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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Re-sealing the Saloon Hatches

Here are some photos when Alex re-sealed the hatches in the saloon. 

The hatch removed (view from inside)

The hatch removed (view from outside)

Balsa core

About a centimeter of balse core removed all around

Plastic container taped to the ceiling to catch the balsa core

Sanded and filled the cavity with epoxy bog - to prevent water from leaking into the balsa core
He also epoxied a 3mm PVC board so that the hatch is raised and thus less likely for water to seep in

A close up of epoxy bog fill & PVC board

All sanded and ready for sikaflex

Old sikaflex cleaned from the hatch

The hatch is sikaflexed in

All done!

Note: Alex re-sealed the hatch on the port side in February and the one on the starboard side in May! Bit by bit.. we'll get there! 😎

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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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Spreader Maintenance

If you read our previous posts, you might be aware that after we resealed our shroud chain plates & replaced all the bolts securing them, the middle shroud on the port side was no longer taut above the spreader. It appeared to be stuck in the the spreader clamp on the end of the spreader. Alex goes up to investigate and do some maintenance work.

Alex up on the mast

Investigating..

His idea to attach 2 ladders together to reach the spreader

Does not look very secure to me

Look at the base! What do you think?

A rope tied around the shrouds to keep them from slipping off the end of the spreader

A close up of the spreader clamp which was removed for cleaning

The top spreader (before cleaning)
I feel slightly nauseous just looking at the photo. It's a good thing Alex has no fear of heights

Before and After photos of the spreader end

The top spreader (after cleaning)

Good work! Which do you think is scarier, working at this height over land or water?

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December 2017 | MONTH IN REVIEW

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

• Alex flew back to Trinidad on 7th December via New York where he picked up more stuff for the boat.

• Not much to report on the progress of our boat projects though, as he spent the month recovering from a bad cough & cold. He also spent a lot of time re-arranging the tools.. {cleaning up the mess or so he says..} 😀

• This Christmas was extra special because I got to spend it with my family.  💗

• Happy one year anniversary to sailraptor.blogspot.com! ;) Can't believe it's been a year since we started this blog; it's definitely come a long way {if I do say so myself}, with over 120 published posts and forty more in draft. Will get it up-to-date someday. 😅

• It takes a lot of effort to maintain a blog but very fulfilling. Sorry for being a little slow with the posts. Been busy adapting back to life in the rat race.

• Just want to say thank you for your support by following our blog, reading our posts and/or shopping through our links. Every little bit means a lot to us. Thank you so very much.

• It's New Years Eve and it's been raining all day and night here in Singapore. Here's wishing all a happy & sunny New Year! 

Check out our posts this month:

TV | Movie Guide 2017

 

November 2017 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

January 2018 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

A typical cruisers travel bag - no clothes, just boat stuff

Most importantly, chocolates the size of his backpack!

Got Alex to send me some photos of New York

Christmas lights

"Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus right down Santa Claus Lane"

His breakfast!?! :O

Till next month!

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TV | Movie Guide 2017

We've been posting our monthly entertainment in our Month in Review posts. Here's the consolidated list of movies and TV series we watched in 2017! :)

January

11.22.63 (Season 1)
The OA (Season 1 & 2)
Orphan Black (Season 4)

February

Fargo (Season 1)
Jericho (Season 1)

March

Black Sails (Season 1)
Jericho (Season 2)
Taboo (Season 1)
Moana 💓 (2016)

April

13 Reasons Why (Season 1)

Fargo (Season 2)

The Expanse (Season 1)

The Last Kingdom (Season 1 & 2)

True Blood (Season 1-7)

May

Black Sails (Season 2)

Friends (Season 4-6)

Arrested Development (Season 1-4) <- wouldn't watch this again

June

Friends (Season 7-10)
Legion (Season 1)
American Gods (Season 1)
Wonder Woman (2017)
The Great Wall (2016)
The Lost City of Z (2016)

July
Breaking Bad (Season 1-3)
Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 1 & 2)
The Mummy (2017)
Okja - Korean (2017)
Iron Fist (Season 1) <- not good

August
Breaking Bad (Season 4-5)
Better Call Saul (Season 1-3) <- prequel to Breaking Bad
Guardians of The Galaxy 2 (2017)
Into the Badlands (Season 1 & 2)
Vikings (Season 1-4)
The Defenders (Season 1)
Daredevil (Season 1 & 2)
Orphan Black (Season 5)
Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 3 & 4)

September
Everybody Loves Raymond (Season 5 & 6)
Game Of Thrones (Season 7)
Dark Matter (Season 3)
Killjoys (Season 3)
Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017)
The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Lieutenant Ottoman (2016)
Miss Peregrin and Peculiar Children (2016)
Lion (2016)
Arrow (Season 5)
The Flash (Season 3)
Supergirl (Season 1 & 2) 

October
No details - home for holidays

November
Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
Justice League (2017)

December
I didn't have time to watch any, but I believe Alex was busy watching his favorite genre.. horror TV series. Most likely.. The Walking Dead 😀


What did you watch in 2017? We'd love to know what was your favourite movie or TV series this year. Any recommendations?

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November 2017 | MONTH IN REVIEW

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

• As some of you may already know I flew back to Malaysia to visit my family last month while Alex flew in to join me on the 10th of this month.

• The plan was to fly back to Trinidad in December, complete our long list of boat projects and hopefully set sail again by end January 2018. 

• Of course, things never go as planned... a couple of days in of my arrival back home, I had an opportunity to work again in my former company! (a contract role) :D

• Needless to say, I was a little conflicted at first, the thought of having to miss out on yet another season in the Caribbean was a little woeful (have not sailed since we arrived in 2015 - miss visiting new places, not so much the sailing/repairs 😀). I can't help but wonder if the universe is persistently trying to tell me something.

• You see, we arrived in Trinidad late February 2015, what was meant to be a quick haul out to re-anti foul our hulls (and some minor repairs & maintenance), turned out to be a much longer stay after Alex injured his back while lifting our 50kg outboard engine from the ground to the transom at 1 m high.

• 2 months later with his back still out, we decided to return home so that he could fully recover. We were very fortunate to find work and both ended up working back in Singapore and Australia respectively for 6 months.

• Due to some unforeseen circumstances, our return to Trinidad in December 2015 was delayed by another 9 months. Thus missing another season in 2016.

• We finally returned to Trinidad late September last year in hopes of completing our list of boat projects and sail the Caribbean in 2017. Unfortunately, the list of boat projects only seemed to grow and everything took a lot longer than expected. Read our past posts.

• We missed the sailing season again in 2017, as we spent a whole year (2 visa extensions & a visa run) working on the boat and we still have much to do!

• Sorry I digress.

• No prize for guessing I took the job! ;) I'm utterly grateful for this opportunity. Thank you! Thank you! (to my boss and colleagues, please be patient with me as I'm a little rusty!) 

• I guess I'll see you (the Caribbean) in 2019, maybe?

October 2017 | MONTH IN REVIEW >>

December 2017 | MONTH IN REVIEW <<

 

Gardens By The Bay

Marina Bay Sands

Did you know? The orchid is the national flower of Singapore

Alex's favorite Japanese joint in Singapore

Sushi Tei at Vivocity, Singapore

Gyuniku Roll

One of my favorites ;9 Sliced Pork Rice

Till next month! :)

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