taken a fall onboard.

[Jaxfishgyd]

Left last Wed. to make the trip up the St Johns River on a 5 day trip. The idea was, I would leave a day early, the Admiral and 2 of our grand kids would meet me in Lake George on Thursday from where we would go to Silver Glen and spend 2 days.
I anchored up for the night and woke up early Thursday morning. I decided to change my fuel filters as I had 4 hours to kill before meeting up with them.
I removed the floor hatch for the port engine, changed both primary and secondary filters and went up the steps to the cockpit.
As I got to the top step, the stairs fell, causing me to fall about 4' hitting my left side onto the base of the doorway. And caused the two old filter to come out of the pail they were in and roll around the cockpit carpet.
Seems when I removed the floor panal, I somehow moved the steps and didn't realize it.
I knew I had hurt myself, not only my ribs but my right ankle ended up under the stairs.
I put the panal back in, put the stairs on and pulled up the anchor, running only on my starboard motor. (Was unable to replace the filters due to pain and the location of the primary)
Called the wife, told her not to come and then made the 9 hr trip back to our marina where I had plenty of help to dock the boat.
4 hrs in the ER and I have one fractured rib and a sprained ankle. And was given GREAT meds. But the mere thought of a hick up, belch, or heaven forbid, a cough or sneeze brings chills.
Yes I was by myself but in a protected waterway, wearing both my cell and portable vhf radio. I feel I'm in a lot more danger driving on I-95 every day plus driving some of the back roads we have here in N. Florida.
But THE ADMIRAL has stated, "No more cruising alone". Nuff said.

[jim rosenthal]

Glad you did not do any worse than that...boats are dangerous places. Several years ago I fell several feet into the engine room of my Striker 44, landing on one of the diesels. I do not recommend them as a place to land on. I didn't break anything but thought I had. It took a while to heal from that one. Get well soon.

[Gina Marie]

Glad to hear your somewhat ok. That could of been a frightning outcome if matters had been worse. Speedy recovery.

[SKYCHENEY]

Glad you are okay, but I will admit that it has happened to me too. In fact, I slipped and fell just this past weekend into the gen room. I was working and had been up and down into the generator room several times. Well, this last time I stepped in the wrong place and down I went. I landed on my arss so no problems except a large bruise, but still enough that I can sympathize with you. I think this type of thing is bound to happen to you sometime on a boat. Once you are healed and time passes maybe the Admiral will forget all about it.

[whaler23]

Boats are dangerous places, two years ago I was releasing the winch on my walkaround on the trailer. Apparantly the boat shifted back on the trailer putting a lot more strain on the winch strap than I thought. Anyway, upon hitting the toggle lever on the winch the handle suddenly backlashed and swung around breaking two of my fingers, one cleanly, the other a spiral fracture. This was at night and the pain I felt plus the lacerations made me think of what I was going to pack my severed finger in to get to the hospital. Luckily, no severed finger, two years later I have one crooked finger and one with about 80% use back in. I sold that boat soon after

[Nick]

You are a lucky guy! Its not a question of if it happens, but when! I grabbed what I thought was the bridge handrail on my way down the ladder, while washing up the bridge late one day after fishing. ...As I laid on the cockpit floor, I realized I grabbed the water hose, that I had neatly hung by the nozzel on the bridge rail, instead of the rail. Needless to say the hose did not do much to break the fall. The hose was still in my hand as I laid on the floor. Lesson learned.

Fortunately, sounds like you will fully recover.

[Passages]

Its not a question of if it happens, but when! .

So true. Last July I was swabbing the deck and slipped from standing height slamming hard enough to knock the wind out. As I lay there, I started an inventory of body parts that still work. Was doing good until I got the arm. Ut oh - arms not working. Xray confirmed it was broken. A first in my 49 years.

Glad you're doing relatively OK. Could have been worse.

[Walter P]

Scary stories - Years ago I left the engine room hatch open in the center of the salon on my 43 DC and went up to the aft deck to get something. I got jawing with some of the guys on the dock and when I finally went below (with a bunch of stuff in my arms), I completely forgot that I had left the hatch open and I stepped right into the open hatch and crashed on the engine room sole. Fortunately the floor was clear of any tools or other stuff and since I was still fairly young, nothing broke. (except my pride).

I shudder to think of what the extent of the damage would be today under the same conditions - I'm about 25 + years older and the old bones are more easily broken. Moral of the story is to be AWARE of our surroundings at all times and be particularily careful when you're over 65.

If these experiences help a few of our fellow forum members prevent an accident, then it will be worth the time to fill this thread. Walt

[spartonboat1]

Due I hope to a poor judge of distance and needed amount of rope, I avoided a 15' fall from the bow onto the ground, while on the hard last Fall. Also, I completely misjudged the weight of the bow pulpit, which had become waterlogged, i.e. the basis for removal for drying and repairs.

I had tied a rope around my waist (no, its not a line, until it has a bitter end ) and then tied the other end to the bow pulpit, intending to lower away after unbolted.

Oops! When it let go I could not hold it back and thankfully the line was just long enough to let the pulpit hit the ground on the fly (no damage) with the line just taught. Any shorter and I would have been pulled off the bow into a very long fall...yikes!

Did I mention that when a kid I jumped from high places into snow banks, until one day the snow wasn't banked...oh, never mind...

Scary lesson learned on that one!

[ADaily3224]

Remember those nylon hoses, I think Toro made them, they were like a miniature fire hose and rolled up into a plastic carrying case. I was washing the boat one day and had the hose running up the walk way inflated with water. I needed more soap, headed down the walk way, stepped on the hose which was as hard as a rock. My foot rolled out from under me, I flipped up and over the rail, landed on the dock shoulder first, broke that, and landed in the water. Ouch. It still bothers me years later. I threw that hose away. I don't see them for sale anymore.

You can't be too careful, I'm presently recovering from a broken tibia, broke it at the knee skiing. My orthepedic surgeon bolted it all back together, It should be ready to go just in time for boating season. What next.

Tony D