He's on his way back

[sky_hye]

Max's disposition is completely back to normal today. His boat co-owner/partner and I worked on understanding his situation from a distance. One of boat-partner's friends is a doctor in Kauai, coincidentally. This doctor told partner that these bacterial infections sometimes don't respond to antibiotics, so those patients end up in the hospital. Actually, we knew that, but it was enough for Max's partner to go ahead and leave a pleading message on Max's cell not to depart until they could talk some more about his wound and treatment. That did the trick. Max had already pulled his anchor and was about to head out when he checked his cell and found partner's urgent message. He called partner and then me. Partner persuaded Max to stay put for a bit, and I persuaded him to call the doctor to discuss his healing progress. Max called the doctor, who wasn't in, but talked to the nurse. The nurse asked some questions and was satisfied with the answers and gave him the all-clear to travel. I would like to have been part of that conversation, but I must trust that all parties were clear in their understanding of the situation. Max called back, saying he was sure the wound was healing and the infection was subsiding, so he was heading out. I encouragingly wished him lots of luck and a good voyage. Boat partner and I agreed that Max did all we could hope he would and we trust he made the right decision. Max is on his way, and we can watch his position reports over the next three weeks during his trip home.

Oh, and it turns out that there were two categories in the race where he placed 1st, making his result among the best of the group. Cool!

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