We packed Fuga up to withstand a summer's exposure to the Spanish sunshine. Halyards were withdrawn into the mast, the sails and running rigging removed as far as possible. Mo managed to sew a canvas cover to completely protect the saloon windows, and also covers for all the winches. Jacqui, Rowan and Oscar came out and played a valuable part in assisting us with the heavy work.
We were able to leave the boat in the hands of Ian McKnight, who arranged to have the boat lifted out the day after we left. Ian and Mary looked after her, and effected repairs to the rudder and attended to a seized seacock, in our absence. This was a great relief.
On arrival back in the UK on 14th June, things went fairly fast. John saw a consultant cardiologist privately on 17th June. The following day we managed to find and buy a car, before John felt more discomfort and decided to report to A & E at the local hospital. They decided to keep him in, and after only 4 days John was transferred to St. Mary's Paddington by ambulance. Within 10 days of seeing the consultant, he was given a quadruple bypass, and 5 days later he was home.
We were most fortunate in having the use of John's daughter in law's sister's fully furnished house in Hemel Hempstead. This provided us with space of our own during our stay in the UK, and we were very grateful for it.
Soon after discharge, John was throwing himself into exercise. So much so that he walked from the doctors' surgery in Berkhamsted to our house, some 3/4 miles with hills, only just over two weeks after the operation! Stupid, but he did it!
John was booked on a 'Cardiac Rehabilitation' course in early September. This program of education combined with supervised exercise over 7 weeks was invaluable. Education covered all aspects of the underlying disease, but more importantly, preventive measures, particularly diet, to prevent a recurrence.
We enjoyed a week in Scotland in September, visiting Steve and Carol from Double Bill (Lagos) on our way back. On our last walk we climbed to 350 metres from sea level, and having missed our route had to descend by a very difficult path - a total of over 10km. Ample testament to the surgeon's skill 12 weeks before?
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| A yacht sailing down the Caledonian Canal | We climbed from sea level to the lake above the Loch |
In October, Mo went on a Day Skipper practical course around the Solent with Haslar Sea School , while John has gained a Long Range radio operator's certificate with Yachtcom . Mo also did a short range radio course and we both went on a first aid course, also with Yachtcom.
We enjoyed our return journey by road, visiting friends near Bordeaux, and spending two nights en route, one north of Madrid, and the other at Granada. We definitely need to revisit the latter before we move on.
Shortly after arriving we drove north again, up the motorway to visit friends who had rented a house near Altea, near Benidorm, and north of Alicante. We returned slowly via the beautiful village of Guadalest, in the mountains above Altea, then overnight alongside the Mar Menor, before taking in La Manga on the other side of this vast lagoon and Cartagena.
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