I’m sure that all of you, our friends and readers, will be greatly saddened to hear that John had a fall while out hiking in Newfoundland and, as a result, has suffered a broken femur. He is being well cared for, and is in good spirits.
Naturally this will cause some upheavals in the AAC schedule until he is at least back home and resting up. But those of you who have met him, or are regular readers of this site will know that he won’t let a little thing like this get in the way of his ideas or output – in fact it’s likely to increase them! Normal service will soon be resumed, but in the meantime we’d ask that you bear with us for a while.
In the meantime, I’m sure you’ll join me in sending all of our thoughts and best wishes to John and Phyllis, and wish him a swift recovery from this painful setback. We’ll keep you updated on his progress as soon as we have more information.
Kindest regards
Colin
Matt Marsh November 3, 2012 at 9:02 am
I hope you heal up quickly, John. Those Newfies do know how to run a hospital and I’m sure they’ll have you back to normal in due time.
Paul Mills November 3, 2012 at 11:09 am
That’s not good news.
Here’s hoping for a smooth and comfortable recovery and return to fully active duty
Hazel sends her sympathy to Phylis, for some strange reason she feels that active partners in plaster are not always the easiest people to be around….. must be from a previous partner that I am not aware of….
Paul
RDE November 3, 2012 at 11:14 am
Hi John,
As a sailor you should have remembered that you only go aground when you get too close to land! Wishing you a speedy recovery.
Richard
Lou November 3, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Poor John… so sorry to hear of your fall and break.
Blimey, when you do something, you have to do it properly don’t you! Broken femur – ouch.
Wishing you a speedy recovery, big hugs to you both, Lou x
Remzi Dalay November 3, 2012 at 3:37 pm
As a regular and silent reader (from Turkey) of your informative site, I wish you a quick and complete recovery.
Al Leitao November 3, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Hi John: My country-man (Portuguese), my family and so dear to me my late grand-father, “Mestre Chico” were sent every year to the great banks to fish the greatest fish of all, the “bacalhaus” our famousos cod. This hard life and perils at sea, so great, made us uneasy and worried. But, we trusted and had totally faith that in case of work accident or illeness, Terra-Nova and it’s hospitallity would take care of them, no doubt.
You are in good hands, in a good berth and the winds are in you favour. Just keep your spirit fervour tell tails flying. Wishing you a speedy recovery: Alvaro Jose’ Leitao, Bradford, Ont.
Colin Farrar November 3, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Knowing a little of you and Phyllis from your wonderful posts these last few years, I suspect your hike was an ambitious one, with not-to-be-missed scenery along the way or a spectacular view at the end. You’ll resume that hike soon, and late spring will find you bounding up the ladder onto Morgan’s Cloud to prepare for a summer of cruising.
Jane Gray November 3, 2012 at 5:37 pm
Sending lots of good wishes from Great Cranberry Island, Maine-get well soon John.
Jane and Ed Gray
Alex F November 4, 2012 at 12:17 am
Hi John & Phyllis – sending my best wishes for a smooth recovery !!! Rgds, Alex (s/v Pesto)
richard s. November 4, 2012 at 7:38 am
hmmm…might be as undesirable as a halyard wrap single handed on a new boat making landfall on a caribbean coral atoll in mounting tradewinds…heh heh heh
richard s. in tampa bay, s/v lakota
Viv and Mireille November 4, 2012 at 8:07 am
John: That’s a stroke of bad luck but knowing you, you will use the time to come up with more great ideas and thoughts on the Adventure 40.
Phyllis: John is in good hands!
Speedy recovery….
Mike November 4, 2012 at 8:11 am
Enjoy your site very much here in UK. Nice to read about a fellow yachtie actually out there ‘doing it’. Get well and fully active very soon.
Mike
Geir Ove November 4, 2012 at 8:25 am
Stay onboard, there are to many dangers on land,
Take care.
Bill Balme November 4, 2012 at 8:28 am
I hope you mend quickly John – I have a feeling you might be a challenging patient for Phyllis!
Good Luck!
Bill
s/v Toodle-oo!
Giancarlo November 4, 2012 at 9:00 am
Ciao John,
We wish you all the best.
Giancarlo and Luisa
Jay Readinger November 4, 2012 at 9:13 am
Best of luck with the recovery. At least you can count on good care in NL and a warm, dry cabin on the boat back to NS. Take care and god speed.
Jay
Alex November 4, 2012 at 9:16 am
It is a pitty that it happened. Perhaps we get now an article about health care and insurrance for sailors.;) Whish you a very and painless recovery.
Victor Raymond November 4, 2012 at 9:19 am
Sorry John, to hear of your misfortune. Perhaps the only way to get you to slow down.
Wishing you a speedy recovery and lots of good things accomplished whilst laid up.
Victor & Judy
Chris November 4, 2012 at 9:38 am
John,
One could infer boats are safer than land. Keep your spirits up, your mind on something other than your situation, and biology will do the rest. You’ll be out and about before Christmas.
Chris & Janet
Pay attention to the physical therapists, Janet and I owe them our mobility.
Henrik November 4, 2012 at 10:24 am
Don’t see it as bad luck, enjoy the (painful) new experience of it.
This is our biggest concern, sailing to remote places. What if it happens somewhere out there..? Can we get help…in time, what about singlehanded boat handling back to the civilization again?
We’ve come to a conclusion; it better taking the risk getting hurt while doing things, than living a dull life on the sofa.
We wish you a fast recovery…!
Ingvild & Henrik
Jim Patek November 4, 2012 at 10:33 am
John
Our very best wishes for a quick and full recovery. Colin, thanks for letting us know.
Warmest regards,
Jim and Patty
Gus Wilson November 4, 2012 at 10:35 am
You have our wishes for as speedy a recovery as possible.
C. Dan November 4, 2012 at 11:25 am
Sorry to hear this – get better soon.
Jon.t November 4, 2012 at 11:58 am
These things happen – proving we are alive and living life as we should….
Wishing you a speedy, 100%, recovery.
Alan Teale November 4, 2012 at 12:03 pm
My very best wishes for a speedy recovery John. Alan
Conny November 4, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Sorry to hear! Hope you heal up fast…looking forward to see you and Phyllis in Halifax next summer…Take care!
Christopher Barnes November 4, 2012 at 1:07 pm
John – Oh no & ouch & get well soon.
Hans November 4, 2012 at 1:51 pm
John, very best wishes from Germany also. I’m hoping to see you and Phyllis in Nova Scotia next summer.
Hans of SV Snowball
Italo Masotti November 4, 2012 at 1:53 pm
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, John. We need you in good shape! Ciao.
Silvana&Italo Masotti s/v Freedom
Gert van der Linde November 4, 2012 at 2:10 pm
Best wishes for a speedy recovery from Johannesburg South Africa. S/y Faraway.
Derek Mitchell November 4, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Mi dispiace John!
Jon Amtrup November 4, 2012 at 2:59 pm
This was sad news. Hope you get well soon, John.
Ty and Suzanne Giesemann November 4, 2012 at 4:39 pm
John, Bummer, man. Best wishes for a fast recovery. Love A Voyage North e-book! Maybe you’ll use this medical leave time to write a new book! Cheers, Ty & Suzanne Giesemann
RobertB November 4, 2012 at 5:07 pm
John – wishing you a very speedy recovery. I cringed when Colin said femur. I suspect we will soon see one of those “experience” articles saying don’t mess with femurs?
Robert
Erik Snel November 4, 2012 at 6:13 pm
John,
Hope you recover quick and fully!
Regards,
Erik
Phyllis November 4, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Thank you so much all of you for your good wishes. John severely crushed the top of his femur and is now the recipient of a lot of hardware holding the bone together. His surgery was yesterday (Saturday) morning and, though he is not in nearly as much pain as before the surgery, he’s still not all that comfortable. Full mobility will take a while so I’m sure once he’s off the drugs and more comfortable you’ll be seeing a lot of activity on the site! Keep your fingers crossed that there aren’t any complications and that recovery is speedy. We’ll find out more tomorrow (Monday) once we meet with doctors and physios. Once again, thank you for your concern.
Ken Page November 4, 2012 at 8:47 pm
Fingers crossed! Hope you recover quickly John.
Alison November 4, 2012 at 8:52 pm
Best wishes for a speedy & full recovery!
Dave Benjamin November 4, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Jean and I extend our wishes for a full and speedy recovery.
Svein Lamark November 4, 2012 at 10:01 pm
Hi John!
I know a broken femur is bad, but i have as a mountain climber in younger days broken mine tree times and my leg is good to day. To support you I have tryed to donate some money to you, but your page seem only to accept americans. Could you look into this? I have ordered the paper version of your Greenland book. I hope you can finnish your pilot book 2012 version (paper version) before christmas because I would like to give it as christmas gifts to friends. The pilot book has a very high quality and it is a lovely book to have even if you are not sailing in the waters you describe.
I hope other readers will support you verbaly as well as in hard currency. Your internet page and books are something I care much of and hope you will soon go on with. I wish you a fast recovery and hope you will soon be standing on the deck again.
Svein
Phyllis November 5, 2012 at 7:54 am
Thank you so much, Svein, for your support, both by word and financially! I’m not sure what is going on with Donations. I actually got an email in the last day or two from an American who couldn’t donate! So I don’t think that’s the problem. As soon as John is able to deal with these issues, I’ll give him this one to solve! He’s the inhouse techie! I will also post a report later today once we’ve seen the surgeon and the physio.
John November 5, 2012 at 12:45 pm
Hi Svein,
Thanks for the concern and kind words. I checked the donations though a fog of drugs and they seem to be working fine now.
You are right that the amount you donate can only be expressed in CAN dollars. However, it will automatically convert at the prevailing daily rate when it is posted to your credit card or PayPal account.
Ron November 5, 2012 at 11:21 am
It seems this is the year for set backs. We were to head south from Delaware Oct 1 but my wife hurt her knee. The MRI showed something bad that needed a biopsy. All is well though and we were going to leave end of Oct, then Sandy hit and delayed us again. Very sorry to hear about John. Our prayers are with you both during this trying time.
Best regards for a speedy recovery,
Ron & Terry
David November 5, 2012 at 1:05 pm
Very sorry for the painful setback. Here’s to a fast and full recovery.
David & Elena
Svein Lamark November 5, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Hi John!
You have fixed the donation system. It works fine. You can just take some more pain killers and relax. To my sailor brothers: Pick up your credit card and go on!
Best wishes
Svein
Jacques Landry November 6, 2012 at 11:31 am
John and Phyllis.
I wish you both a quick and full recovery! I know only John was hurt but I guess Phyllis will share some of the pain! As others have said, we are waiting for the enlightening article about “Living aboard with a cast”, or “The dangers of leaving the boat”.
Keep the spirit, and be happy as you fulfilled most of what’s important, except “Keep the crew on the boat”. Hum, probably not what you meant !
Jacques
Gary Ramos November 6, 2012 at 6:16 pm
I was saddened to hear of your fall, I hope you have a speedy recovery.
Gary
RDE November 6, 2012 at 11:20 pm
Hi John,
Hope you are at the point where recovery is underway, and a good book would be welcome! “Rowing to Latitude” by Jill Fredston — North Point Press
Richard
David November 6, 2012 at 11:54 pm
Speedy recovery.
Your story made CBC new out of Halifax on Sunday. Hard way to beocme famous.
Cheers
David
Nicolas November 7, 2012 at 9:32 am
A speedy recovery John. I hope the fracture is not complicated.
Lyndon November 7, 2012 at 2:02 pm
Sorry to hear that the rock got the better of you. All the best for a speedy recovery and getting back into action again.
pedr turner November 13, 2012 at 7:24 am
John and Phyllis
So sorry to hear of the fall.
Hoping you have a speedy recovery
John November 19, 2012 at 8:17 am
Hi All,
I just read through the comments to this post for the first time–too drugged when it first went out.
All I can say is a huge thank you for all the good wishes, I’m overwhelmed and a bit teared-up.
One of the biggest reasons that we run this site is the sense of community that it brings us. Seeing so many familiar names reinforces that.