Hugh's Injury

Monday 12th May

Hugh is in pretty bad shape now - his back and leg are very sore and as a result, he is very tired - bu trying to put on a brave face. I am organizing an MRI for him this week. This means flying back to Papeete (onyl 20 minutes) and possibly staying there overnight. Shin will look after BlueFlyer. Hopefully all will be well. There is also a distinct possibility that he might need surgery if the sciatic nerve is compromised - this will prevent any furthur damage. Although his paiin is quite well controlled by painkillers, he can't walk more than about 20 meters before the pain stops him. It is really difficult to watch him go through this, as he is always so strong and soldiers on. Of course the environment we are is in does not allow for rest and he constantly worried about the boat too. One option is to hire a professional skipper. This would help immensely, as we would have much of the responsiblity taken off of, as well as having an extra pair of skilled hands.

So, apologies to all our blog readers for not updating you regularly - as you can tell we are pretty distracted by Hugh's injury! The heat is really quite challenging at the moment too and as a result we (and lots of others in the WARC) are struggling to be constructive! We will attempt to update you - thanks for all the continued emails many of you have been sending - we love the contact from the "real" world and look forward to hearing all your news!