My wife's son is still in the hospital.

He is getting a "procedure" this morning. We think they will drain the abscess. We know they are getting a sample so they can figure out what type of antibiotic to give him. His white blood cell count has been through the roof and they are having trouble getting it down.

An infectious disease doctor came last night and quizzed him on all sorts of things. The question he keeps getting is "have you been overseas?". They also asked about any sort of bug bites or anything. They only thing they can possibly link it to is he was "spined" by a catfish a few months before he had his first episode (he's had periodic vomiting episodes for years). They really don't know.

They are going to hold him for 72 hours after they get the sample, then presumably send him home. The doctor said he'll have to have an antibiotic IV for the next 4 to 6 weeks.

Crazy stuff.

They took 50cc of "stuff" out of the largest abscess. There are apparently several. They won't get test results until tomorrow, but they plan on sending him home as soon as they do. He feels much much better.

He and my wife decided to take a stroll outside of the hospital last night. They lost track of time and the visitor entrance was closed so they went into the emergency room entrance. The guard there would let them in, shouting quite loudly 'he has an IV, he has an IV". After quite a bit of back and forth, some other staff let them in.

We weren't sure what that was all about until one of the nurses told us that junkies quite often go into the emergency room and once they get an iv insert they try to go back out and use it to "shoot up".

Meanwhile, the continuing saga of D. emerges. We are pretty sure she's stopped taking meds and is starting to become manic again.

Got the back half of the dock removed.

i would beef up where the boards attach to the rotten posts.
some long treated timber screws would work. maybe like 6 or 8 inch ones. ones with hex head and impact drill. depending on how deep to get to good wood. and maybe some small cross pieces depending on what you see.

The girders look like they are just hanging there.

While I was removing the old boards, it seemed like the post was splitting. I'm now considering biting the bullet and getting someone to sink new pilings for me. I would hate to spend a bunch to rebuild everything, only to have a post or two fail.

Yes, yes they are. I'm amazed anything is still standing.

if you are going to live there till u die then replace it all. if you think you will sell in five or ten years and move on then repair.
thats from a monetary thinking.

and if a giant hurricane comes through whatever you do will be for naught.

Yeah, Ray, that's what I'm thinking. Im having a couple guys out to give me bids.

i cant tell of course from the water line down but that looks like solid wood.

drive a long screw in a half inch at a time and wiggle to see when it gets stiff. if solid wood in after say one or two inches you are good to go.
you can also scab on a piece of twoby for extra bite.

new pilings might not last as long as what you got as the new stuff isnt as good as the old chemicals they used. but its the support you are worried about.

Thats good to hear. I've been going back and forth in my head on keeping them vs. new. I have a couple guys coming out to look at them today.

This thing with my wife's son is the gift that keeps on giving. He's been in the hospital for a week now. They have absolutely no clue what this is. They haven't identified an antibiotic that is the most effective yet. They also found yeast in the culture. I have no idea what that means but they seem concerned. Also, they can't put an IV where they want to because he has strep in his blood. I also don't know what that's all about. He feels pretty good, but they are super concerned so they aren't letting him go until they can identify the best treatment.

He's about to go insane there and he's taking his frustrations out on my wife. It's not pleasant. They just put an homeless guy in the room with him and he's about ready to just walk out. This would not be a good idea.

My wife hasn't been home this entire time because she is taking care of his (rotten little) dog.

Hopefully this doesn't go on much longer.

Had 2 guys come out to look. The first guy said he thought the pilings were in decent shape and really didn't need to be replaced right now. The second guy was in outer space and couldn't seem to give me any idea.

I've learned that a big issue with all of this is the barge that is needed for a lot of these jobs. They put in the lift without one but I doubt if they can sink the pilings without one. Apparently (don't know how accurate this is), the insurance for a barge is atrocious so most of these guys just rent one, which is super expensive. But, almost everyone I've talked to has seemed to want to do whatever work is necessary without having to use a barge.

They released him. Woot!

Hes got a lot ahead of him, though. 6 weeks of daily IV. Follow up tests. Probably a colonoscopy. Not to mention a ton of hospital bills.

you can do your own with a garden hose or pressure washer. if you want. as long as you arent hitting rock.

I have no idea how to hold it up though. Not to mention pulling the old one out. Those things sre heavy.

I had a couple more people take a look and they both said that they thought the posts were OK and would last quite a while. And, if and when they go there are ways to replace them without tearing he dock down.

So, I've made the executive decision to go with what I have.

Finally

Nice. I note you have large dual outboards. How much dope do you plan on smuggling?

now its time to build a covered roof over it. get with it.

Wait. Is that what all that trouble was about?

called mack left at the starting gate.

hehe...

With the boat on the lift, I had a chance to see that piling from another angle. No way I'm re-using it. I have to get at least one new one.

Scary scary story.

We've been smelling gas around the boat for a while. We noticed that some was dripping out the vent. I did some googling and people indicated that with full tanks that sometimes happens. Not sure what the physics of that is but it was definitely happening.

I took the opportunity to get one of my gauges fixed - the fuel gauge. The face had gotten so bad I couldn't read it anymore. There's a company that refurbishes them and they did a great job. I got it back and hooked it up and the tank registered as empty. Made no sense since I had filled it up before we moved.

Fast forward, we put the boat in the water and about 1/2 mile one of the motors shut down. Out of gas. Again, this made no sense but I put it over to another tank and it got me home. When we got it on the lift I could really smell gas. I opened up the bilge and saw that gas was pouring out of one of the fuel filters. Gushing more like. The bilge pump was pumping pure gas out. YIKES!. I shut the valve down and stopped the flow, then cleaned up everything. Took me most of the day.

It looks like to me that somehow the seal between the filter and the bowl somehow stopped sealing. I dunno. I figure I lost about 200 gallons of gas in all. Maybe more. I'm amazed that I actually drove it and the bilge pump pumped without the entire boat going up in flames.

Really scary.

Here's a pic of the filter. It's actually upside down. It was leaking between that yellow bowl and the filter.

Sailboats are fun. So are kayaks.

yea you dont fill boats up all the way as the gas is cold in the ground then it expands when sitting in the boat as it gets hot. and comes out the filler or someplace.

that wasnt your issue but you were lucky it didnt all get in the waterway and you got caught, and have a nightmare with clean up.

so i guess it was the filter that broke on you??

that looks like the racor 120 filter good brand but two piece and plastic. great that you can see if there is water in the bottom but it is plastic.
i forget the name but there is one thats all glass with a filter inside. i just dont trust china made stuff for my safety especially if plastic.

your boat takes a pounding all day long and anything not totally secure will move or break over time.

i use the one piece metal ones 10 micron, and just change them each year or so. ive never had water in my gas from anything




except once from a bad marina fillup. but it wasnt much.

plus those kind of filters are not approved for use in many out of the way locations by the coast guard. just for the reason you had.



plus i dont use ehtanol gas ever in my boats or equipment. and all gas gets stabil if going to sit more than say a month or two.
the e gas will eat seals and rubber over time and clog your injectors.. its okay if you are using it up right away.
as they say pay me know or pay me later.