Sand Traps

Something I never gave a thought to is how we would manage living on a boat if one of us was hurt or injured. What if one of us sprained an ankle? How would we manage the long walk from the car, down the dock, the sloping ramp at low tide, and the climb into the boat? I honestly never ever gave it a thought until now.

Debra and I hit the bike trail again, and didn't she ditch the bike in the very same spot where she fell over the time before! There is a pile of sand in that spot, and it seems to nail a lot of people.  I came close to ditching a few times, but can usually find them quick enough to dismount or go around. Deb on the other hand...

She was getting off the bike to walk around the sand, but as she was dismounting her wheel caught and she went down, twisting her ankle. A trooper, she continued on solid ground, and biked up the trail to the ICW for a rest on a picnic bench. She was determine to get a good view of the water I guess, either that or she felt sorry for me not being able to bike much that day. Nah. Water view.

Now I have a limping co-captain, that has to make like peg leg around the marina, and be able to climb in and out of the boat without wincing and falling in the water. You forget how agile you have to be at times to live the sailing life. Is this why people buy trawlers in their later years? I'm not sure how Deb is going to handle this. She's not one for pain tolerance. In fact one time she slammed her finger in a door, and I wanted to check to see if it was broken. I touched it, and she went out like a light. Her eyes rolled back and out she went. Yikes! I thought I killed her!

I started thinking about the consequences of this happening while cruising. The climb from the dinghy to the boat would be next to impossible. How do you climb on one foot? Would you want to be on a boat if you were disabled in some way? How safe is that? If I broke my leg, I would be out of commision, and Deb would have to handle the boat at anchor, or we would have to hire or get a volunteer crew to help move the boat somewhere secure. I shouldn't be thinking about this stuff at all really. You react when and if it happens as all situations will be different. Injured while on a mooring in the keys is quite a bit different than being injured at anchor in the Bahamas. I saw reference to the Divers Alert Network recently, and I think I'll do some research on this before we head out full time cruising. Just another thing to think about as I watch my girl limping about.

Deb's faking it. She's actually gritting her teeth.

Debra is banned from entering that park on bike. From now on we walk the trails. If she's going to do any biking it's going to be on paved roads.

Cheers!
P