Rain, Rain, and More Rain

Where Next?
Bob Williams
Fri 19 Sep 2014 17:12

Ashore at Raibow Boat Yard, Seward
Weather: rain and cool

The last several days have been nothing but rain, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, and, very occasionally, sometimes dry. Consequently work has progressed slowly. Now that the holes below the water line are closed up I have shifted my attention to a spot of rust up on the bow where a wire for the pulpit navigation lights passes through a hole in the gunwale. The hole is sealed but clearly leaks, otherwise there would not be a concentration of rust in this area. I have cut it out and welded up the plate on the outside hull, now I need to paint the inside and then weld up the hole in the toe rail. Being an outside job and up on deck the rain is a bit more of a hindrance than when I was working under the hull. I have rigged an awning over the spinnaker pole which helps a lot but when the rain is very heavy is insufficient to keep the work area dry. I am making progress as best I can.

Yesterday afternoon I spent much of it in the emergency department of the hospital. I got a speck of what I assumed was a bit of metal in my eye a few days back. I had flushed my eye out and used some eye drops but the irritation persisted and yesterday morning I inspected my eye with the aid of a mirror, torch, and magnifying glass. The speck was clearly visible in the lower right cornea of my right eye. My new friend, John, kindly took me to first an optometrist who works out of a dental clinic, but it turned out that he only comes into town from Anchorage once a month. Then we went to a family medical centre but were told that the doctor's schedules were double booked, so we reluctantly headed for the hospital. John's advice was that the emergency departments in US hospitals tend to be ridiculously expensive, hence it was our last call. Despite this misgiving I was well looked after and the doctor soon had the offending foreign object removed and my eyes given an overall inspection. I am pleased to say that after a night's sleep the eye is much improved. I do not know how much the treatment is going to cost yet as the nurse told me that it takes several days for the billing department to catch up, she suggested that I come back in three to four days. While the facilities and the treatment were excellent, such a long delay on the administrative side hardly sounds like an efficient well oiled machine. I will be interested to see what the final bill comes to.

The rain is easing. I had best get back to it.

All is well.