07/26 DCCB 6.6m sail/96L board

[Ralph Morrison]

Is that a broken fibula?

[JimSouthwick]

Yes.

[JimSouthwick]

Craig:

I see the orthopod tomorrow morning. I'm hoping for a boot, but I'll see what he says.

[JimSouthwick]

Duane,

Ralph got it right, a broken fibula.

[Ralph Morrison]

I'm hoping for a boot,

Make sure it fits in the footstrap. Just kidding. Sorry this happened Jim and I hope you have a speedy recovery.

[bordy]

Heal Up fast Jim!! Better the fib then the Tib!

[JimSouthwick]

Ralph & Billy,

Thanks guys. Those envy waves you feel as you're riding at BWB are coming from me as I watch your kites from my patio.

Better the fib then the Tib!

For sure! With a tib I wouldn't be able to get by with just an aircast.

[Carl Christensen]

Holy Crap Jim, I just saw this. It scares the absolute crap out of me. Even an air horn probably would not have helped. Thank God you are otherwise okay. Between the bow high powerboats and the mentally challenged wave runners I've had way too many close calls out at DC. And you weren't even at IB. At IB I've had close calls inside the swimming buoys for hellsake. The boaters/waverunners are going slowly and looking back to shore or watching everyone jockey for seats instead of looking ahead. Keep in mind that propellers make absolutely hideous injuries. People have grotesque wounds and sometimes have to be scooped out of the water in nets or straps but often die anyway.

There was a woman killed at PIneview this week by a powerboater, and, to add to the unbelievable inhuman callousness of it, it was yet another hit-and-run incident. Two things folks: The motorized crowd is unequivocally lethal, and, a certain percentage appear to be genuine sociopaths, that is, they have no conscience. This happens with alarming frequency on the roads where a pedestrian, cop, construction worker or biker gets killed. (I thought it was a deer.) Luckily Jim, the folks who hit you appear to not have been either. The woman at Pineview was not so lucky. Personally I think if you think you hit a deer you better go back and prove it or be tried for flat out murder with double prison time for being such an human waste asshole as to drive away. (Anyone who goes to Solitude know Josie Johnson, anyone?)

In the end we all take a serious risk at Deer Creek Reservoir. In your case the apparently otherwise competent operator of a boat didn't see your 17 foot high mast and sail, indicating that he wasn't looking. At least he expressed some concern. You can say what you want but boaters are complacent while our lives are threatened. Needless to say, with our lives on the line, we pay a lot more attention than they do. It's like walking, biking, running or anything else where you don't have a motor.

As for sailing, if I'm in danger powered up, on top of the water, with a big ass sail, (which I try to be) and able to change course, what about the sailor/kiter who is down? A kiter in the water would be almost invisible to a wake board boat plowing around trying to make as much swell as possible.

Having nautical right of way does little if you are maimed or dead. Do I want to bring my wife to DC? How about the boys? And there is little in the way of ranger support to protect us. The motorized population is, intentionally or not, bullying us away from resources that we share a right to.

In the end I am so sorry for family, friends and the woman at PV.

btw, Oblique Weber class C fracture with no significant displacement, angulation, or over-riding/bayonet apposition, can't see well enough to say about the integrity of the interosseous ligament, lateral talofibular ligaments etc. Kinda poor quality images. Hope you are healing well. Very sorry to see this happen to any of us, even more sorry to see it happen to you. If it had been me I might not have been civil.

[JimSouthwick]

I, too, doubt that an air horn would have helped; I suspect that about all that people on speeding powerboats can hear is the noise from their own engines. Nevertheless, I have purchased a very loud whistle and intend to wear it around my neck during future windsurfing sessions. ( http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... sNum=10560 ) Even though my accident occurred while I was powered up, I certainly agree that sailors/kiters are most vulnerable when we are down in the water, hard for others to see and unable to maneuver, and anything that someone in that situation can do to get attention seems worth a try.

The tragedy at Pineview was appalling on so many levels! It has long seemed to me that, at the very least, boats with conventional open props (as opposed to water jet drive) should be banned from crowded bodies of water like DC and PV, but given the political climate of Utah, I don’t see much chance of that happening. I can certainly understand your concerns about bringing Kaerli and the boys to DC given the current “Wild West” atmosphere.

Anyway, given what might have happened, I feel very lucky to have gotten off as lightly as I did. In view of the absence of tenderness over either the lateral or medial ankle ligaments and the fact that the mortice appears to be intact on weight bearing views, my orthopod, Dr. Charles Lind (at the Rosenberg, Cooley and Metcalf Clinic) concluded (much to my relief) that conservative Rx in a walking boot is a reasonable option, and so far it seems, at least symptomatically, to be working. I await the followup films on September 20 with great interest.