The coast of Baja is stunningly beautiful, desolately remoteYama, a Japanese man in his 30s, bought a sailboat with the assistance of my neighbor, who was working for a vessel broker here in town. On Yama's maiden voyage across the Sea of Cortez to Baja, he made a navigational error, something we all do at some point or other, but his was fatal. For the boat, anyway. He smashed into some rocks, broke his leg as he abandoned his sinking boat, and somehow made it to a small island where he was stranded until a sailboat came by and the Mexican crew managed to rescue him and get him to Loreto. Thus rescued, on his way back to civilization, his troubles were over, right? Wrong.
The medical facilities in Loreto weren't equal to the task of mending his leg (!) so he was taken to Constitución, where the tibia was operated on six days after it was broken, and a long gauze bandage wrapped around his entire leg from knee to calf. He has no explanation why he wasn't given a cast of some sort. His English is somewhat limited and his Spanish is nil, which must have been an even worse handicap than the broken leg in some instances.
Somehow he was transported back here to San Carlos where he is now staying at J's house (since she's the only person he knows in Mexico). He has nothing but his crutches and the clothes he was wearing when the boat went down. Everything else he owned, including passport, visa and credit cards are all at the bottom of the sea. His leg is causing enormous pain and he wants to go home. For a couple of days he couldn't even contact his sister in Japan, because he lost her phone number, so there would have been no one to meet him at the airport when he arrives. My neighbor has been on Skype for two days, locating the sister, getting medical, airline and legal information he needs to get temporary papers, a proper cast on his leg and a flight back to Japan.
She came over to ask me if she could wash his one set of clothes (which he'd been wearing for a week or more), having persuaded him to accept a clean shirt and pair of shorts. She said Yama stubbornly refused to go to the hospital.
Tomorrow she and her partner have to go to Tucson where he'll get some help with a possible detached retina. Unable to walk, in pain, Yama will be here alone, or in a hotel somewhere, or ???? And so the drama continues. I've offered what help I can, and have been trying to think of something I can cook for him. Did I mention he's diabetic?
Lessons learned:
• Before our next cruise to anywhere, we have to get together that "ready bag" we've been talking about for ages, with changes of clothing, ponchos, mylar emergency blankets, toothbrushes, copies of our important papers, bottled water, food, pesos, phone list for reaching friends and relatives, a good knife and a flaregun, in a waterproof bag.
• Check that the Spotter is in good working order and the contact info uploaded on it is current. The Spotter is a satellite messenger device slightly larger than a cellphone that works on GPS to call for help and give coordinates in emergencies, and also to regularly notify family and friends where you are, and that you're OK. It works on land and sea, is more portable and costs a lot less than an EPIRB unit, and doesn't require costly periodic recharging. Yama could have really used a Spot.• Don't break any bones in Loreto!
UPDATE: Yama was taken by a determined J. to the hospital in Guaymas where they'll keep him overnight. He has an infection in his leg, not a good thing with diabetes. J and her partner are changing their plans so they can be here when he gets out. And then help him with whatever comes next.