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Old 10-10-2015, 12:03   #1
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I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

I never seem to learn! I was removing a clove hitch from a dock piling while departing Belhaven earlier this week and jammed a splinter of wood from the piling under my fingernail. When I finally pulled it out I noticed that it was far longer than I had expected.

I hate this! ...and now my finger is still swollen and throbbing while I'm typing with the other nine. 'soaking in some Epsom Salt solution starting today.

This is my most common and stupid move while boating. Do you guys have other safety failings? Tell me a story that might make me feel better about my finger!
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Old 10-10-2015, 12:54   #2
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Sorry, but that is my most common one too!

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Old 10-10-2015, 13:08   #3
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Yup. Hate that.

Slowing down is the only thing that seems to help.
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Old 10-10-2015, 14:09   #4
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

I can tell you the story of my husband. He was out on the boat while I went horseback riding. It was a breezy day and as I was JUST about to get on the horse (like literally had my foot in the stirrup) my phone rings. "Honey, I have a medical emergency. I need you to come to the boat." I asked what happened and it seems that with the wind, he had a hard time getting the mooring by himself and he hurt his toe. "There is stuff hanging out of it." I asked if he thought he'd need stitches and he said yes. So off the horse, untacked him and off I went in my dirty riding clothes to the boat. I got there and saw he only had one pennant from the mooring to the boat so I quickly got the other one and set the boat on the mooring properly, and then I went downstairs.

Hubby was laying on our bed as pale as pale could be. I looked at his foot and realized the "stuff hanging out" was his bone. He had pulled the baby toe on his left foot completely off the bone like pulling a corndog off the stick. Hubby gets woozy at the sight of blood and I had to take charge. I wrapped up his foot with gauze pads and bandages and got him up, called the launch and off to the hospital we went. Fortunately, our dear friend who is an orthopedist was there and he was able to put the toe back together again in surgery and hubby was on crutches for 6 weeks.

So the story goes that he tried to drive up to the mooring and tried to run forward to grab it but hit his toe on the chainplate/shrouds when he ran forward. He knew something bad happened but he still tried to grab the mooring but couldn't so he had to walk back to the wheel (we have a Catalina 42) and steer back around to the mooring to try again. This second pass failed as well so he had to run back to the wheel and try one more time. This time he JUST got the pickup stick and manhandled the boat in enough to get the pennant on the one cleat and left it then went downstairs to see what happened - and almost passed out when he saw it. That was when I got the call. And yes, he has learned now that he is to always wear shoes on the boat.

Does your finger feel better? Keep an eye on it. It can easily get infected and you might need antibiotics. Soaking it is a really good idea and see if you can get it open enough to get that salt in there to clean it out.
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Old 10-10-2015, 14:27   #5
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Hud...

I hate that injury... happens more than I would like too...

annsni....

I was enjoying the story until the word CORNDOG....

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 10-10-2015, 14:34   #6
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Reaching into the fridge and banging the top of my head on the sharp upper edge of the wood trim.
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Old 10-10-2015, 14:49   #7
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

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Reaching into the fridge and banging the top of my head on the sharp upper edge of the wood trim.
Oh man... That reminded me of a thread from years ago where many of us agreed that the worst injury was banging the old noggin on the 1/2 closed hatch syndrome...

It ain't no corndog though!
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Old 10-10-2015, 17:29   #8
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

It's taken 15 years for me to finally duck my head enough when going through the forward cabin door.
The beautiful rounded top of the door trim has a wickedly sharp flat side on the surface that meets the door surface.

It wouldn't surprise me if I could cut paper with that edge (or so it seems).

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Old 10-10-2015, 17:44   #9
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Yeah, we have a "bump through" center cockpit.

It's not one thing that happens over and over, but what ever happens it is usually my left hand.

As a kid I picked up a wounded squirrel who bit me and severed a nerve in my index finger. It eventually healed but that killed me playing baseball. If I caught a ball wrong it was dreadfully painful.

20 years ago I took a knife cut between my thumb and index finger that got a bunch of nerves. Got used to it but the thumb is weak and recently it cramps badly.

Doing a lot of typing I got carpel tunnel that left my little finger and the one adjacent to it numb. It spread up my left arm to the elbow. Rest made it go away.

But the real wake up was looking at my assortment of welding gloves which I use when grinding and such. I realized I had only right gloves left. The left gloves had all been pretty badly mangled and ruined. I wasn't even aware of this difference until confronted with the evidence.
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Old 10-10-2015, 17:55   #10
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

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Doing a lot of typing I got carpel tunnel that left my little finger and the one adjacent to it numb. It spread up my left arm to the elbow. Rest made it go away.
Actually, that's not carpal tunnel. The carpal tunnel nerve serves the thumb, index finger, middle finger and the middle finger side of the ring finger (if it's carpal tunnel, these would be numb). The pinky side of the ring finger and the pinky are served by the ulnar nerve which goes through the elbow - and that's why the elbow hurt too.
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Old 10-10-2015, 18:01   #11
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

While crewing on other peoples' boats:

1. meat hooks on wire shrouds or stays or lifelines. These have made me bleed and curse.

2. Cotter pins not safety covered and just waiting to slice some skin.
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Old 10-10-2015, 18:23   #12
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

When young I got the splinter so far under the nail of the middle finger the doctor had to pump it full of novacaine before digging it out and drilling a little hole thru the nail for air. Finger was the size of a zucchini for a month.
More recently I was stupid enough to think I could fend off a 40 ft. boat drifting down on my 32 ft. boat with my legs while sitting on the gunnel. I could have swore that worked once when I was younger, bigger and stronger.
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Old 10-10-2015, 18:26   #13
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Working alone on my old Stephen.. engines hatch open I slipped and went down directly to engines... my head hit the manifold and I pass out.. for several hours.. wake up at the hospital.. harbormaster casually passed by my boat and took at look, found me inside the engine room.. was the last time I work alone on engines...
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Old 10-10-2015, 18:43   #14
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Thanks guys, After the corn dog toe and the zucchini finger accounts I think I'll be able to sleep well with my sore finger. Head dives into the engine! I'm better off than I thought.
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Old 10-10-2015, 20:40   #15
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Re: I'm Suffering My Most Common Boating Injury Again

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hudson Force View Post
I never seem to learn! I was removing a clove hitch from a dock piling while departing Belhaven earlier this week and jammed a splinter of wood from the piling under my fingernail. When I finally pulled it out I noticed that it was far longer than I had expected.

I hate this! ...and now my finger is still swollen and throbbing while I'm typing with the other nine. 'soaking in some Epsom Salt solution starting today.

This is my most common and stupid move while boating. Do you guys have other safety failings? Tell me a story that might make me feel better about my finger!
Wear Gloves?

We have taken to wearing gloves, hats, shirts shoes. Think about what you are doing. Even so, I am always bleeding somewhere (Remember Less Nessman?) My usual is a shin or knee knocker from the top of a winch. An occasional rope burn.
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