Hi All,
We are BACK!!!!! Well, just half of the YB team…..whaaaaaaaaa!!!!
First, I really, really want to thank family and friends who sent so many emails, texts, chocolates, wine, flowers et al…..Kathy and I were overwhelmed by the love and care we received and we feel very blessed!!!!!
If you recall, Kathy was having some severe back pain starting when we returned to New Caledonia after the funeral in August. Well, it came and went but mainly came and she decided to go see an orthopedic in the USA. Well…..six weeks later she was having spinal surgery. She had a synovial cyst btween L4&&L5 right at the facet joint. The cyst was growing into the nerve canal and pressing on the various nerves….like a herniated disc but from the side!!
I won’t rant about the horrible shape American health industry is in. The docs are great and still some of the best in the world, but our health programs are now run by the insurance companies and it has only gotten worse since ACA was approved!!!! I’ll save my rant for another blog!!!!
So, because of the USA system, Kathy had surgery 2 days before Thanksgiving. This is certainly not like Panama where I was diagnosed with a hernia and had surgery the next day ….why, because the doc could, no insurance involved and 10% of the USA cost!!! This was major spinal surgery although it was done with a scope and no muscles were cut. She did stay overnight and was released the next day. It has been 10 days since the surgery and while she is not pain free yet, each day she is feeling better and making progress. The doc wanted her to stay in the USA for R&R but we decided she would do 3 weeks in USA and then fly to Australia 3 weeks after surgery. Yes, for all concerned she is flying first class….just love those flat beds:))))…and yes, she knows how to hail a porter:))))…um, this is KATHY the Princess for heaven’s sake:)))))
So….we executed Plan C….I kept our schedule and flew to Brisbane arriving on 12/2. I have worked the last 3 days getting Mystic ready to move to Sydney, a short 400nm run to the south. An Australian Selene owner, m/v Calypso has volunteered to help me. Terry will be arriving early tomorrow (Sunday) and we will set off for the Gold Coast Seaway. This is about a 40nm run through more inland waterways and it can get quite shallow so we have to time the tides. Fortunately Terry has done this before so we are in good hands!!
The weather is a little bipolar…..good up north and poor down south and then visa versa…..hmmmm. We will make a game time decision Sunday late afternoon whether to anchor and then continue on Monday am or just to continue and cross the bar Sunday afternoon. I think the Captain on site and the Admiral in command central back in Pleasanton are leaning to continue on Sunday. We will have 3-4′ headseas, 10-15 kt SE winds for the first 4-8 hours but the seas and winds are calming as they back to the NE and behind us. We then have about a 12 hour very trawler like window before the winds increase to 15-20 with some periods of 25 kts, albeit behind. The seas do build to 6’+ but again behind us. So, we will get it all for this run….again really not too bad, but certainly some rock and roll and pitching motion….joy…..but we might be able to fish on Monday….LIG:))))
If we continue on Sunday afternoon, we will be in Bobbin Head, just north of Sydney, sometime Tuesday afternoon and if we stop Sunday night then we will arrive Wed early am.
We should be staying 1-3 miles off the coast…..it seems a bit calmer closer inshore…we shall see if this is a forecast model anomaly or really true???? We should have cell phone and internet for most of the trip I hope!!! We also hopefully will take advantage of the Eastern Equatorial Current…..you know the one Nemo and the turtles rode….that should give us a nice push unless we have to slow down due to weather!!
OK….still working to get Mystic ready…..I have a huge list from the Admiral!!!
Cheers,
John
Mystic Moon
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