Sailed my old 23' boat into Apalachicola one night in thunderstorms,
all lights in town were out so we were sailing by lightning flashes.
Got to the dock, it was very high, at least 4' above us but I stepped
up onto it and the edge gave way. I fell backward and hit my head on
the toerail on th way down and was out cold when I hit the water. My
friend Bob who was 62 at the time was as astrong as an ox reached in
and literally pulled me out by my collar and into the cockpit where I
came around.
Six years later on a sailign trip with Bob, it was very cold and we had
to sail waaaaayyy out to get around the shoal. About an hour out, I
noticed Bob was sitting very still and looked funny. I asked him if he
was ok and he said yes so we went on. Later, it became obvious he was
not OK and at first we thought he was just a little sick but he refused
to move and looked chilled to the bone so we tried to put a parka on
him which he refused. Still thinking he was just a little sick and
stubborn I didnt think it was bad but later he had a very glassy look
in his eyes but he refused help. I decided to try to see if anybody
else was out just in case so tried VHF asking for a radio check and got
nothing (not too unusual for this area then). By this time we were
heading back north to Shell Pt but it was about 20 miles. Bob didnt
look well at all and I could get nobody on VHF. Looked at the chart
and decided to go into Ocklocknee Bay as it would be the closest place
to get help. Went down the winding channel and finally ended up at at
a deserted dock and I figured I'd have to hitch a ride to a phone and
we were all frozen. I walked up the dock shivering and suddenly sqaw
my father walking toward me and thought I was hallucinating but it was
really him AND my mom. They had gone for a drive over to Carabelle and
had seen my boat was out of its slip. Looking waaaay out, they could
see us on the horizon thru binocs so had driven east following us till
they realized where we had to be coming in and they waited. It was
like a miracle cuz we got Bob to the car and drove him to the hospital
where we found he had a stroke.