36 06N 05 21W
Osprey
John Bowering
Thu 17 Sep 2009 07:03
Traffic was light in the Straits and we only had one close encounter with a cargo ship, the seas were calm until we were in sight of The Rock when the wind against tide produced a healthy chop. By 1400 we were running up the side of Gibraltar airport runway and into Marina Bay Marina with a 20 knot following wind. This wind proved a real obstacle as we were trying to berth and initially the Marina had allocated us a berth that was just too small for Osprey. Whilst trying to line up on that berth Anita got her hand trapped between Osprey's shrouds and the adjacent boat and ripped a large flap of skin from the side and palm of her right hand. We were quickly into another larger berth and by the time we had tied up the ambulance was parked on the quay waiting for us. A quick pressure bandage from the paramedic and we were off to the Gibraltar hospital where we spent the next three hours for running repairs. The flap on the palm of the hand was stitched back on and that on the side of the hand glued in place. A fairly major exercise as it was tricky for Anita to keep her hand flat whilst the skin was re positioned. We stopped counting after twelve stitches! The hospital staff were great and the place itself is modern and very smart. The hand was bandaged up and we were told to put it in a sling once we got back to the boat. We then headed across to the pharmacy to collect some antibiotics the back to the boat for the sling which we made up from a triangular bandage, then it was ashore for a quiet meal and an early night which turned out to be not so early as we were not clear of the boat until after 2000. The wound has not caused any great pain and we have dispensed with the sling. Yesterday we had a quiet day just looking around locally to the marina and dining in the large selection of small restaurants in the area. Today we have an appointment at the hospital at 1100 for a check up and we will see where we go from there. It is likely we will have to stay here for the next week or so until healing is well under way. In many respects this is good as there is a lot we would like to see here and we can also stock up the boat of the essentials for the winter lay up in Smir.There are funny aspects to this as for example when Anita has a shower and we wrap up the bandaged hand in a Ziploc bag and seal it with gaffer tape. Otherwise Anita is in fine form and learning quickly how to left handed.