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Despite bleeding badly at the time, a blue eye that kept him from appearing on South African television for about a week, and several stitches after a serious and scary yachting accident last week, Derek van Dam, the chief meteorologist of the eNews Channel (DStv 403) and all-round great (weather) guy says he won't let danger keep him from something he truly loves.
On Thursday, on the day that Derek van Dam returned to television after about a week's absence, I broke the news RIGHT HERE about why he's not on TV and his scary yachting accident that could have been even worse.
Now Derek van Dam is sharing with me the details of what actually happened in Cape Town's often treacherous waters last week and which kept him off television until this past Thursday.
''I was racing in the Wednesday night Twilight Series races held by the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town,'' Derek van Dam tells me. ''We were rounding a mark after a downwin beat, when a few crew members and I were dropping the spinnaker and I caught an elbow in all the madness.''
''The result was 6 stitches and a black and blue eye that prevented me from appearing on TV for about a week,'' the weather guy says.
''I kept sailing untilI realized I was bleeding quite badly. At that stage, I thought it would be best to have it looked at by a doctor.''
The telegenic weather guy who gives attention to little places on South Africa's weather map and explains to viewers why isobars are bringing wind in easy to understand language tells me he is ''ecstatic'' to be back on the telly after a week that unexpectedly kept him out of action.
I asked Derek van Dam what he learnt from his yachting-yo! experience and if it scared him.
''Sailing can be dangerous, he says, ''but never let a little danger get in the way of something that you love.''
