Holed Up For A Week

by Chantal & David · Published August 27, 2022 · Updated August 28, 2022

On the 7th August we left Monemvasia and had a wonderful sail for 31 NM around the south tip of the Eastern Peloponnesos, coming across some katabatic winds along the way, but all under control until we dropped our pick in the beautiful turquoise waters of the island Elafonisos.

And watch a beautiful sunset over a glass of vino!

We had intended to stay put for a day or 2, swim, paddle board and walk amongst the sand dunes, but things were not meant to be. We are not entirely sure what David did but the following morning he woke up in considerable pain in his hip, which worsened during the day, despite the cocktail of painkillers I fed him. By the evening he couldn’t even keep his dinner down, although at the time we thought that this was more because his body wasn’t quite used to the painkillers which mine is, and so we packed him off to bed to rest.

9th August came, our 19th Wedding anniversary, but started very badly indeed with David losing consciousness and collapsing, stark bollock naked, not a pretty sight at the best of times, within 3 minutes of getting out of bed. Very scared as he looked like he was having a stroke, on anchor on an almost deserted island with no immediate help at hand, all I could do was slap him round the face a few times (I’d been dying to do that for years), hoping to get him to regain consciousness. Thank God it worked, but on waking he then proceeded to vomit violently, clearly caused by the agony he was in.

Very quickly we made the decision to get to the nearest port, Neopolis, which thankfully was only 5 nm’s away, although still an hour away by boat, prayed the wind stayed away until we were safely in and that it wasn’t going to be a stern too mooring as single-handed that would have been exceptionally hard! Well we were lucky on one front, not the other, the winds came with the usual velocity we are now acclimatised too, but it was an alongside mooring, so with David on the helm, and me doing the lines etc, we got ourselves safely tied up on the quay and then hobbled in search of a taxi to get David to the health centre.

We were in luck and the Health Centre was excellent, the moment we told them about David vomiting and collapsing, he was in bed on a drip, after which they started to think about his hip.

At least the beds were comfortable, there was even a 2nd one in his room which I made good use of, in the cool for a few hours before the doctor felt David had had enough fluids. Sadly they didn’t have the facilities to do an x-ray which David clearly needed so organised a taxi to take us to the General Hospital about an hour away.

The treatment there was not so great, or comfortable. It was more reminiscent of 4077 MASH, I wasn’t allowed in the hospital with him, so spent the next 2 hours outside on this, in the heat…..

But I still faired better than David, who was in a small A&E with about 5 various types of nurses, that all seemed very preoccupied in socialising with each other as opposed to their patients, a far cry from the Medical centre he first attended, but beggars can’t be choosers.

2 hours later, having had a pain relieving injection in his bottom, David materialised, miraculously walking not hobbling, well not much anyway and with a prescription in hand. The nurse had told him that the injection would continue working, although I was a bit sceptical. The issue was a floating piece of calcium that was impinging on the cluster of nerves in his hip joint, hugely painful, with no quick fix, pills and anywhere between 5 – 14 days complete bed rest.

We jumped in another taxi and made our way back to the boat, where we showered and changed and David felt he was ok to make the smallish walk into town for some grub! With hindsight probably not a good call, but strong drugs have a way of fooling anyone!

So whilst this wasn’t the best way to spend our Wedding anniversary, nor the most romantic meal in the world, it was hugely welcome nonetheless, as was the half litre of wine.

To cut a long additional 5 days short, when the only “excitement” of the day was the ferry coming in and leaving, about 5-6 times, a day! We were moored right opposite it and quite scarily watched as cars and lorries drove up and then reversed onto the ship, all within inches from our boat, one wrong mistake…. Ouch, well a giant Ouch! And a huge powerboat mooring next to us again, which was the least of our worries this time!

Still we had unlimited water, and power, (except when the ferry arrived, as the cable ran across the quay and would have been flattened by the lorries), which meant air con once an unwelcome and now dead visitor to our intake tube had been removed, which was a necessity for both of us… and as it happened a totally free morning as the office was shut when we finally went to leave… so we really couldn’t complain!

And plenty of time, for me, to have a wander around the town, although it was probably the least pretty town we have been to, although it served its purpose as David finally started to get back on his feet and start to feel human again, well as much as he can anyway!