Ruh Roh.

     "I've been looking too hard, I've been waiting too long..."
                                                                         -Foreigner



     The Dock closes for the season on October 31.

     November 1, the waiting starts.

 

    November 1, We start to count down the days until we can get back in the water, back on the Dock.

    When the winter is long, deep, dark and cold, that count is important- it reminds us that winter is not never-ending, no matter how permanent  the ice and snow feel.  

  

    November 1,  we start to focus on April 15- Opening Day.

   This was one seriously long-ass winter, but by the end of March there was some hope.

   The Marina parking lot was (mostly) free of snow...

... even if the Dock was still (mostly) iced in, what with the temperatures remaining stubbornly sub-freezing, sub-seasonal and just generally submarining my mood.

By the end of last week things were looking up.  The air temp had increased rapidly, causing mist to rise from the thawing Lake on a rare (at least, this season)  string of two warm sunny days,  making Lake Erie look decidedly, er, eerie:

   Turns out, the Marina did not escape winter unscathed. With a relatively shallow depth,  limited room for ice to move, and a harbour mouth open to the prevailing winds, the ice froze thick, froze hard, and fought everything it came up against.  Like the docks:

The repairs were under way, but...

According to a note taped to the cash register at Bridge Yachts ...

Okay, so for all intents and purposes, it looks like Opening Day will not be Opening Day, but that is okay because it is getting warmer and finally starting to feel like spring, and it's all good, I tell myself...

... and then I wake up this morning  to this:

SNOW.

ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDIN' ME?!!?

    Sooner or later, we're gonna get in the water.

    Right?





   While we all wait for spring to damn well finally get here all permanent-like, please continue to "Talk the Dock!"






        

Locked Dock and Farewell.

     "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here..."
                                                          -Semisonic






     Sigh.

    This concludes the 2011 Dock Six boating season.

    This begins the 2011-2012 Dock Six boatbuilding and refitting season.

     Stay tuned.  We still have loose ends to tie up, projects to build, recipes to try, rum to test, tools to review, and more additions to the Good Grub List.


    Thanks for taking the time to check us out.  Please feel free to "Talk the Dock!"  Link us, follow us, or just tell your friends.

Splash Progress

       "...and it's coming closer..."
                        -Kings of Leon




     True WW II story:
     Hiroo Onoda was a lieutenant in the Japanese Army who was stationed on the Phillipine island of Lubang in the final days of the war.  Hostilities ended on  August 15th, 1945, but not for Lt. Onoda.  The lieutenant became the poster boy for not getting the memo.  When Japan surrendered, Onoda was in the hills running a guerrilla campaign without the benefit of communications; he didn't know the war was over.  He refused to believe that Japan surrendered...
 ... For 29 more years.
     Lieutenant Onoda finally came out of the jungle in 1974.  He had been declared dead in 1959, because numerous searches had failed to find him.

     He would have been right at home in our backyard this spring.

     All the rain has meant that:
a) the boats are still on the hard,
b) the grounds of stately Jones manor are officially out of control and off the chain,
c) when the rain does stop, we have to prioritize what gets done and try to fit it all in around our real jobs, and
d) the neighbours (non-boating gardeners) have been giving us the "your-overgrown-eyesore-is-lowering-property-values" look.

   When the sun finally broke through on Friday, I had to mow the lawn, since the lawn was now taller than the mower. Which led to fixing the lawnmower. And the trimmer.  Which led to three trips to the hardware store, one trip to the gas station, a stop at the beer store and a run to the pharmacy for more allergy meds.
While wasting four hours mindlessly mowing, and the mower choking on grass and stalling, and restarting the mower, and stalling again,  I had time to think.  I wonder how much it would cost to pave our 1/4 acre lot?
Maybe just gravel?  No, that would still need to be weeded and raked.  Sand?  NO!  The neighbourhood cats would be overjoyed.  SWMBO would not.
  Whne the deed was done, we celebrated by heading down to the Dock to let the dogs have a run and see what was new.
     The water level is WAY up:

  The Dock is definitely showing signs of life:

  Eric's DS20 is in, and looks right at home:

  James has apparently decided to sacrifice power and speed for fuel economy:

     Yesterday was unprecedented- a SECOND dry day in a row!  Woohoo!  NOW we can get some boat work done.  We loaded up Lady  Liberty and headed to the yard.  Time to do some installing.  My fingers are crossed at this point.  All of the furniture I built this winter was done off-site, with no measurement checks along the way.  I (kinda sorta) THINK (read: hope) my measurements were accurate (enough), but I have as much confidence in my accuracy as Lindsay Lohan's lawyers do in her sobriety.

Companionway door....fits!

   

    Now it just needs to be trimmed to fit the curve of the hatch.

Galley extension... fits and works!

 

Two for two!

  In the background, on the bulkhead above the stove, you can see the new kniferack, which fits.
Three for three!

Logbook/magazine rack... fits!  Sorta.

I have to relocate/replace a light, but replacing those ugly things was on our list anyway.

V-berth Bookshelves... fit!

Mission accomplished!

We pulled out all the cushions to bring them home for a good cleaning, and the door is marked for trimming, and I have the final measurements I needed to finish off our low-buck removable helm seat.  Progress feels good.  SWMBO and I came home, unloaded the Jeep and shared a celebratory beer and congratulations.  Tomorrow, we tell each other, we'll get the bottom painted, and the rest we can finish on the water...

   And now it is tomorrow, and it is raining.  Again.





   Thanks for checking us out.  Please feel free to "Talk the Dock!"  Link us, follow us, or just tell your friends.

Opening Day Cont'd: First Boat In

     "'cuz it feels so empty without me..."
                                               -Eminem






     It is sunny but chilly down on the dock.  The wind is up, the lake is rolling ....

...and the lake is low, even lower than the hydrographic stats suggest. The culvert on the left in the picture below should be half filled with water.  Instead it is high and dry.

 This could simply be wind related, but the water level at the dock is at least a foot lower than it was at the end of October last year.

One soul was hardy enough to get his boat into his slip.  You can juuuuust barely see that boat, out there in the distance, from the shore end of the Dock:

   Waaaaayyyyyy out there....
it looks like....
Yep.

George Too II   gets the award for first splash!

    James has been busy over the winter, fixing and fiddling and tuning and generally pimping his ship.

More on George Too II  in our Refit Rollcall.

     Last, a poignant still life of our summer home.

    


     Thanks for taking the time to check us out!  Feel free to "Talk the Dock!"  Link us, follow us or just tell your friends.