Day 15

Pearl of Persia
Andrew Lock
Tue 2 Apr 2013 18:18
Lat 10:04.N Long 126:53.W
Yes we have been at sea for 14 days and there is still about 7 days to go.
Who said that life at sea is slow and boring.....The last 72 hours have
proved all those people wrong.
Having repaired the torn sail quite professionally I would say, we managed
to fly it successfully yesterday all day. When we took it down for the
evening, there was little sign of any more damage to the repaired section
which was good news. We don't fly the spinnaker at night as it's difficult
to adjust if the wind changes. At times it's a bit frightening seeing this
massive sail bucking and heaving in the wind, almost out of control like a
wild horse. WE then rigged up the white sails for the night and all went
well on the night shifts, but as Andrew came on watch at 6am there was a
massive bang and one of the lines to the sail snapped quite dramatically.
You have heard us talking about 'chafe' well that is exactly what had
happened. During the night the lines had eased slightly and had caused
movement which in turn caused the line to rub against an edge which wore it
away. There was a shout for all hands on deck, so Humphrey and I were back
on deck within seconds. A sail out of control, flapping wildly is both
terrifying and dangerous. The flapping lines or sail can easily break a leg
or flip you overboard. It was still dark and the sail had managed to tangle
itself around the forestay at the front of the boat. Andrew went up front
and had to cut the line to release the tangled mess. The next thing I knew
was him coming back towards us, clutching his arm and blood pouring out all
over the place. The words 'quick a tourniquet' were branded about and I had
to jump into action. The nearest towels were used to stem the bleeding,
before I opened the medical bag to find what I needed. Andrew now feeling
faint had to lie down and I had to apply constant pressure to a wound that I
hadn't exactly seen because it was still fairly dark. Humphrey went about
making the boat safe whilst I tended to the patient. When I did manage to
get a glimpse of the wound I could see it was serious. The knife that he
used to cut the line, did exactly that, but then in the movement of the boat
and the momentum carried on and cut straight into his biceps muscle in his
left arm. Not a pretty sight. I managed to clean the wound and stick it back
together with steristrips as best as I could. I wasn't going to attempt
sutures in a heaving boat in the dark. A radio call to a couple of other
boats with surgeons aboard, gave me some reassurance, and confirmed my
opinion of a big dose of antibiotics. The patient was dosed with pain
killers and started on antibiotics. I am happy to say that he is doing
fine, although a little more subdued for the rest of the day.

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