THE EXCITEMENT OF LAUNCH DAY

There is nothing quite like the excitement of launch day.  We start anticipating it at the beginning of April when we arrive home from Texas. 

We plan projects that we need to do, then add in projects that we also want to do and that is how we arrive at our to do lists.  Quite often the want to dos get left undone, when the have to dos use up the time between the start of our work and our launch date.  That is how my upholstery projects ended up taking over 10 years. 

The decisions about what to do and how to spend the time we have left in the hangar, get made as we go along, and with each decision the anticipation of our launch grows.  And as the day approaches, and the excitement builds, we check the weather to see what kind of seas we are going to encounter on the day.  That too adds to the anticipation. 

Each year the big day finally arrives and they slip the trailer under the Thunderbird, remove all the barrels and blocks and ready or not off she goes. 

 

There she is coming down Center Street in Gimli. 

 

 

 

And eased into the harbour. 

 

 

The first few times I saw this, it made me so nervous.  I know these guys are professionals and they have done all this many, many times, but seeing it happen really put me on edge. 

 

That is, until Dan and I bought a 2200 square foot split level house and had it moved down Henderson Highway onto our river property.  Now that was nerve racking. But, that was a whole other adventure we had.   After that, the boat launch never bothered me again. 

 

 

 

THE EXCITEMENT IS NOW JUST THRILLING

 

 

 

 

BOUNDARY CREEK MARINA

Our home port is called "Boundary Creek  Marina".  This Marina is owned and operated by "Lake Agassiz Marine" , which also owns and operates the hangars where we store our boats in the winter.   

 

The bottom
and top left corners of the attached photo is the lake .  The marina consists of what we call the outer harbour, the inner harbour and the back harbour.  The grey toned area is where the creek runs from the back harbour through the marina and out into the lake. 









We have two areas in this park like marina, where we gather and socialize.  One is just up on the grass in front of where we dock, there, we have a couple of picnic tables with umbrellas.   This area is well down the creek in what we call the inner harbour, so it is well sheltered from the lake breezes, on a windy day.

On the other hand if it is a hot, hot day 

we are more inclined to go up to the Gazebo.  This Gazebo is closer to what we call the outer harbour, next to the mouth of the creek and closer to the lake.  And it is on a large knoll which allows you to get a nice breeze off of the lake.  If it's a hot muggy day we usually all take our boats out, unless it's too rough, then you'll see a lot of people at the Gazebo.  Both of these harbour areas are full of large power boats and cruisers.  And last but certainly not least, there is the area furthest up the creek, that is known as the back harbour.  This area is the most sheltered area in the marina and holds the widest variety of boats.  From large and small cruisers, to large and small power boats, sail boats, runabouts and Sea-doos.   

The other wonderful thing that is so enjoyable about Boundary Creek Marina is the wild life.  And the general pulse of nature that you become so aware of once you spend some time there.  We have Grey Herons, White Pelicans, huge Carp, Bass, Pickerel, you name it.  Occasionally we will see a beaver or two and the odd muskrat. 

 

This is a wonderful place to live, in the summer time and a wonderful port to cruise out of.  With lots of wonderful friends to socialize with. 

 

 

 

THIS IS WHERE WE ARE HEADING ON FRIDAY

 

 

 

DIY: BOAT REFIT

In the year 2000 we purchased the "Thunderbird", our old 46 foot steel hulled diesel trawler.  When we bought her we were looking for a retirement project and knew she was in serious need of a total refit.  Leaking roofs, out dated interior, a questionable motor, that we knew could be fixed and an iffy transmission that we were really concerned about.  But, I have always loved this boat, so I convinced Dan that we should go ahead. 

Over the last 10 years we have worked hard on this refit.  Each year, we worked on her until the ratio of work, to fun, tips to the point, that it is time to stop working on her and put her in the water and enjoy some boating.   Here we are in 2013 and our major work on "Thunderbird" is over.  We have no more "have to dos" and we are finally down to a few "want to dos" plus yearly maintenance stuff. 

Over the next while I will go back over my ships log and relate some of the trials and tribulations of our many refit projects.   As I did with the recent description of my upholstery projects. 

Each one of these Blogs will be prefixed with a DIY.  As all of this certainly was the ultimate DIY project.                  

PREPPING OUR DOCK FOR OUR ARRIVAL

The weekend before we launch we always drive down to Boundary Creek Marina with a number of items that we need for the summer.  We have a small pair of boarding steps that sit on the dock to assist us in getting aboard the Thunderbird. 

 
To prepare our dock for our arrival Dan also has to install our large permanent bumpers.  That way we don't have to hang fenders out when we go in and out of our home port for a short cruise, we only use the hanging fenders when we go into a strange harbour. 

Today our harbour looks pretty deserted.  By now there are usually quite a few boats around, but as I said in a previous post everyone is "iced in",  in Gimli Harbour.  I'm sure that "Fleet" will all be here by the time we get here next Friday.  I think we lucked out on the timing of our Splash down this year.   

SO THE DOCK IS AS READY FOR OUR ARRIVAL, AS THE BOAT IS







DIY: OUR TO DO LISTS ARE FINISHED

This weekend was the end of the spring work session.  The final touches of paint have been applied, the mast repairs are completed and it has been repainted and stowed on the roof to be erected once we are in the harbour. 

Dan has also completed all his mechanical adjustments.  All those things he kept telling me about oil this and grease that, it seems they are all finished. 

The last item on that list was to check the packing on the drive shaft.  He even has custom built wrenches to do that job.  Check!





We will return on Thursday and prep the boat with lines and fenders and sleep on board to await the launch on Friday morning. 

WE ARE READY FOR A SUMMER  OF BOATING

 

 

 

THE BOATS ARE ACCUMULATING

The boats are starting to accumulate in Gimli Harbour.  Some are the Gimli regulars, but a lot of them, are boats from Boundary Creek Marina, who were launched in the last couple of weeks and are still waiting for the lake to clear of ice.   

The lake is clear for the most part, but we have been having pretty consistent easterly winds, keeping what little ice there is socked in all around the harbour. 


 

Some of it even invaded the harbour this weekend.  There isn't much of it but it's blocking the harbour entrance.  Everyone  is just waiting for it to clear away.  As soon as that happens there will  be an Armada of boats heading south down the lake to the beach.  I'm sure it will be all cleared out by the time we launch next Friday. 

 

 

LAUNCH ANTICIPATION IS BUILDING FOR US

 

 



OUR FINAL WORK WEEKEND

This will be our final work weekend.  As I have booked our launch with Barb, for Friday, May 31st.   

Hopefully we will be able to "Splash " as early as possible in the morning.  Weather and Ice conditions permitting, we would like to cruise right on to the Beach, immediately following our launch.  Hopefully the ice will be off the lake by then. 

But, that's a whole week from now, so for now it's back to work.  On the schedule, is lots of sanding of the inevitable fibre glass repairs and a lot of painting.  Every year we find spots where the outer fibre glass "skin" has cracked and water has penetrated the wood underneath.  (That is the problem with Fibre Glass over plywood.  But, it's to late now to discuss the original construction techniques used back in the 70s.  It's what we have and we deal with it.  ) 

When it does happen, we immediately dig out any wet or rotted wood and re-fibre glass over the area.  When we took a look at the mast last weekend, we found a lot of rot at the base, so that had to be re-built.  Then two layers of fibre glass over the repairs.  That has to be all re-sanded again this weekend, then get a couple of coats of paint. 

This is the constant maintenance that we have to do to our old boat every year.  Because if we don't keep on top of it, we will be right back to where we were when we had to totally remove and replace the pilot house roof and remove and re-build the entire back deck. 

There are a number of other repairs in process that were done over the last couple of weekends that also have to have another layer of fibre glass or another coat of paint.  But, we are getting down to the final items on our lists.  We should finish it all, this weekend. 

THE ANTICIPATION OF LAUNCH DAY IS BUILDING

 

 

 

DIY: THE UPHOLSTERY ON OUR BOAT HAS BEEN COMPLETELY REPLACED

With the help of my daughter Wendy, I have totally replaced all of the upholstery in the Thunderbird.  She was working in an upholstery shop at the time we bought the boat, plus running a part time upholstery business of her own. 

It has only been 10 years since we started this project back in 2003.  First she brought all her upholstery sample books out to the boat and left them on board with me for a couple of weeks, so that I could choose a colour palette that would work throughout and so that I could see it, in that proper setting and in the appropriate light.  (The boat was in our yard on Henderson Highway, at the time. ) Those books were very helpful and she just needed to help me with final choices for accent colours. 

The next thing was, she requested that I draw her some pictures of what I wanted it all to look like.  From those sketches she made her patterns and  proceeded to take all her measurements.  With fabric choices made and measurements taken, I purchased all my upholstery fabric at that time. 


Then on the Easter long weekend, of 2004 with the boat having been moved into hangar 2, her and I spent the weekend on board and completed almost the entire upholstery job. 








The Pilot House Couch -  My Sketch                 And this is how it turned out



The Salon Couch -  My Sketch                         And this is how it turned out


                      









                                                                                       



The Dinette - My Sketch                                   And this is how it turned out

 









All the boat had when we bought it was foam mattresses on the couches and no backs on any of them.  Not only does this look better, it's much more comfortable.  And the skirts on the couches, cover up extra storage under each couch, plus the extra cushions on the Salon couch serve as bed pillows for overnight guests on the other couches. 

Now with what I have learned from my daughters experience I have continued on.  I had to complete on my own,  the arm rest cushions for the Pilot House and the 5 pillows for the Salon Couch.  The new Captains seat in the Pilot House and the Navigator's stool.  

So, my upholstering and sewing is finally finished.  Unless I or someone else thinks of something I still have to sew.  I am done.  All of the entire boat furniture has been re-upholstered. 

And all of the Canvas items that we felt we needed are also finished.  I have made a tonneau cover for our fly bridge area, all new cushions for our back deck, a cover for our dinghy, a runoff cover for the back deck cushions and a small cover for our Bar-B-Q.  So, I am done. 

IT WAS A LOT OF WORK, BUT WELL WORTH IT

 



A BUSY LONG WEEKEND

We had a great long weekend.  We got out to Gimli nice and early, picked up some groceries and got straight to work on our projects.  Our son, Ken came out to help me with the back rest I am working on.  He cut all the lumber for me when we stopped at Jack's wood shop. 

 
Then I got busy with the foam and fabric once we were settled in at the hangar.    
 


Then suddenly it was happy hour and we hurried off to Gimli Harbour, as it was Casey and Sharon's "Splash Day" today and we were invited for drinks to celebrate.  When we arrived there was a real party going on. 

 Gord & Ellie (The Harbour Master & Harbour Mistress) were in attendance, as were Art Wilkes and Keith Pierce, both also celebrating the fact that their "Splash", is approaching tomorrow. 

 



Happy Boating guys. 




So, then it was back to the hangar and back to work. 

The hangar was full of boaters prepping their boats for their launch dates. 

Bob Inkster was fussing with his new Canvas.  "Very nice Bob". 












Dan kept himself busy with his sanding and painting, while Ken helped me with the painting and staining of the woodwork for my back rest. 






It all came together beautifully.  I am very pleased with the results. 

 

So, now we are down to the short list, mostly paint, paint, paint.  We have to rig the boat out with lines and fenders, store the tools etc. and get ready for launch, so, we should be ready to splash by June 1st.  Hopefully, the lake will be ready for us by then as well. 

 

 

 

THE LIST IS REALLY SHORT NOW

 

 

 

 

WORK WEEKEND #4

The plan for this weekend is lots of painting plus  my upholstery project.  Our son Ken has volunteered to come out and help this long weekend, so maybe we can add back onto our list, those things that we were thinking of taking off of the lists. 

The first stop will be the upholstery shop to pick up some items, then it's off to Jack Watt's to use his woodworking shop to do that carpentry stuff I need for my back rest.  Then on to the hangar for the long weekend. 

Being a Long weekend, I've also got to plan some extra meals for Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. 

This weekend on the BCYC calendar, Saturday is also listed as the "BCYC Icebreaker Day".  I'm sure when our Marina calendar was sent to the presses, there was no idea that the spring of 2013 would still have ice on the lake on the Victoria Day, long weekend.   The "Ice Breaker" that they had in mind was a meet and greet, but I'm sure all most of us can think of, is that "Ice", that has been just outside the harbour.  Well, it is what it is, and we will deal with it as we always do.. 

FOUR DAYS, WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH A LOT

 

 



GIMLI HARBOUR IS OPEN AND READY FOR US TO LAUNCH, BUT THE LAKE???

I keep the Gimli weather cam on my computer, so I can see what's happening with the lake. 

(Except at night)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone is very excited about the fact that the ice is gone out of Gimli Harbour and the lake is starting to clear of ice,  so far.  

Having grown up around this lake, (and we will not discuss how old I am) I know that , it has been known to be pushed by the wind over to the opposite side of this very large lake, then low and behold the wind changes and the next day the ice is back.  So I'm not going to get too excited until we are sure that, this is the end of it.  

We will know for sure, when we start seeing the professional fishermen coming and going.   

MEANWHILE WE STILL HAVE THINGS TO DO

 

SOME BOATS ARE LAUNCHED ALREADY

The ice was still solid on the lake, when we were there on the weekend, but a couple of boats have been launched at the beach already.  Glen Wright has launched "For Now", (always the first boat in the harbour).  I'm sure he will start living on board immediately, Glen is always anxious to get the season started.  Marge Homenick's "Teddy Two", has also been launched.  I guess this is the official start of Boundary Creeks boating season. 

 The rest of us with larger vessels are still waiting for that damned ice to clear out of Gimli Harbour and off of the lake as we all have to be launched in Gimli and make the 12 mile cruise down the lake to get to Boundary Creek Marina.  Even though Dan and I, have a steel hulled boat, I don't much feel like playing "Titanic" with icebergs on the lake. 

AND SO WE KEEP OURSELVES BUSY  AND PRAY FOR HOT WEATHER

 



THE TO DO LISTS ARE GETTING SHORTER

Well, we are finished work weekend #3 and we are assessing our to do list to see what are the "has to be done" items and what can be postponed till later.  




My canvas sewing projects for this year are completed.  I finished the dinghy cover on our second work weekend.  And the run-off cover and the Bar-B-Q cover, were easily completed on this our third work weekend. 

So, next weekend I will move on to my upholstering tasks.  I still need to re-upholster my navigators stool and complete the back rest for the Captain's seat.  The back rest requires assistance from Dan as there is carpentry involved.  So, I'll see if he can fit me in amongst his other tasks. 

I also want to make some more custom fitted sheets for our custom made mattress in the forward stateroom.  The other sewing projects I have are much simpler and should go quickly. And some of these jobs might even wait until after our launch if time runs out. 

Dan's fibre glassing is finished as well, and he re-installed those taps and also finished some of those oil and grease projects I mentioned earlier, so now he will move on to the yearly painting.   


We give the old girl a new touch up on her paint job almost every year.  

SO THAT WAS OUR WEEKEND. 

 

 

WORK WEEKEND #3

We have picked up most of our project supplies;
canvas, wood,  taps, bungee cord, etc. and we are getting back at it for another weekend of working on the boat.
 


As usual, we will hit the road Friday morning and work on through Sunday.  I've also planned another crock pot meal, as last weekend's turned out so well, and was really convenient.  This weekend it's going to be a nice big pot roast with vegetables.  Yum 


No internet at the hangar, so I will blog again when I get home on Sunday. 

DIY: MORE CANVAS TO BE SEWN

Well, I have some more canvas to be sewn this weekend.

When we started this spring.  I had three major projects to complete.  The main project was the tarp/cover for our dinghy.  That's the biggest project and the most complicated.  I managed to get that completed last weekend and the dinghy is back up on the roof of the boat.  Thank goodness that's done. 

Now, I have to make a simple run-off cover to protect the new back deck cushions that I made last year. 

And last and simplest of all I need to make a cover for our on-board Bar-B-Q that Dan installed last summer.   These projects will not be too complicated, but I'm anxious to get on with them. 

 

Then there are also a couple of interior upholstery projects on my list.  And it turns out that my fabric has been discontinued, (after all it's only been 10 years since I started my upholstering lol ) so I am going to have to improvise and made do with what I have on hand.  As usual, we will figure out something, but those problems can be put off until after launch if needs be.   (See, that's how it got to be 10 years)

 

Dan is also very busy with his list.  His list involves fibre glassing, oil changing, grease cups, packings and all kinds of other things that he keeps explaining to me and I don't really understand.  But, anyways he's very busy.  And this weekend he has the added chore of re-installing those new taps, that replace the ones that broke last weekend.   

 

 

THE SOONER ALL THE PROJECTS ARE FINISHED THE SOONER WE CAN LAUNCH.

 

 

 

OUR TO DO LISTS ARE GETTING LONGER

We have our to do list as a guide line, but as much as you make lists, things that are not on your list, always arise.   So we have added things to our to do lists. 

This week I had to add new taps to my list.  My son Ken re plumbed my en Suite bathroom on the boat, with new water lines and new taps.  Everything was finished beautifully then we noticed a small drip coming from under one of the taps, and as we were tightening it, the damned tap broke.

 They are a small set of RV taps, so this week I will be on the hunt for a new set.  Standard household ones will not work because of the limited space.  So, as usual two steps forward and one step back. 

I made a good start on my sewing though.  I got my dinghy cover completed, except for the bungee cord around the edge, which I didn't have with me.  That has also been added to my to do list.  Find 8 meters of good quality bungee cord. 

Dan also made great progress on his bow repairs as well.  It still wasn't very warm in the hangar, but hopefully the fibre glassing will be fully set up by the time we get back next Friday. 

And in case anyone is wondering, that crock pot Orange Chicken recipe turned out great.  If anyone saved it off of Facebook like I did, give it a try.  You'll like it. 

SO, A FEW THINGS CROSSED OFF THE TO DO LISTS AND A FEW MORE ADDED.   

 

 

WORK WEEKEND #2

Well, the tools and the cooler are packed again and we are off to our second work weekend at the hangar.  This weekend, I should be able to get some of my sewing done.  Hopefully we will also be able to cross a few more things off of our to do lists.  Our son Ken is coming with us as he is going to do a plumbing job I have on my list. 

I am taking my crock pot with me this weekend.  that will take care of one meal with very little work.  I'm going to try that great looking Orange Chicken recipe that was on Facebook this week.   

I will also take some pre-made burgers with me.  That should do the trick and keep us fed with out too much hassle.  

So I will be working on my canvas cover and Dan is still working on his bow repairs.  Once this weekend is finished we only have 3 more, ( the 10th, 17th and 24th) so the push is on. 

We will also try to book our launch date, while we are there this weekend. 

That's the plan.  But, as everyone knows, the best laid plans always go awry.  So, we will see what happens. 

WHAT DID WE ACCOMPLISH

I didn't get as much done as I had hoped, but I did get a lot of stuff sorted out on the boat and I'm ready for a big push next weekend.  I have a very long list of things that I have discovered I need to pick up for our work projects.  I have discovered I don't have enough Blue and Green plaid upholstery fabric.  I was sure I had lots, but it turns out, no matter which way I turn what I have, it's not wide enough for my new back rest.  The length is good but the width is not.  Oh, well, I have to go back to the suppliers anyway, I also found I am a little short of canvas as well. 

At least we got my Sewing Machine all set up and ready to go, for next weekend. 

Dan has completed the generator, it is now running perfectly.  So that can be put away and crossed off our to do list.  Thanks Sean, for all your assistance.  Dan also made some good headway on the bow repairs as well. 




I think I will pre-make some meals for next weekend.  Stopping to cook takes too much time away for chores.  Even cleaning up and going out to eat takes away from work time as well, so I'll give some thought to that for next weekend. 

I GUESS IT WAS A GOOD FIRST WEEKEND