{"id":590,"date":"2026-10-06T12:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/?p=590"},"modified":"2026-10-06T12:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T16:32:54","slug":"october-1-haulout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/2026\/10\/06\/october-1-haulout\/","title":{"rendered":"October 1 Haulout"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a haul out scheduled for 9am, so we got up before 6:30, made coffee, had breakfast and made sure everything was ready for the trip to the fuel dock and into the TraveLift basin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The morning was wet. After a week of fine days, of course we would have rain. Not heavy, but you needed to be dressed for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got our pump out of the holding tank, fueled with 18 gallons of diesel to just about fill the fuel tank. I put some biocide into the fuel tank the day before.  Diesel can form a thing called diesel bug, an organism that grows in the diesel, especially when the diesel has some water in it. The biocide keeps the bug from forming and kills any bug in the diesel. Filling the tank reduces the air space in the tank and helps to keep moisture out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We got our first look at the bottom. It was so clean. No furry marine growth, and only a few zebra mussels by the rudder. The rudder to hull space is quite small, and the mussels like the attach there. It\u2019s also really difficult to put anti-foul paint in that space because it is just wide enough for the paint brush, and you just can\u2019t see if you have covered much of anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We could also see the damage from hitting the rock ledge at Turnbull Island two months ago. The lead keel bore the brunt. The starboard edge and the very forward portion had some gouges, but the seam between the keel stub (fiberglass) and keel (lead) was perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll need to research the repair more fully, but it should be grind off what sticks out and wire brush the indentations. That is followed by epoxy, a soft-ish epoxy filler (no harder than lead), a few coats of barrier paint and then antifoul before launch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By noon, we were getting things off the boat and getting the things up on the boat for winterization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in between the rain showers. We were plugged into shore power, so we had heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My left knee started to hurt, and I was trying to remember if I hit it on something or twisted on the wet deck or elsewhere. As the afternoon went on, it was getting to be a bother going up and down the ladder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After feeling really warm (the heat was on high) before dinner, I was surprised to have chills after dinner. \u2018Oh, no. I\u2019m coming down with the flu\u2019, I thought. Marcia wisely packed up a night bag and we took a hotel room because no one wants to be sick on a boat that\u2019s eight feet off the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday the 2nd, my knee hurt a little bit more, but the knee was so swollen and hot, coupled with the chills and bed sweat, that I knew I had an infection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

First thing and first stop, urgent care. One look, and we were heading to the emergency department. ER doc took one look, and got blood work going and started to make a diagnostic plan. It wasn\u2019t long before the CBC\u2019s came back with a white feel count of 16900. The top end of the normal range is 10000. This was a raging infection, and the pain level was getting up there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They drew some fluid from the knee and sent it to the lab. They had started an IV and gave me morphine and antibiotics before the procedure. Good thing as it was very painful. We waited through part of the afternoon for an orthopedic surgeon to consult. He had just finished a six hour surgery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Friday afternoon. I had a serious infection. If the infection moved into the knee joint, it would be really bad. If the infection would move into my blood stream, it could infect my heart with the aftermarket parts they installed last year. That could be lethal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did I last eat? When did I last drink? Surgery was the only sensible choice. A vertical incision, dig out the infected tissue, flush it clean, and admit me to hospital with high dosage antibiotics until test results were suitable for release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We had just hauled out the boat yesterday, and now I was going to have surgery and a hospital stay. Marcia and I are sailors, and we are used to the sudden wind shift and course change. But after a summer of largely smooth sailing, this was abrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The surgery went well, and WBC count was falling quickly. The food was good, commercial TV is equal amount commercials and content. And I hobble about, hoping to be well enough to hobble less at the boat show in Annapolis in ten days. Rushing it? Yeah, probably so. Recovery is expected to take more on the order of two to three months, and longer before fully healed. I will be careful, as I know you have one change to heal right. I have one of those four wheeled walkers that I can sit down when I need to, and we\u2019re sailors so if the boat show is too much, then it\u2019s too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My calendar went from empty to multiple medical appointments. And I am so freakin\u2019 lucky that I shake my head in wonder and gratitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More later,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harold<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We had a haul out scheduled for 9am, so we got up before 6:30, made coffee, had breakfast and made sure everything was ready for the trip to the fuel dock and into the TraveLift basin. The morning was wet. After a week of fine days, of course we would have rain. Not heavy, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":596,"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590\/revisions\/596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upon-reflection.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}