The fright of my life Mk.II

[Rob_Webb]

Just when you think you can relax and lower your guard.....

one minute bombing along on my own in my inflatable tender c.10-12kts...... gazing around the harbour...... take my eyes off my course for a moment...... WHAM!!! ..... collided with back of stationary (moored yacht).... wake up in the water (no lifejacket - of course!), dinghy upside down outboard stopped (thank God)..... manage to right dinghy and tenderly paddle back to boat.... get ashore... 3 days of hospital.... broken ribs... kidney/liver scans.... pissing blood.... mobile phone bossed.... favourite T-shirt sunk without trace etc etc etc.

And all this 1 week before the agreed sale of my boat inc dinghy and outboard - nice timing, Rob!

Well, I'm now confirmed alive, feeling VERY stupid but also VERY lucky, and have learned yet another hard life lesson.

And so in the best traditions of falling of a horse etc, yesterday I very gingerly climbed back into the same dinghy on my own with the same (professionally recovered) outboard and went for a putter around the same area - somewhat more vigilant this time.

Live and learn!

R

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[ccscott49]

There you go, what speed in the harbour? Glad it turned out OK, but you were obviously lucky.

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[arca]

Were you using your "kill cord"? If you weren't you were even luckier!

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[Bejasus]

Bloooody hell Rob. Did you have time to say shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit?

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[Rob_Webb]

Harbour spd limit 10kts (Portsmouth) so no real problem there in my inflatable compared to ships' wash at same speed!

No kill cord on the outboard - stopped out of good fortune.

And no time to say anything at all - except "no thanks, I'm OK" to the little motor boat that slowed down and came over to see if I needed any help, as I was sitting on my inverted tender working out how to right it! Had I realised at the time just how injured I was, I probably wouldn't have been so blase - but at the time adrenalin and survival instincts must have been running high hence I managed to get myself back before collapsing.....

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