Yet Another Medical Evacuation – 21 October 2007

Yesterday, the ship made an unexpected reversal of direction and began heading back in the general direction from which we had come. It turned out that we were headed toward the Galapagos Islands. I didn’t know about it because I was in The Cave (LRC) but Nikki came walking past in the late morning and I waved her in. It was then that she told me there was going to be another medical evacuation of a student and that she, Nikki, had been requested to accompany the student, a female. We were in our second day out of Guayaquil and the nearest point of land where there was any kind of medical facility was the Galapagos Islands, so that is where the evacuation would be. Needless to say, she was anxious about the situation: how long would she be away from the ship? Where and when would she catch up with the ship? Where would she stay in the Galapagos? Would she need to stay with the student most of the time or have time on her own? Etc. It was anticipated that the evacuation would take place at 5:00 AM the following morning, today.

When I woke up this morning at about 6:30, I saw that the ship was still moving, but slowly. I turned on my TV to the ship’s station and saw that we were still headed toward the Galapagos so I figured the evacuation hadn’t taken place yet. I couldn’t see land Through My Porthole, so I figured I had a bit of time to get ready for the day before going up to the Lido Deck and maybe witness the evacuation. I’ve missed the other four evacuations either because they took place before I got up or because I was working. I took a picture Through My Porthole and then went took a fast shower. Eight minutes later I was partially ready for the day and saw on the TV that the ship had stopped and when I opened the drapes to look outside, I saw Through My Porthole that land was outside. I knew I had to get up on deck or I’d miss the evacuation! As it turned out, I barely made it in time.


No land Through My Porthole 7835


Land – The Galapagos – Through My Porthole 7837

Up on the Lido Deck, I took a quick photo of the Galapagos, knowing we were not going to dock and I wouldn’t be able to get a closer photo because the evacuation would be made by boat. After taking the picture, I looked down and saw that the evacuation boat had arrived. In the photo, note the person standing on the front edge of the boat, waiting to help the evacuees board.

Evacuation boat pulling up to TSS 7840


Other TSSers on deck told me the boat had just picked up some luggage from further back on the ship; now it was heading for the evacuation place.

Close-up of luggage aboard the boat 7841


The boat sidled up close to TSS and hovered there. Then the student came out of TSS, backwards, and began climbing down the rope ladder to the evacuation boat. The photos are pretty self-explanatory so I’ll let them speak for themselves.


Student climbing down the ladder from TSS to the boat 7842


Person on boat assisting student to move from TSS to the boat 7843


Student sets foot on boat 7844


Student, aided by boat hand, walks around front of boat 7845


He removes safety vest; student steadies herself with hand on his shoulder 7846


Student walks unaided along narrow ridge of boat to entrance 7848


Student looks up just before entering boat; her friends on deck are cheering her on 7849


More suitcases and bags are handed out from ship; note laptop bag on shelf above wheel 7850


Boat backs up; note laptop bag still on shelf 7851


More bags being handed aboard; man in red jacket assisting now 7852


Boat backs up again; note man standing calmly on top 7854


Boat draws near while Nikki descends the ladder 7855


Boat is closer; she is nearly down 7856


Boat is ready; she is down 7857


Boarding; reaching for support 7858


Holding on tight 7859


Crossing front of boat 7860


Escorted to narrow ledge 7861


Starting the lone trek 7862


All alone; still moving 7863


Halfway there 7864


Nearly home 7866


Ready to enter boat 7867


Note Ecuador flag on rescue boat 7868


TSS box lunches (white boxes) for student and Nikki on shelf above wheel 7869


Boat, The Beliza, backs away from TSS 7871


Beliza turns to leave 7872



Nikki looking up at us and grinning 7874


Nikki waving good-bye 7875


One last look 7876


They’re off! 7880


I have no way of knowing whether I’ll ever have a chance to visit the Galapagos Islands, so I took several photos of the ones I could see from TSS. The TSSers who visited the Galapagos during our stay in Ecuador say the islands are beautiful and wonderful. This might be as close as I’ll ever get. Keep in mind that these are volcanic islands. See if you can pick out the volcanoes.

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7886


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I thought TSS would take off soon, so I ate breakfast and went to open the LRC for the day. When I took a break a few hours later, I saw that TSS was not moving. It turned out that we were waiting for a student to arrive. This student had gone into the hospital while we were in Ecuador. It had been expected that he would rejoin us in Tahiti but apparently he was well enough to leave, so we had to wait for him to fly from Quito or Guayaquil to the Galapagos and be taken by boat to TSS. Sometime in the afternoon that was accomplished and then TSS got underway. Instead of going our usual 5-6 knots per hour, we have been zipping along at about 17.5 to make up for lost time. As it is, we are expected to arrive in Tahiti one day behind schedule but apparently the plan is that we will still get two days there, as a mid-term break. While I was on deck learning all this, I realized that the views were wonderful and I snapped a few more photos of the Galapagos.

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7909


Another exciting thing that happened was that after lunch I saw birds, a whole flock of them, over the water for the first time on the ship. I was so excited that I took some pictures of them. My camera is inadequate for taking close-ups but I did the best I could. The little dot-like things are the birds.

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Back in my cabin after lunch, I took few more shots.

The Galapagos Through My Porthole 7915


TV showing our speed at 0.1 knots while we were waiting for the student to arrive 7922


TV showing how our course changed when we had to head for the Galapagos 7926


I tried to email Nikki today to see how everything went but our Internet connection was so bad that I couldn’t sustain a connection long enough to (1) get to Yahoo!, (2) get to the mail sign-in page, (3) get my account page to come up, (4) get the inbox to come up, (5) find her real-world email address in my inbox and (6) get the new message page to come up. So I’ll try again tomorrow. Of course we are hoping for a safe journey for the two of them and a speedy recovery for the student as we tear through the Pacific at 17.4 knots per hour toward Tahiti.

23 October
I
t’s been two days since the evacuation and I never did get a chance to email Nikki. However, I got into my Yahoo! email today and she had emailed me. She reported that boarding the boat was just the first in a series of adventures she experienced that day. After arriving by boat at the Galapagos, she and the student traveled by truck, bus and another boat to reach the airport, which was full of tourists. They got priority boarding, however, because a doctor was with them. After a 1-1/2 hour flight to Guayaquil, they arrived and the student went to the hospital where she was evaluated and admitted. As of when Nikki wrote the email, no diagnosis had been made, further tests were forthcoming and Nikki estimated they would be there another 2-3 days.

On the plus, side, Nikki is staying in a hotel that offers free Internet service, so at least she is connected to the outside world. She has a professional project in the works that requires Internet access and now she has the opportunity to do that work without the limitations we experience here on TSS.

Aftermath

Nikki and the student, recovered, rejoined us in Tahiti. In fact, Nikki was waiting on the dock when TSS landed and boarded as soon as she was allowed. When we had a chance to talk, she clarified some things I wondered about at the time of the evacuation.

She and the student were required to cross to the other side of the evacuation boat rather than the side nearest TSS because there was concern that if the waves went a certain way, they could have been crushed between the boat and TSS. Nikki had no experience on small boats but the student had a lot, which is why the student didn’t require as much assistance walking alone on the top and edge of the boat as Nikki did. In fact, she said she was terrified throughout the entire process.

They ended up being in Guayaquil for about seven days. The student was taken to the hospital, tested and then admitted. Nikki was provided a room in a local hotel from which she went every day to the hospital for about seven hours to be with the student. The student, when released, chose to go to her home country for a few days before flying to Tahiti to join TSS there. Nikki stayed in Guayaquil then took a flight that went through Santiago, Chile, and Easter Island (it was night and she couldn’t see any of it) to arrive in Tahiti the day before TSS. She stayed at a hotel and forced herself to spend 1 hour and 40 minutes on the hotel’s beach in order to say that she had “been on the beach in Tahiti.”