6/2/2010 - " Shuffle your feet"

“Shuffle your feet.”  It’s a mantra we chant over and over making sure Jake knows the dangers of stepping on a stingray and how to keep from getting stung.  We’ve seen more than our share of people, old and young, at the beaches in California with their foot stuck in a bucket from stepping on a stingray.  The stingray gets scared and then swishes it’s tail back and stings them in the foot.  Which is why I feel like an idiot.  Check this out…

Yep, that’s my foot.  One day away from land, one dinghy ride, and three steps in the shallow water and I got stung by a stingray.  I knew I had been stung, if not by the stabbing pain in my foot, then by the blood gushing out the top.  Andy helped me get back in the dinghy and we headed back to the boat.  I let my foot dangle in the water for a little bit because it felt better and Andy just washed the dinghy yesterday, but then I pictured a shark jumping out of the water and biting it off.  About that time Andy suggested I apply pressure.  Well, I did, but that required me looking at it.  I have a relatively high pain tolerance but when I actually see a wound, I get nauseous and dizzy.  So I had to sit down in the floorboard of the dinghy to keep from falling over backwards (just in case).

Again, my most knowledgeable husband exceeded all my expectations.  He got me back on the boat, promptly put my foot in a bucket of scalding hot water and brought me a pain killer and an antibiotic.  To keep my mind off of things, I asked him to bring me “The Healthy Cruisers Handbook” that I had bought for just such an occasion (although I always pictured it being someone else that actually needed the help).  I found the page I needed and guess what it said?  “…Immersion in hot water will greatly decrease the pain…  Bacterial infections are very common with these type of injuries and most experts will recommend at least five days of prophylactic antibiotic treatment….”  Is my husband the best or what? 

So here I sit with my newly bandaged foot propped up, thankful it’s me and not Jake.  I’ve made him promise no less than 10 times to shuffle his feet.  While he was more interested in the blood and bandage than in my well being, I do think it made and impression on him.

Since I have to stay out of the salt water for a few days and the sun (due to the antibiotic), it looks like those mosquito covers for the hatches will be made sooner than later.  It’s a good thing too, because the no see’ums are out in force.

It’s good to be back on the anchor again.

Editor’s note:  A couple of days later, while riding to shore in the dinghy, Jake announced, “Mommy, you’ve learned two big lessons.  1) Always look back at the waves before going ashore so they don’t tip you’re kayak over, and 2) ALWAYS shuffle your feet,  right?”  Yes, Jake, Right.  Absolutely.