WE'RE OFF TO FLORIDA

Our sister-in-law Barbara Thacker, passed away late last year and the family is getting together on her favourite beach for a little Memorial ceremony on May 16th.  We are only going for 5 days, flying out on Tuesday May 13th and will be back home late on Sunday May 18th. 

 

 

It is a sad occasion, but it is always nice to be with all the family and share our memories with each other. 

 

 

 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO THE OTHER THACKER FAMILY

 

 

 

DIY: REBUILDING THE REAR DECK

Our third major rebuilding on Thunderbird was the rear deck.  A few years after purchasing the boat, we came to the realization that the back deck was in really bad shape.  In fact we didn't really know how bad it was until we started to pull it apart in the fall of 2006.  Then we realized we are lucky someone hadn't fallen through it when boarding. 
 

 

The rear deck is completely exposed to the elements at all times.  I was also using a couple of old cushions that I had made from salvaged material from the original V berth.  They were quite heavy, not water proof and a nuisance to have to store inside when it rained.  So we gave a lot of consideration to how we should rebuild and improve it.  The original structure was built with 2X4s and plywood and had lasted since the mid 70s so we could rebuild it as it was originally designed and it would out last us, but we decided to see if we couldn't find newer longer lasting materials that would not need as much maintenance.  I also wanted new cushions and a way to keep them dry without bringing them indoors, to clutter up the interior, when it rained. 
 

We were able to track down new structural 2X4s made of recycled plastic and a 4X8' sheet of 1/2 inch sheeting material called "Star Board", that is just like kitchen cutting board, plus sheets of ridged fibre glass.  All products that would be maintenance free. 
 

Next came the deconstruction.  As we removed each piece of the old deck of course we saved it and put it aside, as templates for our re-construction.  It's a rather complicated structure, that we never would have been able to come up with on our own, so we were grateful for patterns.  As we deconstructed deeper and deeper, we realized how dangerous the original structure had become.  Some spots were mush.  By the time we had removed everything that was rotten, the back wall of the boat was wide open.  The inside of the broom closet was exposed, the compartments under the dinette were wide open and rear door sill were totally removed. 

 

 

 

So, in the spring of 2007, we started the rebuild.  We made some minor adjustments to allow for easier access to fuel tank and steering mechanisms and moved our electrical connection but other than that we rebuilt it as originally designed with all the new materials.  The framing was the new structural 2X4s.  The seat, steps and compartments were all built of star board.  The rear wall was rebuilt of plywood, then laminated with rigid fibre glass. 
 

We got it totally deconstructed and reconstructed in one fall/winter/spring session.  I still had to use the old cushions for a year or so, but now I have made all new cushions and a run-off cover for them so that we no longer have to bring the cushions indoors, to take up space when it rains. 


 
We have also installed a gas Bar-B-Q, which I have made a matching cover for.  I love it. 



And I'm sure it will all last longer than the 30 years the previous deck lasted. 
 

 





SO PRACTICAL WHEN IT RAINS.  I LOVE IT.

ANOTHER REFIT PROJECT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED, THAT WE ARE VERY PROUD OF

 

 

 

I JUST HAD A LITTLE STAY IN THE HOSPITAL

In case anyone was wondering why I have not been keeping up on my blog, it's because I have been in the hospital. 

 

 

It turned out to be nothing serious, but I woke up on Friday morning with a feeling of heaviness or pressure on my chest, with that same feeling radiating down my arms and up into my jaw, which seemed to me to be all the symptoms that they warn you about for "Heart Attack", so it really scared us.  We discussed it, and decided we better go to the hospital and have it checked out. 

 

We arrived at St. Boniface Hospital emergency room around 8:00 am and I was immediately rushed in for an EKG and blood tests.  Within 10 minutes I was on a gurney hooked up to all the latest technologies.  Which is even more frightening, when you realize that they think this is serious, but also reassuring that I'm glad I'm here, if it is this serious. 

 

So, there I lay on that gurney for the next 16 hours being poked, prodded questioned and examined by "everyone and his uncle", that passed by.  In that time I had at least 6 EKGs, 10 "blood lettings" and a thousand questions asked.  I was xrayed, stethoscoped, poked and prodded in more places than I care to mention, with still no answers.  With time and/or the drugs they had given me, my symptoms had passed, but my heart rate and blood pressure were still a little high and they didn't have an answer for that or as to what had set the symptoms off in the first place, so they decided to admit me to hospital for observation. 

 

I know we never have a choice, but if we did, my advice would be, "Never get sick on a Friday."  All weekend, the poking and prodding, testing and questioning continued, but the places that do the more in depth testing are all closed on the weekend.  Plus the hospital is very, very boring and the food is atrocious.  But there I sat, enduring, reading and walking the halls.  Then finally on Monday, they got me on the "Cancellation List" for a stress test with Ecocardiography, which is basically a sonogram of your heart then a treadmill workout then quickly another sonogram and see what happens. 

 

I really pushed it and was able to get my heart rate way up there, (higher than I think they expected for an old 72 year old lady) with no ill effects showing on the follow up sonogram.  They told me, "I passed with flying colours."   So, the minute I got back to my room, the cardiologist came into my room and said, "Why don't you go home?"  He had just finally received the copies of previous testing they had done on me a few years ago and he said that a couple of anomalies that they were a little concerned about have been there for years and my test results were great.  "So, go home, relax, and yes, you can travel."

 

So, I'm home and finalizing my plans and packing for our trip to Florida next week. 

 

 

 

GLAD THAT'S OVER WITH 

 

OUR DAUGHTER'S SPRING PROJECT

Each year when we arrive home from Texas one of our kids, usually have a project going on.  This year our oldest daughter has decided to put in some new kitchen counters and open up between her dinning room and kitchen. 

 

Because she has an older house than her siblings, hers seems to be an ongoing reno project.  Unfortunately this means that some repairs will have to be done to the new hardwood floors they installed last spring. 

 

But I agree with her that this will be a great update to her house as these older homes were all built with small individual rooms and the newer ones are all far more open concept.  This change will certainly bring some of that open concept style into this older home. 

 

 

THE WALL IS COMING DOWN. 

 

IN TRANSITION

This is our transition time.  We arrive home from Texas,  live in our little condo while we try to get organized. 

 

First there is piles of mail to go through. We are fortunate, in that in our condominium complex each unit has a mail slot in the door, and we get door to door mail delivery, which is wonderful, because then I do not have to have my mail put on hold, but it does accumulate while we are gone.  So that's the first thing to go through.   Then comes the unpacking.  Usually we just unpack the truck and bring everything up to the condo and I take a couple of days to sort it all out, but this year we had everything in our trailer.  So, that has to be stripped and decisions must be made. 

Then comes the Taxes, Prescriptions, Insurances etc.  We arrived home on April 12th and once the basic organizing was done it was Tax time.  Fortunately there was a copy of UFile sitting there in the mail for me so all I had to do was register and activate it.  That was simple enough.  As for our prescriptions, I order 6 months supplies of everything we need in April and October.  So, now I've done that.  Next comes the Insurances, Home, Auto, Licences etc., etc..  We are still in the middle of that.  And to make matters worse Dan and I have come down with colds, so that has slowed us down a bit.

We usually help our kids with any projects they have going on, which is just what they have lined up for us again this year. 

Then we have to get back to our small trailer to get it into tip top shape to be able to put it up for sale.  We are also flying back down south again in May.  Dan's brother Dwight has asked the family to come for a get together in West Palm beach to sprinkle his recently deceased wife's ashes.

Then we still have to work on the boat to get it ready for our launch.  This year it was winterized to survive the Winnipeg Winters so there is all of that to reverse or to be undone??  Plus we have the usual maintenance issues to deal with.  (There's always something.)  I don't think we will be taking on any extra refit projects this year.  There are far to many things going on.  I just want to finish off all of my todo lists and get out to the lake and relax. 

  

 

 

 

 

IT CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH FOR ME

 

 

A VISIT TO BOUNDARY CREEK MARINA & GIMLI

We took a run out to Gimli today to sign the documents for the docking we paid for last month.  So, while there we stopped in to have a look at Gimli harbour and the work that has been completed on the Fishers Dock. 

 

 

The harbour looks so desolate with all the ice and no boats.  But that will all change in another month or so.   

 

Then we stopped in for a visit with Gord and Ellie, to find out what is new with them since they left us in Texas in February.  We had a nice visit, then along the way we stopped in at the Marina to see the new dock we have been assigned to.  We heard that the enlargement of the parking lot had gone ahead, and sure enough, trees were down and all new gravel right up to the ramp of dock (i 9 & 10) . 

Not only that but a large chunk of the west end of the Island is gone.  That was a real shocker. 

 

But the biggest shocker of all was the huge pile of mud being dredged out of the entrance to the harbour mouth. 

 

 

There was no real access to get a better look, as the normal access road is blocked off, but that is one heck of a big pile of mud.  

We will just have to wait and see. 

I guess the next time we are out there we will have to take a walk out onto the spit to get a better look at what is going on. 

 

 

BIG CHANGES

 

 

 

THE SURF BALLROOM, CLEAR LAKE IOWA

I have been quite taken with "The Surf Ballroom", in Clear Lake, Iowa.  I  knew that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper had died in a plane crash, flying from a gig in Iowa to a gig in Minnesota.

 

  But I always thought of their gig in Iowa as an arena or old theatre, so I was very interested to see this venue, that turned out to be a very intriguing old Ballroom.   

 

We toured what they call the green room, which certainly is not green, but white walls signed by hundreds and hundreds of stars that have performed in the ballroom.   There are signatures from everyone from "The Glenn Miller Orchestra", to "The Head Hunters".   

 

 

There are even signatures on the fronts, backs and even the edges of the doors and also on the ceiling. 

 

The dance floor is beautiful and huge.  But it's size can be altered, by filling it in, somewhat with tables.  Which was still set up from a luncheon, that had just occurred,  when we visited. 

 

As you step up off of the dance floor you see three tiered layers of booths, that go all the way around the dance floor.   All of the booths are made to hold up to six people.  With just the booths, this venue holds 2100 people. 

 

Even from the furthest back row of booths you can see the whole dance floor and have a good view of the stage.   With this layout you also have easy access to the dance floor at all times, without the usual, "Excuse me, pardon me." as you try to squeeze past chairs to get up and dance.  It is reminiscent of the old night clubs of the 30s or what you see when you go to a show in Vegas

 

 The dance floor of course is beautiful old hardwood floor.

 

Then we come to the memorabilia that this place contains.  All of the famous artists that have performed here, have signed and donated items for display.  B.B. King donated a signed guitar.    

 

Charlie Daniels gave a signed fiddle. 

 

It just goes on and on.  Far to many to list here, but well worth seeing. 

 

 

I think they were running out of space, so they started putting them on display above the bar.   

 

Then there was the history section, about the original Dance Hall, that was built across the street in 1933, and featured all the Big Bands of the day.  It burned down in 1947 and was rebuilt on it's present location and re-opened in 1948.  Dance Bands were still going strong in those days.  I remember the huge Dance Hall we had at Grand Beach, when I was a kid.   

 

Lots of pictures of the famous Band leaders and entertainers of those days 

 

Then a section called the Big Band Beat, with all the Band Singers of the day. 

 

All in all, it is a very interesting way to spend a day if you're ever in the area of Clear Lake, Iowa.   

 

 

 

 

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED IT