Learning from experience A day I’ll never remember Gilbert Park and his wife were en route from to Audierne when Gilbert succumbed to an episode of transient global amnesia…

y wife and I decided to explore last 0 10 20 NM summer while moving our new acquisition, BREST a Sabreline 36, from • Newark to Aigues- MMortes in . We chickened out of the long trip from mid-Biscay around

and up to Le Grau-du-Roi, so the last part Pointe de from La Rochelle to Port Camargue was Lesven • • Douarnenez planned to be by lorry. Pointe du Raz • Audierne The weather that summer was awful • Quimper most of the time, or so it seemed. After spending almost a week in the inner harbour in Douarnenez waiting for the Force 9 winds and heavy rains to stop, there was a window

of almost calm weather (my BRITTANY rougher around Pointe du definition – not the crew’s) to Raz (which was a part of the leave and continue south. trip I had always looked The day before leaving, I forward to). She didn’t carefully planned our trip to know anything was wrong Audierne, round Pointe du Raz, marking until we were outside the harbour put the captain on board with another the various waypoints on the chart. I had entrance. There, I spent an hour going officer. The harbour master also heard it, a long chat with the helpful female Welsh between the two cardinal markers and was ready to take the warps from the boat harbour master who told me where the kept asking her where we were: she would and had a doctor on the telephone. deep water was in the harbour, and what reply, and I would immediately ask the When the boat was secured I was taken areas to avoid, and I then fully apprised same question. She quickly understood off by the fire brigade and passed over to my wife of all the passage details. that something was wrong and tried to get the paramedics, who took me – and my The sun was shining when we left, me to let her helm the boat, with little wife – to the hospital at Douarnenez. and the sea was calm. As we progressed success. She eventually succeeded by From there, I was later transferred to the along the coast the sea state worsened, handing me the radio and letting me regional neurological unit at Quimper. becoming a little rough but not too bad; think I was having a The neurologist and opposite Pointe de Lesven I took the stroke, and that we I kept asking my wife explained that my opportunity to leave the0 flybridge30 60 and needed help. memory loss, and visit the heads below. I rememberNM coming My training kicked the same question, repeatedly asking the back up to the flybridge, and… that’s it, in and I realised that over and over again same question, were until I found myself in an ambulance! I needed to send a classic symptoms of My wife tells me I behaved quite pan-pan, which I did – mostly in French. transient global amnesia. This is like a normally, cheering her up as the sea got The coastguard wanted to know where we brain reset, although the cause is not were, so I asked my wife: I couldn’t known, and it results in an inability to remember the answer, so I couldn’t tell form new memories – in my case, for About the author him. He then asked me for my lat and about 12 hours. Fortunately, it happens long and, once again, my training kicked only once and there are no long-term Gilbert Park has been sailing in and I read it off the chart plotter. He effects. In particular, there is no need to for more than 40 years and was surprised that we were in the harbour. stop driving cars, let alone boats, and I has worked his way through I told him I was having a stroke and that can’t even use it as an excuse to forget almost the entire Drascombe my wife couldn’t dock the boat: in fact, presents for birthdays and anniversaries. range. He now has a she could, but not without worrying that The only lasting effects are that I will Seaward 25 motor cruiser she would damage either our boat or never remember going around Pointe and enjoys the tinkering and maintenance somebody else’s – or both! Three customs du Raz, and my wife will always be a that goes with owning any sort of boat. officers in a RIB heard the pan-pan and bit worried when I forget things.

80 Practical Boat Owner 598 April 2016 • www.pbo.co.uk A day I’ll never remember

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LESSONS learned

My wife has to learn to Sending a pan-pan Writing the passage 1dock the boat without 3 worked well. There is 6 plan and pilotage on worrying that she will a strong case, however, the chart that then lives destroy it: next time there for sending a Mayday. If I on the flybridge during may not be any customs had been having a stroke, passage meant that all the officers around. To help a Mayday would have been information was available with this, we fitted a stern more appropriate, because to my wife when I couldn’t thruster (we already have a there is a limited time to remember it. The detailed bow thruster). get the right treatment. briefing, especially of the harbour, was invaluable. Sending a pan-pan in I was able to use my 2 French was the right 4 training, even though Passport, EEC cards thing to do: although the I couldn’t remember new 7 and travel insurance coastguard may have events. Fortunately, this is documents need to be kept Yankee Lady moored safely in the sunshine understood English, the stored in a different part of in a place known to all. at Audierne Harbour customs officers didn’t. my memory: every penny We normally store all our I will in future have crib of the RYA radio course documents near to the grab Special thanks go to the staff at Audierne cards for Mayday and pan- was worth it on that day. bag, but because we had Harbour, who secured the boat and rang pan in the language for the been ashore so much they me to say it was all secure and safe. Thanks country I am in. If it’s a We need to make sure were all in my ‘man bag’; a also to Alain Bossenac from the mayor’s language I don’t speak, the 5 we both have the ICC fact I hadn’t mentioned. We office, who collected my wife from the last sentence will be ‘please certificates, so if I am now both carry copies of hospital at 2200 and brought her back to respond in English: I incapacitated my wife can our own and each other’s the boat for the night. Also, I shouldn’t don’t understand…’ ‘legally’ helm the boat. documents electronically. forget my wife – even though I did that for 12 hours – who told me what happened *Send us your boating experience story and if it’s published you’ll receive the original Dick Everitt-signed and looked after me. watercolour which is printed with the article. You’ll find PBO’s contact details on page 5.

Practical Boat Owner 598 April 2016 • www.pbo.co.uk 81