Just Ducky

Our Trip on Just Ducky Comes to a Sudden Finish

End of the Journey

I know I usually start my note where we last left off, but I have to work backwards this time. While leaving the anchorage in Mill Creek yesterday morning, I was at the helm and we bumped the bottom. Mat was on the bow putting the anchor away and as we bumped, he went forward and hit his left thigh on the metal roller furler. After trying to get through the day to get to a port with a doctor, we arrived at Solomons Island in Maryland. We got the bad news that he severed the tendon that attaches the quad muscle to the patella. Not a good thing at all. He definitely needs surgery and we want that to be at home with his own ortho doc. So we are trying to arrange for a professional delivery captain to take the boat home for us and Tom has volunteered to come and get us and bring us home instead of renting a car. As you can see it has been a rough couple of days for Mat. He isn’t in any pain if he doesn’t try to move the leg. There’s no blood or black and blue. He is braced and has crutches which are far better than the boat hook he was using for a cane. Everyone here has been more than helpful and we are very appreciative.

As far as the rest of the week prior to the accident, we were in final stages of leaving North Carolina heading for Virginia. We put in a long day since we had many bridges to go through and the Virginia Cut lock. But we did have many tugs and barges that we had to work around; we even went aground once but backed out of it pretty easily. We passed all of the Navy vessels in Norfolk and had the airplanes of Langley Air Force Base zooming overhead. As we arrived late into Hampton, we had to find the slip on our own but a dock mate helped us with our lines. Boaters are very wonderful people! We have friends in Hampton, VA, Bob and Sally, and we spent a couple of days with them. They took us to their yacht club for dinner one night and we went to their home another night. It was nice seeing them again.

We toured the History museum and the Aerospace Museum and both were worth it. The aerospace museum is spectacular with everything interactive. We stayed through Saturday as there were small craft warnings out and these old folks decided against braving the elements. We are sure glad we did when we got a call from my cousin Brian and his wife Laurie who just happened to be passing through Hampton. So we met them for lunch and caught up on all the family gossip and got to congratulate them on their new grandson.

Mother’s Day we spent at the ill-fated anchorage in Mill Creek Reedville, MD… It was once one of my favorite anchorages, but now, not so much.

So if you see us around town very soon, it’s not a mirage, it’s really us, a little worse for wear. As our friend Ginger says, getting old is not for sissies!! We’ll get through all of this because, after all, we are not sissies!

Take care,

Pam & Mat