DIY: MORE CANVAS TO SEW

A couple of years ago I made a windshield cover of Levelor type Blind fabric.  It blocks a lot of the sun's rays and heat, but still allows us to see out.  It has served us quite well, but during the last couple of weeks it has been very very hot and humid.  With this very hot weather we need even more coverage on our front window. 

We put a piece of canvas, under the screen, across that area this week, and that really dropped the temperature in here, even more drastically.  It blocks our view out of our front window, which I don't like, but really makes it more comfortable in here in the this extreme heat. 

So, this fall, I am going to make another windshield cover exactly the same as our shade cover , but out of solid canvas.  We will only use it in the extreme heat, but that should really help. 

THE LIST OF WINTER PROJECTS IS STARTING

WE WENT "OUT" FOR DINNER

 

We had a very busy weekend.  What with our disastrous cruise on Friday, then Art's memorial on Saturday afternoon.  Then that night we were invited to our friends Gord and Ellie Gowie's Anniversary party.  While we were there we arranged to take them and their out of town guests for a cruise Sunday afternoon. 

 

Ellie had a lot of leftover salads etc. from her wonderful party, so she volunteered to bring the leftover food and we would make it a "Dinner Cruise". 

 

So, Sunday afternoon Ellie arrived, with Gord's sister Brenda and Brenda's husband John and a cooler full of food.  Gord is the Gimli harbour master and was working until late afternoon, so we cruised on up to Gimli to pick him up.   

 

 

 

 

I took pictures, while Dan and John chatted and the bathing beauties basked in the sun on our cruise north. 

 

 

 

 

After picking up Gord we cruised on out of Gimli Harbour and headed south towards the mouth of the Red River with Gord and Ellie on the bow this time.  

 

 

 

Then around 6:00pm we shut Thunderbird down and bobbed around out on the lake just off of Winnipeg Beach for dinner. 

 

We had a wonderful dinner and I didn't even have to cook.   

 

 

Then we putted on back into the harbour. 

 

 

When you hang around a marina "Out" means, "Out there on the water". 

 

ie. What's it like " out " there?  You taking your boat " out" ?  You been " out" yet?  Out means anywhere out of the harbour. 

 

So if we go for a cruise and have a Bar-B-Q, That's what Dan calls " Taking me out for dinner." 

 

 

HEY, IT WORKS FOR ME. 

 

 

 

 

 

ART'S FAREWELL CEREMONY

The ceremony for the sprinkling of Art's ashes was planned as a "Raft Up" at South Beach, which was one of his favourite spots on the lake.   

 

Art was a regular reader of my blog and would regularly comment to me about my posts and I really appreciated his input and Dan was one of the regulars at Art's Captain's table.  So, we certainly would not miss his send off for any reason. 

Now a raft-up is not a simple thing to accomplish.  Especially when there are so many boats that want to take part.  Art was a much loved man in our boating community, so there was a very large turn out.  It starts with two boats rafted (which means tied together, with fenders in between) that go ahead of where they want the raft to end up, drop their anchors, then back up until they are being held into position on their anchors. 

Then very carefully one by one you add boats to each side of the raft, tied together with fenders in between.  Every few boats must have an anchor.  So that means that, that boat must set it's anchor then back into position.  (A tricky manoeuvre) 

 

There were so many boats they had to start a second raft out front of the main one.  Those in that raft-up had a great view.   

 

Then it was our turn to pull in at the port end of the main raft.   

 

Once rafted, the swim platforms of all of the boats should line up, and everyone gets a chance to walk along the swim platforms and socialize with each other and share stories, condolences and memories.   

 

 

 

Then when all was ready everyone was summoned to the bows of their boats for the actual ceremony. 

 

 

Orange was one of Art's favourite colours to wear, so because of that the family all wore some orange, which was nice for us as we could pick them out from a distance. 

 

 

 

 

Art and Gay's three son's Ryan, Chris and Nick, escorted their mother to the bow of "Misprint" and she poured his ashes into the lake. 

 

 

 

 

Everyone said their farewell, and raised a glass in a toast. 

 

 

"TO ART"

 

 

 

What a lovely ceremony it was.  Very casual, just like Art would have liked, but also very poignant and moving. 

 

That's the way to do it. 

 

 

 

DESTINATION NORTH, HERE WE COME (CRUISE)

Dan and I and some marina friends have decided to take our boats on a destination cruise. Angela and Peter Narth are joining us on an overnight up north on the lake. Tentative plans are Hecla Village or Gull Harbour ???   

I have been champing at the bit to head north since June 1st so I guess this is it for this year.  It's a long way north just for overnight, but at least it's a trip somewhere.  So, we headed out of the harbour at 8:30am. 
 

It was a very pleasant and uneventful trip north.  We cruised up there at about 7 MPH and approached the harbour entrance about 3:30. pm

 

 

The new government dock at Gull Harbour is beautiful.   

 

 

Once docked,  Dan took Sea-Enna up to the end of the dock for a swim at the beach.   

 

 

Then Dan and Peter climbed the Lighthouse to take some pictures while Angela and I sat and relaxed and discussed our journey thus far. 

 

 

With that all done we were invited aboard Gifhorn III for Cocktails and Hors D' overs. 

 

 

Then we adjourned to the old Gull Harbour Hotel, up at the end of the dock for a wonderful dinner of good food and good conversation.  We had a great time. 

And it was such a lovely moonlit evening we linger on the dock talking late into the evening. 

 

 I would love to be able to say that, that was a lovely ending to a lovely cruise, but that was not to be the case.  We had started planning this trip a while back and things just kept cropping up that caused postponements. 

Our start got delayed, by a friends untimely death and funeral, then our return date was also moved due to Boat Ceremony planned for the Lake on Saturday that none of us would in anyway want to miss.  So, we were in a bit of a time crunch, but we decided "we wouldn't cancel, we would just make it an overnighter". 

Much to our chagrin, as we were heading north on the lake we were all monitoring our radios and hearing the increasingly gloomy forecast for our Friday return trip.  What started out as a forecast of strong south winds, was at the end of the day being forecast as "Wind Warnings for the South Basin on Friday", by the time we were docked. 

So, Friday morning ,with none of us wanting to miss Art's Memorial Ceremony on the Lake, we decided to head back to Boundary Creek Marina.  It did not seem too bad as we headed out of the harbour and into the channel that takes us back to the main part of the south basin.  It was a little rolley, but nothing we couldn't handle.  We were able to keep our speed up at the 7mph that had brought us up here yesterday, but that didn't last long.  As we got further south and lost the slight wind protection of Black Island the wind got a lot worse and we had to slow down, but we were still  able to maintain 5-6 mph.  That is until we also lost the wind protection of the bottom of Hecla Island.  Now we were right out there in the widest openest part of the south basin and those so called south winds, though mostly from the south seemed to be coming from every direction. 

IT WAS HELL!

 

I really am no expert at estimating the size of waves, but the distance up and then back down that our bow pulpit travelled  as it rose high in the air climbing one wave, to suddenly crash down on the next wave rising up to meet it, had to be over 8 feet.  It was starting to do damage to our boat.  (Smashed some fibre glass off of the bow)  At that point we had to slow down and at some points were were down to about 2 1/2 to 3 mph.  It was a real grind.  We have a ceremonial ships bell in our galley and I have only heard it ring once when we were hit by a huge wave trying to round Grindstone point.  That bell chiming out was enough to scare me and we decided to turn around that day.  Well, that bell must have rang 50 times during this trip, I got to the point I didn't even pay any attention anymore.  Needless to say we didn't have any time or any free hands to take any pictures of this disastrous trip. 

Now when two boats decide to go on a cruise together, that does not necessarily mean that they must stay together.  When rough water enters into the picture decisions have to be made.  Each boat handles rough water differently and you have to know your own boat.  Dan knows what is best for Thunderbird and will adjust his speed and angle of attack according to that.  GifhornIII on the other hand rides better at a different speed and her Captain has to make that decision.  Peter was able to slow GifhornIII down a little, to try to accommodate our slower pace, but could not maintain the slow speed that we needed.  We maintained radio contact over those next long 5 hrs, checking on each others progress as we watched GifhornIII disappear over the horizon.  

It took us about 9 hrs to get back to our home port.  We knew our boat could handle it, but could we?  It was hard work standing there fighting that wheel.  Normally when we cruise we spare each other off ,Dan does an hour then I take over and do an hour and so on.  But this time, I couldn't handle a whole hour and Dan of course was much better at reading the waves and anticipating which ones to slow down for.  So, for about 5 solid hours he stood fighting that steering wheel across the worst of the open lake, with no land marks in sight, just the compass and GPS. 

 

We were never so happy to see anything as we were when the Seagram's Distillery plant came into view.  It is so much easier to navigate to a known landmark than it is to maintain a compass or GPS course when you are being bounced around by huge waves. 

 

As we continued toward it wave by wave we were slowly making headway, picking up a little more shelter from those rogue waves with each mile we slogged through and they were becoming more and more consistently from one direction.  They were still quite large, but now we could set a consistent course and speed.  Within an hour or so of spotting our land mark, we were able to pick it up to 5 mph without having to slow for the odd bad wave.  We were now also able to angle across them, which makes it a little more comfortable.  By the time we got near to the distillery we were able to pick it up to 9 mph.  It was rough, but what a relief.  When we were just outside Gimli harbour we pulled up to a stop and took a break.  We breathed a sigh of relief and poured ourselves a drink and relaxed before we started up again and rounded that last point towards home.  We were quite surprised as we rounded Willow Island that the lake had calmed substantially in the last few hours.  We were home free.  In another 45 minutes we were heading into our home port. 

 

 

 

HOME SWEET HOME PORT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#@%? COMPUTER

I have been trying for the last few days to get my #@%&?  Computer working.  Right now it is limping along for me.  I have tons of pictures and info to post and can't get it done.  Stay tuned I'll keep working on it. 

ART'S FINAL CRUISE

Art's final cruise will be to South Beach. 

 

 

One of his favorite spots on the lake. 

 

His ashes will be sprinkled there at 2:00pm on Saturday.  (Weather Permitting. ) 

 

The predicted winds are supposed be from the south, so they shouldn't be to much of a factor.   

If the weather does look like a problem, it will be rescheduled to Sunday (So keep in touch with the family).

 

 

Gay would like as many boats as possible to take part, so, spread the word to everyone you know in the boating community. 

Hope to see you all there. 

 

 

 

 

 

OUT FOR A RELAXING CRUISE

 

Nothing else to do, and the weather is so inviting, so we bubble on out of the harbour and bob around out there for a while. 

 

Bask in the sun and have a drink or two.

 

 

And generally just relax. 

 

 

Put a life jacket on and you don't even have to exert yourself to swim. 

 

(If we don't put out an anchor we always trail a line out for safety sake.  )

 

Now that's the way to spend a hot summer afternoon. 

THAT'S BOATING

 

A SUBDUED WEEKEND

The weekend was rather subdued.  The weather did not co-operate, so a lot of us just hung around the marina.  We had a good turn out for the Boundary Creek Bar-B-Q.  Good burgers and good company. 

One of Art's co-workers dropped by and left a Rose on Misprint for him.  A very nice gesture. 

Then we ended the weekend with the perfect way to end a weekend. 

A trip downtown for Ice cream.  Sea-Enna Concured.

 

AND NOW A TRIP INTO TOWN FOR THE FUNERAL

 

 



THE SINKING OF THE THUNDERBIRD (almost)

It was early August of 2010 and we wanted to have a week or so cruising out of  Gull Harbour and had been monitoring the weather for a few days looking for a weather window to head north to "Gull" which is approximately 50 miles north of our home port.  Day after day we watched the unfavorable weather forecasts, and couldn't get a break to start our trip.  Then one day we finally got a forecast of southerly winds all day, so we decided even though it wasn't going to be calm, we could take advantage of a following sea, and head north.  

We cruised out of the harbour and the lake looked a little rough, but nothing to serious, with the waves rolling from the south.  As we turned our stern to the wind, and she settled in, we started riding the waves northward.   We were rolling around a bit, but nothing pounding or uncomfortable.  We cruised along like that for a couple of hours and we were well north of Gimli, when the engine started acting up.  Coughing and sputtering and finally died.  Dan managed to get her going again and we discussed whether we should continue or not.  With no good facilities for solving our engine problems up north maybe we shouldn't continue, but turn back to Gimli, at least until we find out what this problems is.  Well, as we discussed the situation the decision was made of us, as the engine quit again and this time Dan couldn't get her re-started. 

It's one thing to be out in some rolling waves when you are under power and you can control your direction.  You can go with the waves as we had been doing or you can angle forward across them at an angle to make comfortable headway through them.  But, when you loose power the waves automatically turn your boat broadside to the waves.  This can prove very uncomfortable as you rock back and forth from side to side. 

We had large stabilizers installed down each side of our boat just after we bought it, because we had been on board her in a similar situation as guest, before we bought it.  So Dan arranged for the stabilizers soon after our initial purchase, and they really help.  It wasn't nearly as bad as the last time, we were on board when she was getting broadsided.  But. as the rocking got worse, there  was no way that Dan would have any luck working on the boat under these conditions, so we decided to call the Coast Guard for a tow. 

After all, that's what they are there for, and if they don't get any calls that's when the government will decide we don't need them on this lake.  So, we put on our life jackets and radioed Thunder Bay Coast Guard for assistance.  We were not taking on water, or at any risk from anything else and told them so.  We told them we were not in any danger, but were in need of a tow into the nearest port, which was Gimli Harbour.  Of course their standard procedure is to try to get local area boaters to lend assistance and only when there is no volunteer assistance do they then dispatch a coast guard vessel.  We decided with the Coast Guard on the way, it was not necessary to put out an anchor, that would be difficult to retrieve quickly in this situation. 

So, with the decision made and the Coast Guard called, we had nothing that we needed to do but wait.  And in rough water it is always much more comfortable out on the back deck where you can keep your eyes on the horizon.  (That is how you prevent sea sickness.  So you can see every wave that is coming, and your brain adjusts to it.  )  We also had our new 3 month old puppy Sea-enna with us.   This was to be her first experience of a long cruise on the boat.  So, we put on our life jackets and took our puppy out onto the back deck and sat to await the coast guards arrival. 

We were not the least bit concerned, as we knew we were not in any danger, just a little uncomfortable due to the rough water.  Eventually the Coast Guard cutter Vakta, came into view.  She is a 52-ft. (16.76 m) multi-task vessel that covers search and rescue out of Gimli Harbour.  She has huge engines and can travel across the lake at quite a clip.  Not like our trawler that only travels at 10 mph.  They made a quick circle around our boat, surveying the situation, which made even more waves than we were already dealing with.  Then they pulled close along side.  One of the crew with a line in hand, made a huge leap from Vakta to the bow of Thunderbird.  He quickly secured that line he had.  Then came down our walk around to greet us and explain, that we were to stay on the back deck and he was in charge from here on. 

At the time of our call, the radio dispatcher had asked many questions about our vessel, size, type, who is on board, etc.  So of course they knew we had a dog on board.  As the crewman rounded the corner onto our back deck he greeted us with a broad grin when he saw our little puppy. 

He explained that they always take extra precautions when they are told that there is a dog on board, as quite often a dog will sense tension in their owners in a situation like this and have been known to turn on the rescuers, thinking that is where the danger is coming from.  So, he was quite relieved to see our little 3 month old Sea-enna sitting on my lap. 

So, being assured that there was no danger from an edgy dog lurking on board they quickly rigged our boat for towing and got underway.  Once underway, the side to side rolling of the boat eased off, but now with us heading southeast at an angle across those waves rolling from the south, we were now dealing with the bow rising and falling over these large waves.  The Vakta crewman was at our helm, and in constant radio contact with Vakta.  Dan was periodically going forward to the helm to check on our progress, but was mostly sitting out on our back deck with me and Sea-enna, as instructed.  As we progressed toward Gimli, Vakta kept picking up more and more speed, checking occasionally with the crewman on board to see how Thunderbird was handling it.  By the time we were nearing Gimli, we were moving a quite a clip.  Faster than the Thunderbird has ever traveled.  On one of his ventures forward Dan told me that we were hitting the waves so hard they were breaking up onto the fly bridge.  Little did we know what damage was being done. 

As we approached the harbour and the Vakta slowed to raft to us and maneuver us into position, we and they suddenly realized we were in real trouble.  Our hull was almost entirely full of water.  We had hardly any free board left and the water was above the floor in the forward stateroom and just below the floor in the Galley.  We, being told to sit out on the back deck, as they took over, had been totally unaware of what was happening. 
 

BUT NOW THE PANIC WAS ON.   

 

The coast guard crew realized our situation and quickly moved into action.  They hooked up a pump from Vakta and started pumping out our boat. 

Their second vessel (one of those huge dinghy type, with twin outboards) immediately appeared beside us with more huge pumps and extra crew.  There were so many coast guard personnel on board at one point, I was just trying to stay out of the way with Sea-enna.   

 

The second coast guard boat got about four gas powered pumps pumping, then Vakta rafted us, into position along the seawall. 

 

Thanks so much to a friend, Linda Engstrom, of "Ludicrous", who, watching all this from shore took all of these pictures and sent them to me. 

 

At least when they got us to the seawall, I could get off of the boat with Sea-enna.  It only took an hour or so for them to get our boat all pumped out and realize that we were not taking on water anywhere.  And that, all that water had been forced on board during the tow.  I think they knew that and were doing anything they could to help us out, even though they are not legally liable. 

 

 

Oh, what a mess we had on our hands.  We knew that the original stalling of the engine, had been caused by fouled fuel filters, so those had to be replaced and had already been planned for, as soon as the Diesel mechanic Ed Lawrie could get to it.  But, we all thought that it could wait until fall.  But now, the water had been right up the sides of the engine, so we could not dare, try to start it.  If we didn't handle this situation properly we could end up with a very expensive anchor instead of an engine.  We got Ed to come down to Gimli and give us instructions on what to do.  The consensus from Ed and others was, "Change the Oil, Turn it over until she coughs, then repeat", over and over, and over again. 

So that's what Dan did.  He changed the oil, turned over the engine just until she coughed, then shut it down and changed the oil again.  He did this 5 times while sitting in Gimli Harbour.  With each change of the oil as Dan would turn over the engine and the oil would turn white and milky.  But with each oil change it got a little clearer.  Which is how we spent our holiday that was originally planned for Gull harbour. 

 

My problems were minor by comparison.  All my brand new carpeting that had just been installed in the Captain's Quarters was soaking wet.  So my chore was to "Walk on beach towels all over the wet carpets, remove the wet towels and replace them with dry ones" and repeat.  Over and over and over.  So all week while Dan was doing oil changes I was going back and forth to the laundro-mat washing beach towels.  With wonderful warm weather, open hatches and open windows, my carpets were soon dry. 

 

After a week of working on the boat and living on that Gimli seawall, we were anxious to get back to our home port.  It was perfect for Sea-enna though.  She was at the age, (a couple of months old) when most experts say she should meet and socialize with as many dogs as possible and twice as many people, to be a well socialized dog.  Well, you could not ask for a better place to socialize a dog.  It was difficult for me to get off of and back onto the boat and even more difficult to get my dog off and on, so once we were off we stayed off and lingered on the seawall.  I think every person that owns a dog in Gimli at some point in the day walks their dog on the seawall, and even the walkers that don't have dogs all seem to love puppies.  So, right when the experts say she needed it, she had a week of extensive exposure to many friendly dogs and twice as many really friendly people.  I think that the experts were right it has turned her into a really friendly and sociable dog.   

 

But, it really was time to get back to our home port.  We felt the oil changes had worked and the engine was safe to run, but we were still concerned about the fuel filters that started this whole episode.  Dan was confident that the engine was running OK and as long as we took it slow and easy we would be OK.  But just in case, we called our friends Sharon and Casey of "Loafhaven" and asked if they would stand by while we made our way on the 12 mile cruise, from Gimli Harbour to the harbour at Winnipeg Beach. They of course said "No Problem".  We can always count on them.  So sure enough as we headed out of Gimli Harbour the next day there was "Loafhaven"sitting off of Willow Island waiting to make sure we made it home safely.  And thankfully they were there.  We made it most of the way when we began to have the same fuel filter problems. 

But, when we stalled we'd let her sit for a while and we were able to start her again, but the stalling was getting close and closer together, so we had to give in to a tow.  We figured if we only had maybe one more start in her we would save that for maneuvering in the harbour. 

So, Sharon and Casey towed us right into the harbour mouth then cast us off and Dan was able to start and keep the old girl going long enough to maneuver right into our dock. 

 

Dan changed the oil a couple more times once we were at our home dock and Ed changed our whole fuel filter system.  As for how the water got in, I guess we will never really know for sure.  Dan feels it might have been forced in through a pump that is normally running all the time the engine is running, to feed our water cooled cutlass bearing, and as we were being towed that pump was not running, but the prop was turning.  So, Dan has installed a shut off on that line in case we ever run into a similar situation.  He has also put double one way valves on all the other through hull fitting. 

 

I guess we were lucky.  That is as close as I ever want to come to sinking. 

 

 

 

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

 

 

 



 

 





IT'S A SAD DAY AT BCYC

August 13th 2013 is a sad day in Boundary Creek Marina.  Today we lost one of our beloved members.  Art Wilks of Miztprint passed away this day.  He was a larger than life personality, and was a joy to everyone he came in contact with.  He would keep you entertained with his stories. And loved a good joke and loved to tease.

 

 

 

There wasn't a boater in this community that loved boating and his boat more than Art Wilks.  He had an enthusiasm for this lake and cruising that was absolutely contagious.  Just a couple of Fridays ago he said to me "I've got to get out there and burn some gas."  He hated to be tied to the dock. 

Art will be sorely missed around this marina.   

 

R.I.P.

 

 

His funeral is planned for

Monday 2:00 to 5:00 

Bardal's Funeral Centre

3030 Notre Dame Ave.

Across from Brookside Cemetary