Come Along, with Me and my Boat

Already the end of another season!

2014 can be summed up as a poor year weather wise, with regular rain and few hot days making conditions favourable for bug populations until later than normal. At least we had a couple of wonderful weekends late in the year to remind us of how great a cottage escape can be.

Projects this year: install screen door - done; move basement ventilation fan to opposite side of the cottage - done; change fridge door to open from the other side - done.  Plans for next year: solar power, hot water heater, dock repairs, replace fireplace hearth. Notice we don't even bother listing painting the bedroom anymore.  That's on the "someday" list now.

Closing up for the winter means bringing home anything that can freeze, clearing the water lines and pouring RV anti-freeze in the drains. It also means hauling the pedal boat and the aluminum fishing boat up on shore. Having bought the boat in 2013, last Fall was the first time I had to pull the fishing boat out for the winter. There's a slope at the shore and while it's doable to pull it up using manpower, its easy to strain your back or to slip on the damp leaves carpeting the hillside.  My dad had a "come-along" at his cottage years ago for this type of work.  Over the summer I searched in vain to find one and I wondered if  they stopped making them. I asked around and eventually a co-worker told me it is also known as a hand winch. Bingo! It's a hand winch!  With the proper name, I found them in a few places online, including Canadian Tire. When I went to buy it, I told the saleswoman in the automotive section that I needed a hand winch. From her startled reaction, she must have misunderstood what I said. I think she heard me say "I need a hand, wench."  Once I repeated myself, carefully articulating the sound of the "i", she said she had never heard of that and brought me to her supervisor, an older gentleman.  Predictably, when I told him I was looking for a hand winch, he said "come-along?" Yes!

October 18th we closed up the cottage for the winter and here's the picture of me with this neat little gadget. I just attach one end of the cable to a tree and the other to the boat, crank back and forth and along it comes.  Old technology, but it's all I need to make hauling the boat up the slope a much easier task.

Man's Spa 2014: Photobombed by an Outhouse

By popular demand, for Man's Spa V, we extended the duration of the annual gathering of high school buddies to three days.  Emad made his return to the Spa after skipping a year and joined Tim, Al, Billy Two Steps (AKA Billy Two Sheds), and myself.

Tim, Bill and I kicked things off on Friday with a grand tour of the lake, foregoing canoes and kayaks for the motorized version, and spent the much of the day cleaning up a section of the lot, cutting and chopping wood, and burning it in a great campfire.  A first this year was the dueling harmonicas Friday night which worked surprisingly well, thanks to Tim.  Our only potential audience member was snoring in the cottage through much of our performance so impartial reviews are not available.

Emad and Al joined us on Saturday, a rainy day that prompted another first for the Spa - Trivia and Scrabble games.  Below you see our Scrabble board results. It seems that the presence of beer cans helps move the game along faster. Try it some time! In a show of good sportsmanship, we allowed Tim's use of the word "promo" early in the game. That proved to be a bad move as he then went on the kill us on the scoreboard. 

Once again, we had a really good time, enjoying the company, reminding each other of incidents that occurred in high school and solving the problems of the world.

 

 

 

Below: The first selfie ever photo bombed by an outhouse! Tim, Billy, Neil, Al and Emad.  We hope the human John and the rest of the lads who couldn't make it this year will be back for Man's Spa VI.

A Tippy Start to Season 5

It's hard to believe this is already season 5 for the cottage! The place has come a long way in five years, with the addition of running water, propane appliances and most recently, a large deck making it quite comfy for living in the wild.

We opened the place for the year on Victoria Day weekend. I'm very pleased to report that everything was in good shape. There were no surprises and no water leaks when I opened the water like there was last spring when there was a small flood in the basement from a pipe that froze and split over the winter. Evidently, the repairs I made withstood this winter’s freeze. I was most relieved to see that our new deck, that Greg and I built last summer, looked as good as new. I was confident that the design and workmanship would make it a solid deck for many years, but with the huge amount of snow this past winter...well you never know.

And then there's the dock to attend to.  Each year, the dock needs some adjustments after the forces of freezing and thawing on the lake. The water was so high that the shore pilings were 6 feet from shore and had been pulled up somewhat and leaning towards the lake.  So I spent a couple of hours making adjustments, standing in water to my knees, one hand straightening the shore piling in the water while the other lifted and dropped the sledge hammer to drive it into the lake bed. Luckily, there were no misses with the heavy hammer and the dock is once again accessible.

Having accomplished all that, I decided to poke around the bay in the canoe.  I didn't take the wide beamed veteran fibreglass classic, but instead I used Andrea and Alan's less stable Coleman variety, as it was closest to the water.  While paddling, I noticed some debris in among the bushes about 50 feet from the dock.  I wanted to retrieve it and tried to move close enough among the bushes extending over the water.  It turned out it wasn't worth the risk and I ended up doing something for the very first time in my life: I tipped a canoe.  As I was being dumped, I jumped and landed standing in frigid water up to my waist and immediately righted the canoe as I landed.