I moved back aboard! (Those flesh demons harassing the cat while she tries to nap on the dodger are my fingers, present and accounted for aboard Sonrisa.)

After full and complete “melty-cat” style bed rest and a strategic cocktail of ice, heat, steroids, anti-inflammatories, nerve blockers, muscle relaxers and pain medicine all administered strategically over a hit and then taper plan, we knocked my pain back enough that I could then do some lady-on-a-cloud exercises that worked back in Malaysia. I also reached out on a sailing and cruising forum to ask if anyone had experience with clawing their way back into ocean-going shape from a back injury. A fellow sailor connected me with his significant other who just so happened to be a physical therapist in Kenya. She agreed to work with me on a remote - video call basis to figure out how to get me back aboard Sonrisa.
With some even more gentle physical therapy exercises than I have ever fallen back to before and a little bit of balance work, we were able to return activity to my core and glutes without pain. This allowed me to slowly create more stability around my spine. In short, with the magic of modern medicine and a physical therapist who didn’t write me off even though we were thousands of miles away, we have been able to tackle this problem for now.

Meanwhile, Andrew always thought he'd rather be sailing than varnishing, and it turns out that theory holds true, especially when he is varnishing.

Katherine Hepburn is feeling more calm now that all her people are in their rightful place. She is, however, on a diet. She did a bit of comfort eating over the last few months and her primordial pouch has become a bit too voluptuous.

Sonrisa says she has had enough time at the boat-spa, she'd like to start sailing again.

Grin is growing a sea beard functioning as an artificial reef, providing a habitat for soft coral, tiny crabs, and a number of colorful fish.

Lockdown is still somewhat in effect, but slowly restaurants are starting to get their Covid certifications and are re-opening. The Seychelles intend to re-open to tourism with no restrictions March 24, so I imagine everything will be re-open by then. We might go play cards at Lucy’s Ice Cream shop later this afternoon.

Otherwise, it feels like we are doing nothing but staring at the walls. If Sonrisa had wall paper, we'd be eating it by now.

I don't have much to write in a blog about sailing and traveling if we are not sailing and traveling. So, I've decided to go back in time and fill in some gaps on some blog posts I never got around to writing for various reasons. The first set are these from Sri Lanka and the passage from Sri Lanka to the Maldives. It escaped me until just now that these posts are from exactly one year ago this week. They capture that strange moment in our lives that the the world flipped from all we knew to whatever it is now with the medical and political realities of Covid travel.

If you need to escape, join us to finish the Sri Lanka storyline that started here:

https://www.oddgodfrey.com/oddlog/itsasmalltown

but was interrupted and left off here:

https://www.oddgodfrey.com/oddlog/ceylon

https://www.oddgodfrey.com/oddlog/aliesurelystrollthroughthegardenofeden

https://www.oddgodfrey.com/oddlog/thepassagewhentheworldchanged