The week in Antigua came and went like a whirlwind in the blink of an eye. We arrived last Friday and anchored in Falmouth harbor. During quarantine, I was aloft with the rest of the ship doing harbor stows on the sails when the arrival of our skiff brought a very familiar person. Looking down, all I saw was a head of silver followed by the flash of the brightest smile I’ve seen in a while. Without boring you with all the gooey details, I instantly lost all concentration on whatever task I was doing (something about putting a gasket on the upper topsail) and quickly ran down the ratlines for a long awaited reunion. It was so great to not only see a familiar face, but for it to be Frank! He managed to hop ... read more

March 8, 2011 Tuesday night, half way between luderitz and st. Helena (1300 miles between, about 670 there) So for recap: Feb 10th – arrived cape town Feb 11th – moved on board Feb 23rd – left cape town for luderitz, 8-12 watch Foggy, cold, damp passage Feb 27th – arrived to luderitz in fog 2 days off in luderitz, Worked a day March 3rd – left for st. Helena March 5th – traded time March 6th – dogged watches to change from 8-12 watch to 12-4 watch I am writing this entry en route to St. Helena, the island where Napoleon was exiled. I have learned that there is no airport there making the only way to/from is via ship. I am steadily getting acclimated to life on board. We work 4 hours on and ... read more

Today was our full day in Hanoi. Slept in til 9, I think. I headed down stairs of the new Hanoi Backpacker's hostel for the complimentary bread and jam breakfast with instant coffee/tea. Kim was my first sight as I exited the stairs and greeted her with a morning hug from behind. Then, one by one we convened around the breakfast picnic table as the intermittent morning chatter picked up. Our first order of business is to choose a Halong Bay tour. After much deliberation and pouring over details, we narrowed the tour down to 2 tours: a luxury one thru another tour company or a booze cruise thru the hostel. Alex was at the same time, thankfully, writing the 2 choices on paper to randomly pick. We picked the booze cruise – so it’s time ... read more

Sat Jan 22, 2011 very early On a tour bus in Hue right now for a DMZ tour. Margot and I arrived in Hue last night after a 3 hr bus ride. It was nice to see some of the country side. It's very wet, misty, rainy - like there has been a permanent gray soft focus lense cast over everything (it's really been mostly like that since we've arrived in Da Nang). Everyone still motorbiking around - just in various colored ponchos. Lots of rice paddy fields,too - some coming right up to heir very tiny, moldy-soaked house or more like shack/hut with clothes always hung out on lines to "dry". I think perhaps I'ave adjusted to the increased moisture/always feeling wet or rather never feeling dry. How dirty everything seemed at first is seeming ... read more

Hello fellow blog-followers! Margot and I had a very successful morning! After observing a total knee surgery yesterday. We were able to teach/commence acute PT on 2 patients after their total knees today - Margot really saved the day as she put her expertise to work in working with the patients and educating the therapists on acute orthopedic PT therapeutic techniques. This is the first (to our knowledge) that the PT department has seen or been exposed to acute PT care so soon and functional after a total knee replacement and the patients did really well. Then, we were smart enough to run up to the surgery floor and catch the ortho surgeon and the american ortho surgeons between surguries to give them updates and recommendations to clarify the orders that are generated for the PT ... read more