Voyage 2022: Chapter 1

8 Feb 2022, The Rest of the Visit, 26 45.546 N/ 077 19.8 W

Our backyard view of Settlement Harbour is typical of the beauty of this place. It is a bit unusual to see a sailboat anchored in the bay as it is quite shallow. I bet they did that just for us. However, it is a great place to dinghy from either of the sounds. Our front porch is on the main street, called Parliament St. It is the main road to many of the good things that make New Plymouth the wonderful place it is. Early on, the roses bid us welcome as they peeked over the porch. They wouldn't stop blooming. There was another rose bush that was green but nothing else. One day Ann said, "look, we have a bud! Think it will bloom before we leave?" I saidi, "sure". We had a great time on the front porch with our roses while chatting with the town folks and cruising friends as they went on with their lives. One of our favorite places is the New Plymouth Cafe and Liquor Store, which is just a block from home. I will turn out that this will be the only place Miss Ann could walk to, and sadly only once. The cafe serves breakfast and lunch 6 days a week and sells spirits, wine and beer from 0900-1700 most days. The Admiral had her favorite Liquor Store breakfast, Chicken Souse. Though I enjoyed it immensely, Ann thought it was too spicy and tasted differently. I worried about that; don't know why. On one of our early walks, we noticed an ambulance at the GTC Clinic. We knew the island had an ambulance, but didn't know the details. We later learned that it was the son of a local friend of ours that was having heart issues. The patient was carried via ambulance, to the BOLO, to the 'mainland', to Marsh Harbour, to the Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau. Later learned that he would be OK.

Our Canadian cruising buddies came by to visit many times. In the early times, we would take our golf card to visit both the White Sound and Black Sound areas. At first, Ann enjoyed her golf cart trips as she could see everything. But slowly, her fatigue kept her from leaving the Cottage. But her friends came to visit her time after time. At the three-week time, Ann rarely left the Cottage and her friends saw less of her. Ann told me to explore the island and give everybody her love. So Bob went off each day to walk the Loyalist Rd. to enjoy the views and people of GTC. On Thursdays, we go and greet the crew and clients of MV Legacy ('Mailboat') as they unloaded the weekly cargo. Ann was participating for two weeks but I had to represent her afterwards. One of our last golf card trips together was to Gilliam Bay, where we looked at the beautiful coastline and Atlantic views. Before Dorian, the homes and cottages along the coast were everywhere along the crescent coast. Now, it was a mix of restored, rebuilt, and yet to be rebuilt all that remained. Still, the beach was pristine. Ann was pleased.

These pictures were taken without the company of Admiral Ann. She appeared to be OK but was too weak to travel much. She was a delight when she was awake but I was getting more concerned. I wrote to her oncologist (Dr. S.) with my concern of a slight fever and slightly more variable Ox. We asked the Dr. if we could use an antibiotic to see if that would help. He said that that is not his treatment, but the antibiotic should not hurt. That would be the last we ever heard from Dr. S. I was worried more now. The first picture was a sunrise over the eastern side of Black Sound; the next from the Hill looking down on New Plymouth; A reverse osmosis plant on the edge of Government dock; MV Spice, one of the few vessels that survived Dorian and on a mooring (thumbs to Rob and Daniele); several pictures of a significant blow around New Plymouth; SV Modaki.

Julie Farrington was with our family this year and the years before. She is the mother of Mikey, who was our Marina Manager in years past. She was Ann's guardian angel and my helper through our misery. I'll see her next season and thank her over and over again. We met Julie Smith at the Government Dock several years ago. We learned to be a help to predict when the Mailboat (Legacy) was to arrive. (In 2022, we still help). In the new times, she is a blessing! She is a charter member of my MV Legacy Club. Matthew Lowe approached us within two weeks on our first time we made landfall at GTC. He has been our friend ever since. He was very supportive of us during the sad days. He is a member of our MV Legacy Club. Craig Russell was the major of Piggyville on Noname Cay. He orchestrated the protection of the feral pigs by collecting food and water and delivering them to Noname. He now assists in the feeding of the feral "Dump Cats" at the Cay's dump and recycle site. His main job is at the Abaco Yacht Services, where he assists cruisers in getting the boats in shape. Caroline and Brian own Sundowners, the local bar and eatery that caters to everybody. We greet them by asking "What day is it?". At the beginning of each season, we have to remind them that it is "Pizza Wednesday". They go out of their way to help the local and cruiser communities. As important, they actively support Every Child Counts (ECC), an Abaconian children support organization. Also, it's a nice place to see awesome sunsets over the Sea of Abaco. Who is this handsome couple? This was our last voluntary golf cart trip and it was for a nice and peaceful trip to Green Turtle Club for breakfast. She loved the meal but the 200' walk nearly killed her. I am seriously worried if we need to cut this trip short. Her spirits remain high for she is in Green Turtle Cay with friends. Time to thank all her friends in Green Turtle for all the support and love you have shown her now and in the years past; and you know who you are. Bless you!

Ill winds are blowing here in GTC. It's early February, and Miss Ann is beginning to fail; her blood sugar is going up and her Ox is going down. On the third day, it is becoming a real concern. On that afternoon, Bob goes to the clinic in a near panic. They ask if she can get to the clinic. He tells them that "I'll get her". They give her oxygen, run a Covid test which is positive (which we will find out in ILM is wrong!!!). The clinic says that she needs to go to Nassau, Now! The Doctor's Hospital refuses to take her. Princess Margaret (Government) hospital will take her in the near term. So we hopped on our golf cart (with the nurse), and headed for the ferry dock. We took the ferry to Treasure Cay airport, they bubble wrapped her because of Covid, and prepared her for her trip to Nassau. And off she went into the dusk. We (the cat and I) now had to pack four+ weeks of 'unpackness'. While we were packing, Chris and Christina were fighting to get her to Wilmington. We coordinated through the night and they made it happen. Early the next morning, Ann left PM Hospital and was medivac-ed to Wilmington, NC where Chris was waiting for her to arrive in ILM. Bottom line, she was admitted to NHRMC at 0900 on 9 February. Bob, again with the help of Chris, arrived at the hospital the following morning. Ill winds will soon be blowing in NC!

18 Feb 2022, Capt Ann in Wilmington NC, 34 06.066 N/ 077 55.23 W

Chris drove down to ILM and waited for the air ambulance to arrive from Nassau. Due to her Covid diagnosis, there were questions on her access to the airport and hospital (NHRMC). Al from the rescue airplane said not worry and we didn't. An ambulance picked her up at the airport, and Chris and the ambulance headed for our hospital. There was not too much fuss getting her admitted. Apparently, they ran a quick PCR test and discovered that she never had Covid. That greased the skids for a quick admittance to the ICU. The next day, Bob and Chris got admittance into her ICU room. There she laid chowing down on her breakfast with only nose oxygen. Not bad. The nose oxygen didn't last long. Within days, she graduated to forced O2, and a day later to a ventilator. Hope was still with us as she quickly recovered her O2, but she was unresponsive when they tried to bring her out of sedation. Further testing revealed that she had a cerebral stroke. Subsequent test indicated that her kidneys were failing. She had a DNR (do not resuscitate) and the whole family concurred. The doctors did not say, but we felt that that was their opinion also. It was an obvious conclusion to her passing, it was difficult and sad, but the palliative staff were so good. The took her off the ventilator and put her on nose oxygen and increased her sedation a bit so she would not feel any pain. Two and a half hours later, she passed through the rainbow bridge, to pick up our critters, and end up with her Maker. No pain, no fear, Amen. We did what was necessary to have her body prepared for the last voyage to Stafford VA (Fredericksburg). The family slowly left to go back to their homes. Capt. Bob went with Chris to Vienna VA.