Tropical Troubles
Suzie Too - Western Caribbean
David & Suzanne Chappell
Sat 28 Nov 2009 00:17
Since arriving in Cabo Verde we have
1) Amina, the Brazilian wife of Alain on Naomi 2 (shares her birthday with Suzanne), contracted Dengue Fever in Dakar and was seriously ill with her temperature over 40, with severe pains in her limbs and joints with the bright purple rash on her lower torso and thighs.
2) Simone from Tanagra the NorthWind 50 has broken her ankle and her husband Jean an Orthopaedic Surgeon, put on a cast and booked her into a hotel, and is flying her back home to Switzerland to have it pinned into place as the facilities here are not good enough, even though many tourists suffer similar breaks when walking in these volcanic islands
3) One of the crew on Ti'Ouane (so named cos he built the new Terminal One at JFK and then worked in Martinique so gave T1 a Caribbean sound) slipped on the pontoon and suffered a compound break of the lower leg, with bones sticking out in opposite directions - fortunately Marie Clare, from Antinea an Amel SuperMaramu, is a retired GP and she helped him, he was then flown back on a Military plane to Dakar and is waiting for a flight to Paris to have his operation.
4) The other night, Jean from Tanagra, as if they didn't have enough trouble, fell off the boarding ladder on Quand Meme III into the marina with his rucksack full of mobile phones and laptops - so replacements are now on their way with new crew from France
5) One of the dinghies was foolishly left in the water overnight and was "stolen", but recovered for a salvage fee in the morning, but had lost the outboard in the process.
6) Coughs and sore throats - most of us picked up this in Senegal, I guess it's all the French greetings we do with hand shaking and air kissing morning, noon and night, or having to shake hands with loads of Senegalese who want to be your "friend" and sell you something - it all seems to spread things around, mine lasted almost 2 weeks.
7) Food poisoning - just goes around the fleet across all the boats depending which restaurant you choose - our European digestive systems aren't up to the African way of life - again I was ill in bed for 2 days, but not really lost any weight, so a bit disappointing.
8) Teeth - don't come down here with any is the best plan - we have had extractions in a Military hospital in Dahkla and 2 crowns in Dakar that I know about - not bad prices though - about 100 Euros for a fairly decent crown
9) Dust - the boat is always covered in red sand dust, even here over 500M from the Sahara, so when you calculate your watermaker capacity - think again - it ain't just drinking, showering and cooking
Will send you more on sailing tips from on route
Love
David & Suzanne (currently both reasonably well) - Ooops famous last words