Month: October 2016

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!