Well one week on Hamilton island celebrating our son’s 40th went way too fast. Now it’s time for us to get back to the forecast apps and pick a weather window to point Condesa south again.
Time spent with our family and their babies flew past at speed of sound. Sound.. let’s not talk about sound. Who knew it was illegal to have music playing after 5.30pm in your own air bnb? There is also a limited quota on buggies parked outside your accomodation! 🤣👎 But that’s as bad as it gets up here !!!! 🤗
Oh, unless I tell you about the medic required for a tumble from the infinity pool ledge or the food allergy reaction. Both incidents got all our undivided love and attention, thankfully on separate days.
Both of the family friends - one big and one small (but from the same family😳). They each came through with the help of our very own in-house nurse Hannah. In the end neither of them needed evacuating 😓🙏🏻, however a makeshift cast was required for our littlest friend who fell whilst in an inflatable ring that buffered her fall.
It brings me to the importance of up to date first-aid training and a well stocked first-aid kit onboard. I have had St John’s training for the past 10 years, thanks to Sailability bayside. He Who Hums has jested I actually have a hospital onboard since our Pacific crossing. I have now checked our epi pen and replaced the strapping tape, bandages and sling. It is surprising how the expiry dates on pain relief meds are from years past. I thought I checked annually, clearly not. 🙉
On another sad note no amount of first-aid saved the little swallow …He Who Hums lovingly handed to me as we departed Southport Marina. The mumma sparrow followed us looking for her labour of love nest, obviously it was tucked in the now hoisted main sail! 🤦🏻‍♀️
Oh Lordy, what’s a mother to do? I really didn’t want to get attached to this helpless baby chic. Nor did I want the round the clock feeding regime whilst sailing our first set of night watches.🙈 But out came the eye dropper and soft wadding from the first aid kit and the tiniest meals were given regularly for the first three days at sea.
I thought I was going mad, little chirping sounds heard over the volumes of the wind and water. I checked Sweetie (said we weren’t going to name 🫢) and nope - she was sound asleep, right on the instrument desk where I placed her tucked comfortably in one of He Who Hums deck shoe’s. Before you ask!……I needed something that wouldn’t fly or slip whilst sailing and also needed something we would see and remember whilst at the cockpit in the dark!
Yes, I felt a living nightmare unfolding too. He Who Hums asked regularly if I’d fed “Old Mate” (his name not mine 🙄)
Old Mate/Sweetie seemed to thrive for a few days, her little eyes opened, her baby feathers covered her pink/yellow skin and she got up on her feet, food went in and out as it should.
The other chirping I could hear stopped after day two, I don’t want to analyse where or how many there were caught in our sail cover 🐣 I’m glad I hadn’t realised that was the case at the time!
Anyway, shall we just say Sweetie got the best treatment for her short life and every time He Who Hums puts on that particular deck shoe I feel a faint little pain in my heart.
She had surprisingly declined rapidly on day 3. Frail as she became, she spread her wings and in her mind flew freely, giving life one last burst of energy but she couldn’t continue another full day.
PS Long after the difficult ‘burial at sea’, we pulled into Yeppoon and got out our runners (not used since the day we left the dock) there was a imprint from yet another family chick deep in the tread of He Who was Mute’s runner, perfectly flattened like a bloody miniature Tyrannosaurus fossil. Oh 😭 lord give me strength, I can’t even…..
😬Be brave jg, like the mumma bird and just like our other little injured friends were on Hammo. 🥰