Hi
Folks,
Firstly we
apologise for not updating you on the first leg of our sail from Tortola to
Bermuda. To say it was quite eventful is putting it quite mildly. On
the third night, just as all the crew were finding their sea legs, John our
Skipper, became very dizzy. He spent a torrid night below decks vomiting
and was so dizzy that he couldn’t sit up or hold down water or food. What was
wonderful though was the way the rest of the crew rallied round, taking on the
watches and finding their sea legs during the ordeal.
Still, the
following morning things were not looking good and John was still unable to keep
down fluids. The decision had been taken after the first 12 hours to
contact the Arc rally support who in turn put us in touch with medical
assistance in Bermuda. (A big thanks to all – the support really made a
difference!). The initial diagnosis didn’t sound promising and Initially
the consulting physician thought that John would have to be taken off the boat
for medical treatment. As there were no suitable cruise or cargo ships in
the vicinity it was looking like a helicopter lift off job.
Luckily the
weather that day was good and the visibility clear and at one point it
looked like a helicopter rescue was imminent with preparations being made
including taking the Bimini covers off and the enthusiastic discussion of who
would deploy smoke grenades and flares. John even managed to summon up the
energy to give the crew a rousing William Wallace esq. address on what was
expected to get the boat to Bermuda. Much to my distress they even joked
about adding to Bermuda’s wrecks! obviously the crew were in good cheer! At one
point Gaetano’s voice could be heard above the wind asking Eilidh if she liked
to wear high-heels! Despite the emergency morale generally remained high and
according to John the sailing even improved! Although Gaetano’s renditions of
Pavarotti apparently didn’t assist the skipper either did his speedos! As John
had stopped vomiting and wasn’t running a fever, we just kept him hydrated and
continued sailing.
Unfortunately on
the fourth day the wind died completely and we had to resort to the engine
arriving in Bermuda on Thursday 14th May. Owen, Marianne and Michael
managed to find some local accommodation (and a beer) leaving space in the boat
for John, Eilidh, Gaetano and I. John visited the hospital as soon as we arrived
and was diagnosed with some form of laberynthitis. They said it should
subside in a few days but John remained very dizzy so we decided to seek a
Skipper who could stand in or support John if necessary. David very kindly
flew out to join us from Mobil, Alabama. (Thanks to Andy for putting us in
touch).
Despite
John’s illness and proving the worrying stereotype about Italian swimwear
fashion we had some other notable events including covering over 200 NM in the
first 24 hours (a record for the boat!) and finding out that the friendly
(uhumm) shop assistant in Tortola had played a wonderful practical joke on us by
fobbing off plantain for bananas! interestingly the last food john ate before
falling ill was a slice of fried plantain – read into that what you will! And
finally, while Michael was still finding his sea legs, he had the delightful
experience of accidentally brushing his teeth with insect sting lotion! A very
unpleasant experience but very amusing for the rest of the crew!
So here we are on day 1 of 2nd leg and again we’re off to a flying start!
We have just had our first whale sighting – well spotted Eilidh.
Unfortunately Marianne had to leave us in Bermuda (slightly dejected back
at work i’m told) and we now have David, so we are still 7 and going strong with
John at the helm!
Bye for now
Alison
(and Owen assisting!)