3rd Monday - ouch

From: Ken Poulton (poulton@jr.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis)
Date: Tue Oct 07 1997 - 13:06:06 PDT


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Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997 13:06:06 -0700
From: Ken Poulton <poulton@jr.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis>
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To: WALTER_MENGE@HP-Vancouver-om1.om.hp.com-DeleteThis, kate@jr.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis, wind_talk@jr.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
Subject: 3rd Monday - ouch


============= Mon 6 Oct 97 - 3rd - 3.7/257 (190#)

Michael called me at home Monday morning. "It's windy," he said, "really
windy." And, yes, it was, 26g31 knots at SFO! So we went to 3rd to
catch the tail of the morning ebb.

Coyote Pt was reporting 32g45 mph, 25g39 at 3rd. We rigged our smallest:
3.7/257 for me and 3.9/8'6 for Michael. We were mostly overpowered
at first, thought it got to be more up and down after a while. The channel
was great. Amazingly long and wide and smooth swells, mostly 6-8 feet.
My jibes were nearly nonexistent. My jumps were not all that high,
but very floaty - I got amazing hang time from the huge wind.

And then there was the Bad Landing. I don't think it even seemed all
that bad coming into it, but I'm a little hazy on exactly what I did. I
heard a pop and suddenly my left ankle hurt. A lot. I flagged down
Michael and then Troy(?) quite quickly - pretty good when there were
less than 10 sailors out. We were about 1/4 mile into the channel
right out from the marker.

I thought "Maybe it's just a sprain. Better sail in sooner than later."
So I tried. I waterstarted and actually stood up on the board, "Hmmm,
this might work." Then I shifted my weight a bit and OW! I was back in
the water. Sailing in no longer looked like an option. We sent Troy
in to call the Coast Guard. Michael got out his radio and called the
Coast Guard, too, and this turned out to work pretty well, even in
8-foot swell and 25-35 knots. My radio, as it turned out, was out
of juice - I had neglected to charge the damn NiCads recently enough.
It received for a few minutes, but could not send. I experimented with
sailing in waterstart position, but it seemed that I was likely to hurt
myself more this way.

Less than an hour from the initial call (10:30-11:20) the Coast Guard
41-footer showed up! Michael's accurate position report and the fact
that we were now at slack tide put them less than a quarter mile from us
when they arrived. They got me aboard quickly (none of the waiting
that happened during the big multiple-rescue day in June) and pulled in
my equipment as well. They splinted my foot on the way to Coyote Point
Harbor while I promptly got seasick in the pitching 41-footer.

Michael took me to Mill Hospital ER and helped me out of my gear.
He had to slice up my new booties and my brand-new wetsuit!! Oh well,
I have plenty of time now to get it repaired.

Coming out of radiology, I peeked at my X-rays and could clearly
see the break. "Good," I thought, "this will heal better than
tendons or ligaments." The doctor soon lowered my expectations. I got
two breaks at the end of the tibia (main lower leg bone) where the
tendons attach, plus a spiral fracture of the fibula (small lower leg
bone).

So, this afternoon, I go to Stanford Hospital for surgery to put
it all together with screws and pins and a plate. Then I'm in a
non-walking cast for 8 weeks.

Oh well, the season was over anyway.

Ken Poulton
poulton@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis

"I hate it when that happens." -- SNL



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