We
were attempting to head to St. Augustine for a week with Kristina as our second
mate. the sail to the port was great, we had a south east wind blowing at
20knots gusting to 30. The decision to go on the outside for a ocean sail
was made under the pretense that weather underground stated the seas were 4-6
foot and winds would be shifting out of the west and diminishing to 5-20knots.
We
made it out of the jetties around 3pm and started to make our way out around
the shoals. The seas were very rough and choppy with the winds constantly
shifting . Several tacks were made just to make the turn to get out north
of the shoals. Around 5pm Kristina started complaining of a headache and
then it was a full blown migraine with in 30-40 minutes. She tried
staying down below where she was out of the sun but cool. It was 5:30
when Kevin went on deck and noticed we had a ripped main sail, more shredded
then ripped. The sail had shredded at the top and was wrapped around the
steps going up the sides of the mast and the spreaders. With the high
rough seas and the sail tangled in everything there was no way to get her down.
6pm,
Kristina came up on deck and I noticed she was very pale and shivering.
She stated that she felt like she was going into shock. I had her go down
into the back stateroom to lye down and we opened the hatch so she could get a
good breeze blowing on her. She then started getting sick and had to sit
propped up. In a matter of minutes she complained of losing feeling in
her hands and legs and couldn't move her hands, then her arms. We thought
she was having a stroke or possibly a heart attack (since she has a history of
cardiac problems) At that point we call the coast guard and turned the
boat for home. The coast guard meet up with us about 30 minutes later and
took Kristina off our boat and rushed her to the hospital.
10pm
Kevin and I made it in the port and spend about 45 minutes getting the shredded
head sail down, while the coast guard stayed with us, after dropping off
Kristina with the ambulance. We were able to get a slip at the Cocoa
Beach Yacht Club and borrow a car to get to the hospital.
Kristina
ended up having very low potassium levels causing the muscle contractions and
loss of her extremity movement. She was released around 1am, with her
husband meeting her there, then taking her home. Kevin and I went back to
the boat and then headed home the next morning.
Watching
your child being thrown from one boat to another in 10 foot seas, with no use
of her extremities was enough to do any parent in. Needless to say,
Kristina will not be doing any off shore cruising with us for a long time.
