This post’s title statement is true on two counts: I’ve been staying with my Dad since mid-December and ‘stuck’ on land; and a few weeks ago I received my first of two shots of the COVID vaccination.
Getting a shot was somewhat a mess. I finally was able to get an appointment semi-locally for the J&J vaccine. Well, as those that have been following along know, J&J was pulled from the market. I quickly and surprisingly found another location for one of the 2-shot versions (which I was happy about as the 2-shot version have been found to be more effective). I then received a message about the appointment for the J&J shot stating that my appointment was still going to happen ‘if a vaccine is available’. Not being sure what this meant I contacted the clinic and was unable to get an answer to the question, “so you will have shots available or I just show up and hope that you have enough?” The clinic couldn’t answer that question. I choose to go with the appointment at a clinic 1.5 hours away.
The drive to the clinic was, thankfully, was not clogged with commuters but a few car lengths ahead of me a dump truck lost a wheel. Not a flat … the WHEEL FELL OFF and bounced across the highway! No one was hit by the errant tire and the truck was able to safely get off the road.
As I approached the clinic location I started to notice that there were a fair number of cars heading the same direction … right up to pulling into the parking lot (which was filled). Seems a lot of greater Seattle residents were doing the same: getting appointments in rural areas as the city doesn’t have enough vaccines. I found a parking spot across the street and joined the line wrapping around the building (seems appointments didn’t keep the line short).
This semi-socially-distancing line of folks was the largest group of people I’ve been part of in over a year. I wasn’t at all happy. At least I was out doors! 50 minutes after my scheduled appointment I was stuck and 15 minutes after that I was free to go.
The drive back to my dad’s was uneventful. I had a very mild reaction to the shot: a sore shoulder for a couple of days and a slight headache the afternoon of the shot. My second shot is in week. I’m hoping to find a location closer drive than the 1st shot’s 3-hour round-trip.
Last week I did some touch-up repairs on one of the dinghy oars. This is the same one I repaired last year. Again the blade is warping and a few cracks have developed. This is a cheap oar with a bad piece of wood. A bit of epoxy and it is again sealed up.
A few weeks ago I visited SWALLOW. She is well. Bilge dry, No evidence of deck or house leaks found. Batteries remain topped off. The ends of the dock lines, which were coiled on the dock, where all laying in the water and covered with algae. Not sure why this happened.
I removed the galley’s water tank so I could give it a good cleaning. The tank is small, about 9-gallons, and easily removed. Back at my Dad’s I have done one ‘shock’ cleaning with a bleach & water solution and will do another before moving back aboard after receiving my second COVID shot.
A few months ago I wrote an article for Small Craft Advisor magazine on how to inspect a Montgomery 17 sailboat. The M17 is a good old boat and the craft I owned and lived aboard before buying SWALLOW. The piece has been published in May/June 2021 issue.
S/V Swallow 