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Hurricane Nate a non event comparatively but not w/o its consequences

Many boaters along the Ms Gulfcoast harbors fled with their power and sailboats to hurricane holes in back bays and rivers. Although Nate turned out to be more a bother than anything else, preparing a boat for a hurricane hole is dangerous work and the risks in moving a boat under such circumstances cannot be overlooked. My former slip neighbor was moving her 34' sailboat on Friday, a day I had to be in the office. She took her boat alone but with another sailor following. At 6:30 pm, I got a call that they needed my help as she suffered a freak accident and was on her way to the hospital. Although I do not have all the details, she was setting her anchor and had been paying out the anchor rode and somehow caught her hand in the anchor line and it took off her entire thumb. The other sailor doing the same thing went to her aide. Although it was getting dark, they found the thumb and she was taken by ambulance to a local hospital and quickly transported 3 hours away to Jackson Ms where a hand specialist reattached it that night.

Under the stress of an impending storm, an accident like this can happen to anyone, even a true salt of a sailor as she. This surely reminds me again of the dangers of setting an anchor particularly when doing so by yourself or in a rush. I have done that many times. It reaffims in my mind that heavy boats create tremendous tension on the rode when setting or while at anchor and getting tangle up in the line will cause injury or can pull me into the water for later recovery.

For my friend, the good news is that at last report she will likely keep the thumb, the function of which only time will tell.
 
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