The Incident

Flynn Cove was lovely. We have been branching out from Charlie’s Charts (our only guide book) as it lists very few anchorages, and just heading for ones that look reasonable on the charts. Flynn cove was one of those. As evening set in a killer whale entered the bay and fished the shores. We could hear the rest of the pod fishing the outer side of the island that marks the entrance to the Cove. Early the next morning Kolby got out of bed to go fishing. He gently woke Fynn up to ask her if she wanted to go with him, as she said she did last night but got a “No Daddy!” and a roll over in bed. But when she heard the dinghy going into the water she was up in a flash and the little fisher had her rod and was ready to go! They spent the first hour playing with the little rod, pulling in herring, and the second hour pulling in 3 good sized pinks. I was super excited to see our fish salmon come aboard. I immediately started filleting them as we had to leave by 9:30 am to meet Ken and Tia at the dock at Gustavas at noon. I was halfway through the second fish when the knife slipped and went right through the backbone and into the back of my left index finger. I knew right away that it wasn’t a little cut. Grasping my finger tightly to stem the bleeding, Kolby asked if I needed some paper towel. No paper towel, this is first aid kit territory. As he was hauling out the first aid I experimented with my finger. Initially I though I had sliced through the tendon, but I was getting some extension in the tip so maybe I hadn’t… I uncurled my hand from the finger and immediately felt sick. My finger was hanging at an odd angle from my second knuckle. I got all dizzy and nauseas and couldn’t think straight. It took my a minute before I realized I was in shock. I immediately went into the recovery position and felt much better. After that I was able to think straight. After we had was the cut in water and iodine and wrapped it in gauze we had to decide where to go. Hoonah was closer and a bigger town, but I was sure I would flying to Junuea or Vancouver for the repair so Gustavas was the better choice. It was also where help was waiting. The two kids are a lot to manage in these types of situations. Decision made we set about making a splint out of some of the thermo-mold material from my OT days. This made a lovely splint which kept my finger straight and comfortable as we headed to Gustavas. I was able to nurse Bowen and put him down for a nap before I called my Mom on the sat phone. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself at this point as I knew this would impact our plans, and I may miss out on Glacier Bay. Mom helped me book a flight to Seattle, where they could pick me up, and she called our travel insurance company to get the low down. They told me I would have to go to the clinic in Gustavas to determine the closest place that could complete the surgery.  We pulled into the dock and didn’t wait long before Ken and Tia arrived. Kolby and I headed out to the clinic after lunch and my finger was feeling pretty comfy, so I was happy that the Nurse Practitioner took my word on the injury and didn’t open the splint. She did put a call into the hand surgeon in Juneau who told her to close the wound and that I could get it fixed when I get home. When we told her that wouldn’t be until October, the surgeon told her he could see me on Monday (today was Friday) and do the surgery next Wednesday or Thursday, as it was ‘just a finger!’ But it was my finger!!! After discussing briefly with the NP and Kolby we decided it would be much more reasonable for Bowen and I to fly out to Vancouver for the surgery as the timeframe would be faster, my parents were around to help with Bowen, and waiting in Juneau with Bowen would just be too awkward. So Bowen and I flew out that night from Gustavas on a first class ticket to Seattle. Huge thanks to my parents for driving down to Seattle to pick us up at midnight. We met some really cool people on the trip and were asleep at my parents around 3am. The next morning (being Saturday) we headed to the emergency at VCH where the amazing Dr. Barret Rush smoothed the waters and helped make my 6 hour stay at emerg a breeze. By Sunday at 5:30 pm I was back aboard Asunto, but with  a very sore finger. It will have to be splinted for 6 weeks to let the tendon heal. Alaska has become split- BTF and ATF.