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