NxStage dialysis overnight on a 36' Grand Banks in WA's beautiful San Juans

[Bill Peckham]

Yaaarg I'm back at sea this time doing extended nocturnal treatments on the same boat I had last summer. You can follow along at my blog.
http://www.billpeckham.com/

[jbeany]

Sounds wonderful, Bill!  Wishing you smooth sailing!

[Romona]

Sounds fun.

[Meinuk]

15' waves, gale force winds and that was just the first night?  (and some people think that dialysis is scary)

You know Bill, for many people with CKD 5 just leaving the house is an adventure.  You manage to Captain a boat through a storm for 9 hours, Captain two tables at the NKC  Breakfast of Hope (attended by 800 people) and then sail off on vacation, all in a 24 hour timespan.  I hope that the rest of the week is calm and relaxing.

Thanks for sharing your adventures.  I can't wait for pictures

[Bill Peckham]

All in a day's work Anna.

We saw whales yesterday!

http://www.billpeckham.com/from_the_sharp_end_of_the/2008/05/friday-harbor-t.html

[Meinuk]

All in a day's work Anna.

And all of your hard work is deeply appreciated.....   

But, yesterday would have been a good time to pull out the video camera.  (I'm just sayin')

[David13]

Sounds like you are having an excellent time!

[kitkatz]

That is awesome!  We saw some hopping but not breaching when we went whale watching in the San Juan Island area.  How cool!

[monrein]

Best of luck with all your adventures Bill.  And thanks for the blog so we can do a little vicarious living.  The storm is all yours though.

[Bill Peckham]

All in a day's work Anna.

And all of your hard work is deeply appreciated.....   

But, yesterday would have been a good time to pull out the video camera.  (I'm just sayin')

My little digital camera doesn't do a great job in that situation - example see my attempt at video of the seals earlier this year http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7719155830391117703

Photographing whales is pretty hard to do because by the time the whale comes up and you get the camera around it's back down. If I had a good video camera I could get the a photo from a single frame. Someday I'll break down and buy a decent digital video camera.

The other frustrating thing is that unlike the old film cameras there is a second or two delay between pressing the button and the camera actually taking the picture. THis drives me nuts and I can't understand the reason for it. Is there a reason for it? It seems like many of the digital cameras have this delay.

[Meinuk]

The other frustrating thing is that unlike the old film cameras there is a second or two delay between pressing the button and the camera actually taking the picture. This drives me nuts and I can't understand the reason for it. Is there a reason for it? It seems like many of the digital cameras have this delay.

It is the auto-focus.  Only way to get around that is to have someone on your boat with a Nikon D200 or the equivalent with manual override.  Even still, it is a difficult shot to get.  You did the right thing by just relaxing and enjoying the show.  As a current landlubber, I reserve the right to tease! If the boat had been sail, I'd be completely beside myself with envy.

I feel your pain with regard to the action shot.  I've never snapped a whale breaching, but I have gotten some amazing dolphin shots.  (my theory is that Dolphins are hams for the camera)   

All teasing aside, the updates and the pictures really are appreciated.  For me, it is vicarious armchair travel while listening to the hum of my NxStage.

[Sluff]

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us.

[Zach]

Bill, you are certainly proving that being a person on dialysis is not the end of the world.
 

[Bill Peckham]

I don't know Anna - why didn't the old SLRs need time to auto focus?

I've updated the blog with a video that shows my set up. The video is bit dark but it is shot with my four year old Olympus. I'd really like to upgrade my equipment from the camera to the laptop but I expend energy to not want things.

Omm. Omm. The computer is fine. the camera is fine. Omm. Omm.

[Meinuk]

I don't know Anna - why didn't the old SLRs need time to auto focus?

I actually don't remember shooting with an auto focus SLR, so I can't comment on their lag times. (I know that I have used AF with friend's cameras, but I just don't remember) All of my 35mm were manual/manual override, then I gave up and switched to point & shoot digital.  First camera Nikon EM (I love that camera) then I graduated to a Nikon F3.  I used the F3 for photographing Showjumpers when I was living in Belgium.  Snapping a horse mid-air isn't as elusive as a whale breaching but it is still a challenge.  Now, the EM sits on a shelf, I sold the F3 and I use a Canon S400 point & shoot.

Zach?  Do you have any insight on digital shutter lag?

[Zach]

Zach?  Do you have any insight on digital shutter lag?

Nope. I'm just an analog guy in a digital world.