Two bits of news since the last report - one concerning Hygeia and one concerning the patient.

Hygeia first. (And why not)
The great news is that Hygeia is back where she belongs, on the water. We've had an exceptionally frustrating time with endless delays to the launching date. Nobody's fault really, as the poor weather prevented the painters completing the spraying of the new water-line. They finally completed the work on Monday, when I noticed a heavy leak of oi from the bow-thruster, and it turned out there had been extensive corrosion n the propeller housing. It proved to be impossible to get another one from Turkey, and Amsterdam, where they are made sad it would be a minimum of 5 days delivery. So another five day wait for launching. Despair. But at that moment the man who was fabricating our new bathing platform for the transom said he had a lathe, and if he had the correct material in his workshop, he would turn one for me. I was astonished, as the housing is a very complex fitting which has to accommodate the drive shaft, a bearing and an oil seal. But the next morning he turned up with the shiny new part, which fitted perfectly, and our bow thruster is fully functional again.

So at 6 pm yesterday afternoon, the old girl was put back in the water, the engine started first touch, and we are back in Port Gocek Marina, and very much happier for being so. We now have to tackle the not inconsiderable job of getting her ship-shape again. Or rather poor Mie does, as I’m not really up to doing much yet.

So what about the patient.
Since the accident I've had persistent severe pain in my upper back, and I felt it likely I had broken something. (They hadn’t taken any X-rays of the area when I was admitted). In addition, I've developed a wound infection, so we went back to the hospital yesterday. The spinal X-rays they eventually took confirmed my fears, and showed compression fractures of T3 and T5. I’m really upset, because that may be enough to make me slightly shorter, and after all these years I might end up shorter than Peter B-S. What a terrible thought.

Our plans for the immediate future depend on how well I feel - we are hopeful we can continue, as we can day-sail most of the way to the Lonan and Corfu. Anyway, I seem to have been out of action so much recently that Mie has become highly competent at sailing the boat on her own.

If all goes well we'll leave Gocek on Sunday, spend the night down at wall Bay, and set off for Rhodes on Monday.

Watch this space.

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