Horrific Attack on Cruiser Bob Medd in
the Sea of Cortez
August 18 – Sea of Cortez
In Friday’s ‘Lectronic, we
published a plea from Stephen Russow about the whereabouts and
well-being of Bob Willmann of Golden, Colorado, who did last
year’s Ha-Ha aboard the Islander 37 Viva. We got an email
back from Willmann, who says he’s just fine, having left his
boat in Bahia de Los Angeles and taken the bus to San Diego on
Thursday. The same cannot, however, be said about his friend
singlehander Bob Medd of the Victoria-based Aloha 34 TLC,
who had his throat slashed and was left for dead while sailing
in the Sea of Cortez.
Bob Medd, third from left, had his throat slashed while sailing
in the Sea of Cortez.
Photo Deb Castellana
According to Willmann, he and Medd – who
is a vet of the Canadian Navy, who served on the British Royal
Yacht Brittania, and who drove his own barge in the North
Pacific for 12 years – met in Banderas Bay last December and
had been buddy-boating more often than not since then. They’d
gone as far south as Barra de Navidad, and then sailed into the
Sea of Cortez. Their plan was to sail further south this year.
On Sunday, August 12, the two left Santa
Rosalia for Isla San Francisquito, expecting to complete the
voyage by dawn on Monday. Medd needed to charge his boat’s batteries,
so he took a rhumbline course, motoring at four knots. Willmann
went further offshore for better wind and a better sailing angle.
The two kept in touch via VHF until about 6 pm, at which point
they were out of radio range.
Wellmann and Viva arrived at San
Francisquito at 7 am on Monday, and waited 24 hours without hearing
any word from TLC. He assumed that Medd had been a victim
of his boat’s mysterious electrical glitches, and had returned
to Santa Rosalia for repair. “Bob Medd is a very experienced,
competent, resourceful sailor,” says Wellmann, “and
TLC is a well-found yacht, so I wasn’t at all worried.”
With the only alternative being another rolly day and night at
anchor, Viva left for Bahia de Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The above are facts provided to us by Bob Wellmann. What follows
is believed to be what happened, but, we emphasize, has not been
confirmed.
Around 6 pm on Sunday, two fishermen came
alongside TLC – something not uncommon in the Sea of Cortez.
Medd gave them some water. Then one of the guys came aboard and
hit Medd in the face with a rock he’d brought along, and Medd
lost consciousness. When he awoke, he found that his throat had
been slit from ear to ear – with his own bread knife – cutting
lots of tendons, and he had been left to die. As he drifted in
and out of consciousness, TLC smashed into some rocks.
Eventually, Medd was able to get to the beach and fire off a
flare. Some fishermen saw the flare and made their way over to
him. When they saw him, they got the Mexican Navy involved, and
Bob was taken to the hospital in Santa Rosalia on Tuesday evening.
The hospital had to twice use paddles to restart his heart. On
August 14, the doctor declared it was Medd’s ‘new birthday’.
We emphasize, the above facts are unconfirmed.
Medd is currently in a hospital in San
Diego, where he is being kept until doctors can control the infections
he got while lying on the beach for two days. He’ll eventually
be taken to Calgary, where he will undergo extensive surgery
to reconnect tendons and reconstruct damage to his face. The
doctors are guardedly positive about his recovery. TLC
was found “sunk and beyond repair.”
Stories about attacks on cruisers often
get blown all out of proportion, so Wellmann cautions nobody
should jump to any conclusions until he can get an “accurate
and unbiased report” from Medd himself. He’ll do that as
soon as Medd is comfortable talking about it. Wellmann adds,
“Both Bob and I have nothing but respect for all the locals
we’ve met in Mexico during the last nine months, and in fact
have had conversations about cruisers who are quick to focus
on any negatives.”
Attacks on cruisers while they are on their
boats in Mexico are rare, but not unheard of. A couple of years
ago, Blair Grinols’ Capricorn Cat was boarded and they
were robbed in the middle of the night off Bufadero. Nobody was
injured. And about 20 years ago, a couple from Redding were attacked
on their boat in Turtle Bay. The husband was cut countless times
as a robber tried to encourage him to come up with more money.
The woman jumped overboard and got help. The victim was taken
to the hospital and thought to be in good condition, but suddenly
died as a result of all the tiny cuts, which hadn’t previously
been noticed.
We’ll have more on this story. Until then,
please don’t start going crazy with rumors.
The photo at the
top was taken by Deb Castellana of Drumbeat, who explains
the circumstances. “We had a cruisers’ potluck aboard Drumbeat
at Caleta Partida this summer, and everyone who showed up was
named Bob. I unofficially became ‘Bobette’ for the evening. We
were going to send the photo to Latitude as “4Bobs”
but couldn’t think of good copy to go with it. From left to right,
Bob Mullen of Apophyge, Bob Jones of Drumbeat,
‘Back-Up Bob’ Medd of TLC, and Bob Wellmann of Viva.”
|
