Is it difficult to get dental care when everything is closed because of the epidemic? How long do you have to wait and, most importantly, how much does emergency dentistry cost? Also: Australia’s emergence from quarantine, crew affairs, and the expedition’s plans.
Don’t these unusual mini-rocks in the Pinnacles Desert, Western Australia, look remarkably like teeth sticking out of the ground?—the teeth of some unknown monster buried beneath the sands of time :).
That is almost what this story will be about.
Jaws
The first mate’s jaw had been aching for a long time, since we were still out in the ocean. We had hoped to hold out until our trip to Russia, where, for a reasonable amount of money, we could get the entire crew’s teeth treated wholesale.
But one night during quarantine, it became clear that we would have to forget not only about flying to Russia, but also about getting dental treatment at affordable prices.
Feeling miserable, I went for a bike ride, only to realise halfway down the road that I needed emergency dental care right now.
I checked a local forum, where people wrote that they had struggled to find dental care while the city of Perth was in lockdown. My spirits sank. I googled “emergency dentist Fremantle” in English. Several websites popped up straight away. My tooth was aching, I was feeling sorry for myself, and I was afraid that if they started asking me over the phone, in rapid-fire Australian English, about the nature of the pain and exactly where it was located, I would be too muddled by that very location to answer properly. Sergei, the husband of our friend Yulia, covered my flank. He made the necessary call. The first clinic said they could only book me in for the next day, but the second gave me an appointment in the middle of the day.
I cycled home along these deserted streets, and then went to the dentist with my friend and husband. I couldn’t bring myself to photograph the clinic, sorry.
“And There Was Even One Woman Dental Technician”
Although, of course, the technician was a man. Wearing a mask. In fact, everything at the clinic was as it should be: the receptionist immediately put on a mask and offered one to Andrei as well (he saved it afterwards, just in case—so that our family would have at least one mask in these extraordinary times). There were bottles of hand sanitiser on the tables, with requests to sanitise your hands. The chairs were three metres apart, and only one treatment room was open.
They patched the hole in the side, opened the tooth from the top, and packed it with medication to last four months. For all that, plus an X-ray, they charged us 440 local dollars (20,570 roubles). We shed a tear.
But as the saying goes, toothache is no kindly auntie, and “when your life depends on it, you’ll bend yourself into all sorts of positions.” In four months’ time, the treatment will have to be completed, once more than emergency medicine is available. That’s what the doctor said. Considering Russian dental care is not on the cards for us, we’re saving up for the next visit :).
And here is another photograph of the town of Fremantle, where we are berthed, at the height of quarantine:
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News from Our Expedition
We are working away at our laptops without a moment’s rest. We are desperately short of computers: there are only two for two workers and two schoolgirls, and they take turns playing up. We are trying to repair the third one, which we bought back when Nastya was studying through the online school InternetUrok.ru. Back then, unlike a MacBook, one fall was enough for an ordinary laptop to stop seeing the light of day.
Repairs to the boat are moving forward in short bursts. Not all spare parts can be bought or delivered. While we wait for changes to the border-crossing rules, we are hesitant to rip the teak off the deck, as we ponder the consequences. We removed, repaired, and reinstalled the forestay, and stitched up the sail. The captain inspected the pumps and replaced the broken shrouds. He is cutting something out of marine plywood; the whole cockpit is covered in yellowish dust ). It is still impossible to obtain portholes for the aft cabin. We are thinking about how to stop them leaking.
We are working on reviving our YouTube channel and gradually modifying the website. We try to livestream every week on our
yotube.com / c / travelyfamily
. Yesterday evening, Sunday, we streamed about Plans A, B, C and... Z. It will remain available for almost another 24 hours. Catch it while you can! Livestreams are available for just over 24 hours. After that, they will only be accessible to channel sponsors.
Yesterday we released a new film about the Patagonian fjords. Go and watch it now! The bigger your gadget’s screen, the more beautiful it will look :). Lady Mary gets frozen into the ice in the Patagonian fjords. Set aside 24 minutes and...
Our Visa Expires in 11 Days
Where are we to go? According to plan, we should now have been roaming the vastness of the Universe somewhere above the clouds, travelling from the southern winter to the Siberian summer.
Today’s rumours are as follows:
Australia
is closed to international tourism until the New Year.
The information about Russia is contradictory: my Facebook feed is up in arms about the borders being closed until the New Year (the timeframe is the same, but the difference between the reactions of the Australian and Russian online communities is colossal). Both of these points make our summer visit home impossible. Even though, from another quarter, the date of 15 July is being mentioned...
New Zealand is not issuing visas. On the other hand, it is opening a corridor with Australia for quarantine-free tourism, code-named the “Tasman Tunnel.”
The tunnel applies only to citizens of the countries in question. We don’t qualify.
.
They say Fiji will open soon.
New Caledonia is already accepting yachts for quarantine at anchor. Apparently, if you act quickly as soon as you arrive, you can obtain an “emergency visa for exceptional circumstances.”
Asia is closed. So Plan B—to reach Malaysia and fly out from there—has gone down the drain, given that it is unclear whether we would be able to return to the boat, and the fact that our route does, after all, run east through the
Southern Ocean
. Sailing from Thailand to
Tahiti
would mean going dead against the wind.
So our emergency plan is this: obtain a special event visa, with COVID being the event. Australia has come up with these, and apparently they are even issued free of charge. This cunning visa will allow the crew to remain in Australia legally.
Clutching the document tightly in our fist, we are considering setting off on a mini-circumnavigation of Australia until the situation becomes clearer and we are set free :).
Rock Wave
Tell us what you know about the borders in our part of the world. And how are things with you? What do you expect from this zombie apocalypse?
Dear friends, enormous thanks to everyone supporting our expedition through
PayPal
and
YandexMoney
. You help us keep moving and do more! You became part of our team a long time ago. And we’re happy to have you!
Hugs!