Oopps, We Did it Again!

Almost sunk another boat, that is. My new boat has a slow leak from a rotten old plug, that combined with last night rain, made a good size puddle in it. The transom was just barely above water when David tried to step into the boat and his added weight caused water to flood in. The boat listed over and was on its way down. I could hear him screaming in frustration, so threw on some clothes and ran out to see what was up. We tried 2 different water pumps, both which fired up but wouldnt pump any water. David grabbed a come-along, got it attached to the back of my boat and got it upright. Thankfully he had hooked up a bilge pump on it the day before and that combined with some quick bailing with a bucket got the water out. The motor still fires up, what a relief and no damage done. I just look at all this as practice for his Marine Salvage Company. Nice to know, we think quick on our feet and dont crumble under pressure.

After that bit of morning excitement, I went off to a hair appointment with enough adrenaline coursing through me to move a mountain. After I was done there, it was off to a Marine Supply store to stock up on boating goods. Today I aquired a VHF radio, life jacket,floodlight,anchor,chain and rope, 3 bumpers with rope, an air horn, fire extinguisher,and of course the all important boat plug!!

I already have a depth sounder that I bought last summer, a stereo donated by Steve, a propane heater,paddles, a pike pole and a brand new battery. I still need to buy some guages, charts and someday a GPS, but we have pretty much all we need to outfit the boat to code . We both need to get our boating licence and VHF licence which will cost us 140$ each. Davids log salvage licence came in the mail today.It so exciting, we have accomplished alot in the last few days, so close now, I cant wait to get out there.

Thanks Rob for your hilarous post, a good laugh was just what I needed after this mornings shenanigans. Tonight sounds like another test of our mettle. The wind is howling again at 70 km/hr.Davids chimney is swaying in the wind like a drunken sailor. Im praying it doesnt come crashing down. I think tonight will be an earplug night, nothing like the sound of tarps banging and flapping in the gale to wreck a good nights sleep. Except of course the sound of a rat scrabbling around in the bilge. Yes folks, Ive been invaded. I borrowed Tanas cat Tobias last night for a sleep-over in hopes he would do his hunting thing. We set a trap a few nights ago, but it malfunctioned. The rat got a tasty meal and lived to torment us for another night. I cant hear him now over the tarps flapping but hope he got the hint with the cat around and vacated the premises. If not Im sending in the big guns. Tana the rat killer with her superhuman rat catching powers. I hope he is trembling in mortal fear. Ah, life on the water, aint it grand?

Move over MacGiver

Well I finally got a tarp cover built, whoohoo. Jerry gave me an idea to cut thin strips of wood and use them to hold the tarp to the edge of the boat. David taught me how to use the table saw and I cut some 1x4's into 3 strips each. I got some help from Greigs son Buie and his friend Dennis. We all climbed into one of the smaller boats and pulled ourselves around to the water side of the boat.The boys held us in close to the boat while I screwed the wood into place. I used the wood strips to tack down the tarp just above the windows all along the side. Then I climbed on top and cut a hole for the stove pipe and taped it all down. Jerry had an idea to bend thin strips of wood under the tarp to support it, but they were too weak and cracked almost right away. I had to go to work so packed it in early.

The next day was Monday and everyone was away at work. I was determined to get this thing built. I had heard alot of ideas from everyone and still wasnt sure how I was going to do it exactly. Ill be honest, I had no plan when I started. I just stood on top of the boat holding two twelve foot boards and trying to picture them as a frame.

David had given me 2 16 foot beams that I laid on top of the wheelhouse. I grabbed a 2x4 and propped it up under the end of the beam in front. I then cut the 1x4's in half to support it on all 4 sides. I was able to brace the 1x4's into the edges of the deck and only put 2 screws in the boat for the whole thing. I screwed the side supports into the top beam . It feels very sturdy and I was amazed how easy it all went together. I then did basically the same thing in the back, but had to use metal strapping to go around the supports and bent it over the back of the deck and screwed into place. I also used strapping to hold the center beam tight against the boat. I then crawled out onto the motor support and precariously hanging on for dear life, screwed some more thin board to the tarp along the back edge of the deck. I continued pulling the tarp tight down on the other side, and more thin board screwed in, I was trimming vast amounts of tarp off by this point to get rid of all the excess, all the time folding and pulling it tight. It was like wrapping a 30 foot Christmas present.

I wanted a canopy over the door but didnt want to have to attach it to the dock or Davids house as there is a lot of movement here and the chances of it ripping was great. I knew I needed a center beam, so I put a 1x4 on top of the beams on the wheelhouse and tied it down to a heavy anchor and around the beams to hold it out from the boat. I then pulled the tarp over it, rolled up the sides into thin stips of wood and stapled them tight in a "V" shape.

I had just finished the last of it when the rain started to fall in earnest. So far, so good!! The boat is dry, the rain falls softly on the tarp and I can see out all my windows. There is supposed to be a big storm rolling in tommorrow with 30km an hour winds, so that will be a good test to see if the frame stands up. I think it will. I have to work tommorrow but Friday I want to cut some more 1x4 and place them as extra ribs to support any snow ect we might get. I wish I could fly, I would staple the tarp to the outside of the ribs to make it flap even less. Hmm what would MacGiver do??.............

In other news I finlly heard back about the propane furnace. Apparently the burner needs replacing, another 200 dollars so think I will pass for the moment. The woodstove is working quite well. Ive been using presto logs as the stove is so small its hard to find wood small enough to fit in it.

Nurse Karen(another roomate here) brought her friend Mike over tonight. He is going to hookup my hot water heater this weekend. Finally its all coming together. I will be happy to have all the comforts of home. Now just need to get the toilet looked at and Im good to go. Today was a good day :)

Victory at last

So last night we were contemplating our options for a late night pee after a few beers. My toilet is still non functioning, didnt want to bother Tana to use hers so late and if we went to Davids, it meant filling up buckets of river water to flush the tank( he is not hooked up to water yet). That seemed like a lot of bother for 2 half asleep people. So I did something I never thought Id ever do . We went to the edge of the dock and David did his thing while I squatted precariously beside him, ass hanging over the dock, trying not to pee on my socks( too lazy to put on shoes). If thats not a bonding experience, I dont know what is.

This morning I had to go to Anthonys to pick up some stuff I had forgot I stored there. He had this awesome print on the wall that I fell in love with and he sold it to me for the paltry sum of 20 dollars, SCORE! It is huge and I worried it wouldnt find a home on the boat. I finally ended up putting it in front of the woodstove. It is blocking one of the big portholes but that isnt really a problem as I have tons of windows to let in light.

Jerry ( the new roomate) came over this afternoon and decided the first order of the day was to get the woodstove hooked up. I pulled all the tarps off the boat and cleaned all the stuff off the back deck . After much pipe wrestling it was finally time for the inagural firing of the stove. I said a quick prayer to the fire gods, loaded up the stove and lit it. Whoohoo, success!! The stove draws very well, the fire started right away and no smoky leaks anywhere. The built- in table beside the stove was getting quite hot , so I dismanteled it. The beam on the roof right above the stovepipe was very warm as well, so on Monday, I will by some asbestos to protect it. I have to say, I feel alot better knowing I have a good source of heat, bring on winter , Im ready now. Ok well maybe wait a day or two, I still have a tarp frame to build. Its been awesome to have the tarp off the boat. I didnt realize how suffocating it was to be competely covered like that. Today I could have all my doors and windows open and enjoy the river view once again. I wish I didnt have to put it back on but the rain will be back soon enough and I need the protection. Once that is taken care of, the toilet is next. I still have no idea what to do about it, hopefully I can get some help sorting that out.

Well one more load of wood on the fire and its off to bed, goodnight, sleep tight and dont let the bedbugs bite, xxoo

Hmmm.....Now What

Well the tent poles didnt fare too well in the end. That night we had 35 mile an hour gusts and heavy rain. One pole broke right off, another fell out of the bracket and ended up in the water. The one pole left still did a good job of sluffing off the water up front, but the back end got filled with water again. I dragged myself out of bed at the crack of dawn, tied my housecoat around my ass and crawled out onto the motor mount to bail it out. I hope the condo neighbors werent too offended by my mooning them. I finally got 15 1"x4"x12' cedar boards that Im hoping to build some kind of "A"-frame for the tarp . It looks like I will have to screw them into the hull of the boat which I really wanted to avoid doing( the less holes in my boat the better, is my motto) but the storms are supposed to get even worse next month, so I want a solid cover.

I hadnt heard back from the fellow thats trying to get my propane hooked up, so gave him a call this morning. He still hadnt heard back from the company thats supposed to be fixing my furnace, so thats all on hold for the moment. I did get the rest of my stovepipe for the woodstove today only to find out its now 2 inches too long, "sigh".... I will have to tie down David tomorrow for 5 minutes and get him to cut it for me. We have a new roomate at the marina that has some ideas for my tarp frame, so hopefully I can get that built tomorrow, tape the tarp around the exit for the stovepipe and get a fire going in here. I cant wait!!

David got an excellent deal on a huge truckload of material today. Along with my 1x4's he got a huge amount of plywood for floors, enough huge beams to finish supporting the floors, 3 propane forced air furnaces, enough tile to do his bathroom ( and a piece for me to put under my woodstove, now I just need to find someone to cut it), and some other stuff to build a bathroom. My toilet has decided to stop functioning altogether for some reason. The pump is really hard to use and I cant get water to flow in or the stuff thats in there to go out. I dont know much about the toilet so am scared to take it apart. It sits below the water line so I have visions of the sea pouring into the boat if I loosen the wrong thing. I can live without alot but a toilet isnt one of them. So many projects, so little time. I want to take advantadge of this dry weather to get the tarp sorted out tho, so guess thats top of the list for the moment. The list is subject to change at a moments notice .

We have finally put in an order for satellite tv, they are coming on the 21st to hook it up. I cant wait. I want to get a flat tv to mount on the wall. Luckily work has finally picked up again and I should have the money for it by the time its installed. Im not sure when Ill have time to watch it with all thats needed doing around here, but will be a nice distraction in the background. I can always use it to drown out the sound of the flapping tarps. One things for sure, I wont be bored this winter.

I will try and take some pictures tomorrow. Our marina has changed alot in the last few weeks. We now have a monterous huge boathouse that goes right across the middle of the marina. New docks had to built alongside and behind it so people could get to the boats on the other side. We have a few new additons as well. I hadnt been up to the Bowie in a few weeks( funny its only a few feet down the dock, I just never go there), so all the changes were quite a shock.

Well Im suffering from a Grand Marnier induced hangover, so off to bed early tonight so I will have some energy for tomorrows adventures. Nighty-nite........