Please note this isn't for the faint of heart. It gets a little graphic...


Just returned from a charter with Sunsail on a 444 Feb 1-10 with my family. Had a rough time the first night on the water. While I'll provide a full trip report that's in the works, I wanted to explain how our trip (and three of my fingers) was almost cut short!

After leaving the Sunsail base I took my new-to-the-water crew to the Bight to do some beach access snorkeling. After a few hours we left the mooring ball to head to Sopers Hole in time for dinner and the Super Bowl at Fish-n-Lime (formerly Jolly Roger Inn). Wind was about 15-20 ENE, and I wanted to give the crew a simple introduction to sailing. The 444 has all lines led to the cockpit, and a beam reach would get us there without any issues in about an hour. I headed into the wind south of the Indians and raised the main. The 444 has an electric winch operated by a deck switch and during the briefing it was pointed out with a "be careful of this." Noted. Used it to raise the main sail only, seemed a little powerful for me, (and quick!)

Got the gib out and cut the engines. What a beautiful day! We were hauling about 8 knots and after feeling out the wheel, I set the autopilot and sat back to enjoy the wind in my sails! Everyone was on a sailing high, and life couldn't be better!

Took us about 40 minutes to get to the pass between Frenchmans Cay and Little Thatch and the wind started to pick up. This was the first time out for all but my wife, and I though it was a great easy demo and we would have plenty of time to get the rest of the team involved for the next 9 days, so, time to lower the sails. The furling line has a block next to it with a plate so it could go onto the winch. Or so I thought. Turns out this was for a spinnaker line and to be used with the opposite winch. Once I got the furling line in, I threw the handle on the electric winch (I didn't think I needed to use the electric to pull in a furling line!) and began to crank away. Took about three turns and the furling line jammed on the winch. No problem, let out the sheet and get some slack, unwrap it, try again. Simple.

Three more turns, jammed again. Repeat... Ok think, why is this jamming? Maybe if I don't use the tailer? Ok. Got one of my pirates to just feed the line as I was winching and it worked for about 5 turns... Jammed.

At this point I was annoyed. Wind was up and seas were 4-6, not bad but I didn't yet have my sea legs. This was supposed to be a simple sail and I couldn't get the gib in?? I took the winch handle off and pulled the line into the tailer just to hold it. Fingers were trying to unjam the winch and line was loose. Frustrated, I pulled the slack out and looped my pinky, ring, and middle finger inside to pull the jam out and find a better solution, just as we hit a big roller wave. I lost my footing and gripped the line to stabilize myself and my foot came down on the deck switch for the electric. Immideately the lines went tight around themselves and the pain was so intense I couldn't move my foot off the deck switch. All I could do was scream in pain. I watched as my hand went backwards and my fingers bent around the winch, and the pressure made blood shoot out of each finger and my skin was pulled off from the pads forward. I.could.not.move.my.foot.

I held on tight as I yelled to a crew member to move my foot, "what, why" MOVE MY FOOT. They did and the electric shut off and I released the port gib sheet, fully extending the furling line and I ripped my fingers out of the line as it went loose. I threw my mangled hand into a towel and it was covered in blood and immideately, I knew then I had lost my fingers.... Everyone was panicked and the pain was intense. I'm still on a beam reach heading past great thatch now with the sails up, going into shock, and I realized at that point nobody knew what to do.

Id like to interject that while I have lots of time on the water, and feel I am a very safe and cautious captain, I am in no way an expert. I'm also not a credit card captain, but I had just realized I had made a huge mistake and we were in real trouble.

My wife was able to help get everyone quiet but didn't know what to do, I just knew I needed to get the sails down. I was out of commission but I could instruct so I got the crew to get the furling line around the winch without going through the block, and we got the gib in eventually. Autopilot into the wind and dropped the halyard... And then pointed the crew back toward west end. (We were about 1/4 way to Jost at this point)

I'm panicked at this point and my mangled hands were in a bloody towel with ice. I called Sunsail on the phone and told them the situation as I had no idea where to go or what to do at that point. They had me call 911 as they had no reps in west end at the time. Emergency said they would meet me at the voyage base so just pull in to any open slip. Are you kidding me... I can barely stand, let alone instruct someone to dock. More panic.

I hailed sopers hole marina on 16 declaring a medical emergency. Was answered by the voyage base and I examined to them I was incapacitated and I had an emergency... Is there anyone who can board and assist. They said they would have someone right away and talked to me. At the same time my sister was on the phone with emergency services explaining what was happening. We were full throttle coming into west end and saw the voyage guys... We blew the horn to identify and they were on board within seconds. At that point they took the helm and I was finally able to sit. I don't remember much but I watched their dinghy float away as it was never tied on... They apparently jumped aboard. I learned later they did recover it after getting me ashore.

After pulling into a slip I had my wife get my passport and wallet, and my dad and I were off to the hospital. After about 5 minutes of confusion if we were taking a cab or the ambulance we jumped into a
Cab because we didn't know where the emergency services were. Dad tells me about 2 minutes out we saw the ambulance and we switched over on the side of the road... I don't remember. But I do remember getting to the hospital and out of the ambulance where someone hit my hand (still wrapped in a towel) and the pain was so intense...

At the hospital, things "quickly" slowed down to island time. I didn't know what I was expecting but we arrived around 530(this happened at 430) and didn't see anyone until around 7. At this point I was feeling better mentally, but freaking out about my crew on the boat. Would they know what to do where to go how to operate the lights on the boat anything!

Doc came to see me and we peeled back the towel to reveal some very mangled, but surprisingly STILL attached fingers. Yes. All five of them. I had sworn that I had lost them... Thank God!! I could not feel them at all at this point, and they needed some major work but they were still there. Another hour or so and we went to get an xray on my hand, but I just wanted to clean them up. Another hour went by and a new doc came and said the X-Ray showed three fractures on my ring finger but the others were not. Finally got the fingers cleaned up and glued... The middle finger wasn't so bad just bruised badly. The pain was pretty intense but really everything had stabilized.

Dad had been on the phone with pretty much everyone. Called the fish n lime and someone had sent a taxi to get my crew. They were having dinner and watching the game and had been getting regular updates on me. That was great to hear! Once bandaged and splinted and checked out around 945 we went to check out with a hospital bill of... $145. Also had instructions to keep dry for 10 days... Great. Good lord WHAT?? I was clearly expecting 2k plus!

Got an Rx for an antibiotic and painkiller.. But no pharmacy was open so I had to go back to town the next morning... Great. Got a cab back to Fish n Lime and met the crew in the middle of the 4th. They were thrilled to see me but I was just so done for the day, exhausted. They explained how awesome the Voyage team was to us. Someone came aboard and explained to them how to use the systems, hooked them up to shore power and even got the AC running. Gave them all tokens for the shower, wifi, and just all in all first class service. I cannot thank them enough for all they did...

My confidence was completely shot that night and I talked to a few of you on Facebook. Thank you for the encouraging words, and the pep talks... Much needed. I'll provide more of the follow up in my full report but the trip I though was cut short (by three fingers) was still on. Took a few days but I was eventually in the water with a glove and some serious bandaging, and by the end of the trip things were doing so well. Have an appointment today for a follow up X-ray and check to see if things are ok but I am one lucky dude... The rest of the trip the breaker for the electric was cut, and we used a winch handle.

Side note. While in town to get my Rx I stopped by sunsail to speak with the base manager. I filled out an incident report and got on another 444 to show them how things happened. Would you believe there was a beautiful cover for the foot switch that we didn't have?? We had some discussion and the repair team was dispatched to install one back on board, it was fixed before I got there. While this was a major factor, I was not concerned with creating an issue out of it.

Lessons learned, and I want to stress this...
*Lots of times it's many months, sometimes years, that you may have been without sailing. Take them up on their captain for a day or complimentary captain, whatever they have available. I will every time in the future. Every time.
*Someone on your team needs to be comfortable with running the boat, briefed on everything, and know what to do in an emergency. I counted on my wife as a help... But she wasn't experienced enough to handle the boat without me.
*if you do not feel comfortable using something on the boat and there is an more comfortable but more difficult way... Do it that way! Shutting off the electric winch was a pain and took forever to get the main up in comparison but it was so worth it for my fear of something happening to someone else, or me again!
*dont be afraid to throw in the towel and ask for assistance, IF you know who is helping you. VISAR/USCG is always an option in an emergency. I took a chance calling blindly for someone to take the boat over and it turned out ok, but I left my family in someone else's hands with a boat in my name. Kinda scary.
*watch out for those electric winches... And get a full briefing on them before using them!

Thank you to all who offered assistance, and kudos to the voyage team (Alex was the guy who took the boat) for helping and it's very likely you just earned my business.

Also, Heather from the Fish-n-lime was awesome to my crew. They said it was excellent food, great services great atmosphere and at the end of the day the bill was "on the house". We ended up leaving a tip that more than covered everything and will highly recommend everyone stop there on their next visit.

Stay tuned for the full recap (of the good stuff!) soon!