2017 Laser Master Worlds - Arrival

by Pam

We have arrived in Croatia!  Sailors are scattered throughout the city since there was no hotel set aside to house them all. We booked early but when Doug boarded a plane to Italy, he got a message that our apartment would not be available and they re-booked us a couple of miles away from the sailing center. After booking three different reservations, slowly inching closer to the sailing center, we finally landed a wonderful apartment about two minutes walk from the sailing center. The only catch is that we are on the top floor, four floors up, but it may well be a blessing because the apartment is quite nice and we really need the exercise. Doug decided he needed to put on weight for the worlds and went the easy route and is sporting quite the gut and I've been working and not exercising for far too long.  

We have already wandered the sailing center and run into many familiar faces. It is crowded and I've only seen three small ramps so the launching is going to be interesting. There are lots of Aussies running about.  Something like 51 of them here. We came in a caravan from Italy with several Italian sailors and even they brought one of the Aussies with them. One of the older Aussies, a master legend, Peter Craig, informed Doug that sailing with broken ribs is no problem and that he had done it when he was 75. 

Doug has been told by two Italian doctors and one American doctor that he should not sail. So, what is he doing at this moment? Sailing. He was not even able to assemble the mast, put the sail on or step the rig without assistance. The wind is light and it may stay that way, in which case, he just might pull it off. The two broken ribs, slightly misaligned, are the 9th and 10th which protect various vital organs. Everything I've read says that further misalignment and breakage could result in puncturing those vital organs and could be fatal. Not a comforting thought since Doug does not feel pain when he sails. I believe I make take his pain meds away from him to remind him what he is contemplating. When he picked me up at the airport in Italy, he could not get in and out of the car without alot of grunting, and he still cannot roll over in bed without a little assistance. He's a bit like a turtle on its back.  

They say that bad luck comes in 3s. First, we had he loss of our first apartment, second, we had the broken ribs, and third, I seem to have lost my camera somewhere between the car and the apartment. Our host told us to head toward the city center and find the blackened statute with the gold toe behind the Diocletian's Palace and rub the gold toe and make a wish and a prayer. First order of business last night was to find the statute and Doug spent quite a bit of time rubbing that toe. And now we wait to see what the wind gods will bring us. But, even if he does not sail, there is much to enjoy in Split.