Bobby Murdoch | Pure Roastin!

Jings Indeed, I've just been reading the last blog I wrote in October just before I went back to Australia speaking of my plans for 2020, I did write that they were subject to change, haha! Change indeed....who would have thought the sneaky bastard Covid was hiding round the corner! So, first of all, I hope everybody is safe and well and never got bitten by the virus, as for me, I'm back in Valencia.......just! My plans were going as expected until I was back in Australia in February/March earning a few beer tokens when all this nonsense kicked off. I got stuck with Spain and Australia closing their respective borders, not allowed out of one and not allowed in to the other! Luckily for me I had some very old friends in both Melbourne and Sydney who looked after me through the lockdown, actually, and I know that this was not the case for most, I had a pretty good time, and I made the call early on that I would postpone sailing to Scotland this year so the pressure was off. Australia is still closed with the doors firmly locked for the foreseeable future, I had to write to Border Farce and ask for special permission to leave the country which thankfully they agreed to, I had a lot of flights cancelled but eventually managed to get a flight to Amsterdam, then to Valencia via Zurich, as I came in a week before the lockdown was finished I had to quarantine on the boat for a week, we are in the "Nueva Normalidad" (new normal) here in Spain now which means social distancing and masks if that's not possible, borders are pretty much open now unless your from the US, Russia or Brazil, and from the 6th of July all the beaches will be full of all the crazies from the UK!

Mask Life back in Spain with Patsy and Conor
I have been making a few things to keep me busy, firstly and most importantly..

This is my wee man Ari, who was born on the 27th of April, far out eh! To be honest, the production process for Ari was started way before the lockdown!! Ha-ha!

Proud Dad

My other wee human is stoked to have a wee brother
Secondly, the Australian Government said we should learn a new skill whilst on lockdown so I learned to make............

I called this one Ari's Virus Pale Ale, and without blowing smoke up my own arse, it was pretty feckin good!
I had to swap sailing for running, as my mate Simone is a tremendous cook so it was a battle to not finish lockdown as a massive fatty!

Luckily, during most of the lockdown I was staying in Point Cook which is on the outskirts of Melbourne so it was still possible to get out in Nature, this is where I went every morning to work off the previous nights dinner.
So now I'm back in Valencia, sitting at the repair dock in the shipyard in the Marina

After much palaver, the rubbing strake is being repaired and should be finished by tomorrow, I had a few gremlins on my return that have mostly been sorted out, fridge doesn't want to work again, nae gas and a blockage in the system somewhere, waiting for the fridge guy to come but after the previous saga I have had with the fridge, it's a nice to have not must have, if he doesn't come by the weekend I'm sailing without one, after all the two staples on the boat are porridge and rum, neither of which need to be chilled!
So the plans are to foxtrot Oscar on Tuesday next week and head down the Spanish coast towards Gibraltar, I'm booked to come out of the water for the winter in Lagos on the Algarve on the first of September so I have some time, I really need to get out of the European union for a few days so I can start the clock a gain on a temporary import permit for the boat, so to that end would like to pop over to Tangier after transiting the Gibraltar straits, but their borders are still closed at the moment so we shall see, if not I'll plead Covid to the Portuguese customs and ask for an extension.
So all in all, so far so good, its been really interesting watching people's behaviour during this lockdown, its true what people say, these things bring out the best and the worst of people, so to all those people who are putting there shoulder to the wheel during this crisis, all the health workers, front line workers, normal folks going that extra mile to help others (including my Maw) even governments (well, most of them) and of course, Captain Tom............ well done! What an effort!
To all the whingers, armchair politicians and toilet roll hoarders, pull your collective heads out of your arses! You don't hear Captain Tom whinging!!
And to end, a massive thanks to the folks who looked after me during my time as a covid refugee, Im Melbourne, Matt, Simone, Jemima and Noah, and in Sydney, Luke, Catherine, Ruby and Edward....I owe ya!!
Stay safe folks, I'll see you in Gibraltar................