2007

DOCTOR IN THE BOAT?

So it’s ’07, the ever lovely Isabella, a Columbian lawyer, Thalia and I have successfully transited the Panama Canal and are headed for the Galapagos isalands some 800 mi out. Following conventional wisdom we’d seriously stocked up on diesel fuel, but happily had pretty good wind all the way. Now I need to explain that this is my 1st exposure to the Pacific Ocean, no wonder the Spaniards called it “Pacifico”, after 15 yrs in the Caribbean I thought sharp edged, short frequency waves were normal. Now I’m hard on the wind sliding gently over big swells and Thalia is going likes hell, sure she’s heeling like crazy, but that’s normal, the surprise is a set of larger waves aren’t bringing us close to a standstill and I never have to fall off to regain speed. Damn, I could get used to this. Sure going through the ITCZ was unpleasant, the lightning and squalls were spectacular, but nothing bad happened.

When we sail I troll a couple of lines with largely homemade lures, they’re just handlines, yo yos, with minimum 100 lb test monofilament. I’m really not interested in fishing, with the exception of spearfishing, I figure I’m fishing for meat, not sport. So Thalia is doing 6+ kts, I’m lying on the low side cockpit cushions reading a crime fiction novel, yeah, I pretty much read junk, but life is about as good as it gets. Just then one of the lines went off, I knew it was a pretty good sized fish as the hand line went all the way down the cockpit lifeline gate and banged off the pushpit stern rail against the bungee cord’s resistance and I knew it wasn’t a Dorado, it wasn’t jumping. Personally I was hoping for a Wahoo, they’re my favorite, I went back to my book, waiting for dinner to tire itself out. Ten minutes later the bungee isn’t showing much fight and I start bringing dinner in. Yep, it’s a 5’ Wahoo, Isabella comes up to see what we’ll be eating and just as I get the leader in my hand and a gaff in the fish, Thalia takes an unexpectedly vicious roll, she doesn’t have a very wide cockpit and I sit down hard on the opposite cockpit bench, the fish comes over the side and with an open mouth lands on my foot. I kill the Wahoo and realize most of the blood in the cockpit is mine, I haven’t been bitten, good thing, they have very sharp teeth. But when I lift a sizeable flap of skin on the top of my foot and wiggle my toes I can see the tendons operate my toes, fortunately everything is still attached. Hydrogen peroxide, paper towels and duct tape, I believe you can fix almost anything with those simple things, if it really looks bad antibiotic ointment can be added, this looked bad. “Dios mio, necessities un doctore” screams Isabella who has no idea or interest in learning anything about sailing or sailboats and hence has lots of interest in keeping me healthy. (See Harnesses) “Seguro, pero donde encountamos un doctor aqui, tenemos 3 – 4 dias mas por las Galapogos.” I counter. The bleeding staunched I filleted the fish and had to reapply my home made bandage. The fish was delicious, always sail with wasabi and soya sauce, there’s nothing like fresh sashimi.

Our arrival in the Galapagos wasuneventful and as there was no sign of infection in my foot a doctor was deemed unnecessary, but when my friends went scuba diving with the sharks I helped a German with his Volvo. (See Dance To Sail) Needless to say I didn’t have photos to share with them at the end of the day. G&T

“If I’m lyin’…”