Stomaching oat porridge or granola with fruit and nuts for breakfast has become increasingly unappealing, although neither options ever bothered us at all when we were sailing. We just seemed to be far more focused on our everyday activities these days and constantly looking for a little bit of variety. Today, that came in the form of freshly baked crumpets for breakfast, Roy joining Elaine on her late-morning walk and a video call from Keenan, which afforded us some time with the grandsons, catching them after school and homework and before their extramural activities and bedtime. There is nothing, however, like being dismissed by a four year old, in this instance by Carter, who decided his Oreo cookie was more important than his Grandma, but was diligent enough to tell Elaine that he had to eat it at the table so as not to make a mess. Getting settled at the breakfast bar, he then shouted: “Daddy, please come and get your phone. I’m done talking to Grandma”! Out-gunned by a cookie! Brayden, on the other hand, wasn’t too pleased with his mother after Grandpa said his hair had got so long it could be tied up in a ponytail. After the initial registration of what Roy had said, it didn’t take long for Brayden to start badgering his mother for a haircut. Guess Grandpa had stirred things up, although William was all smiles and simply looking forward to his flag football.

Of course, life on the water, already severely impacted by the pandemic, now has another matter to contend with, specifically impacting those cruisers who set sail from SE Asia earlier this year to transit the Suez Canal or, indeed, those who’ve just had their yachts shipped to the Mediterranean; the giant cargo ship, Ever Given, grounded sideways in the canal. Dislodging it is proving to be an enormous challenge for marine and salvage engineers alike, never mind the impact this is likely to have on world trade if it’s not resolved soon. About 12% of global trade passes through the canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.

The Ever Given, a 400 metre / 1300 Ft long, 59 metre / 194 Ft wide, 200,000 tonne vessel, that became wedged across the canal amid high winds and a dust storm, will, no doubt, take some time to re-float. In the meantime the only alternative route is around the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of Africa, which can add two weeks to a voyage. South Africa’s coastline is about to get a whole lot busier!

Our challenge for the day, which definitely paled into insignificance, was to re-gas our starboard air-conditioning unit, given that we’d fixed the leak a week or so ago. Fortunately, Roy got it up and running again, but the myriad of connectors to the Malaysian gas canister precluded him from getting the gas pressure needed to run it at optimum temperature. Depending on how our plans unfold over the coming weeks, we may be able to get a company in to top-up all our units; in for a penny, in for a pound.

Elaine, however, spent her day uploading all our latest videos; “Magnolious Malaysia - Johor Bahru”, “Magnolious Malaysia - Malacca”, “Magnolious Malaysia - Pangkor Island” and “Magnolious Malaysia - Langkawi Archipelago”. “Magnolious Malaysia - Penang Island” will be the last in the series. Two separate videos of life under lockdown on Rebak Island and Penang Island were previously uploaded and complete the series. These are now in chronological order on the website, so you’ll have to scroll down to find them. Enjoy!

Roy also enjoyed a few cold beverages on the patio of Chimac Station, a Korean “chicken and beer” establishment. Although he definitely doesn’t approve of the chicken, he certainly enjoys the beer and the company of fellow cruisers who happen to stop by. A barbecue onboard during a brief break in weather of pouring rain, which started this afternoon and has continued tonight, was followed by a very informative documentary film and certainly a wakeup call for humanity; David Attenborough’s, “A Life on Our Planet”, acts as his “Witness Statement” on what he has seen happen to the natural world over his lifetime, now aged 93, and shares first-hand his concern for the current state of the planet and his hopes for the future. Definitely worth watching, but, more importantly, each doing our part to facilitate the changes needed.