Home at Last!

We spent last night at Oak Harbor and were fortunate to find a reciprocal slip, right next to our friends Wally & Linda aboard their boat, Hobbit. They too are heading home today. We are both feeling a little sad to be going to our land home after some really nice times out on the water, meeting new people and seeing new places. My unexpected surgery and our subsequent stay in Victoria kept us from doing the exploring we really wanted to do. I can already see Al trying to figure out when he can get me out on our next boating adventure. I'll be ready to go.

Another beautiful day in the San Juans

We will leave Friday Harbor this morning and head towards home,
probably stopping at Oak Harbor. Al has come down with a cold, poor
thing. He wants to be so strong for me. I am feeling better each day.

Tranquil Friday Harbor

Arrived about noon at Friday Harbor and snagged a reciprocal slip.
Horray! Today's savings $40. Weather is perfect and the view can't be
beat. We came from our boat by dinghy to shore as it is a long walk on
the docks.

I am feeling fabulous today with no further need for Tylenol. It only
hurts when I bend over so Al helps tie shoes, etc. Hard to believe it
is just 6 days since my surgery.

Orcas! Lots and lots of Orcas!

How fun! We were on our way the short 7 mile trip from Roche Harbor to our destination for the night at Deer Harbor. Al was looking off to his right and mentioned that there sure were a lot of boats up that way. He is such a curious guy so was looking with his binoculars to see if anything interesting was going on and sure enough, he spotted them. Orcas! Only one other time in all our travels have we been fortunate enough to see any of these beautiful whales.

Making a course correction, we headed over to what we now recognized was a bevy of whale watching boats, a sure sign of whale activity. The whales were all around us. There were so many of them, probably 10 or more. They tended to run in groups of 2 or 3 whales, regularly going up and down in the water, occasionally spyhopping and occasionally jumping out of the water and crashing back in. We took photos, watched with binoculars and without, and followed them north in Spieden Channel for about 45 minutes. It was great fun.

There were 7 whale watching boats there and about as many pleasure boats. We also spotted a Coast Guard boat and a NOAA boat. The NOAA boat stayed closer than any others and had a guy on the bow with a long handled net. What could that be for, you wonder? I believe I've read that they scoop the whale poop and study it to learn about their diet and their health. They were doing a lot of scooping.

We arrived safely at Deer Harbor Marina and are settled for the night. We have great bbx internet connections here.

Back in the USA!

It was a great trip across Haro Strait this morning from Victoria to Roche Harbor to check in for Customs. It feels great to be back in the States. We can turn our cell phones on again! We mostly kept them off in Canada as it is soooooo expensive to use them there on our US plan.

We will stay at Deer Harbor tonight, one of our favorite spots in the San Juan Islands. It is a short 7 miles from Roche Harbor, so no big deal.

Royal Victorian Yacht Club - A Port in any Storm

We left our secure berth at CFSA (Canadian Forces Sailing Association) on the west side of Victoria this morning around 10am. We cruised slowly past the beautiful Fisgard Lighthouse (1st picture) on one side and the Canadian Esquimalt Navy Base on the other (2nd picture). Check out those guns. It was a pleasant cruise past Victoria Harbor and on around to the east side of Victoria, Oak Harbor.

We cruised into Oak Harbor Marina to check it out. They don't appear to have any guest moorage but ask guests to radio the office for vacant slip assignments. We cruised on over to the Royal Victorian Yacht Club, also in Oak Harbor. There was room at the reciprocal dock so we slip in and tied up. By then it was pouring down rain and what had been a sunny day had badly deteriorated. It was a downright deluge and we were glad to be tied up to a dock with power where we could get warm.

The folks here at RVYC are very hospitable and we stopped into the very nice clubhouse for lunch in the Chartroom. We met a nice couple and ended up lunching with them. Buy by then I was getting very tired and so we went back to the boat for a rest.

Unfortunately the RVYC free wifi does not reach our boat so we are sitting downstairs in the Yacht Club in The Bilge, what looks like a casual recreation room for kids sailing clubs. Shortly we'll go back up to The Chartroom for supper.

Tomorrow we plan the short trip to Roche Harbor for customs, then to Deer Harbor for the night. We still have a small gift certificate to use up there and we love Deer Harbor. We even stayed at a B&B there on our honeymoon!

Gall Bladder-less in Victoria - OUCH!

Our first day here in Victoria was perfect and we had a great time. The next 5 days were a nightmare and I am still recovering.

I woke in the night Wednesday with a pain in my chest which seemed to move around a bit but did not get better. So on Thursday morning we went to a walk-in clinic ($90). The doctor listened to me and just said I should go to the hospital in an ambulance. So we did go to Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria ($715). The Emergency Room is a bit shocking. Dozens of people waiting in chairs with various issues; no privacy at all and cleanliness not what we would expect, especially "washrooms" which are always a single uni-sex room (so one at a time). Their system is designed to maximize the numbers of people who can be seen for the least cost with no regard to these subsidiary issues. During the 4 hours I waited I heard doctors discussing many different issues with patients near me. Their only goal is to find a way to send you home.

While I was in the emergency room Al had to go back downtown to move the boat as they needed the space for their upcoming Wooden Boat Festival. Fortunately he chose to move it to a very nice spot where we could get free moorage (for 2 days) and very cheap beyond that, the Canadian Forces Sailing Association. It was a little farther away but he still managed to do all that by himself and get back to the hospital just as I was leaving.

Well, they finally did a few tests and declared my heart in fine shape and sent me away. They made no inquiry into any other potential causes for the pains. So we went back to the boat and I actually had not too bad an evening, though the pain had started to shift towards my stomach and abdomen. By Friday morning I was in extreme pain in my abdomen and suffered with it most of the day, thinking it would go away; and also thinking the last thing I wanted to do was go back to that hospital. But by 8pm I could take it no more and off we went to the hospital (another $715) by taxi. The pain was so severe that I had been throwing up and not eating, even while waiting another 4+ hours to be seen in the Emergency Room. Finally they determined that I should stay overnight for observation in the Emergency Room, on a gurney in the hallway, in my own clothes (there is no privacy). They gave me Morphine which at least helped with the pain and I could get a few winks of sleep.

In the morning they asked if I was better or did I want a CT scan. They do not have technicians on at night so it is just too bad, if you need it you wait. So I did get the CT scan finally (duh! - the morphine was barely touching the pain) which showed an issue with my gall bladder. At that point they called a surgeon and I was lucky that one of their best senior surgeons was on call. Then they sent me for an ultrasound shortly after; and from there I went into surgery prep around 2pm. Luck was on my side at that point, and good decisions by this surgeon, who delayed other surgeries to take care of mine. Their surgery area is in a brand new part of the building and actually was very modern. The doctor and surgery team were great. They said it should take 30-45 minutes. It took 90 minutes. Apparently it was REALLY bad, with a really BIG gall stone inside, the 2nd biggest he has seen in his 19 years of surgery. He was able to do it by laporoscopy with 4 cuts, the belly button one being the biggest, to remove the stone. This was all on Saturday.

I went to the recovery room which was also very modern. A nurse there sat next to me and attended only to me. Al got to come and see me there after a while, then he had to go back to the boat to take care of it and the dog. By around 7:30pm I was taken to a 4 person ward, sharing the room with 1 other person, a man. This is the old part of the hospital and it was not great. No privacy. The nurses are very nice but don't help you much. Also they let you walk around on your own, even when leaving the hospital. I'm sure the nurses are overworked. The pain during recovery can be bad, but I am getting better. I was glad he let me go home today, though he said I could stay another day if I wanted to. He gave us his email address and phone number in case I have any problems.

I slept ok on the couch last night. I thought getting up and down off our bed could be painful. Today I've done some walking and definitely feel I am making good progress. The shocking part is how far this type of thing takes you down. I feel totally out of shape and can not walk far without feeling out of breath and tired. Prior to this I could walk several miles without being too tired. I much be careful not to overdo it.

Beautiful Victoria

Water in the feared Juan de Fuca was calm during our 3 hour crossing
this morning. It was exciting to cruise into Victoria's inner harbor in
our own boat, docking right in front of the Empress Hotel on one side
and the Parliament Building on the other.

We took a Pedicab to Fisherman's Wharf for fish and chips lunch. Then
took a Harbor Ferry back to the Empress dock. We walked around
downtown and to the Museum where we bought tickets to the 8pm showing
of Star Trek in the IMAX Theater. Awesome! Prior to the movie we had
dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory located in the Crystal Gardens
structure.

Photo is of the Parliament Building beautifully lit at night; view from our boat.

Sippin' Lattes in Port Angeles

We arrived in Port Angeles Boat Haven yesterday around noon. The 36
mile trip from Port Townsend was really rocky with 2-4 ft seas. After
flying off the top of a few of those waves we began to wonder if we
should duck into Sequim. Moving closer to shore proved a good choice
and we continued on to Port Angeles.
It is really windy here in the afternoon. I bicycled about 1.5 miles
to Safeway for provisions. I need the exercise. Wii Fit says I have
lost some weight.
We will relax here today, exploring the town by bike. Tomorrow morning
early we will head out across the 18 miles of open water, the Juan de
Fuca, to Victoria.