Taking Peritoneal Dialysis to Sea: Jean-Louis Clémendot Crosses Atlantic Alone

[okarol]

February 12, 2010
Taking Peritoneal Dialysis to Sea: Jean-Louis Clémendot Crosses Atlantic Alone; Eyes Tour of the US East Coast and then the Pacific!

By Bill Peckham

The Kidney Foundation of Canada has a brief article (in English) about the remarkable Jean Louis Clémendot who successfully made a solo crossing of the Atlantic, while administering his own peritoneal dialysis treatments:

    A 59 year-old sailing enthusiast and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patient, Jean-Louis Clémendot left the island of Lanzarote in Spain on November 30, 2009 to sail solo across the Atlantic, heading for the Carribean island of Martinique. He completed his journey in less than four weeks, as expected, arriving at his destination on December 24, 2009.

What a trip!

Clémendot has a website with updates in French and a companion site in English. Unfortunately for we mono linguists the English site is at times a bit behind in translating Clémendot's posts (Google translate does a fair job, though not nearly as good a job as Clémendot's own translations). To follow the entire saga check out his history page. The journal begins in September 2009, French on the left of the page, English on the right.

The initial run is from Marseilles to Lanzarote accompanied by two friends. Clémendot then waits about a month for the winds to take him alone to the Caribbean. Before leaving he has "a biology internship to learn what to do in the event I contract peritonitis" and buys a microscope so that he can identify which antibiotics would be best in the event of an event. This is but one of the logistic challenges he faces and overcomes.

He has what he calls the longest Atlantic crossing in history but there are many exciting moments and he shares a number of pictures and video. Clémendot's goal is to raise awareness of peritoneal dialysis and his website links to a number of interviews and articles, one with his doctor is available via Google translate. His December 29th entry lays out the next leg of his adventure:

    My next stage will therefore consist of sailing back up via the Antilles Arc with the Commonwealth of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Bartholomew, Saint Martin and the Virgin Islands. Then the great islands of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba before sailing along the “Quays” of the Bahamas to Florida.

    To cross the Bahamas and fully enjoy this fantastic spot, a catamaran with a tiny draught would be far more suitable, but amateur sailing will always be a matter of compromising.

    I could enter Florida via Miami and continue along the nicest route which would be sailing up the Intracoastal Waterway to New York. This particular route boasts a network of canals, bays, rivers and natural inlets all the way along the American coastline. That would bring me across Florida with Fort Lauderdale, Cape Kennedy and Orlando, Jacksonville, then Georgia with Savannah, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia with Chesapeake and Norfolk, Maryland with Baltimore, and then New York.

I believe he will be starting out from Martinique next month - March 2010.

I'll definitely be keeping track of his adventure as it continues to unfold. Translating his January 18th post, if his urine output can be maintained, there is talk of the Panama Canal and crossing the Pacific! The adventure is far from over.

http://www.billpeckham.com/from_the_sharp_end_of_the/2010/02/taking-peritoneal-dialysis-to-sea-jeanlouis-cl%C3%A9mendot-crosses-atlantic-alone.html