Back in the water – and getting bitten!   Monday 20/03/2023

The boat was dropped back in the water last Thursday. An easy process, and then a short motoring around into the marina. We’re now on the other dock, closer to the shore and helpfully very close to a Wi-Fi relay beacon, which means good internet connection. 

Thanks to a Californian guy who I was talking to, a mechanic came on board this lunchtime just to check the details of the engine so that he can get the necessary oil filter, rubber impeller etc. He comes highly recommended, which is great. He’s Peruvian – adding to the multinational mix here in the marina! This place really is diverse – there are people from all over. My neighbour is an English guy who worked as a mining engineer, spending nine years in South Africa before settling in Australia. So even the Anglo Saxon community is very mixed. 

It was a great relief to get back in the water. The biggest problem in the boatyard is dust – the ground is dirt and vehicles moving around send up clouds of it. Plus there’s a lot of sanding going on, so all sorts of probably toxic dust mix with that from the ground. Everything inside and outside the boat was covered by a thick layer of dust, so dealing with this was the first priority. I spent three hours hosing down the outside and then washing all surfaces inside by hand. What a pleasure it was to get rid of it – although it was only eight days, being constantly covered in dust is no fun.

I have had one minor setback. Over a week ago I got bitten by a dog when walking back from the shop. There are dogs everywhere and all are friendly, often running up to you with tail wagging. But not this one! He came close to me and I thought nothing of it, until he suddenly pounced and nipped me on the lower left leg. I spun round and kicked him off – and then he circled and came back! Well, I was now prepared, so as he came within range I gave him one helluva of a kick which threw him backwards and did the trick: he didn’t try again. My leg wasn’t bleeding, although by the time I got back to the marina there was a little blood. I washed the wound in salt water and put some ointment on it and hoped for the best. But instead of healing, after a week it was clearly getting infected – surrounded by a red patch about 4 inches/10 centimetres square. Because of getting the boat back in the water, I delayed doing anything about it – which didn’t help! The marina office suggested I go to the state clinic down in Portobello, 17 kilometres away. So Friday afternoon I got a taxi there. The young woman doctor clearly thought it looked bad and said that oral antibiotics would not be sufficient. So I got injected in my backside, and have been going back each day for another shot – in total, five injections, so tomorrow (Tuesday) will be my last. Hopefully this kills the infection – the wound is certainly looking a lot better now.

So this was just an example of random bad luck – nothing you can do to prevent it. The marina people say that I’m the first to get bitten. I think the explanation is that this dog was normally tied up (you see some dogs tied up in gardens) and had been let off or had broken free. Anyway, I was lucky – it was only a medium sized dog so was easy to drive off, plus the actual damage was slight. I’ve been feeling pretty tired, which must be the result of being pumped full of antibiotics, but that’s hardly a problem. I just hope that the infection has been completely killed off. 

It’s been very hot here. There hasn’t been any real rain for a good couple of weeks, and it’s been less windy. The good thing about being back in the water is that there’s a better breeze – the boatyard is very sheltered, so it really was hot there, added to all the dust. But there is a big plus to being very hot in the middle of the day – it makes the evenings feel lovely and cool – the temperature drops a few degrees and makes a huge difference.