PLEASURE BOATING ON LAKE WINNIPEG

Living on board is a real pleasure.  Weather permitting, we take the boat out of the harbour for a “No Destination Cruise”and just bob around out there (if we don't anchor, for safety sake, we always trail a rope when off of the boat), Wear a life jacket and you don't even have to put the effort in, to swim.

 

We usually have lunch, or some snacks and drinks, swim some more, then head back to port. And if it’s exceptionally nice or hot we will sometimes stay out and Bar-B-Q dinner as well.   Dan calls that taking me out for Dinner.

 

 

Then there are the “Destination Cruises”. Pick a sight you would like to see. (like the North East tip of Elk Island)  Cruise there and back on a day Cruise.  Very relaxing.



Or, we can pick a port and cruise there for a day, a week, or more. As seen here at Gull Harbour.

It’s just like camping, you pay for your docking, just like you do at a campground.

 


There are many of these destinations available to us.  Silver Harbour, Hnausa Harbour, Gull Harbour, Hecla Village, Wells Harbour, Biscuit Harbour, Princess Harbour, etc. etc. etc. The list is endless. 

WE HAVEN'T VISITED THEM ALL, BUT WE ARE WORKING ON THE LIST

 

 

 

 



 

DOGS, DOGS, DOGS

My daughter Wendy and her family are away on a trip, so we are having our Grand Dogs on board for a stay.  This should be interesting for the next 10 days or so.  These on board guests are Misty:  The Westie



And Felix:  The Beagle

And of course our own sweet Sea-Enna:

So we certainly will have our hands full for the next couple of weeks.  At least we are out at the lake and not in the Condo. 

WE'LL HAVE SOME FUN

 

 

 



ANOTHER GREAT WEEKEND

The weekend started off early with a Thursday night celebration of our new boarding ramps.  We are all getting new boarding ramps leading to our all new docks.  The first one was finished on Thursday, so of course it had to be christened. 

We celebrated our new on ramp when it was completed on Friday.  And just on time too, as the water was coming up fast. 

I love my new ramp.  It's so firm and stable compared to the old ones we used to have. 

 

Then on Saturday night was the Potluck dinner we have all been looking forward to. 

There was a great turn out and lots of wonderful food.  Thanks to everyone that took part and brought all the great dishes. 

And a Special thanks to Art Wilks for supplying the Turkeys and to Derek Debets for cooking them.  I can now say I've tasted Deep Fried Turkey, and it's Great. 



I HOPE WE HAVE AS GOOD A TURN OUT FOR NEXT WEEKENDS LIGHT PARADE






 

 

LIVING ABOARD A BOAT IS FUN

Living on board closes us to some possibilities, and opens us up to others.  We cannot watch TV, but we do have internet, while in most marinas and ports, and we do have a drop down DVD player (like you have for the kids in a van) over our bed in the Captain’s Quarters, So that we can watch a movie in the evening, therefore we certainly do not miss electronic entertainments. 

The pluses are, our harbour is within walking distance of a public beach where we can swim. 

If the seas are a little rough, we can do that, but  weather permitting, we take the boat out of the harbour for a “No Destination Cruise”and just bob around out there and swim off of the boat.  

 

 

But living aboard is especially fun on the weekends.  Now Dan and I are retired, and there are a few others, also retired, that live on their boats all summer, from launch day in spring to pull out day in fall.  During the week the only real activity is the odd cruise.  And we get some cottagers on vacation and the commercial fishermen coming and going, but even the fisherman are finished for the summer.   We live a very quite existence all week long, but, come the weekend almost all boats (approx. 200 in our marina) come to life as the owners arrive for the weekend. 

It all becomes a hive of activity.  Everything from 30-40 ft. live-a-boards, Sailboats of all sizes, Pontoon boats, Run-abouts and Sea-Doo’s, all start coming and going throughout the marina or lining up at the launch ramp.  And of course the partying starts as well.   Everyone catching up with each other’s week, sharing a few drinks and a few laughs. 

 And the great thing is you can choose to take part or stay on board your boat and forgo the activities.  The party atmosphere starts on Friday night, always continues right through the weekend and everyone has a wonderful time. 

 

Come Sunday afternoon, things begin to reverse themselves, as the weekenders slowly pack up and head to the city to face another work week.  Slowly the mood changes to one of resignation.  But, I for one, (being retired) love Sunday evenings. 

 

There is a quiet lull and hush that comes over the whole beach area and I get back to my tranquill retirement home on the water.  Not that I don’t love a good party at least once a week. 

 

 

AH....BACK TO RELAXING

 

 



 

 

THE POT LUCK DINNER IS COMING UP ON SATURDAY

This weekend is our "Deep Fried Turkey Pot Luck Dinner".  Is everyone signed up?   Please check with everyone around your dock to make sure they know about it and have signed up.  We wouldn't want anyone to feel left out.  If you find someone that still wants to sign up, send then to Linda on Thunderbird. 

I've never had Deep Fried Turkey, so I'm really looking forward to it. 

See you all at the Gazebo Saturday at 7:00 PM

 

And this weekend I guess we should all start stringing the lights on our boats for next weekends Light Parade.  It's best to test them out this weekend in case something doesn't work you still have time to fix things.   

 

 

 

MORE FUN WEEKENDS COMING UP. 

 

 

 



MY DOG'S "BATHING SUIT"

It all started when we discovered our dog loves to swim.  Sea-Enna is a Golden Retriever and the first couple of summers she seemed to fear the water. 

We could understand that in her first summer as she was only 8 weeks old, but in her second summer when she was just over 1 year, we began to wonder is we had some kind of dud retriever. 

Well, in her third summer, when she was just over 2 years old.  My daughter visited us with her Labrador retriever Daisy, who followed my daughter into the water without hesitation and Sea-Enna followed along without a thought, and she loved it.  All she needed was someone to show her what to do. 

So, now we had a problem.  We live in a harbour.  We live on a boat.  And we certainly did not want to have to live with a constantly wet dog.  The first time we let her swim off of the boat, we also discovered it was difficult to get her back up onto the swim platform.  Even at 2 years old she was over 55 pounds. 

Her "Bathing Suit" became the solution to both problems.  It is a large strong dog harness that has a good strong strap across her back and under her belly, so that when she swims up to the boat Dan can heft her back up onto the swim platform. 

We have been very consistent in never, never, never letting her go in the water without that harness on. 

Even if we are going swimming at a beach, she must have her "Bathing Suit"  on.  Not that she NEEDS to have it on then, but it makes her associate it with being allowed to go in the water. 

That consistency means she never goes near the water around the harbour.  No jumping off docks, wading into the mud or reeds, nor do we have to fear her jumping off of the boat without permission.  It also means when we get out her "Bathing Suit"  she gets very excited and can hardly contain her excitement. 

If we pull out her "Bathing Suit" while we are in port she runs to the truck the minute she gets it on, because she knows she is going to the beach. 

Or if we stop on a cruise and get out her "Bathing Suit" she knows she gets to swim off of the boat.  It works great. 



All in all the "Bathing Suit" harness and consistency, have been a wonderful solution to what could have been a BIG problem for us. 

SEA-ENNA LOVES TO SWIM

 

 

 

 



LAKE WINNIPEG - OUR CRUISING GROUNDS

According to Blogger Statistics supplied to me, I have many readers that are not from the area so, for the non local readers, Wikipedia states, Lake Winnipeg is a large, 24,514-square-kilometre (9,465 sq mi) lake in central North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada, with its southern tip about 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of the city of Winnipeg.

It is part of the most undeveloped large watershed of southern Canada.
Lake Winnipeg is the sixth-largest freshwater lake in Canada, but it is relatively shallow (mean depth of 12 m (39 ft)) excluding a narrow 36 m (118 ft) deep channel between the northern and southern basins. It is the eleventh-largest freshwater lake on Earth.

The east side of the lake has pristine boreal forests and rivers that are being promoted as a potential United Nations World Heritage Park. The lake is elongated in shape and is 416 km (258 mi) from north to south, with remote sandy beaches, large limestone cliffs, and many bat caves in some areas. The Manitoba Hydro Electric Co. uses the lake as one of the largest reservoirs in the world. There are many islands in the lake, most of them undeveloped.

THIS IS WHERE WE SPEND OUR TIME IN THE SUMMER