Here is an update on the progress made so far on the building of our prototype.
- bottom and side panels have been glued
- transom has been installed
- front bulkhead installed
- fin box designed and cut out
- dagger board box designed and cut out
- sliding mast track designed and ready for cut out
next steps will be to install the fin box, dagger board box and the sliding mast track. give the inside two coats of resin and install the deck. We will need to glass the hull with two applications of 3oz cloth and paint. Then we will need to outfit the deck with foot straps, deck plates, rigging and the foreword hatch.
I was moving along at a good pace with a targeted completion date of December 15th until a car crash put me in the hospital for 6 days. I broke 3 ribs, punctured my right lung, fractured the number 5 vertebra in my neck, broke my wrist requiring metal screws to hold it together, tore tendons in my left hand requiring that I wear a splint for the next 3 weeks and I shattered my right elbow also requiring metal screws to keep it together. The orthopedic doctor says that I may never regain full range of motion in my elbow. To date, 3 weeks from the crash I have very little range of motion and experience a lot of pain when doing therapy.
So, I am now behind schedule in both finishing the boat and in training for the EC. I get very depressed at times thinking about my situation. I hate being laid up having to depend on my family to do things for me. But I have to keep in mind that it could be a whole lot worse. When I think of what other people go through, the difficulties that so many people face in the world, who am I to complain. I keep thinking of a quote from Charles H. Surgeon I read on Pelican's web page. "He grows rich by his losses, he rises by his falls, he lives by dying and becomes full by being emptied", so our hardships can make us better people if we have the right attitude.
My commitment is to work hard at recovery in both physical rehab so I can regain 100% use of my elbow and be able to windsurf again, and also to maintain a positive mental outlook.
I my not make the EC this year, but I will in 09 for sure
