June 28, 2025

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, USA

I flew from Philadelphia to San Diego on the morning of Sunday June 15th to rejoin the Ship. It was a gorgeous sunny day and after carting my bags to my room, and unpacking a little bit, I got out to explore the City. Sarah joined me walking around the port area. We did some shopping at the outdoor farmer markets and caught up. Our Ship was docked between two icons - the USS Midway Aircraft carrier and the Star of India the world's oldest active sailing ship. Both are currently museums. Sarah and I posed like the        Farewell Kiss statue and did a selfie for Sarah's boyfriend Bob.

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Day 2 in San Diego I had Moh's Surgery on my forehead to remove two basal cell spots. Juan, the office administrator genius at SCRIPPS CLINIC totally hooked me up ! I had Dr. Hubert Greenway, who did the first fellowship with Dr. Moh's himself as my surgeon. Dr. Greenway doesn't even typically work on Monday's but came in to help me out. He has trained 81 fellows in the dermatology surgery and his 81st graduate was also involved my case - she froze off a third spot Dr. Greenway noticed to prevent any further damage developing. While waiting for the lab work to clear the surgery margins I walked in Scripps Zen garden over looking the golf course and coast of Southern California. Once Dr. Greenway was convinced they got all the margins I walked down the street to the plastic surgeon offices at Scripps. There Dr. Christopher Bergeron did his magic and closed up the skin on my forehead. Everyone I met at Scripps was amazing and a special shout out to my wonderful, compassionate nurse and hopefully future Ship resident!

We also enjoyed the margaritas at Miguel's port side restaurant on both Sunday and Tuesday afternoons. The house mix was yummy, they had a nice long Happy Hour and we struck up a conversation with local Hypnotist Motivational Speaker, Jim Lutes and his buddy Luke who was a Martial arts specialist.

By Pat Patrick • October 12, 2026
Just the other day a friend asked me if I got enough down time while living this lifestyle. My answer was "you have to make it !" In the beginning, it was go, go, go, every port. We had lots of FOMO ( fear of missing out ) and we tried to cram in as much as possible at every port. Sea days, were our only down time and there were never enough. It was a tad exhausting. Now two years into this life, I can say there are some ports that just don't call me and I opt to get other things done. Kuantan, Malaysia was one of the Ports. I never got off the ship, either day we were here. I intended to this morning, but we had storms with loud thunder late into the night and then was awoken by a crew alarm around 6:45am. My energy was low, there were shuttle issues, town was an hour ride away and there is alot of air pollution, ( due to neighboring Indonesia burning organic materials, in preparation for the upcoming monsoon season ). So I bagged my plans and continued working on my never ending TO DO LIST!
By Pat Patrick • October 11, 2026
During our two years of sailing we have had several Shipmates come and go for a variety of reasons. Their health, has sadly been the reason for many departures. Cindy Harvey , would have loved to have lived out her days here on the Odyssey and even bought a second cabin and had an adjoining door added, to have a care provider, stay with her full time. However, Cindy's limited mobility, pain and confinement got to be too much - so she left us a few months ago. She went to an assisted living facility, on the coast of Oregon, to be near her family. Tragically she fell, was trying to recover, slipped into a coma and sadly passed away this week.
By Pat Patrick • October 8, 2026
The Sanctuary of Truth Museum is the world's largest hand carved wooden castle, located on the coast of Pattaya, Chonburi Province, Thailand . Conceived in 1981 by Thai visionary Khun Lek Viriyaphun the structure is built entirely from 4 types of wood - Teak, Mai Daeng, Mai Takien & Mai Panchaat and put together using Thai nailless wood joinery - mainly dovetails, carrying poles and tongue & groove. We started the tour in the workshop where the artisan, mainly woman, were hard at work. Since conception, the Museum has been an active construction site, thus we all wore hardhats! The artisans continue handcarving sculptures and columns, daily and will most likely continue for years to come.