THE HARBOUR GOES FROM ICE TO WATER

What a difference a couple of good warm days make. 

 At right is what our marina looked like on Friday when we went out to Gimli, to work on the boat for the weekend.  All iced in. 

Then on Sunday as we were heading home after a warm sunny weekend, this is what the harbour looked like.  The water flowing free. 

 

 

By next weekend all the snow around the edges will be gone.  And there will be some boaters that will be champing at the bit to get their boats launched.  There are some that would have been in the water by mid April, if the weather had co-operated.  There are only a few that can launch, here in this harbour though.  Most of us have boats that are too large to launch in here and must launch in Gimli harbour and cruise out on the lake the 12 miles to get here, and the lake is still full of ice.  So we will all be watching for that to disappear and putting our names on the launch roster. 

 

 

IT CAN'T COME TOO SOON FOR ME. 

 

 

GREAT IMPROVEMENTS AT HANGAR #2

For years we have had a lounge in hangar #2 with a fridge and Stove, table and chairs and TV and Sofas etc.  But, to reach anything with plumbing, you had to leave that room and go out into the hall, which ran parallel, where you would find the washroom, shower and galley sink etc.  So, I've been saying for years, "Why don't they take down that wall?"

Well, they finally did.  Now you can go from the kitchen work area, to the sink in just a few short steps.  Instead of leaving the room and going down the hall to get to these other facilities.  What a simple, but great improvement.  Now this Lounge is so much more functional. 

You can always make a quick sandwich and a drink on the boat for lunch, but at the end of the day, we now have this much improved galley to retire to.

It is great after a long day of working on projects.   I bring from the boat, into the galley/lounge
what I need to cook dinner.   We relax and have dinner and we spend the evening watching satellite TV.  We can have a shower, before we return to the boat to turn in for the night and start again the next day. 

WELL DONE DEAN!

FINALLY, A WORK WEEKEND AT THE HANGAR

We finally get to go out to the lake for a work weekend.  It may even turn out to be warm enough for fibre glassing.  So, Friday we will load the tools and groceries in the truck and head for Gimli, to tackle those to do lists.  We will go out on Friday Morning and stay right though Sunday.

 The first thing we will have to do is stop in at Gord and Ellie's and pick up my commercial sewing machine. I want to set that up right behind the boat. Nice and handy for my sewing chores.  Then I have to get our dinghy down off the top of the boat for measurements and fittings, as that is going to be my first and biggest project. 

Weather permitting, Dan will be able get his fibre glassing at least started, if not finished.  If that gets done it will be ready for sanding and painting next weekend.    Time permitting we may get more than that done.  As stated in previous blogs the to do list are long and we only have 4 or 5 weekends until we launch.  Hopefully in early June. 

 

 

 

 

AT LEAST THAT WILL BE A START, FINALLY

 

 

 

DIY: THE NEW CAPTAIN'S SEAT

This week I am going to track down the  upholstery and lumber  supplies we need to complete the Captain's and Navigator's seats on the boat.  When we decided to replace the original Captains seat, there were a number of things we wanted to accomplish.  We wanted it to be different from the run of the mill boat seats, large and comfortable, have some storage capacity, and match all the original wood work and the new upholstery in the Pilot House. 

So, I made a sketch of what I thought it should look like, so that Dan could understand what I had in mind. He agreed with my concept.

So, I marked the full swing of all the existing cabinet doors, onto the floor with a black felt marker.  (That was before we had carpet in there, of course.)  That way I knew exactly how much room I had to work with, without interfering with those doors opening and closing. 


That's how we decided on the actual size it would be.  We also took one of the existing cabinet doors to a custom wood worker and had him make the matching doors we wanted.  (Yikes that was expensive.)

I think Dan did a great job of building this.  They no longer sell Mahogany plywood, so if we wanted it to match the existing woodwork, we had to buy the veneer and glue and make it ourselves.  No easy task I'll tell you, but we accomplished it.  Dan built the cabinet I stained and varnished it, then I upholstered the seat. 

 I think it all matches very well.  And it really holds a lot of soft drinks and snacks etc..   So this year all we have to do is make the back rest. The idea is that it will swivel back and forward so that the seat can be used facing the couch when we are not cruising. I still have to re-upholster the navigator's stool as well this year.  These are simple enough jobs, if they don't get put to the bottom of the to do lists. 

 

 

 

SO, THE CAPTAIN HAS A NEW SEAT

 

 

MAKING A LIST OF "TO DOS"

Now comes the time for making lists of things that have to be accomplished before we launch the boat this spring. 

Dan has some  projects on the go.  He is working on the used 3000 watt generator he bought.  It was missing the exhaust system , electric start and fuel lines etc.  So he is searching out missing parts and putting that back together.  He is also going to be working on some fiber glass repairs that he started working on in the fall.  If the weather ever warms up enough.  He also wants to re-do the packing on our drive shaft, and put an extension on the exhaust system.  So, that's Dan's to do list. 

As for me, I want to complete the swivel back rest for our new captains seat, and re-upholster my navigator's stool to match.  Then I want to make a canvas cover for our Dinghy, make a canvas cover for our on board Bar-B-Q and a run off cover for our back deck cushions.  I would also love to install new carpet in the pilot house if I can find what I am looking for.  (I have a very specific colour in mind, which might prove hard to find.)  So, that's my to do list. 

So these projects should keep us busy until our launch date,  if we can even get them all done.    Our launch date is going to be as soon as possible in June.  We better get cracking once this weather breaks. 

 

 

BOAT CHORES ARE NEVER ENDING

IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER COLD WEEKEND, AGAIN.

Is spring never going to come?  I am so sick of this weather.  We are anxious to get started on our spring boat projects, but it's too damned cold.  Unless it gets well above freezing and stays there it's far to uncomfortable to work in the hangar. So, I guess we will stay in town for another weekend and work on stuff here. 

Dan has his generator to work on and that will be completed this weekend.    I have some sewing projects that I can complete. 



Since we moved into our condo and started going down to Texas each winter I got rid of my big Christmas Tree and got a small Ceramic Tree to put out at Christmas.  Both festive and easy.  This certainly solves the problem of the chore of decorating etc.  But it does not solve the problem of storage.  All though this tree does not take up as much room as my large tree and all it's decorations, it is very delicate and it needs special attention for it's storage. 

So I am in the process of making a storage bag, with padded sides and hard Styrofoam bottom, to store it in.  I will add handles to it for safe transport.  That should solve my problem and I will be able to quickly put it away on my return from Texas.  And who knows if we decide to go down to Texas before Christmas, I will be able to easily transport it down there with us, and back.  It is not exactly a boating project.  My boating projects all have to be done at the hangar, but this one will keep me busy this weekend.   

 

 

 

SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING THIS WEEKEND

 

 

 

ENOUGH ALREADY,!!!

When I woke up this morning and saw a snow drift on my bedroom window sill, I moaned, "Oh, NO" and pulled the covers up over my head and tried to go back to sleep. 
But, because I'm retired, I don't wake to an alarm, but wake when I'm fully rested, there was no going back to sleep.  And besides the thought of more snow was angering me so much, that sleep was impossible. 

So what is the solution?  I hollered at Dan "Can we head back to Texas for another month?" To which he laughed, when I was actually dead serious.  It's April 15th for cripes sake, and it's one thing to have snow still on the ground that has not yet melted, (which is far to late in the year, but I am trying to tolerate it) but, to get fresh snow today is unexpected, unwanted, unfathomable, unreasonable and totally unacceptable. 

I am open to suggestions.  Anybody got any creative ideas.  I'm willing to try anything.  Do you think the weatherman would be open to a bribe? 

 

 

I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE OF THIS!

IT"S STILL TOO COLD FOR FIBRE GLASSING

Although we would love to go out to the hangar to start work on some of

our projects this weekend, it's still to cold in Manitoba to do any fibre glassing.  Although our hangar is heated, it is not heated enough for fibre glass resin to harden and that is project #1 on our To do list.  Dan removed some damaged area on the bow and walk around last fall and that has to be repaired and for that we need warm enough weather for the fibre glass resin to set up. 

So we will stay in town for one more weekend.  Dan is also working on the 3000 watt generator he bought for the Thunderbird.  It needs the electric start and exhaust system re-installed, so he will tackle that next instead. 




The weather man keeps promising that next weekend the temperatures will be better.  Hopefully next weekend will see things start to thaw around here.  I have The Weather Network camera from Gimli harbour on my computer and no matter how many times I check it, it's not looking any more like boating weather.  To me it looks more like January.  We took a drive out through Lockport today and the Red is open most of the way, but it sure is locked in here in Winnipeg. 

I GUESS I'M JUST TO ANXIOUS FOR BOATING SEASON TO START

 

 



INCOME TAXES, YUCK

Well, I just finish our income taxes for this year.  I did Dan's and mine and I also did my sons.  There is no sense putting it off, as none of us have taxes to pay.  We are all expecting a refund, so we might as well get on with it and make our claim.  It's so much easier now-a-days with the computer programs available, but I still end up tied to the computer for a couple of days, gathering up information and sorting out papers and creating a new file for this year.

 But it's completed again for this year, so I'm relieved.  We Canadians don't have to have ours filed until the end of the month, but I know our American friends and relatives are fast approaching their April 15th deadline.  As for me I'm just glad that chore is done and over with for another year and I can now start thinking of where I will spend that refund. 

I HOPE EVERYONE ELSE HAS AN EASY TIME WITH THEIR TAXES

 

 



THE ICE IS STILL SOCKED IN, IN BOTH HARBOURS

When we launch our boat in the spring, we launch in the town of Gimli, that has a fair sized harbour and is only a couple of miles from the hangars where we store the boat for the winter.  Then, once launched, we make our way south down the lake about 12 miles to our home port at Winnipeg Beach called "Boundary Creek Marina". 

To the left is Boundary Creek Marina.  This harbour usually opens up earlier than Gimli harbour, because it has a small creek feeding it which helps to open it up. 

To the right is Gimli Harbour, no water in sight just the marine research vessel Namao, way out at the end of the concrete pier. This harbour opens up next, so we could launch as soon as that happens, but that is of no use to us, until the ice on the lake breaks up so that we can leave this harbour and make our way to our berth at Winnipeg Beach.   So we have to watch and wait not only for the harbours to loose their ice, but also for the breakup of the ice on the lake, which usually is a slow process until you get a good spring storm.  That usually makes it break up in a hurry.  So we will work on our ToDo Lists and watch for the spring break up.  Hopefully it will not be too long. 

I'M ANXIOUS FOR BOATING SEASON TO START.

OFF TO THE HANGAR

Today we made a run out to the Gimli hangars where we keep our boat, to take some stuff (purchased in Texas) to put aboard the boat.                                                                                                                    

These are the old air craft hangars that Lake Agassiz Marine rents out space in.  They rent you space in these heated hangars, so that your boat is out of the weather and you can work on your boat in the winter.  There is also a kitchen and lounge so that you can cook a meal and watch TV, after a days work.  There is also washrooms and showers provided.  And you can sleep on your boat at night over the weekend. 

 



Dan loaded a cart full of stuff to haul to the center of the hangar where our boat is stored. 

There is a lot of Snow in Gimli, just like the rest of Manitoba.  It sure doesn't seem like boating season. 

We stopped in at our friends Gord and Ellie's , who we haven't seen since late fall on our last visit to the area.  He is the Gimli Harbour Master and they are permanent residents in the area.  They have a number of deer that come to their yard to feed, that I couldn't resist photographing. 

 Our mutual friends Sharon and Casey, who left Texas a couple of weeks before we did, also showed up at Gord and Ellie's.  It was like a good old boating weekend.  So we watched the deer and talked about when is this damned snow going to melt and let us all go boating. 

I AM SURE IT WILL ALL LOOK VERY DIFFERENT IN A FEW OF WEEKS

WE ARE SETTLING IN BACK HOME

We are settling in back at home, but it's amazing and funny what we found.  Because we had a party the night before we left, there were a couple of things overlooked in our rush to get out of here the next morning. 

Yesterday, upon putting some stuff away in my book shelves, low and behold, what do I find, but a paper plate, with some dried up shrimp tails and shrimp sauce and a napkin on top of it, sitting on one of the shelves, that had been overlooked when I was tidying up before I went to bed, December 22nd.

Then today, when I opened my Microwave to use it, there was a plate full of sausage rolls that had been heated up but not served that night, and not noticed in there until now.  Oh well,  no harm done. 

Everything is unpacked, and sorted, but we still have to deliver it around to where it belongs.  Some belongs here, some goes to my kids, and some out to the boat, etc. etc. etc. We should be back to normal shortly. 

  

WE ARE HOME

It was an leisurely and uneventful trip from Fargo to Winnipeg.  As we approached to Canadian Customs, I started worrying about those bottles of wine, that Keith Pierce said I should have no problem importing.  I was wondering what kind of a problem they were going to be and what it was going to cost me in duty. 

 

I had all my bills listed and attached to my list, including the receipt for the 6 bottles of wine I was bringing back.  We tried to show the officer my documentation and told him we had 6 bottles of wine to declare.  He carried on asking about firearms etc.  Then just said, "Have a nice Day", as he handed us back our passports.  We didn't even have to get out of the truck. 

As everyone always says, "It is wonderful to go traveling, but it is also wonderful to be back home".  Even if "Friendly Manitoba"is exceptionally cold this April.  So now all we have to face is the dreaded unpacking.  It's always a nightmare trying to fit everything into the truck coming home, and it's also a chore trying to figure out where it's all going to go once we get home.  Oh, well that is tomorrows chore. 

 

 

 

SO, THAT'S OUR SOUTHERN TRIP FOR 2013, NOW OUR FOCUS TURNS TO OUR BOAT.