January 2019 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• Hello 2019!

• Hope you like our photo of the month! As some of you may know, Alex flew in from Trinidad to join me in Singapore last December where he could rejuvenate from the harsh life in Trinidad 😅, feast on good food, catch up with some friends and family before heading back together.

• Of course, as you might've guessed, our plans never quite go as planned.. After realizing that there's still a lot more work to be done on Raptor, and that it'd be unlikely that we would be able to set sail within a month or two... We decided that it'd be better for me to continue working while he flies back to Trinidad to complete the never ending list of to-do's on the boat.

• It was a busy month! Running around, searching for boat stuff, making last minute flight changes, etc, etc. I am grateful for my job extension albeit a bit disappointed that our travel plans were delayed yet again. 

• Alex's sister and niece came for a short visit. It was nice to have them here as we hadn't seen them since our stay with them back in 2016. I was not able to join them during the day, but it looked like they had a great family bonding time at Universal Studios 😃

• So even though I did not get to fly to New York & Trinidad as planned, I did however get to go to Japan! {yay!} My last holiday was back in April 2018 where I went to Korea with my mum for our 2nd M&D (mother & daughter) trip.

• Alex and I flew to Tokyo on 14th January, took a train to Kanazawa and stayed for 2 nights, then spent another 5 nights in Kyoto where we made day trips to Nara and Himeji before heading back to Tokyo for the remaining nights.

• We had an amazing time! People there are courteous, toilets are always clean, trains are on time, food was fantastic. We took lots of photos, walked among macaque monkeys & sika deers, visited temples & shrines, went to Disney Sea and even got lost in the huge subway stations. The weather was a little cold at times, but nothing compared to the winter we experienced in New York in February 2015, when we only had layered boat clothes to keep us warm.

• Will try to write and share photos of our trip in another post. 

• No boat project updates this month. 

• Thank you for reading!

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September 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• 3 more months till the end of my extended contract in Singapore and I'll be back in Trinidad next January. Will Raptor be ready by then?

• Alex still has a long list of boat projects to go.. here are just some still on the list:

• Make bimini windshield
• Make new engine leg cover
• Sand and paint deck lockers
• Sand and paint interior
• Fit new smart regulator for alternator
• Repair bar fridge
• Re-bed the starboard stanchions
• Reinforce deck with ribs from inside

• To my surprise, he stripped our head - toilet, basin, laminate countertop, shelves and paint removed. I'm excited to see the new head soon!

• He also epoxied the wall over the diesel tank in the queen cabin. In case you missed the post on why we had to remove the wall in the queen cabin, you can read it here on The Fuel Tank Project (Part I).

• The deck lockers are slowly but surely getting there. Just a few more rounds of sanding before the paint gets on.

• Unfortunately, when he was repairing the bar fridge, he noticed that the plywood it was sitting on had buckled about 1 cm. So, it's one more item on the list, new supports for the fridge are underway.

• As you and I know very well... boat projects never end! We try our best to keep our spirits up and finish as much as we can (in this case, as much as he can). Fingers crossed, let's see how much there is left to do when I get back.

• Thank you for following our progress and we hope to start sharing more stories of our travels (and not so much boat projects) sometime soon. :)

August 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

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August 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• Alex continued working on the deck lockers. It's been several months now, and he's still working on them.. 😓

• On 21st August, a magnitude of 7.3 earthquake struck off the northern coast of Venezuela, west of Trinidad. This is said to be the strongest earthquake within the last 50 years, as the last 7.0 earthquake recorded by the UWI Seismic Centre was in 1968. So strong that the wall and road in front of Dockside Mart cracked and some small power boats fell. 

• I am reminded of the 6.1 magnitude earthquake we felt back in December 2016. It felt as if we were in a toy boat on a giant's shaky hand. It may have been only for a few seconds, but my legs turned into jelly and it took me a while to recover. Alex was not affected by that earthquake but admitted he was a little shaken with this one. Thankfully he is safe and no visible damage on Raptor (fingers crossed). Thoughts and 🙏🏻 to all affected.

• Back in Singapore, I had the opportunity to experience my first river clean up cum meditation on a kayak in Marina Bay River. I got to learn more about the impact of litter to wildlife and our environment, and of course, the meditation was an added bonus. I am guilty of using single-use plastics and am now striving to refuse and reuse as much as possible. It's easier said than done though, but awareness is the first step.

• On the entertainment front, I watched Oh My Venus (Korean), Uncontrollably Fond (Korean) and Cheese In The Trap (Korean).

July 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

September 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

Crack on the ground near Dock Side Mart from the Earthquake

Crack on the wall of Dock Side Mart

Marina Bay River, Singapore

My first paint by numbers with my niece ;)

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July 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• Great news! We hit 16,000 page views! Thank you for reading our blog :)

• This month, Alex made the door where it accesses the fuel tank filter in the queen cabin, made a gadget to hold sandpaper in place to sand narrow areas, fibreglassed the slight dip that ran along the right edge of the locker floor where the water always sat, made 2 new chainplates for the inner jib stay, made and attached 2 extra fiberglass steps that the new chainplates will sit on as well as fiberglassed both ends of the port locker where the plywood was exposed.

• He also made his own cover over the deck lockers. The things we do when it rains a lot and you need to work on the deck!

• In short, he made a lot of things this month, in case I didn't emphasize it enough.. 😆

• As for me, I switched roles and extended my contract till early January next year. This means, Alex will have a bit more time to complete the boat projects while I work a little longer to save up for our travels. I am truly grateful for the opportunity. Thank you!

• On the entertainment front, I binge-watched Are You Human Too? Another Korean TV series {of course!}.

Check out our other posts:

May 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

August 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

The gadget to hold sandpaper in place to sand narrow areas

The two new chainplates for the inner jib stays

Fiberglass step

Close up

Attached two extra fiberglass steps that the new chainplates will sit on

The cover

Thanks for reading!

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May 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• So end of last month, Alex hired a guy to spray the deck with gelcoat. We normally try to do everything ourselves, as labour cost is expensive and we normally do a better job than hired help (of course, by "we", I mean he). But since we don't own a spray gun ourselves, we didn't have much choice... check out the post to see the outcome of the job!

• Alex also worked on the locker lids. And yes, it's not top priority on the boat projects list, but since we had a bit of gelcoat left.. we didn't want it to go to waste. No waste here, no sir!

• Happy birthday to my Captain! Sorry you had to celebrate it alone. Promise we'll celebrate it soon! A Japanese feast perhaps? 😀

• On the entertainment front, Alex watched a lot of TV this month - The Shannara Chronicles (Season 1-2), The Terror (Season 1), The Orville (Season 1), The Strain (Complete series), American Horror Story (Season 1-3), The Alienist (Season 1), The Man in the High Castle (Season 1-2) and The Killjoys (Season 1-3). Makes me wonder if he's really working on the boat!? {just kidding, I'm sure he is..}. As for me, I watched more Korean series - The Package, Marry Him If You Dare and BIG.

Check out our other posts:

Spray Painting Our Deck 

Boat Locker Lids

April 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

July 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

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April 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• Alex was busy with more boat projects as usual. It doesn't seem to end, does it? But he found some time to make me a surprise gift! 💗

• This month he attached a wooden strip onto the saloon roof, where he plans to attach the new bimini windscreen. The old screen was made of soft vinyl, but always had problems with the zips, or the snaps where it connected to the roof ... or the vinyl itself getting hard in the sun & becoming less & less transparent. The plan is to make the new windscreen out of clear 5mm acrylic (perspex) ... but this will be a challenge as the windscreen needs to be able to be opened & closed (depending on the weather), and its a curved screen - trickier to do with perspex than with vinyl ... lets see how it turns out?

• Also, we're finally getting the smooth section of our deck spray painted with gelcoat. You might've noticed in some of our photos where the gelcoat had worn off so badly that the fiberglass was exposed. Check out our 'Spray Painting Our Deck' post.

• Back in Asia, I surprised my mum with tickets to Seoul for her 68th birthday! ;) It was our second mother & daughter trip, and her first time in Korea. We had 4 wonderful days - 2 of which were warm and sunny, while the other 2 were cold and rainy. Check the blog later for a short post of our trip.

• On the 29th, I attended my first Rugby Sevens in Singapore! Thank you Ennie for the invite! :) The final game between Fiji & Australia was exhilarating. 21-22 (Fiji-Aus) with less than 0:34 secs remaining, it all happened so quickly, tackle here, tackle there, run, run, run.. Fiji scores a try and wins the game! Sensational! Nothing is impossible... Nothing is over until the final whistle. 👏

• On the entertainment front, I completed two korean tv series Goblin and Flower Boy Ramen Shop, while Alex watched The Gifted (Season 1), Star Trek Discovery (Season 1), Lost in Space (Season 1), Humans (Season 1-2) and Lore (Season 1).

Check out our posts this month:

Side Project: A Present For Me!

 

March 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

May 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

>> Check it out! <<

Here's the wooden strip on the saloon roof

Getting spray painted

Changdeokgung Palace

Haha!

Final game between Fiji & Australia

Till next month. Thank you for reading! :)

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March 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• 3 years ago, on March 2nd, Raptor was hauled out in Power Boats, a boatyard in Trinidad of Trinidad & Tobago. She's been sitting at that very same spot since then. Click here to see us on google maps!

• Of course a lot has happened in the last 1,095 days (read our past posts); loads of boat projects (repairs/maintenance/upgrades) completed and some still underway. 

• The light at the end of the tunnel does seem a little closer and maybe even slightly brighter, but of course we were very hopeful to get her ship-shape several Caribbean seasons ago..

• Our blog has, as a result, been more about boat repairs than travel. Guess it's all part of our journey.. How many more months to go?

• Well, at least four more till my contract ends in August, and there's no chance of launching before that! Unless Alex finishes all the boat projects and finds some friendly neighbours in the boatyard or crew to launch? :)

• This month, Alex worked on the step at the front deck. It turned out to be the cause of a mysterious leak in the port cabins. He removed it and re-enforced it with wooden ribs and fiberglass and properly re-sealed the edges. Let's hope there'll be no more leaks.

• He also attended Donald Stollmeyer's farewell dinner. After 37 years of being the Managing Director at Power Boats, Don is finally going to set off on his own sailing adventure (later this year we're told). Very happy for him. Read his story here.

• On the entertainment front, I continued my k-drama fever with Emergency Couple and Strong Woman Do Bong Soon, while Alex watched 6 seasons of X-Files (Season 6-11)!

February 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

April 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

Before

Step removed by carefully cutting around the edge with an oscillating cutter (which operates a little like hair clippers, but with just 1 vibrating blade)

Added ribs to re-enforce the step

The sides properly sealed with more foam & epoxy, and several layers of fiberglass on the wood at the back also

The old & fragile step - not 100% sure, but suspect the water was leaking right through the step itself, via cracks in the gelcoat (the whole step flexed a lot when it was stepped on)

Re-enforced with plywood & a layer of fiberglass on either side of it

The new and very strong step ... the rib was added after laminating on the plywood to help keep its shape, as we found the step's wall was a little bowed inwards at the centre of the step - possibly due to the laminating he did, or just because it had bowed when it was thin & fragile &  adding fiberglass just fixed it in that bowed position. Either way, the rib helped to force-straighten it back up.

Re-sealed the step with epoxy bog & another 2 layers of fiberglass all around

Held down with lots of C-clamps till it set ... Alex was hoping its weight alone would hold it down, but he was wrong!

Close up of the C-clamps over long strips of wood both top & bottom

All sanded and ready to be painted

Thank you for reading! :-)

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February 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary of what we were up to this month.

• I'm still playing catch up with our posts! {two months behind} 😀. It's kinda hard to write a blog with a full time job. The last thing I feel like doing at the end of the day is.. sit in front of the computer again. So I try to work on it on weekends but it's funny how weekends fly by so quickly.. four weekends go by and {poof} it's a(nother) month!

• Chinese New Year fell on the 16th, just 2 days after Valentine's day! We bid farewell to the year of the Rooster 🐔, and welcomed the year of the Dog 🐶!

• Grateful to be home this year. One of the things I enjoy most about Chinese New Year other than the family getting together, is the cooking and eating of Chai, a vegetarian dish made with napa/chinese cabbage, beancurd, ginko nuts, black fungus, different types of mushrooms, etc. We make this every year! My grandma's recipe is the BEST! It's really delicious and very healthy too! 

• On the other side of the world, Alex has been busy with more boat projects.  

• He re-sealed the hatches in the saloon, sanded and grinded more of the bow, repaired the section where the trampoline meets the deck and worked on the hawse pipe. Scroll down to see photos below.

• On the entertainment front, while Alex was watching The X-Files (Season 1-5), I was busy watching 3rd Rock from the Sun (Season 4-6), The Heirs (Korean TV series) and Doctors (another Korean TV series). I figured, now that I'm back in Asia, I might as well jump onto the Korean drama bandwagon! 😄 

Check out our posts this month:

Re-sealing the Saloon Hatches

January 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

March 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

Re-sealed the hatches in the saloon

After sanding the 2 access holes, Alex applied epoxy bog - read our January post

Sanded, grinded and repaired the section where the trampoline meets the deck

Repairs on the hawse pipe

Mum's famous mouth-watering crispy crackling pork belly

Yee Sang/Yusheng - only available during Chinese New Year, another favourite of mine

And of course here are the ingredients for the Chai dish I love 😋

Till next month. Thank you for reading!

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January 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW

Here's a quick summary on what we were up to this month.

• Happy New Year! Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed and wonderful 2018! 🎉 {in reality this post is a couple of months late}

• It's been a busy month for us. While I have been busy juggling between my new job and sorting out some personal stuff; Alex has been busy working on the long list of boat projects and has made a lot more progress than he did last month! {yay}

• He finally replaced the cracked mixing elbow on the engine. Unfortunately, the one we got from US was not the right one, even though we checked with the salesperson prior to purchasing it. Nothing new, as a result, we purchased a couple of new hoses because the inlet on the mixing elbow did not align to the outlet on the heat exchange. Things we do to make it work. 

• Several months ago, after we re-bedded the shroud chain plates & re-attached the shrouds, we noticed, as we were tightening the shrouds, that the middle port shroud would not tension whatsoever above the spreader. For some reason, it seemed to have slipped up through the spreader clamp on the end of the spreader when we loosened the shrouds, but then got jammed & refused to slip back into place. Check out our 'Spreader Maintenance' post to see more photos!  

• Last September, Alex started the Fuel Tank Project. The one where we had to remove an entire wall in the main port cabin to gain access to it and added an inspection port to clean the sludge out. The project was put on hold for a while as he needed parts for his fuel polishing system which he finally picked up in the US last December. Take a look at some of the connectors below. Apparently it's not as easy as it looks!

• He also sanded the bow, where we made two access holes to get access to the forestay chain plate area we had to repair & reinforce in Richard's Bay, South Africa 5 years ago. The access holes were sealed up of course, but left visible... just in case we had to open them up & revisit the repair done on the wood supporting the chain plate. Many years later, the repair still looks very strong 🙏, so he finally decided it was time to seal the whole area permanently. More updates on this later.

• It's good to see the progress on Raptor. Although still far from being ready to launch.

• As for me, getting back into the the rat race after two years is rather challenging. I am trying my very best to keep my head above the water and doing my best to stay positive. If you see me frown, turn me upside down! 😆 

• Oh, and on 23rd January, after almost 3 years on the hard in PowerBoats, we had all the stands for the boat replaced (in 2 hours). The blocks of wood we were on had too much moisture (beginning to rot a little) and had lots of ants. So we got them replaced to be safe! Scroll down below to see our new stands.

Check out our posts this month:

Spreader Maintenance 

 

December 2017 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

February 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW << 

A much longer hose needed as the inlet on the mixing elbow did not align to the outlet on the heat exchanger

Yikes

2 ladders attached

The cause of many sleepless nights

Sanded - the two access holes we made in Richard's Bay, South Africa

Raptor is raised by the trailer to replace the stands

Our new stands!

Thanks for reading. Till next month!

Photo credits: Alex

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