If you get sick, the boat will break
19 August 2011 | San Carlos MX
Larry Nelson
We are in the San Carlos Marina, running both our air conditioners and "power drinking" water. It's hot and sunny most of the time, but not all the time. Yesterday the wind blew about 40 knots and every boat in the marina took down their awnings (covers that help to keep the boats cool). Awnings can't stand high winds and yesterday we had high winds from a thunderstorm (or line of thunderstorms). Of course it wasn't hot during the storms, it was overcast and even rained a bit. After the storms passed the sky cleared but it was late in the day. There is no need to have an awning at night. So the stage was set for another boat catastrophe.
Our neighbors Cliff and Lynne on SV Taya had a great party aboard last night (after the storm). But this morning Cliff was not feeling well. In fact he wasn't dead, but wished he were. He was throwing up and of course staying close to the toilet. So of course with the awnings still down, and no wind blowing, the air conditioner picked this time to stop working. You wouldn't believe how hot it got on their boat. The problem cause was the water pump for the air conditioner. We got it removed from the boat and sent out to be repaired, but it will take a few days. There might be other pumps that could work temporarily (it is a 110 volt pump), but jury rigging something like this involves about a day of shopping for new parts and assembling them with maybe 2 or three trips before anything gets completed. This is not something you can do when you are sick.
The end of this story hasn't been written yet, but hopefully Cliff gets well. I don't know about the air conditioner.
We've borrowed a hatch mounted air conditioner from a neighbor's boat (the neighbor is not here) and installed it in a hatch above where Cliff is resting. This has a chance at keeping Cliff alive while nature runs its course. While we were doing this I didn't hear a word from Cliff, though Lynne says he is still breathing.
In other news, another neighbor, Anne Jennings (SV Serendipity) has an eye infection. We've been pumping antibiotics into her arm, her tush, her wrist (through a catheter), her mouth, and dripping them into her eyes. All of this on what seems a nearly continuous (round the clock) basis. To get this done, we've gotten to know the local "rescue" team on a first name basis. They give Anne her shots. This started on a Friday so by the time help was sought on Sunday morning, the problem had developed too far. And, just like in the US, it isn't easy to find a specialist on a weekend. We ended up at the emergency room of the Guaymas hospital. We got some broad spectrum antibiotic eye drops to manage the situation until we could get her to an opthomologist on Monday. Now it is Friday and the bacteria has been cultured and a whole lot of shots and drops are producing some improvement. She isn't cured yet, only improved.
There are several lessons from Anne's story. The most obvious is that these infections can progress with astonishing speed into serious conditions. What if this had happened when were were in Baja in Bahia de Los Angeles? (where we are going soon to avoid hurricanes). Worse, it could have been preceded by a storm like Cliff encountered just before illness struck him down leaving the boat at risk if you leave it, or god forbid, you at risk if it leaves you just as you most need it (remember, this is when boat's break). There are risks involved in being far from civilization and they aren't the storms or pirates that everyone talks about. Illness and disability are the real dangers.