Yes, it’s true. After years of planning and effort, and much fretting and stressing, Pachina Mia has the eyes of Superman!

OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration (as Ann would point out and insist on correcting 😉 ). We can’t see through brick walls or see what underwear people have on, but we can peer through fog and darkness to see boats and other hard things. And we can even see rain clouds approaching, so pretty cool!

And not to toot my own horn, but the problem was almost exactly what I’d suspected it was all along. The connection between two data cables was the problem. One side had somehow got mangled (probably my fault when pulling the cable through a tight hole). Ann un-mangled it and voila! Instant on!

Of course, now that we have functioning radar we have to learn how to use it. It still mostly looks like blurps on a screen, but I’m sure with practice we’ll begin to understand how to interpret it all.

In the meantime the water keeps rising, and work continues on our little floating home. Lake Ontario is still inching up, but more slowly now. The current prediction only calls for a few more inches of rise by mid-June, but it will remain high for the rest of the season. This should make our down-stream run even faster (and scarier in some places!).

 

The boat/home job list is both shrinking and growing. Our head sink is turning out to be a bigger challenge than previously thought, and we’re still waiting for better weather to climb the mast, but things are progressing. The big thing is we now have a plan for Ann’s tooth, and we know what we’re doing with our bikes. The tooth is being scraped out and repaired, and the bikes are headed for our friend’s place in Rossport (Selim to be exact), on the north shore of Lake Superior. Cathie and Joe (and Maggie Muffins) are the sweetest people ever. It will be great to make the drive up to their place, and to spend some time with them.

The tooth thing meant a trip to Ottawa, which was great. We drove our bikes, and I re-discovered all the muscles I used to know so well, but have not used in a long time; in other words, I got quite sore ;-). But it was a great ride and a great trip. Mom and Kathy were fun to hang out with as always. And we got our cat fix in too!

We head back to Ottawa in a day or so for Root Canal, round II. Then it’s back here for a few days before beginning our run up north. Our plan is to have the boat ready to go before we head to Rossport. We’ll see…

It’s been a few weeks now since Pachina’s launch, and we’re slowly getting all things ready for the big journey east. Projects and small repairs are working out, and logistics are coming together. Two things we didn’t bank on though are the flood waters in Lake Ontario, and Ann’s tooth problems.

Yes, the waters around here keep rising. Our little marina’s outer basin is already awash, with the outer wall flooded by the Bay of Quinte’s rising tide. Normally this wall is 10’ to 15’ above the water level. Water now washes over the walkway.

Our space in the inner basin is still relatively protected; it has another 6” to go before it disappears beneath Neptune’s grasp, so hopefully this won’t happen. Our biggest challenge has been the large step require to get up to our boat. At the end of last season we were stepping three feet up to reach the dock from our boat’s deck. Today we are stepping at least three feet down.

   

Last fall, notice where the concrete dock is.                                     Now…

 

But the other major pain (literally … for Ann) is tooth problems. She’s been ignoring a molar for too long, and after much cajoling and threatening (mainly from Middle Sister), she’s agreed to have it dealt with. Looks like a root canal, and tooth reconstruction is now in order. All this takes time, but at least it’s underway. We’ll know in a few days how long the process will take, and how may appointments with the endodontist.

We still have about a month before we have to get going, so we should be OK. Getting this tooth sorted is the most important thing right now. Whatever shall be shall be… At least we have Donna the Tooth Fairy looking after us. Thanks Donna!

Aside from the boat work, we’ve been having fun visiting, and being visited. We made a trek to Ottawa shortly after the boat was launched, and spent a few days hanging out with Mom and Sis/Kathy (and friend Dorothy). As always, the time was well spent relaxing, talking and eating. So much good food, and perhaps a little too much good beer (Kathy’s such a bad influence 😉 ).

While we were in Ottawa we also got to spend a few hours with niece Colleen and son Connor. Connor is really doing well. He’s growing up to be quite the special boy. Ann, as always, manages to make good connections with him. It’s fun to watch them play together.

Saying goodbye to Ottawa folk, we headed back to Belleville in time to meet Donna and Sam. They were in Toronto for a doc’s conference, and to visit daughter Tasha. They then took the train down our way to spend a few hours driving Prince Edward County, sampling craft beer, and eating dinner before hopping the VIA back to TO. Lots of fun! Great to see you both.

   

Meanwhile, work carries on back on Pachina Mia. We got the boom and sails on right away. The new charge controller for the solar panels seems to be working. The windmill is installed, and the outboard is ready. The water system seems to be working OK, as does the head. We do have a leak in the head sink, but that’s easily solved (right Ann???). Some day soon one of us will head to the top of the mast to mount the wind instrument, and we also have to install the windvane, but it’s all coming together nicely.

Last evening we finally got to see Marvin and Pita. We met Marvin last year when we rented a room from him for a month last year. And Pita (Pain In The Ass) is another cute cat in our lives. Going to Marvin’s was like coming home … it felt so familiar and comfortable. Marvin cooked us a wonderful supper, and we spent a few hours catching up and petting the cat. Best of all, Marvin is seriously considering driving our car to Newfoundland for us. This would be awesome!

The one remaining unknown project on the boat is the radar… I’m kinda delaying getting down to it. The problem is either really simple, or virtually impossible, and I don’t want to find out it’s the latter 😉 . In the meantime, life goes on down at the little marina. We get visited by Smoky the marina cat, and Maddy the marina child. We eat well (including having eggs Benny and mimosas in Sue’s honour), drink well, and watch the waters rise all around us.

It’s a good thing we live on a boat 😉 .

 

We arrived home to Pachina Mia a little over a week ago, and spent the ensuing days getting her ready for launch. As most people in the yard noted (often in surly and grumpy tones), launch day seems way too early this year. Throughout the week winter kept trying to make a comeback as we worked to get the boat ready. So in between sub-zero temperatures, howling winds, and too many days of rain, we managed to get the cover off, get the bottom painted with new anti-foul, and get a seacock operating once more.

Living on a boat that is on land (on “the hard” as we sailors say) is, in the words of Ann’s favourite sailing bardess: “A hard hard life. Life hard, life on the hard.” But despite the challenges and cramped space we managed to sleep and eat some of our meals on board. And we found time to raise a glass or two (or three, or four… 😉 ) to our good fortune.

      

Timmies and then Panera Bread became our morning brecky ritual, with take-out deli or the occasional finer restaurant filling in the dinner menu. Not too hard I suppose. And of course there is always time to spend chatting with fellow boaters here in our little Stillwater home. In fact, someone claims that I spend more time chatting than working … harrumph I say. I can’t help it if everyone wants to talk to me … all the time 😉

 

[Ann here. Consider this. In the two pictures in the middle above, Mike was on his way to the bathroom on the other side of the marina. The time between the first picture and the second is 15 minutes, the distance is about 20 feet!]

Just over a week since we arrived back in Belleville, the day we worked for and utterly dreaded was upon us:

Launch Day!!

The morning started out beautiful, calm and cool; a perfect day for “drop down” as Donna put it — something we hoped wouldn’t happen 😉 . Last year we nearly had a ‘drop down’ when the crane started tipping over while lifting us. As it was coming to our turn I gently reminded the operator that we weigh 30,000 pounds.

Not only do we weigh in as one of the heaviest boats in the yard, we also had the added challenge of keeping our mast up over winter. To get the slings around our boat we had to remove the back-stay. No biggy … except this is the wire that keeps the mast from falling down . I managed to rig some temporary supports though, so we were pretty sure no one would have to yell: TIMBER!

Stillwater is more like a self-help yacht club than a normal marina. There is no staff, just the owner and fellow boaters to do all the work. So we all pitch in to help everyone. Since Pachina Mia was one of the last in line, Ann and I helped launch most of the other boats first. But it was finally our turn. Did I mention:  .

 

In the end it all worked beautifully. No problems at all. Pachina Mia is now happily floating back in her element, and Ann and I are breathing easy. Now the work begins to really get her, and us, ready for the big journey. We have a few projects to get done on the boat, and a lot of logistics to still work out, but it’s all coming together. Most importantly, it feels SOOO GOOOD to be floating once again.

After nearly five months of easy Okanagan livin’, our time in Penticton finally came to an end. House owners Leslie and Dave arrived back from their southern getaway in Arizona, and we said our final goodbyes to Maxi, and to the place that had been our temporary home through the long winter months. It was sad in departing, but the time was right for this couple of vagabonds to be movin’ on.

      

Thanks Dave & Leslie. We couldn’t have wished for a better home and better people for our first home-sit. And thanks to you too Maxi. You’re a weird cat, but we’re sure gonna miss you.

We finally hit the road and headed for Calgary. Although the legal requirement for snow tires expired that very day we were still wishing for them as we crested Roger’s Pass. The rain turned to sleet, snow and slush as we summited. Luckily the worst lasted only a short while, and the rest of the drive to Peggy’s was uneventful (except when Ann got lost in Midnapore trying to find Peggy’s place).

 

As with all things Phillipses, it had been decided that we needed to spend two nights at Sister #1’s place, and then two more nights with Sister #2. Since Sister #3 likes to keep everyone happy (as do I 😉 ), this is what we did. We arrived earlier than expected at Peggy’s place, and were greeted by Son #1 (Marc) who either just happened to be visiting his mom, or more likely, had heard there was pizza on the menu and wanted to get his slice of cheesy heaven. There’s a slim chance he wanted to hang out with his favouritest and coolest Aunt and Uncle … but I think it was the pizza 😉

 

While at Peggy’s place Phil came over and arranged a visit with his son’s family. We went over and were greeted by dad Dylan with daughter Vida and son Theo stomping around in the water puddles outside. The whole family, including mom Chantel, had visited us on our boat the previous summer. They are all sooo fun and cute, even the big ones.

 

After a couple of days at Peggy’s we made a quick visit with Marc before shifting over to Donna’s place. Marc has a new kitten, aptly named Hel, which is apparently Norse for a goddess who reigns in, well, Hel. She’s a sweetie, as kittens always are. Even with her cone on (she had just been spayed) she was funny and playful. She’s gonna be Hel once the cone is off 😉

It was great to spend more time with Donna. Unfortunately Sam was off in St. Albert, saving the world one anaesthetic patient at a time, but we had a great dinner with Monique and her squeeze Chris. We also got to FaceTime with Sam, which was fun. Unfortunatey our Calgary time came to an end, and we had to head east once again.

The next few days were spent driving (in a car … booooring), sleeping in cheap motels (can someone say Bed Bugs!), and eating at not so cheap restaurants. Regina, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Wawa, North Bay, Apsley (look it up) and finally Belleville. At least Ann found the beer (and wine) good along with way:

 

Of course in Thunder Bay we stopped our eastings to spend time with friends Ben, Sherilyn and their amazingly cute and smart little daughter Olivia. These wonderful friends are letting us keep our storage trailer on their land, which is a kindness we can’t repay. We had a great afternoon/evening with them, but were having such fun we didn’t take any pics. Hulp, hulp, hulp…

Of course Paul and Julie (and big kid Coralie) are our Thunder Bay anchors these days. We stayed at their place for three nights, and even got to visit their camp and watch Paul show of his new toy: a drone.

  

With the clock ticking down to our launch date we said our goodbyes to Thunder Bay folk and once more hit the open road. But we could not pass by Rossport without seeing our dear Rossport friends: Cathie and Joe (and Maggie Muffins). Time always melts away in their company, and I wish we could have stayed longer. Canada is too darn big 🙁

We did tee up with Paul in Wawa for dinner that night since he was there for work. But the next day we packed up and headed south along the spectacular eastern shore of Lake Superior. It had been a wondrous reminder to drive and visit the Big Lake these last few days. If it didn’t turn cold and snowy for 1/2 the year, we’d probably never have left. But just to remind us why we did leave, Michi Peshu slashed it’s mighty tail just to remind us how tenuous our control over Nature really is.

The roads went from clear and dry to driving wet snow with slippery slush in a matter of minutes. Much of our drive to the Sault was in 3rd gear, but we made it.

From there it was two more nights of cheap motels and good beer, with the occasional emergency pee stop thrown in for good measure.

We finally arrive back in Belleville and found our floating home still sitting where we’d left her. She hadn’t budged from her stands, and the winter tarp only has a few tears that need sewing.

Unfortunately because of the list to port, water did accumulate on the starboard side deck, and collected exactly in the location where we have some leaks. This resulted in water seeping down through our chart table and onto some cushions. All our charts got soaked, and we may have to do some surgery on a cushion.

All in all though, pretty minor stuff in the life of us vagabond sailors. We moved on board and are slowly bringing Pachina Mia back to bristol condtion … well, maybe not bristol, but good enough for us. The cover’s off, our backs are sore, so life is moving along as expected.

Now we’re into the final few days before launch. We’re going to paint the bottom and unseize a few seacocks that were stuck last year. Other than that it’s just a a matter of firing up the engine (hopefully she’ll run!), and then getting plopped in the water with the big crane. Last year the crane nearly tipped over as it was picking us up for launch, so hopefully we won’t see a repeat of that.

      

The time slips away, measurable only by the number of new snow falls, the amount of kitty food left, and the number of wine bottles that find their way into the recycling bin.

It’s been a pretty darn easy winter, although a harsh one by BC and Penticton standards. We’ve had numerous snow falls, and record-breaking low temperatures at times. All the locals seem a bit shell-shocked. Of course from a Northern Ontario perspective this has still been a very easy winter, but we’ve certainly done more shovelling than last year.

Not much has happened. Christmas and turkeys have come and gone … and speaking of turkeys, we’ve had some wonderful visits from Ann’s sisters and buddy-in-law 😉

 

First Donna came and spent a few days here. We had an amazing few days with her, enjoying some of the local restaurants, getting haircuts , and most importantly, learning about the local wine scene. Donna hooked us up with Dino Vino of GrapeEscapes who gave us a terrific tour of wines of the region. We stopped at four wineries, plus had an education session on how to taste wines. It was all great fun, and very tasty.

  

While here Donna and Ann got to playing pickle ball, which as I understand it, is a cross between table tennis, badminton and volley ball … except it is mostly for old farts. Those old farts can be pretty competitive though; second time out one of them knee-capped Ann to take her out of the competition … or so I was told. In any case, that was the end of Ann’s pro pickle ball career.

Sadly the time with Donna went all too quickly. We were all sad to see her go … especially Maxi the cat who took a real liking to her:

With Donna gone the most exciting thing that happened was ME buggering up my knee. So for a while Ann and I were like two old codgers hobbling around complaining about our old-people aches and pains … oh wait, I guess that is us 😉

Nothing much exciting happened the next few weeks. More snow, more hot tubbing, more kitty…

   

But then Peggy and Phil came to our rescue! They drove out here in Phil’s sporty little car, and spent nearly a week hanging out with us. We did some more exploring around the area, driving up to Naramata and enjoying the local pubs.

Then we put our newly developed wine expertise to work and conducted our own wine tour of a few more local wineries. So much wine, so little time (and money 😉 ):

      

We had a great time with Peggy and Phil, and I think they really enjoyed the hot tub:

But sadly we had to say goodbye all too soon. Maxi misses you…

We’re now into our final few weeks here in Penticton. Hard to believe it has almost been five months since we arrived here. Despite the snows (that disappear as quickly as they fall), Spring is coming, and that means a return to boat life. Launch is set for April 23rd, so we have to be back to Belleville by April 15th-ish at the latest. In between then and now there is curling to watch (Ann), games to play (Mike) and a bit of actual paying work to get done. And Maxi … always Maxi.

 

Literally … nothing.

OK, perhaps that’s a bit of an over (or under) statement. But after a month and a half here in Penticton we’ve settled into a pretty easy life of eating, drinking, hot tubbing, and generally serving the needs of the cute kitty.

 

The warm weather we were spoiled with has finally turned to winter, with some snow, and colder temperatures. We’ve had about 10 cm of snow, and temperatures are running five to 10 degrees colder than normal (highs of -7, lows of -17). Maxi is kinda wimpy about it all. He keeps asking to go out, but as soon as he gets a whiff of cold air on his nose, he turns tail (usually while complaining … I think he blames us for the cold).

We did manage to get out curling one night, which was great. We lost, but we had a good time, and the game wasn’t a disaster. We remembered how to play, we both made a few shots, and neither of us fell down. I know … pretty low benchmark, but hey, it has been over a decade since we curled in Marathon. I’m impressed I could even crouch, slide, and deliver a rock without falling over or breaking something.

Ann, of course, looked as graceful as ever on the ice. Me? Took me a week to stop walking funny from the muscle strain (laugh it up Donna 😉 ).

So, other than a dinner with neighbours Mike & Carol (and dog Missy), the most exciting thing that has happened is Ann’s birthday. Yup, she’s one year older and a whole lot wiser (hmmmm). Ann picked a local Greek/Italian restaurant, where we had an amazing meal of various Greco fair: lamb, spanakopita, moussaka, calamari and octopus, with a desert of baclava. Ann picked this lovely local wine to wash it all down. Yum, yum.

 

I guess the one thing that has happened to us is the same thing that has happened to everyone: We are now in the world of Trump. We watched the results come in, like much of the world. And like much of the world, have progressed through the seven stages of grief over the results.

 

After the election, and for a few weeks following, I had hope that this wasn’t the disaster it first seemed. Trump seemed to be an empty tangerine-coloured vessel which could actually do good things. After all, he laid out few actual policies. And some of the loudest things he did say (“Lock Her Up!” “Build the Wall!” “Repeal Obamacare”), he immediately seemed to back away from. As long as his ego was fed, it seemed he might not care about all the other crazy stuff he said.

Sadly, this seems not to be the case. His choice of VP, and now his cabinet appointments, paint a picture of retrograde motion for most things that matter to everyone. His views on immigration, international relations, terrorism, and climate change now threaten us all. And heaven help us if his delicate ego gets bruised in an international tangle with China.

In the coming years Ann and I may head to the Caribbean (if we ever get out of the Great Lakes 😉 ). The most common route is to hop down the east coast through the USA. The more uncommon route is to head out to Bermuda, and then sail south from there. The Bermuda route involves many weeks of open Atlantic sailing.

Normally a big ocean crossing would be considered more difficult and chancy. But given the new United States of Trump, I’m no longer sure which one is more dangerous.

Penticton life is turning out to be pretty easy … too easy perhaps. Our new temporary home is quite possibly the most comfortable and luxurious place we’ve ever lived (outside of certain short-term stays in Calgary/Beauvais). We eat, we sleep. We take short walks to various stores and around the hills. We watch movies or TV on one of two flat screens.

Internet access is fast. The kitchen is great. And we’re learning to love the hot tub. Oh man, it’s going to be hard to leave 😉

Maxi the Cat, who’s the real boss around here, seems to have fully adopted us as his new staff. And he’s not shy in telling us exactly what he wants, when he wants it. Mornings involve him walking into our bedroom, meowing loudly, pouncing on top of us, swatting at hands or face, and generally making it known it is time for feeding. Throughout the day it’s in-and-out, in-and-out, as he insists. But he’s awfully cute though, so that makes up for it all.

So, in short, we’re enjoying life here in Penticton. And we’re beginning to explore our surroundings. The house is situated near the edge of town, so has a semi-rural feel. We took a walk up the road that goes passed our place. It winds it’s way up the side of the hill/mountain that we’re nestled into, giving us a great view of the whole city with Skaha Lake to the south and Okanagan Lake to the north.

There are vineyards and wineries all over the place here in the Okanagan. On our walk we past by apple orchards, and what looks like a vineyard that produces ice wine. The grape vines were thick with fruit, awaiting that first freeze…

 

… awaiting a freeze that might never come! It’s mid November now, and I don’t think it’s dipped below zero, even overnight. Temperatures have often been hitting mid/high teens. I was worried about not having enough warm winter clothes. Now I’m wishing I’d brought my shorts.

What I’m trying to say is, the weather has been mostly pretty darn nice so far.

P.S. I forgot to include this earlier, but starting in Calgary we finally closed the loop on our inReach travel map. Ann’s been marking our journey via our inReach satellite tracker, but despite my pleading, she refused to start it till after we departed Calgary last year. This left the whole drive across Canada looking incomplete.

Well, thanks to my wise counsel, she recorded our drive across Canada this year. So finally, the map of our journeys that began with our sail through the Great Lakes, and then our motorcycle trip across Canada and around the USA, is complete!

We said a temporary goodbye to Peggy’s place and shifted our stuff over to Donna & Sam’s for a few days of good conversation, relaxation and eating! Donna had planned a turkey dinner for the family (our third!!), so we ate, laughed, and got introduced to some silly iPhone app (snap chat??) that put cartoon mouse ears on my head.

Technology … making the world a sillier place, one mouse-face at a time.

The next day Donna took us to visit Monique and Chris’ place … actually, we went to visit their dog Wally. He’s an extremely  cute, smart, and rambunctious little fur ball. We spent an hour or so being entertained as Donna played with Wally, and attempted to outsmart him when it was time to come in (it was a close match 😉 )

  

After a few days we moved back over to Peggy’s … a real refuge in this crazy Calgary city. It overlooks the green space known as Fish Creek Provincial Park, which is ripe with deer and pheasants that come right up to the window. It’s all very peaceful.

While there Peggy invited all the kids, both young and old , over for another yummy dinner. The following day Phil took the old kids over to Calgary’s new National Music Centre, a place that celebrates Canadian music. Phil, who worked on site for years, gave us the VIP tour, including getting us into places off-limits to mere mortals.

After visiting the centre we went out for dinner, and then went over to Phil’s son’s place to visit Dylan, Chantal and their two cute kids, Theo and Vida.

We spent the last few days in Calgary at Peggy’s place, relaxing and just enjoying our time there.

The day finally came for us to head off towards our new temporary home in Penticton. With winter making a showing, and learning about a major rock slide that was causing delays along our intended route, we decided to leave a day early and break the drive up over two days.

A few hours into the first day we came to the rock slide along the Trans-Canada. If we had arrived a 1/2 hr earlier we probably would have got through quickly, but we arrived just in time for them to begin paving a temporary detour. A wait of three+ hours ensued. Good thing we had lots of time.

 

    

We stopped in Golden for the night , and then made the final push to our new temporary home in the hills of the Okanagan valley. We are house and cat sitting through the winter here, so it was appropriate that the first one to greet us once we arrive was Maxi the Cat. He is an orange tabby, very cute and easy going, but with typical ‘cat’ attitude. He definitely sees us as the latest hired staff ;-).

Leslie and Dave (the permanent cat staff) greeted us warmly and made us feel right at home. It’s fun to meet fellow adventurous spirits. They are retired professionals who are also RVers, ballooners and wine connoisseurs. Their home, which we get to enjoy over the next five months, is comfortable and, by our recent standards, quite luxurious.

   

So now we’re getting to know our new temporary home of Penticton, and enjoying the relaxing time here in this lovely house. Mostly we’re making sure the boss Maxi is well looked after.

We said our goodbyes to Mom, Sis, Hammi and Orion, and much like Stan Rogers, we found ourselves leaving the relatively settled life of Ottawa and Pachina Mia, and headed west once again; ‘watching cities rise before us, then behind us sink again … the tardiest explorers, driving hard across the plain.’

OK, maybe it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was with a mixture of pensive excitement that we headed first north through Ontario, then west across the plain.

The drive through south/central Ontario was ripe with Fall colours and gorgeous little lunch stops along the highway:

      

Our first day ended in Mattawa, which is a small town on the Ottawa River. We’ve spent many nights here, including nearly a week decades ago while waiting for a new transmission. This was also the take-out point for one of our many canoe trips, so it has fond memories. The town hasn’t changed much over those years, but we did shake things up by not staying at the same motel we’ve always chosen. That’s just the kind of radical rebels that we are these days 😉

From Mattawa we jumped to the Sault, and then to our first mid-destination near Rossport (Selim). Our good friends Cathie & Joe have a stunning home right on the shores of Lake Superior. They have always generously welcomed us two vagabonds into their home, whether we’ve arrived by car, motorcycle or sailboat.

As luck would have it we arrived on Thanksgiving Day. They had been invited to dinner at their friends’ place, Kathy and Forrest, and this invite was sweetly extended to us as well. We’d already had one turkey dinner in Ottawa, but you can never have too much turkey! The dinner was amazing, and it was great to know two more wonderful folk.

The following morning they showed off their culinary skills by serving us this German Pancake. Oh man … they sure make it hard to leave.

After two wonderful nights we reluctantly pressed on towards Thunder Bay. It’s always hard to leave Joe and Cathie’s place, but we know we’ll be back.

Our good friends Paul & Julie invited us to stay at their place in TB, but our first stop in the city was to our old neighbour Pat out at Sandy Beach. Driving there was like being on auto-pilot; it felt all-too familiar — eerily familiar. Of course once we arrived at our previous home we found nothing left but an open field where our house once stood.

Pat had sent us a picture of the rubble when the knocked it down back in December of last year. At least all the junk was now gone. The view of the Sleeping Giant is still wonderful, and the location is amazing, but it’s no longer home … and that’s OK. We had 10 wonderful years there, but life moves on and new adventures await. It’s all good, if a little melancholic. But it was great to see Pat, and to see she’s still holding out for a fair deal from the city.

Julie & Paul have always been the greatest of friends to us. Paul is responsible for many of the improvements to both our old boat, and our current one. They spent a week with us on Pachina Mia this past summer sailing around the Thousand Islands, so it didn’t feel like we’d been away for that long. It was great to be back in their company.

But we weren’t the only ones being put up at hotel Coté/Besse. Paul’s mother and father were coming for a visit, and we managed to overlap their stay for one night. We were treated to a good old fashion family sing-song. Too much fun!

Watch the video

Our last evening in Thunder Bay was spent visiting our other friends Ben, Sherilyn and their incredibly cute one-year-old daughter Olivia. Sherilyn & Ben live near Kakabeka Falls (a small town north of Thunder Bay), on a wonderful rural chunk of land. They are generously storing our storage trailer on their land, but more importantly are some of the sweetest people you’d ever meet. We spent a wonderful evening with them. Wish it could have been longer…

 

Sadly our time in Thunder Bay came to an end, and we had to start ‘driving hard across the plain’ once again. Heading west from the Big Lake soon took us through Kenora, and into the increasing flat lands of the prairie provinces. We moteled it in Winnipeg the first night, then Swift Current. The drive was uneventful, and kinda boring compared to the last time we drove this way, but with the weather already turning wintery, it’s a good thing we were in the car and not the motorcycles.

Finally, after many hours and much whining (“I miss my motorcycle” says Ann with every passing bike 😉 ), we finally see the telltale signs of an approaching Calgary: smog. We make our way to Peggy’s place on the south side of the city and are introduced to her new condo perched on the edge of Fish Creek Provincial Park. It’s a great space with a gorgeous view:

      

and comes complete with all manner of cute critters:

  

We’re off to Donna & Sam’s place soon to spend a few days there before coming back here (the sisters are fighting over us 😉 ). Donna, the sweetie, has planned a family dinner; a late Thanksgiving turkey dinner — our third! WHOA WHO!!!

The week spent getting the boat ready for haul went fast … too fast. Stripping sails, getting our cradle ready, removing everything that shouldn’t freeze and that we might need over winter, climbing the mast to take down our wind instrument … it was all a blur. Lifting our boat is always scary, in part because it is so heavy (30,000+ pounds). And just to make things even more interesting, we decided to keep the mast up this year.

We worked, and planned, and worked some more. Finally lift day came and we were (mostly) ready:

 

It’s hard to put into words how unnerving it is to see your only home dangling high in the air from two tiny straps, but all went well. After much ado we settled into our cradle with only a slight list to port. Now began a week of cleaning, organizing and preparing Pachina Mia for winter. We’d already done an oil change while in the water, and filled the diesel tank, so now the tasks were to winterize the engine and water systems, empty and winterize the bilge area, and then build the winter cover structure.

With the boat out of the water we were now homeless once again, but as luck would have it one of the little rooms at Stillwater was vacant, and the marina owner rented it to us for the week at a pretty decent price. The room is small, with just a sink and toilet, but at least we had space to sleep, and to sort out what we needed for the winter.

          

Slowly things took shape. Weather was somewhat uncooperative with high winds and more rain than we’d seen in the last four months. This made the job of getting the cover on more challenging but things came together:

 

We spent the days working on the boat, and the evenings planning, sorting, and saying goodbye to our Stillwater friends; Marvin, Frank, Gary, Chris & Deb, and many others … we’re going to miss you all.

By week’s end we had the cover on , everything winterized, and most things sorted. Ann also did loads of laundry, including washing her old, and much loved, sailing hat: 
 

At least I know what to get her for her birthday 😉

Finally, with boat and motorcycles all set up for winter, we packed the car and said our final goodbyes to everyone and headed off on our next adventure. We’re heading west via the easterly route, heading to Ottawa first to hang out with Mom and Sis , then off to Rossport, Thunder Bay, Calgary and eventually our winter home in Penticton, BC. Cheers!