9 May 2010
It is a year to the day that we cast off from Yatlift. With a year into our journey we have still a year to go, so although at the halfway mark in timescale we have still many of thousands of sea miles to cover and my guess would be that it will be Australia before we see the halfway point of our adventure, in terms of distance. Yesterday, Voyageur had her two coats of antifoul applied which we hope will pass the Australian regulations. They are very strict and insist of documentation and evidence of such procedures on entry into their continent. Today is Sunday, no work going on so David will replace the bowthruster seal and I will polish her prop until it is gleaming. It is altogether my favourite job!
Casualty!
We stretched our sea legs by walking to the nearby Marina Apooiti where Paul had told us we could get a pick up and lift home if we dined in the restaurant. We booked our table and once more walked the half hour back to Voyageur. That evening we happily shared a dinner table with Maggie and Bob from Ocean Jasper who were on a mooring just outside. The time came to head back home and the owner/ restauranteur, happy to oblige us with a lift in his pickup truck, we set off along the unlit roads of Raiatea. When we arrived back at the yard the gate was closed. I was worried that we might be locked out for the night but in his enthusiasm to help, our host jumped from his vehicle to assist David to ease the gate open. However unseen in the black night, David's foot was halfway across the threshold and in an instant was run over by the heavy rollers of the metal gate. He limped to the ladders, in increasing pain, and once aloft on Voyageur's stern the full extent of the damage to his foot was revealed. We used the hose to wash away copious amounts of blood, and it immediately became obvious that this was no trifling injury. By torchlight I raced to the first aid box, after first applying pressure to his foot with the first thing that came to hand, the dish towel. A toe nail had been completely torn off and there was a deep gash around the nail bed. Refusing any hospital treatment I put my rusty first aid skills to the test. Being in too awkward a position to stitch the gaping wound I applied steristrips, followed by a significant bandage. Meanwhile David had turned a whiter shade of pale and was lying in a heap in the cockpit. Painkillers and a course of antibiotics followed. He was lucky. If he had not been wearing his crocs he would have surely severed a toe or two.
Susan Mackay
-------------------------------------------------
Do not push the "reply" button to respond to this
message if that includes the text of this original
message in your response. Messages are sent over a
very low-speed radio link.
The most concise way to reply is to send a NEW message
to: "Voyageur" <
[email protected]>
If you DO use your reply button, be sure to delete
the original message text and these instructions
from your reply.
Replies should not contain attachments and should be
less than 5 kBytes (2 text pages) in length.
This email was delivered by an HF private coast station
in the Maritime Mobile Radio Service, operated by the
SailMail Association, a non-profit association of yacht
owners. For more information on this service or on the
SailMail Association, please see the web site at:
http://www.sailmail.com