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