30th May 2013

At last Morgen launched at 11:00am - engine started first time, batteries fully charged just from the small solar panel - brilliant. Woke with eyelash stuck in my eye, scratching and itchy!
Creran Marine is probably the best anchorage / storage facility I have ever visited and Ewan Macgilvery has been so professional and helpful. Cannot recommend the place highly enough.

 

 

Cracking first sail to Oban - started in very light winds but once out of loch Creran the wind built and a steady seven KNts was reached for about 10 miles. Great. Although my eye is now very sore and bloodshot.

Once moored in Oban. I went to the hospital re:- my eye - quite swollen now. Given eye drops and told to return if it doesn't get better.

By the evening I cant see out of my eye and in a lot of pain. Pain killers do nothing for it. Tried to get water taxi back to the mainland but luckily Karen the marina manager saw I was having difficulty and helped me physically to get on to the water taxi and then took me in her own car to the hospital.

Once I saw the doctor in the hospital he diagnosed that I had a Corneal ulcer behind an old abrasion which obscured my pupil. After many phone calls he decided to transfer me from the Oban Hospital to the Royal Alexander Hospital in Glasgow. Afetr a very painful journey and night in hospital the antibiotics that I was taking every half an hour began to work. however they felt that some of the Cornea had to be trimmed away in order for new skin to heal over the eye.

Many tests etc and five days later I was finally discharged.

Weirdly, it turned out that my Aunt Freda was co-incidentally in the same hospital at the same time and I was able to visit her a couple of times. Which although a little distressing was also really nice to see her. once discharged however it took me ten and a half hours by public transport to get back to Oban and the boat. I then had to wait in Oban for another week to see the Optomologist as they wanted to make sure the ulcer had in fact gone.