Tiger by the Tale

Just when you think you have the Tiger by the tail, you realize that it is the Tiger that has you...

The day started out just about perfect.  We got off the dock in Coinjock at 6:00am and had the waterway all to ourselves as we ran up to the North Landing Bridge just south of Norfolk, VA.  We arrived at the bridge just a few minutes before the 8:00am opening.

We proceeded through the 4 bridges and 1 lock just south of Norfolk and were actually about 15 minutes ahead of schedule as we cleared the no-wake zone and headed onto the bay.  We got out onto the Chesapeake Bay and the weather was about as forecast.  We had 2 to 3 feet choppy seas.  Not great conditions, but really not all that bad.

We rode for about 3 hours bouncing around a bit and then it finally calmed down a little.  Seas dropped to 1 to 2 feet.  Hey, this is now pretty good.  About an hour goes by and the seas flatten out completely.  Almost glass.  Sun pops out and we are having a pretty great day on the water.  Boat is running well and we can almost taste that cold beer once the last line get tied to the dock.

About 4:00pm Leon tells me he is going down to the cabin for awhile.  I am thinking, no problem at all.  Figure he is a bit tired and needs a break since he has been driving again all day.  About 45 minutes goes by and Leon has not come back up to the flybridge.  Kind of odd, so I go below to check on him.  Well he is laying on the couch, pale as a ghost, freezing cold and junk spilled all over the floor.  He is very sick.  I do my best to assess the situation, but Leon is having none of that.  He is able to call his buddy Tony at his marina who will meet us when we arrive.  Not much I can do, but try to make Leon comfortable and get the boat home as quickly as possible.  All of his vital signs are good, he is talking and seems to not be in imminent danger, so I continue to run the boat like a scaled dog to get home ASAP. 

We get into the marina about 5 minutes after 6:00pm.  Fortunately, Tony had several other of his boating friends with him and we get the boat tied up quickly.  We quickly decided that Leon needed to get to a hospital immediately.  Originally Tony's wife was going to drive him to the hospital, but soon determined we really needed to call EMS to get him there as fast as possible.

Long story short, Leon gets admitted to the hospital and is doing better.  He has an infection that the doctors think they now have under control.  They are keeping him overnight to monitor him and continue to give him IV fluids.  I'll know more in the morning. 

Just when you think you have it all figured out, life throws you a curve.  If everyone can say a little prayer tonight for Leon I would appreciate it.