Ups and downs

Anastasia
Phil May and Andrea Twigg
Thu 17 Nov 2011 23:45
This morning we went to see a helicopter rescue demonstration and practice setting off some out of date flares. 
 
We also re-varnished the outside table, which was UV damaged.  Unfortunately, while we were at lunch some guys came to fit our "yellowbrick" tracking device and put their cases down on our shiny new table surface.  Lucky it was only the first coat, but it will take some sanding to get rid of the mark.
 
Finally, after lunch, we were ready to install the wind instruments.  Unfortunately I caught my little finger in the mainsail halyard on the way up the mast and had to come back down without actually doing the installation.
Did you know Canary ambulances are canary yellow?  Here is one getting ready to take me to hospital to get the end of my finger sewn back on.
 
I was very impressed with the efficiency of the medical facilities here.  Five minutes in the ambulance to the hospital, five minutes to wait for the triage nurse, ten minutes wait for the casualty doctor, fifteen minutes to wait for the plastic surgeon, thirty minutes wait for radiology, fifteen minutes to wait for the results and about half an hour in surgery.  We were in and out in a couple of hours.  The surgeon was excellent, spending a lot of time getting the nail back in place and the end of the finger shaped correctly.
 
Then, to cap it all, we were standing outside the pharmacy (which had closed half an hour earlier} looking at the opening times of the emergency places to go and get some antibiotics when the pharmacist came out, saw us there and reopened for us so we could get everything we needed.
Not the best of days, but it could have been a lot worse.  The surgeon was pleased that the finger went back together so well and we still had time to go out for a nice meal, compliments of Estella's mum who is here to see us off.