CLAFC – Creativity, Learning, Adventure, Freedom & Cessation

With the fridge in and working perfectly, and all our stuff either stored aboard or moved to Lewisporte, we finally ran out of excuses to stay. We had one final cockpit drinkies/going-away party with our good friends Gord & Leona, along with Brian. Then the next day we were off.

 

 

On the way out we passed another of our many Corner Brook friends, Kenny. He was just coming back from a night out at Woods Island. We said our so longs as we passed by, sadly going in opposite directions.

Given what happened to us last year, we were somewhat nervous about stopping at Woods Island. Last year we did that and didn’t move for almost two months. But it was the perfect jump off point to leaving the Bay of Islands. So we slid in through the narrow passage and dropped the hook one last time. It felt like coming home!  

We waited two nights for a good weather window to open up for our first big hop north to Bonne Bay and mountains of Gros Morne. It’s a 35 (nautical) mile jump, and the longest we’d travelled in over two years. We passed  Weeball (Gurnsey Island) and headed north.

The last time we had been to Gros Morne it was on a road trip some 25 years ago. It was quite a bit different arriving here again in our own boat.

 

The sail up was great. It felt wonderful to hoist the old rags and feel Pachina Mia show us what it meant to be a sailboat once again. And though the wind and seas piped up a bit, we made it safe and sound in a few short hours. We sailed, then motored up the fjord to Neddy Harbour, then dropped the hook just outside of a mooring field.  

 

 

People think of Newfoundland as wild and remote. It is that, but it is also thinly but pervasively populated. It seems that nearly every nook that is remotely safe from the elements has some sort of town, village or just gathering of shacks. And so it was in Neddy Harbour.

 

 

While we waited for a good weather window to make our next big hop (over 80 nm) we relaxed in the relative calm of this snug little harbour. After a few days we had our chance.

 

 

 

 

Getting up before dawn, we ate, hauled anchor, and  motored, then sailed our way north to Port Saunders area.

It was a brisk sail with 25+ knots of wind, and large rolling seas. Luckily, most of it was on our aft quarter, so we managed with reefed main and small jib. We flew into Hawkes Harbour just south of Port Saunders, and found a beautiful little bay to drop anchor and enjoy the life around us.

 

 

Our next jump was to be an easy and relatively short one. Unfortunately the weather had not checked with the forecasters, so instead of south winds blowing us along, we ended up with north winds on our nose. This, along with a counter-current, produced those steep choppy waves all sailors love to hate. The short easy sailing day turned into a long, grinding slow slog.   

 

 

We finally made our destination for the night: St. John Island. At the mouth of the bay we were greeted by some very odd shaped rock outcroppings, and a reminder that not all boat journeys end well. 

  

 

Inside the harbour we found a couple of fishing camps, and gentle waters. and were treated with our first new animal sightings; first caribou, then moose. I’m used to seeing Lake Superior caribou. This big boy looked twice as large!  

We left early the next morning for yet another large jump, heading for Flower’s Cove. With Ann at the helm we pointed our bow north once again, heading for the opening of the mighty Strait of Belle Isle. On our way we spotted our first seals, and then some dolphins!

Someone once called the Strait “the world’s most dangerous waterway.” 😉 This may have been a slight exaggeration, but it is certainly a stretch of water to take very seriously. The cold Labrador Current cuts through here. Winds funnel and build, and the tidal currents ebb and flow, sometimes reaching over three knots. We had to get both the current and winds right if we were to have an easy passage.

All this meant another stay, this time anchored just inside the harbour mouth of Flower’s Cove. We dropped our hook off the fairway and set up to watch the trawlers and smaller dories go about their constant business as they fished the waters off the cape.

     

While sitting in Flower’s Cove we enlisted the aid of Donna to help  us figure out when we should run the Strait. We needed to find the right combination of tides and currents; a task that Donna took to like the old crusty salt that she is (or dreams of being 😉 . With Donna’s guidance we found the right moment, so hauled up anchor once again, and headed around the cape. 

The sea temperatures, which had started at a balmy 15 ºC in the Bay of Islands (Corner Brook), was now down to around 7.5 ºC. This quickly makes everything a lot cooler, so out came the fleece and toques. It truly felt like we were north.

 

We left with the early light of morning.There are few safe harbours along the Newfoundland shore of the Strait, so we had to make our next anchorage before the tide turned. This was another 40 nm hop. Our TOP boat speed is 7.5 knots, so we were counting on the current and winds to push us along fast. 

The currents did their job. Unfortunately the wind never really materialized until far later in the day. So our grand scoot through the Strait was done entirely under motor. Easy peasy… Who ever said it was the “world’s most dangerous waterway” 👿

 

 

But while the journey itself was uneventful, the sights more than made up for the boredom of motoring. First there were the gannets torpedoing from great heights to spear their fishy prey. Then there were the dolphins and whales which were becoming a regular, but always exciting, sighting. And finally there was the distant white thing on the horizon. 

“Is it a ship … nah.” “Must be a building on the Labrador side of the Strait … but that doesn’t make sense.” Wait!! It’s an ICEBERG!!!!!  Our first Iceberg!

 

It was distant, but unmistakable. What a sight! 

We eventually rounded Cape Norman and Cook’s Point and headed into our safe refuge of Ha Ha Bay. On the way in we spotted numerous minke and humpback whales. I’ll never tire of seeing these amazing animals.

In Ha Ha Bay we anchored somewhat off the village of Raleigh; a “traditional fishing village” — or so the tourist signs said. We didn’t actually see any fishing activities. But the bay was big  and beautiful, and the village looked tough and rugged and very northern.

We had seen a number of whales as we entered Ha Ha Bay, but they seemed to stay outside — until nighttime! 

I awake to a “poosh”. Then another, much closer. Then our boat starts rocking as if a big rolling wave had just hit us. Then more poosh, poosh. Whales! There are whales swimming right next to our boat! 

I bolt out of bed, and run to our cockpit. It is nearly pitch black, but I can hear a whale swimming very close off the stern, and then I hear it breath: poosh! And then I can see the boiling froth of water not 20 feet from our stern as the whale breaches and breathes. 

By now Ann is up and we both watch and listen with amazement. But it’s freakin’ cold, especially in naught but our skins, so we head back to bed, only to be awakened shortly thereafter by more poosh, poosh as another whale comes in to take a look at us.  

Amazing… 

The morning dawns, and a somewhat threatening forecast convinces us to to move on from Ha Ha, and head a short distance over to what looked like a better protected bay. It was also close to L’anse aux Meadows — a place Ann had to visit. So, perfect.

We head out of the bay to navigate a short, but tricky cluster of islands and sunkers. No sooner are we out of the bay that we begin seeing our nighttime visitors once again. Whales are incredible.    

   

As we round one of the trickier points I spot a large vessel washed up on one of the islands. This is a reminder that this land takes no prisoners. It is beautiful, but we can’t get lulled by this.

 

 

The cruising life is one full of joyful “hellos 😀 ”, but also ripe with tearful “goodbyes 🙁 ”. We’re into the second part of the cycle right now. Our good friends Paula & Byron left a few weeks ago on their big journey south. Now we’re faced with saying goodbye to all the rest of the grand people we’ve gotten to know here in Corner Brook as we prepare to head off ourselves.

… but more on that later.

With our near-death sinking experience behind us, we returned to the tasks of getting our floating home more functional and livable. We cleaned and sorted things, we made some minor repairs, we installed the windmill, wind vane and reconnected the solar systems. And we sent the little monkey (Ann) up the mast to reinstall our wind instrument.

 

 

With our floating home in some semblance of function, if not order, we finally turned our attention to the major project of the season: replacing our well-worn old fridge. The old one had been installed in 1995, and was well past its prime. But we’ve been limping along with it because, just like with so many things on this boat, it’s virtually impossible to work on, let alone remove. But like lemmings running toward the cliff, we finally threw caution to the wind and started the job of getting the damn thing out.

This took a full day of grunting, cursing and blood letting, but the job was finally done!

Of course, this was just the beginning. Once the old fridge was out we realized the ice box itself needed some repairing and repainting, The compressor compartment was a total mess, and the shelving had nearly completely rotted out. So while Ann got to work cleaning and sanding and painting, I dove into the electrical side of things (which had been an equal disaster of spaghetti wiring).

 

Finally, everything was done — all except the new shelf. Our other good friend Kenny volunteered to make us one. He brought back a beautifully-crafted board that was so nice, Ann made him sign it. Now, a little bit of Kenny will always be with us 😉 .

With the cabinets all cleaned, painted and prepped, and the wiring in place, we then unfurled the many feet of copper tubing, and slowly threaded the new cooling unit back into place. After further cursing, grunting and blood letting, everything was back together, screwed in and bolted down. I plugged in the final wires, pulled the switch and … and…

Nothing.

OK, I’m messing with ya 😛 . There was ‘nothing’ for about two seconds, and then she fired up and has been running perfectly ever since. We now have a freezer, cold fridge and cool fridge (three sort-separate areas) that are freezing, cold and cool. PLUS — and this is the big one — it’s operating at about 1/3rd of the power draw of the old one.

    

What this means is that we are now pretty much self-sufficient when it comes to electricity. We don’t even have to run the diesel (boaters will understand this). But most importantly, the beer and wine still gets cold 😀 !

While sitting at the dock, slowly doing our work, we manage to meet some wonderful new people who were cruising through. Todd (and wife) from Halifax. Mark, and his crew Tony and Barb. Mark was also heading to Lewisporte, so hopefully we’ll reconnect once we get there.

Which gets us back to joys and sadnesses (if that’s a word). We’ve decided to move to Lewisporte this season. This means saying goodbye to all the friends and folks we’ve met and become close to here at the Bay of Islands Yacht Club. There are almost too many to mention, but along with Byron & Paula have been such wonderful people like Gord & Leona, Brian, John & Doris, Kenny, Roger and Graham, Keith, Don & Lisa and numerous good acquaintances and dock mates.

But despite the sadness, we’re both pretty excited to be moving once again. We rented a big cargo van the other day and loaded up all our stuff (stands, blocking, winter frame, etc) and drove across the Island to Lewisporte. We left it all, including our car, at our soon-to-be new home port, and then drove back to Corner Brook.

We’re stocked and almost ready to go. Just a few more small projects over the next couple of days, and then we’ll be looking for a weather window to begin the journey. It’s not a long trek, but it is through some waters that can be challenging. As usual, we’ll be going slowly and safely. You can follow along using our tracker.

We spent the week living in the lap of luxury at Byron & Paula’s place. We were in no rush to get to the boat since the Newfoundland weather was being distinctly Newfoundlandish; cold, damp, and cold. Besides, we were having way too much fun hanging with friends. We even got Paula interested in learning to play ukulele — so much so that she went off and bought one.

But after nearly a week getting spoiled with a warm bed and good food at Paula & Byron’s place, we finally girded our loins and moved back onto our little floating home of Pachina Mia. Except of course, she wasn’t floating yet, and was a complete disarray.

Slowly, over a matter of a few days, we managed to get the boat more livable, and prepare her for launch. Of course there were a few necessary jobs to do first. We had to  paint the bottom with new antifoul to keep the critters from attacking our hull. And we had to change the sacrificial zincs to keep the water from corroding our propeller and shaft and just about everything metal.

                         

Launch day finally arrived, and Pachina went in without a hitch. It was a smooth, easy lift; the best we’ve had. And she floated off the trailer looking strong and proud. Unfortunately she was sinking — fast. A thru hull was leaking, and was letting in water at an uncomfortable rate.

Despite the valiant efforts of Byron, we could not stop the leak. So a few days later we hauled out again and surveyed the damage. We did indeed have a cracked thru hull, likely caused when we hauled out last fall. There was nothing to be done except replace it.

Byron once again came to the rescue by donating an unused thru hull, so then all we had to do was remove the old one, and insert the new. Of course no boating job is ever as easy as it sounds. But after much banging and sawing, cursing and swearing, we finally managed to get the job done.

  

A couple of days of curing (during which we moved back into P&B’s — what are we going to do without you 🙁 ) we re-launched … and she wasn’t sinking!! So we moved back on board with the comforting knowledge our boat still floats, and our bilge pump works pretty damn well 😉 .

While we were dealing with all our struggles to stay afloat, B&P were busy launching their own boat, getting the mast on, and preparing for the big sail south. Like many of us, they’d been working towards this goal for many years, and with work and health issues mostly settled, the time had come.

 

       

All too soon they were packed up and gone. The club already feels lesser for the loss, but luckily we can all stay in touch with them via their blog: C Whisper.

During all this activity I managed to turn 52. I received some wonderful notes and gifts, and Ann even cooked me an amazing moose stew. The moose was given to us by new friends Jaimie and Nick. They are fellow sailors who also are moving on from Corner Brook.

But the best gift of all came from my wonderful nephew (great nephew?) Connor. Who could ask for more:

 

Now that we’re back in the water, and not sinking too fast, we’re slowing bringing the boat back to life. We have a few small jobs, and one major one to do yet. If all goes well though we plan to cut the dock lines once again and sail north around Newfoundland, over to Lewisporte. Will we make it? Who knows…

Our time in Calgary is always relaxing and fun. We expanded our repertoire on the ukuleles, and ended up playing as a quartet with Sam and Donna on guitars. We caught a live show by Canadian folky David Francey  , and Peggy hosted the gang over at her place for a yummy dinner, and good times.

 

 

And yes, we did a lot of yackin’ about Life, the Universe and Everything — and even some baking:

Unfortunately the time to move from here to there came upon us, so we packed up all our troubles in the old kit bag (little red car), and headed off into the great in-between. We pointed the bow eastward and began the long and boring trek across Canada’s Great Western Prairies (except I’m not sure where the “great” comes from 😛 ). We hit our now standard stop in Moose Jaw, and then went on to another regular stop in Kenora.

Our good friends Paul & Julie (and Coralie) always welcome us warmly, and with a comfy bed. So we moved in for a few days, enjoying their hospitality, while swapping stories and sharing plans for the future. We also got into cooking some great meals, just as we used to do when living at the Lakehead.

 

One glorious afternoon was spent with our friends Ben & Sherilyn, along with my favourite Olivia and now favourite Molly in the whole world! It’s so much fun hanging out with our younger* friends. They continue to host our little travel trailer full of junk, er, I mean keepsakes (;-) ) from our landlubber past. But mostly it’s a wonderful priviledge to be able to stop in and watch the family and the farm grow. Each time we visit there are more improvements to the home, and more height and words added to Olivia (and now Molly!).

(*Funny…  I used to be the younger friend to my older comrades, but somehow this is starting to change. 😕 )

After too few days we loaded up little red and headed east again, but this time only for a short hop to our friends who live right on the Lakeshore, just east of Rossport. Along the way we drove over the fancy new cable-stayed bridge near Nipigon — the same one that cracked and closed the Trans-Canada highway in 2016. Luckily, it stayed together during our drive over.

We spent a wonderful couple of days with Cathie and Joe. As always, their hospitality and their friendship is warmly felt. While there we also managed to get the motorcycles running (C&J continue to house our little bikes), and Ann put on her her Apple Genius hat to give a Mac training session.

We’ve now done this route so often we know where our next stops are going to be, so after Rossport we stopped at the little cabin motel outside of Sault Ste. Marie, and then a cheap motel in North Bay near a great pub (which we didn’t visit this time).

This Spring has been another soggy one for Ontario and areas east. The further south we got the more signs we could see of flooded lands. And this flooding included a 30 km stretch of the Trans-Canada south of Mattawa. This is our normal route, so we took an alternate smaller highway south of Algonquin Park which turned out to be a really nice drive.

But as we approached the Ottawa River the signs of flooding became all too apparent:

  

We pulled into our Ottawa “home” and moved back to our comfy “room” all warm and cosy beside the fireplace (that never runs). We were greeted by Mom and Sis (Kathy) and our/their little Hammi Cat.

Over the next few weeks we just hung out, did some repairs , worked on our Waterway Guide assignments , ate, drank (and drank, and drank 😉 ) , had some basic medical/dental appointments. Most importantly, we got to see Connor and Colleen!

   

 

As luck would have it, Mom’s 75th birthday happened while we were there. Kathy had already booked a cabin in Prince Edward Country, and we convinced Mom that Ann & I would stay in Ottawa to look after the cat. However, the REAL plan was for us to follow a few days later and surprise Mom … It worked 😀 .

We managed to sneak onto the cabin’s side deck, and catch Mom’s eye. She went from fearing for her life :shock: to surprise 😮 to happiness 😀 . It was perfect.

After that we spent the next few days relaxing, Waterway Guiding, and of course eating and drinking. It was great. We even managed to reconnect with some other Belleville friends: Marvin and Gary. We actually did this the night before surprising Mom, so it all worked out wonderfully.

Sadly the time in Southern Ontario finally came to an end. We said our goodbyes — for real this time — and headed off east towards Newfoundland, but with a stop over in Nova Scotia to visit another old friend Chet (read that both ways 😉 ), and a new friend Margie.

Chet has been a friend since our days in Marathon. He introduced us to sailing, and even got me into motorcycling. In many ways, it’s all Chet’s fault 😉 . It’s been about four years since we last got together, so it was great to be able to divert down to Sheet Harbour and spend some time together.

As it turned out, Margie had just sold her home in Truro where she’d lived for something like 50 years, AND she was recovering from a health crisis. So our timing was not the best. But Chet and Margie still took us in, gave us a place to stay, and showed us how they live their own version of the vagabond lifestyle.

We spent the week chatting and planning ( 😉 )and singing and eating and drinking and exploring part of this area known as the Eastern Shore. Chet and Margie both live in seasonal trailers in a small park right beside an arm of Sheet Harbour. It’s a beautiful and peaceful place.

 

 

Despite the upheavals in her life Margie generously vacated her own trailer to let us basically live there for the week. So we not only get to spend time with old and new friends, but we also got to experience trailer life. It was none too shabby, and compared to life on the boat, very easy and comfortable.

Finally, after a week of easy living we said our goodbyes to Chet, Margie and their neighbour and our newest new friend Shawn, and we began the final push to Newfoundland. We had booked the overnight ferry so had lots of time to get to the terminal. This allowed us to take the scenic/slow route along the way.

 

A final dinner in Canada  and we were off on the big ship headed for the Big Rock  . As the sun dawned we were greeted with a typical beautiful morning in Port aux Basques:

A short drive later we arrive in our home port of Corner Brook. A few more minutes took us down to Pachina Mia — our watery house. She survived yet another nasty Newfoundland winter with only a few new battle scars to add to her collection. Now the work begins to bring her back to life.

But for now, we’re enjoying the grand hospitality of Dukie and his sailing parents Paula & Byron. They have once again opened their home and their hearts to us homeless bums. We are so blessed with good friends nearly everywhere we wonder. Thank you all. We couldn’t do this without you 😀 .

Our last few weeks in Penticton flew by rather quickly. In fact everything seemed to accelerate with the turn of the season. February had been colder and snowier than normal in our little BC town. But now March was breaking records for warmth and sunshine. The snow that had lingered since before the new year seemed to disappear in a flash.

And it wasn’t just the deer that felt frisky. A flicker (a type of wood pecker) discovered that it could amplify its mating call by banging on the cap of our chimney. It was incredibly loud and annoying as it echoed down the pipe and through the house.

This went on for over a week. Each time I’d go out and throw a snow ball at it to chase the damn bird away. But eventually it stopped — must have found a good mate with all that racket.

Funnily, I had been complaining to Byron and Paula, our friends in Corner Brook Newfoundland, about how cold and snowy Penticton had been through February. For some reason, they were unsympathetic. Here’s the picture they sent me of their front yard.

Happily, we were in Penticton, where the change in weather not only pleased the local wildlife, but also the Master as well. Maxi the Cat started staying outside almost all day; only coming back to demand food, and then he was gone again.

   

 

With time ticking away we managed to get a few projects done that we’d brought with us from the boat. Using one of Dave’s amazing sewing machines, Ann managed to restitch our two sail covers that had been coming apart. Meanwhile, I was drying and packaging food to restock our boat supplies. We now have about a month’s worth of dried veggies and meat.

And speaking of sewing, I also used Dave’s machine to finish a sewing project which I actually began about five years ago. It is supposed to be a solar food dehydrator. I got the basic plans from an old Hippie sailing book (Sailing the Farm). It ain’t pretty, but I think it will work.

     

In addition to the small projects, and general servitude to Sir Demands A Lot, Ann kept up her incredible swimming pace, while I practiced with the Tuneagers community choir. This was in preparation for our big spring concert which happened just days before our departure.

Despite having to sing a medley of tunes from the Sound of Music, the concerts went off without a hitch, and the audience seemed to enjoy themselves. I was even invited to sing with a small sextet that performed the southern spiritual Oh Mary Don’t You Weep.

I have been so warmly welcomed by this wonderful group, and I will sorely miss them. It’s certainly one reason that makes me want to come back to Penticton again. Who knows, we may still might…

Another tug at the heart is our nice neighbours, Carol and Mike (and Missy their dog). We’ve gotten to know them over the years we’ve been wintering in Penticton, and we managed to get in a couple of final dinners and card games with them. First over at their place, and then we invited them to ours.

Dave and Leslie, our wonderful house owners, finally made their way back from Arizona. It was great to see them again, and to spend a nice afternoon/evening swapping stories and hearing about their adventures. They have been so great to us, and have already invited us back for next winter. We shall see…

We said our final goodbyes. Packed our little red car, and headed to the land of the big sky. It was sad to leave, but it feels good to be travelling once again. We now get to spend a week or so in Calgary with Donna & Sam who generously support our vagabond lifestyle by allowing us to stay with them.

It’s always great to reconnect with Ann’s side of the family. Everyone is so sweet, and kind, and … funny 🙂 . Ann fits right in 😉 .

As the saying goes, you can run but you can’t hide. The horror that is constant curling followed us from Penticton. They even made me watch the final game. Or maybe bribed me is more accurate.

Everything seems better when viewed through the lens of a margarita 😉 .

 

 

“Hsssssss … I’m not happy 🙁 ”

It’s been snowy and rather chilly here in our winter retreat these past couple of months. Snows came after X-mas, along with lower than normal temperatures. It’s still pretty easy and mild compared to just about everywhere else. But Maxi the cat doesn’t like it… Hsssssssss!

Otherwise, life moves on here in our wonderful Okanagan house-sit home. The occasional hot tubbing, mixed with singing and swimming, good beer and yummy food. Life is good. We got to experience the recent lunar eclipse. And used the excuse of our approaching anniversary (31!) to justify going out to see Old Man Luedecke at a small local pubby/restauranty concert venue.

Actually, this concert outing was supposed to be on the first night of Donna’s visit to us in Penticton. Unfortunately her plane got diverted back to Calgary that first afternoon due to fog. Luckily her plane managed to get through late the next day.

We spent the next few days playing around, exploring the area, drinking and eating, and generally have a fun time:

     

 

While in Penticton Donna and Ann concocted a plan to take Ann away, leaving me all alone and sad 🙁 . So, a couple weeks after Donna’s departure, Ann flew off to Calgary, ostensibly to do some “work” for middle sister. This left me all alone in Penticton for nearly a week.

Well, not quite alone. The beast had to be served:

 

Luckily the week went by fast, and thanks to FaceTime, I still got to be part of the Calgary events, including a dinner at Peggy’s, and a remote jam session featuring two guitars and a ukulele.

  

 

The week of sadness and longing went by without too many tears, but it all culminated with Ann driving back to Penticton with Cailan! My favourite niece from Peggy’s family came for a near week-long visit.

As like Donna, she showed up with a cold, but a few days of relaxation and quality kitty time, and she was as good as new.

After a day of rest, and study for Cailan, we jumped in Peggy’s HUGE car and went on a mini road trip through Oliver and Osoyoos. It was a beautiful day of small mountain towns, wonderful vistas, and vinyards at just about every turn.

But then we spotted the road. Actually, “road” might be too grandiose. It was more like winding dirt trail switchbacking precariously up the edge of the mountain, disappearing into the ominous clouds.

Whenever Ann sees a winding mountain road she gets this twitch in her eye and lead in her foot — “WE MUST DRIVE UP THERE!” And so we did.

 

 

It was nice to just hang out with Cailan for the week. We chatted, and ate and drank, and made her watch crazy movies like Guardians of the Galaxy. And best of all, Maxi the Cat started sleeping upstairs with Cailan. Amazing how much extra space there is on our wobbly water bed when not having to work around a cat!

Cailan discovered the joys of a dark chocolate porter, so the following day we visited Cannery Brewery for some tasting and good eats.

 

Sadly, the visit was way too short. Cailan claimed she had to leave because “she wanted to graduate this year.” Bahh says I, “There’s always next year.” But for some reason this didn’t persuade her to stay. So off she went, back to Calgary.

   

 

So now it’s back to normal life of a little work, a little play, some singing and swimming, and ukulele practicing.

Our vacation life here in Penticton continues to be easy and fun. We arrived near the end of October, and it felt like we’d stepped back in seasonal time. The grass was green, the leaves were still on the trees, and after one brief dusting of snow, we saw none of the white stuff until after Christmas day.

We’ve established our lazy daily patterns of late breakfasts, TV and computer watching, and generally just taking it easy. Ann is swimming. I’ve done the occasional walk. And we’re both still practicing the ukulele.

Oh, and of course Maxi, or as I’ve taken to calling him: Sir DemandsAlot, is his normal cute self — most of the time 😉 .

 

For those who have not visited us, the Penticton house is on the edge of town, in a semi rural area. We get a fair bit of interesting bird an animal life, including quail, owl, doves, deer and new this year, racoons (no pics though).

  

Christmas season had me singing with two local choirs. There were four concerts over the span of a couple of weeks, and it all went well. It’s nice to be singing with a group again, even if the music is not really my favourite stuff. The Tuneagers is a choir for seniors, although in this case “senior” means anyone over 50.

There are some good singers in the group, although it’s not what you’d call a great choir. But it is fun, and the music is challenging enough at times.

 

We celebrated Ann’s 56th Birthday with a nice dinner and some relatively fine wine. Oh, and more than a few Irish coffees. The flowers from Ottawa are still on the table, and still looking pretty. Maxi loves them too!

Since moving back in here I’ve been baking lots of bread and tortillas. Nothing new there… but Ann has become the master desert maker. Yummy chocolate chip-peanut butter cookies are her standard, but recently she tried her hand at cinnamon rolls. They turned out amazing:

December rolled on to the big santa day. We enjoyed the gifts from Calgary and Ottawa. Normally we cook a full turkey dinner on the big X-mas day, but this year we were invited over to our neighbours for the big meal.

It was a wonderful evening of eating and chatting. Mike & Carol have done some amazing things, including travelling via RV and canoeing. They seem interested in our sailing life, so we bored them with some pictures and a short video. And then we played cards, where somehow I managed to win big time. Guess I’m highly skilled at random chance 😉 .

The following day (Boxing Day) it snowed for real, which finally made it feel more like x-mas. This Penticton weather is pretty nice, but I do miss real winters and heavy snow. It was nice to see it coming down (even though it meant shovelling). We cooked our big meal, and have been enjoying turkey dinners ever since.

And not to be outdone by the Calgary crowd, Ann picked up the Globe & Mail monster crossword. She’s been working on it ever since.

She even gets some help from a certain fuzzy master:

              

The New Year beckons. Happy 2019! For Auld Lang Syne…

Time in Ottawa was brief, but good. It was nice to hang out with the kitties, and to see Mom, Sis, Colleen and Connor. After a few more health checks we loaded our life back up in our little red car, and headed north and then west.

The drive through Ontario is always the longest, but stunningly beautiful in places. And we’ve done this so often now that we’re starting to develop regular stops. The first was North Bay, with the requisite pub visit. Then in Wawa when we woke up to the requisite snow (sans snow tires, of course):

This whole trip west happened way too fast this season. Our wonderful house owners in Penticton wanted to leave earlier this year, which means we had to be there early as well. Sadly, this also means we had little time to stop and visit with our many friends along the way.

Cathie and Joe in Selim (Rossport) are dear friends whom we love spending time with. But sadly we had to keep our visit to a few hours this time. And even Thunder Bay was reduced to a couple of nights. Still, we managed some great time with Paul, Julie & Coralie along with Tony and Maryann. Paul, who is recently retired, has discovered the joys of 3D printing. While we were there he printed a new visor clip for our car, and helped us with our tire change through the loan of some equipment.

Of course, a visit to Thunder Bay would not be complete without spending time with Ben & Sherilyn’s growing family. Olivia is my favourite Olivia ever! And now I have a favourite new Molly.

   

There are so many other people we would have loved to see, but time was too short, so with snow tires now installed, on we pressed. First stop: Kenora. Then on to the lovely and ever-stimulating Prairies 🙁 .

 

Thank g-d for trains:

We spent one night in Moose Jaw at a motel we’ve now stayed at a few times before. Decent rooms and cheap rates; that’s our ambition. It even has a nearby restaurant full of family nuts 😉 .

We pulled into Calgary and moved into one of our growing ‘homes away from home,’ staying with Donna & Sam. The following day D&S hosted a late Thanksgiving meal, which brought out the whole Phillips clan, including even Tasha who flew in from Toronto just to see us (at least, that’s what I choose to believe 😉 ).

During the few days in Calgary we helped Peggy out a little with her house, patching a drop-ceiling tile. We ate well at home, and at a fancy french restaurant (thanks to S&D), and we got to see Donna’s new office digs … pretty snazzy!

But the highlight — at least for Ann, was learning to play ping pong, or as the snooty-snoots call it: Table Tennis.

 

 

 

The time passed all too quickly, and we had to hit the road once again, making our final push to our winter home in Penticton. This is our third winter here at our Penticton house-sit, so it really does feel a bit like a second (or third, or fourth…) home now.

Unlike previous seasons, the drive through the mountains was uneventful and easy. We arrived in plenty of time, and got to spend a whole day with house owners Leslie & Dave. It’s always nice to see them, and to catch up on their adventures. But mostly it was great to see our little grumpy Maxi is still doing well:

It’s been a week now, and we’re both settling into our Okanagan life. I’ve joined a local “senior’s” choir (senior is anyone over 50) … two actually. Ann is busy swimming. And we’ve both decided to take up learning the ukulele. We’ve even bought our own.

… did I mention the ukulele lessons are being taught through the nearby Senior’s Centre … yes, we’ve joined that too. I guess this means we’re officially Senior Citizens now.

The days out at Woods Island continued on for the next couple of weeks. We enjoyed the space, the simplicity, the solitude. But mostly we enjoyed being with each other. It was grand.

      

Our days were filled with kayaking, reading, baking, hiking, and generally just living the good life.

 

But as they say, all good things must come to an end. And with the days getting shorter, and the nights becoming chillier, it was soon time for us to get serious about hauling up anchor and moving back to Corner Brook. Given that our anchor had been in the same spot for over six weeks by then, and had held us through gale-force wind and waves, we knew it was well and deeply buried. So we decided to haul up a day before the Labour Day weekend gathering out at Woods … and a good thing we did, for what did we discover? BARNACLES!

The first 20 feet of our chain was absolutely caked in barnacles. As Great Lakes sailors we’re used to dealing with weeds and slime and mud, but certainly not barnacles!

These buggers were thick, and firmly attached to every part of the chain. And they were hard! And sharp!! I needed tough work gloves, a hard bristle brush, and a steel file to remove them. It took what seemed like hours of back-breaking work to get most of them off. And what a mess on the deck! But at least the baby star fish (on our nylon snubber) was kinda cute.

Luckily we did manage to get the anchor up without too many more problems. The following days were filled with dock parties and getting our boat ready to make the short journey back to our yacht club in Corner Brook. It was sad to say goodbye, but the end-of-season dock party was a great way to finish our time there.

  

A couple of days after the festivities we hauled up anchor (for only the second time), said our fond farewells to Woods, and pointed our bow down Humber Arm, heading back to our dock in Corner Brook. We arrived, and spent the next few days getting reacquainted with the luxuries of land life; showering with endless hot water, and doing laundry in a machine!

The days that followed were a mix of working to get the boat ready for haul out, and of course plenty of good food, good company, and relaxing times. There was cleaning to do , and work on the deck and engine area . I also “fixed” the alternator problem that I had thought we’d had the whole season. Turns out I’m just not as smart as I thought I was, which I know comes as no surprise to anyone 😉 . The alternator was working just fine all along 🙁 . Nice to know we don’t really need it though.

The days passed by. We slowly but surely worked through the long task list. Oil change, prepare outboard for storage, clean, sort and climb the mast (my turn this year!). As usual, we move slowly. But eventually we are ready for haul out.

It all goes fairly well this time, and only took us about two hours to get all sorted. This is apparently an hour less than last year (but still an hour and a 1/2 more than most boats). We then spend the next couple of hours pressure-washing the hull to remove all the growth and slime and barnacles, especially on the propeller (no antifoul there). We even had some tiny mussels starting to grow. Maybe next year we should try and harvest them 🙂 .

Work progressed well. We got the frame up one day, and the canvas cover the next. We cleaned and sorted our boat life. Winterized the engine, sorted the car out, and organized all our personal effects for the next six months. There are a thousand different tasks, both big and small, shifting from sea to land life. But we (think) we got them all done.

It wasn’t all work those last couple of weeks. We got invited out to dinner three times (Thanks Gord/Leonna, Jaimie/Nick, Andy/Wendy/Aurora & Roger!). And we took our bestest Newfoundland buddies Paula & Byron out for a thank you dinner at a local restaurant. We spent over five hours eating and drinking and yarnin’. Gonna miss you two! But we’ll be back.

Oh, and the yacht club threw us another ‘going away’ party. OK, maybe it was “technically” a 65th birthday party for the ex-commodore. But we were invited 😉 .

  

Departure day finally came. We planned to take the overnight ferry again, so we hit the road around 3 pm (after dealing with a last second tarp rip), and made it there in plenty of time. We were first one’s on the ferry, which meant we were last one’s off. But the crossing was fine, and we both managed to get some sleep.

The drive through the Maritimes was uneventful, but quite pretty with Fall colours in full bloom (or death, really). We spent one night in Edmunston, at the Happy Motel. Then we pulled into Ottawa and were warmly greeted by Orion and Hammi … oh, and Mom and Kathy where there too 😉 .

After a pub night and a couple of days with our Ottawa family the two of them abandoned us to spend a week in Prince Edward County . We’re putting our expertise as house/cat sitters to work looking after the kitties. We expect to hit the road, heading first to Thunder Bay and then to Calgary, with a brief stop in Rossport. Unfortunately our trip out west has to be fast this time since our Maxi cat needs us soon. But that’s OK. We’ll be passing back this way again next Spring.

The tag line on most of our adventures is: Why go fast, when you can go slow. But perhaps we’ve found a way to take this too far. Over one month ago we set sail from our little marina. We traveled a total of about 12 nautical miles (22 km), dropped the anchor, and haven’t moved since.

But why would we? The anchorage here is beautiful. It is fairly well protected, and has excellent holding. It’s great for paddling and dinghy sailing. And people keep giving us fresh cod and bread, and banana-loafs and wild mushrooms, AND keep having us over for dinner on their boats … how can we ever leave???

 

 

 

So yes, we’ve become a permanent fixture here at Wood’s Island. Our food stocks are holding out well (especially since we’ve been given so much fresh fish), and our friends Byron and Paula, made an addiction-run 😉 for us recently, so we got restocked with enough coffee and booze to last a few more weeks 🙂 .

Of course, it hasn’t all been fun and games. We’ve weathered a couple near-gale storms, some that have lasted for days. We’ve had a lot of rain at times  , and we’ve been swinging quite close to shore such that during low-low tides we have to watch that we don’t run aground. Our boat sticks down 6 feet, and we’ve seen less than 7 feet on the sounder at times!

During one of our gale days we woke up to find our dinghy had had enough, and had made a break for it. The attachment line had chafed through overnight, and our dingy and outboard engine had washed up on the nearby shore. Luckily we had a guardian angel in the form of a Gord, a Wood’s Island resident, come to our rescue. After much effort, he managed to get our dinghy back to us. What a sweet fellow!

So we while away the days reading, kayaking, hiking, sailing, and playing the occasional video game:

 

We visit friends when they arrive at the dock, usually on the weekends. We paddle and walk. We read and talk. Mostly we’re just enjoying life and enjoying each other. It’s wonderful to just spend time with the one you love .

 

We’re looking at another week or so here before we have to haul up anchor (if we can!), and head back to Corner Brook. We’ve got a few boat maintenance issues to deal with (broken alternator, deck re-caulking), and we have to plan our haul out. It will take us at least a week to get the boat ready for winter once she’s out of the water, so we’re looking at hauling around mid September. After that it will be fast dash across the country to make it back to what’s becoming our second home over in Penticton.

But all of that is in the future. For now, it’s back to struggling through this tough life: