The crew arrive with the all important spares.

Friday 16th June.

My crew arrived last evening. Not quite as smoothly as my arrival , as Jo was unable to contact Sashi, our obliging driver, once clear of Customs and Immigration, however she got a message to me and I managed to relay the fact that they were ready and the location they were waiting at.

Amongst their 7kg per person 'hand luggage” they managed  a total haul of 22kg, which was pretty good going. It appears that if travelling only with a bulging hand luggage only, the bags are weighed at check in- this has happened now to three people  know travelling without check in baggage, whereas  my bulging “hand luggage” was not given a second glance and nor must be the bags  of those travelling with the entire contents of their homes in the cabin baggage. They must have checked in bags as well.
Both Jo and Chris's hand luggage  bags weighed in at the required 7kg, and then as one is required to empty all pockets of metal and electronic equipment at the x-ray machines, the bags apparently weighed more after being x-rayed- amazing!

So what goodies were there for me? A kilo of coffee, 3 more packets of yogurt, one of the spare batteries for the drone, the toilet service kits (weight only about 30gms), spare cup and lid for the nutri bullet, I cant really see what the issue was!

Today we checked out at the Jabatan Laut,(harbour master) they are I think, still bemused by the fact that once again,I'm setting off  with no apparent older male than Christopher on board! Last time it was Lynne and myself who checked out of Port Dickson. However this time, Mohd, the official who has checked me in and out previously wants to be  a friend on fb. I must answer that request.

Did the supplies shopping and we were back on board just after   1 pm so achieved the first part of the mission as Friday is prayer day in much of the country and that means nothing official really happens after 1pm, although its only supposed to be 1-3pm,  but very little seems to start again, especially during Ramadan.

Next it was the close encounter with the malfunctioning  “quiet flush” toilet system. With my trusty T.A (Jo) reading the instructions  and photographing each stage of the dis-assembly, one quick visit to the boat next door for clarification on one point, the entire job was completed to my immense satisfaction. I am now, far more intimately acquainted with the flushing and macerator mechanism of a boat toilet than I was before. I've got to tell you folks, it a tiny little blade in there, doing the work. No wonder it can't cope with anything that hasn't been through your digestive system  first , other than minimal toilet paper of course !

the teeny tiny macerator

So what was the issue? A completely destroyed seal, thus causing the water to leak.
 Interestingly, yes I know, not everyone finds this as absorbing as I do, but bear with me as its my very first plumbing foray and it ended in victory, so I need my 'moment', the culprit may have been the cleaning product . Clearly everybody would read the instruction manual, for light entertainment. Amongst all the other instruction manuals I had to wade through, I obviously missed the line on page of 4 of 8, about the destructive effect that some products may have on the rubber seals, causing them to swell and deteriorate  prematurely. Ah ha! So the toilet duck has been disposed of and future cleaning will be with nothing more than vinegar.

the black bit is the offending failed rubber seal

                                                          https://youtu.be/uoxWRmnRBEI


The AIS dilemma was resolved yesterday , with the complete replacement of the unit, luckily still under warranty, and so now we are ready for departure, and in a couple of  days it will be the exhilaration of 5 or 6 knots meander through the Singapore Straits. Jo and Chris will never have seen anything quite like it!