Super Angela!

It became very apparent recently that our already too short boating season was coming to an end. The fact that we weren’t being harassed by mosquitoes was the first indication. The fact that Leanne put a sweatshirt on was the second. The temperature dipped at night to the low teens and the sun started setting way too soon.

Since our slip is within a hundred metres of the escarpment the sun gets blocked from us by 3:00 in the afternoon. I was joking with my neighbour that they block the sun in the morning.

Speaking of our neighbours … we met several of them over the last few weeks. The main catalyst for this is the hammock. It is definitely a unique feature and people like to ask about it. Others are also curious about the renovation we are doing. Our boat looks like a construction zone most of the time now.

We share our slip with Cam and Heather who own a 46 foot Cruisers Yacht. Just opposite us are Brenda and Steve and they own a 47 foot Great Harbor Trawler. Since we first came to Wiarton we have been wanting to take a tour of these two boats and this past weekend we were able to. Our Becky feels tiny in comparison.

The Great Harbor Trawler (named Dilly Dally) definitely takes the prize for the most unique boat in the marina.

I have since learned that it has a full displacement hull which allows it to carry a large about of fuel and water. It also means that the interior has a lot more usable space. Very cool boat.

The Cruisers Yacht is large and well laid out and the engine room is immaculate. Ours definitely isn’t. This will be something that we will work away at over the next several years.

All of our neighbours have been very welcoming. I was wondering how we would be accepted moving into the neighbourhood with what could only be described as a derelict barge. I still have packing tape keeping the isinglass intact!!!

They have been great though and have been there several times to help us dock the boat. More on that in a bit.

Here are Heather and Cam (and Frodo) enjoying happy hour. I’m pretty sure Frodo wasn’t drinking but I couldn’t tell for sure.

Brenda and Steve were hosting this particular evening. Apparently Steve is known as Professor Martini and has an Instagram account dedicated to his creations.

On occasion throughout the summer the marina has brought in a piper to stroll the docks playing for the boaters.

This past weekend when he came by to play for us Heather thought she would entertain us as well.

It’s amazing what you learn about people …

A few weeks ago our friends John and Gail came for a visit and they helped me get the dinghy up on the davit for the first time. I was a bit nervous because I had just installed the d-ring patches. Never did anything like that before and these patches were going to be pulling about 450 lbs on to the platform.

It worked perfectly!

It is a very cool system!

Unfortunately there was an issue with our new swim platform. It started pulling away from the transom. The company that installed it used screws to fasten the brackets into our transom. Before I go on … they have been great dealing with the issue and we have arranged for a time for them to fix it once the boat is out of the water.

Here is a photo of where the platform has separated from the platform.

As you can see I can’t even get out on to the platform to clean it. Once it is out of the water we will be bolting it through the transom with flat plates on the other side.

John and Gail seemed to enjoy the short trip we took out on the bay.

This was my first trip out without an experienced boater on board with me. Everything went great until the last 3 minutes. I guess this is the most stressful part anyway. Docking the boat. I almost had the boat up against our slip where both Cam and Heather were waiting for us when a gust of wind caught us and started pushing us away.

This was where Rory and Super Angela entered the story. As we were heading toward the wall at the water’s edge … in this photo you can see how close we are to the edge of the parking lot … Angela came running over to push our 30,000+ lb boat back. I then managed to “walk” the boat over to our slip. She saved our Becky from certain …. scratches??

It is great having people like this around to help out.

The following weekend my sister Susan came for a visit and a trip out on Becky. The weather was much more favourable for docking this time.

For anyone that has been following along with our story you will notice that there has been a lack of photos of any actual work being done. That will change over the next few weeks but our plan now is to work in the shop over the winter making all the different pieces that we will need and then do an intense installation in April before she goes back in the water.

I did get something done. I bought some deck clips to hold down the power lines.

I will be following up shortly with another quick post.