I have now consulted with two different spine specialists as well as a physical therapist. The prognosis is that there will not be any significant damage to my spine as long as I continue wear the brace until the vertebra knits and heals, a process that may take up to ten weeks.

The turn of events has confirmed that I should be owning, maintaining, and sailing a significantly smaller boat than Mother of Perl. I love her. She is the creation of my family. She is beautiful, strong, comfortable, but much more of a boat than a singlehanded sailor can enjoy.

So, as my backbone heals, I work on cleaning up these web pages and posting here availability on the Internet.

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I did get to the boat on the third and worked on her (replacing windows, chipping, grinding, and painting) for about ten days. I scheduled her to launched on the afternoon of Monday, the 15th of January. It was not to be.

The morning of the launch, I was sitting in the dinghy replacing the lines that secured it from tipping and swinging. As I cut one of these lines away, the dinghy tipped and I fell some ten feet to the ground. I landed on my back. I must have been stunned by the blow because I wan't able to move or call for help.

Once I was discovered (20 minutes later), I still couldn't talk or move. An ambulance arrived, the paramedics checked my vital signs and loaded me into the ambulance for ride to Victoria Hospital in Castries. My friend Kelly Charles followed in his car. Kelly stood by me through all these proceedures, provided food and transportation whenever it was needed. He is a true noble friend.

The doctors tested my reflexes and X-rayed my chest and spine. They couldn't see any damage so I soon was released and returned to Mother of Perl. with Kelly

While at the hospital, I was able to phone my wife, Gretchen, who is working and living in New Hampshire. She booked a flight and arrive Thursday afternoon. The good folks who work at the boatyard had been generously helping doing favours and bringing by food. But having my loving wife by side, especialy when there are personal hygine activities that I needed help performing.

By the following Monday, I was feeling strong enough to move and make the flights back to New England. The airports provided wheelchairs and someone to push me around. My stepdaughter and her boyfriend met us at Boston's Logan Airport.

The next day, Gretchen took me to the local hospital for an evaluation: I had fractured on of my vertebrae. An MRI confirmed the diagnosis. So, here I sit with full a torso brace 24x7. No sailing in the Caribbean this year.

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