred where a plastic pipe met a metal one.

Snack time

This weekend Australia has been celebrating ANZAC day. Here in Albany, maroons went off in King George Sound at 0600, wreaths were laid and a flypast marked the beginning of a minute’s silence followed by bugles playing the Last Post. For the first time ever, there were no parades and no crowds.

In the meantime, avoid drinking disinfectant, take care and keep safe.

Update from Albany

Happy Easter, everyone.

Spot the Easter Bunny

We have been based at Princess Royal Sailing Club for almost three weeks. The locals continue to be friendly although we all have to observe social distancing.

Don't feed the birds

A few days after writing the last blog post, our flights from Kuala Lumpur to London were cancelled by Malaysian Airways. Because we booked non-refundable flights, it seems likely that we will have to accept a voucher for future travel. We’re trying to find out more about this from our travel agents, Flight Centre.
 

Drying our waterproofs

Western Australia has confirmed that there should be no recreational boating, although fishing for the family is allowed in family groups or with a maximum of two persons aboard. We continue to restrict our journeys by boat to once a week trips across the bay to Albany for supplies.

There may be more of these hides made to relieve unemployment

There is talk of some restrictions being lifted if Australia continues to see a decline in the number of cases of Covid-19. However, it is too early for any changes to be made.

We have continued to explore the Little Grove area on our walks and have found a few off road places.

Walking in the rain on empty golfcourse. FORE!

Sal Darago has been treated to a bit of autumn cleaning. I washed the salt out of our wet gear and lifejackets and cleaned out the cupboard where they are kept. Jeremy replaced the domestic water pump as the old one had cracked. Unfortunately, water continued to leak into the bilges. The culprit is suspected to be the pipework to the hot water cylinder, so another job awaits.

Sunset and Sal Darago

We remain safe and well, absolutely horrified by the global numbers of Covid-19 infections and deaths, especially in Europe, the UK and the USA.

Thank you to Steve and Hilary from Ramsholt and former pupils, Chris and Caroline, for their comments and best wishes. We really appreciate all the comments we receive.

Stay safe and well everyone.

Princess Royal Sailing Club

PRSC Clubhouse

We have found ourselves a temporary home at Princess Royal Sailing Club, about two miles from Albany, across Princess Royal Bay. We have an end pen (berth). It is very similar to the arrangements in Denmark. We have a short, fixed walkway on our port side and the main, fixed walkway in front of our bow. There are two piles at the stern for our stern lines and metal rings fixed to the walkway in front for our bow lines. Spring lines are attached from our centre cleats to the piles at the stern. 
 

PRSC pens and walkway

There is no breakwater, so some lines have weights on them or are attached to chains and underwater weights in order to dampen the motion caused by waves. The tidal range is about 1 metre. We are sheltered from W through SW to SE. The other directions have a two mile reach, so it can become choppy in strong winds.

Watch out! There's a car coming!

Ashore, there is a lovely clubhouse which had a bar and Friday evening restaurant until very recently. The corona virus restrictions have meant the clubhouse has had to close along with all organised sailing activities. Fortunately, there is a disabled toilet and hot shower accessed from outside, which we use frequently. Limited electricity is available 40m away on the walkway. A trip to Bunnings (B&Q) for heavy duty cable and a visit to the chandlery in Albany for rope and shackles means we are now secure in our pen and have access to electricity.

Pumpaleaky

Sal Darago started filling up with water. Fortunately, it was fresh water and the leak was traced to the Shurflo pressure water pump. It is a nuisance and happily the local chandlery, Westerberg Marine, has sourced a new pump. 

Married Bliss

After some people saying it would never last, Kathy and I bucked the trend and celebrated our 45^th Wedding Anniversary at the weekend. Sadly, no restaurant would have us, so it was sandwiches on board as usual. Smoked salmon of course!

Special sandwich supper

There is some discussion about whether recreational boating has been banned in WA. We believe the Australian Government has recommended it and some states have implemented it. Anyway, we are allowed to use SD to travel to Albany Waterside Marina, where we can tie up for two hours to go food shopping. Like the UK, there must be no gatherings of more than two people, unless they live in the same household, and shops restrict the number of customers, so that social distancing can take place.

Great walks in the area

A few days ago our flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur was cancelled and no alternative suggested. This was the first stage of our flight to London. Added to this, we have no way of travelling to Perth as all regional borders have been closed to try to restrict the spread of Covid-19. The Great Southern Region, which includes Albany, has three confirmed cases of the virus. I have contacted our travel agents and our travel insurance company. We have also registered on the British Travellers in Australia Registry set up by the British High Commission. None of them have been particularly helpful, which is hardly surprising given the huge number of stranded folk (said to be 25,000 Brits in Australia alone).

Autumn is a comin' on

Meanwhile, we are allowed to go for walks and we can work on the boat. There is a general store and garage nearby and we can still go to Albany for supplies. We are both well at present and able to keep in touch with friends and family via email and social media. Keep well and keep safe everyone. 

Sunset from our pen(itentiary)