Windsurfing Bonaire with a mishap

More words less pictures, this windsurfing Bonaire post is for all of you family, friends and readers who for one reason or the other are not connected with me on Facebook. And therefore do not have the latest on my personal vacation mishap.

It all started a week ago, March 3 to be exact. It was sunny, warm and very windy here on Bonaire. As on previous days David and I had done other stuff early in the day and in the afternoon drove to Jibe City for our daily windsurfing session.

Fast forward an hour or two later David was happily and I was semi-happily windsurfing the bay. The water was very choppy, it was very windy and I was still getting used to it plus using small windsurf gear. Which is when it hit me or rather I hit it.

I will be doing a lot of guessing for the next part, because honestly I do not remember it exactly. Probably a wind gust and / or a wave chop caught me off balance on the small board and I fell; backwards, which is usually the safest way, since you will be hitting water without any gear under you. Unless you are inn Lac Bai and manage to find one of the very, very shallow spots where a lot of folk actually hit the sea bottom with the surf boards fin, making them stop abruptly and playing human catapult.

Not me. Not my fin hit the sand with full speed. My right foot did. And neither I nor my foot were very pleased with the experience and outcome. It hurt a lot and I did not move, kneeling in the shallow, cooling water, suffering from pain and frustration. I knew something was wrong.

Here is a little visual of Lac Bay. First David windsurfing and then an aerial courtesy of Google of the launch site and approximately where my mishap happened.

bonaire, Lac bai, sorobon

It does not look that bad, right? But imagine knee to chest deep water, dragging a windsurf board and sail while hopping mostly on one foot – it took me quite a while to get back to Jibe City.

Actually by the time I did, I was merrily limping along and taking the first look at my foot. Gosh, I had never seen that before. It was swollen all over, as you see in the photo taken the morning after below, but on top of the middle foot, right across, it also had another bump, which looked almost rectangular. It looked quite bizarre and I wish I had a photo.

before/after

But instead of my iPhone I asked the guys at Hang Out Bar for some ice and then sat in a corner waiting half an hour or so for David to make his way back to Jibe.

Since it was late and I was able to put some weight on the forefoot, we decided not to go to the hospital that night. We kept the foot cooled and elevated till the next morning. Which was when we decided to better be safe than sorry and had it checked out.

Long story short: Small fractures of the cuboid bone (middle foot) and apparently also of the calcaneus bone (heel bone), not dislocated. They put the foot in an open cast allowing for the swelling to go down and we have rented crutches, so I can limp around a little. But if you know Bonaire, you know I cannot really go anywhere. Good thing we are staying at a wonderful place: Summer Dreams Ocean Club.

Yesterday, a week later, was a follow up appointment with a doctor and he recommended a full cast. However, once the old one came off, they realized the swelling had not gone down enough and showing nice bruising. So I got another half cast, since a walking boot is not an option with a heel bone fracture. Crutches it is for a few more weeks.

The vacation? Almost over. Another couple of nights, a plane ride and I’ll be home again. What comes then – I don’t know.

Bonaire gate
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claudia3

8 thoughts on “Windsurfing Bonaire with a mishap”

  1. Bummer. Glad you are getting better but I can imagine it pretty much sucked for vacation. Still, you have some gorgeous weather and views. Perhaps that will help the healing?

    As for getting around on crutches on stairs, may I recommend what I fondly call the butt lift and slide? I lived in a 3rd floor apartment with no elevator many years ago and had a knee injury that required crutches and a fancy sling for my leg to immobilize it. I went up and down the stairs by sitting down and using my hands and good leg to get me up or down a step!

    Reply
    • It sucked a lot. For that vacation and because with it half of my US vacation days have been wasted 🙁
      Oh my, leg in a sling… luckily I only have a cast, so instead of using the butt lift and slide I am using my knees – LOL

      Reply
    • Thank you very much, Tamara. Funny thing is, after the initial pain while still in the water, as long as I did not put weight on the back foot, I was and am o.k. And the plane ride and airport travel was also much easier than anticipated.

      Reply
  2. oh I am so sorry! what a bummer to have happen on vacation. and especially there because that windsurfing video was beautiful and awesome. (nice form David!! ha)
    I do miss windsurfing back home — and it certainly was deep enough in Lake Ontario that I would not have hit bottom on a wipe out.
    Take care and hopefully fast recovery!

    Reply

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