A few fast facts

ByJohn B. Pinto

OSN Practice Management Section Editor John B. Pinto has launched "Voyage to EHR," a new project sponsored by Compulink Business Systems and Ocular Surgery News. This project will culminate in John's month-long solo sail from San Diego to Honolulu aboard the 24-foot Aurelia starting May 6. John's practice management blogs will resume in July.

John's voyage is meant to raise awareness of the similar "expedition" surgeons undertake when converting to electronic health records and will also support the work of the Hawaiian Eye Foundation. To learn more about the foundation's work and to make a donation supporting its eye care and surgical training services throughout the Pacific, please go to www.hawaiianeyefoundation.org.

Aurelia is small but mighty. Built in 2001 by Pacific Seacraft, her sister ships were named some years ago by Fortune magazine as "One of the 100 Best Things Made in America." Loaded for the voyage she will weigh about 9,000 pounds, twice the usual heft for a boat her size.
Aurelia is largely bulletproof. Her fiberglass hull is more than an inch thick, something not seen on some 40-footers. However, she has seven chinks in her armor, seven "thru-hulls," each guarded by a carefully machined bronze valve that the prudent sailor checks closely. If one of these valves failed, Aurelia would sink in a matter of minutes.
We'll have a life raft, a satellite phone and all the usual safety gear. An emergency locator beacon, like the ones that small planes carry, can be deployed if necessary.
Aurelia has an 18-horsepower diesel engine, but with only 20 gallons of fuel on board, we'll be sailing 99% of the time; the engine is used to help the solar panel top up the batteries and to power out of any doldrums.