It’s that time of year again where fall is well underway and the overnight temperatures are getting close to freezing. That means it’s time to get the cottage ready for winter.
Boats are away for the winter
The boys, Eric and Scott come out with me Friday night to execute the Closeup Checklist. The main focus is taking care of anything that will freeze. We empty the fridge and remove food that won’t survive 6-7 months of sitting around in the cold.
Three big tasks are putting away the boats and cleaning up the dock, draining the water system and winterizing the septic field. We get started, after coffee ☕etc. around 9am
The boys do all the heavy lifting while I handle septic system. I won’t get into the details but it can be a bit yuckie if you think about it too much.?
The 3 of us move through the task quite quickly. May hands make light work.
By about 1:30 were done and heading into Kenora to pick up lunch and drive home.
On the September long weekend Len K. tackled the wood pile and split all the logs that have been stacked up this year and from several previous years. Thanks Len!
I have had a Fireball sailboat since 1970 and it has seen a lot of nautical miles over the years. However, it may have just seen the last sail.
Our neighbour at the cottage on Brereton Lake got a Y Flyer sailboat one year and that was the beginning of my teenage sailing adventures. I learned sailing with them and pestered them at every chance to go sailing.
The Y Flyer – Gary Wilstrop and I
One weekend we went to West Hawk lake to watch some sailboat racing. In the day there were Y Flyers, Lightenings and Fireballs. The Fireballs were fast and exciting racing boats and I started working on my Dad to get one. Then, one summer weekend in 1970, it arrived.
I sailed on Lake Brereton with my friend Gregg for many years just sailing around and racing any and all boats we could find.
Relaxin’ Solo
With the move to Lake of the Woods it was mainly solo sailing and the boat spent a fair bit of time on shore. I tried to get Eric and Scott to sail when they were young but a very windy first sail put an end to that. With Grandkids I thought I’d have another change to sail with this generation.
I got the ramp for the sailboat into a workable position and Eric & friends got the Fireball into the lake and up on the ramp. This would be the first time back in the water since 2019.
Easton was willing to go sailing so one Saturday afternoon we went out in a light wind. However, a few minutes in the wind stopped and Scott used the Sea-doo to push us back to shore.
Easton and I on the Fireball – Photo Credit: Mandy
The following day the wind was still fairly light so Easton and I set out again. Before going out I made an adjustment to the centreboard mounting that I thought would make it more secure. But, a few minutes in two of the four screws holding it in place pulled loose. I thought we’d still be OK for this sail and I could fix it later. However, this turns out to be a bad decision.
After a few tacks back and forth across the bay we were approaching the far shore right across from our cottage. As we came about we were slow to get to the high side and I’d left the main sail cleated (bad) and we caught a gust of wind which caused the boat to capsize!
Both Easton and I are in the water and the mast and sails go straight down and we are in a full “turtle” position. Well, all is not lost, I’ve been in this situation a few times over the years and all you need to do is climb up on the bottom of the boat, pull on the centreboard to get the sail back up to the surface and when it breaks free of the surface, quickly get into the boat before it carries on and capsizes again in the opposite direction.
But there is a problem. I’m no longer strong enough to haul myself up on the bottom of the boat. Easton can but he’s too light to pull the boat and sail up. Fortunately, there is a family on their dock right close to us and they offer to come out and help. They arrive in a nice boat with two adults, two twenty something guys (sons) and four grandkids who don’t want to be left out of this adventure.
We try to use the motor boat to pull the sailboat upright but that’s not working so we opt for towing to a nearby dock. As the water gets shallower the mast is now dragging on the bottom and the wind indicator is broken off along the way. At the dock we eventually get the boat upright and I’m thinking we can just sail home. However, the centerboard brackets have come fully loose and are now somewhere at the bottom of the lakes. We now need a tow across the bay to get the sailboat home.
At this point Shirley, Mandy and Clark have been watching from our dock and trying to launch a rescue attempt. But, nobody can drive the Sea-doo or motor boat so they call Alan Smith and he comes out with his boat and tows us home.
We all end up safe and sound back on our dock after spending over an hour in the lake wrestling with the sailboat. I’ve lost my Crocks and the centreboard brackets but kept my glasses. The sad part is that I now realize that my sailing days may be over. If I can’t right the boat after a capsize this could be a very bad thing especially if there is nobody around to come out and rescue me. It’s a sad day after over 55 years of sailing.
The dock was built a little higher than the old dock so it needed a higher ladder to get out of the lake. To meet an immediate need I stuck in a 12′ aluminum extension ladder. It seemed to be about the right height/length.
The aluminum ladder tied to the swim platform
So, when it came time to build a proper wood ladder 12′ seemed to be a good idea. So did angled steps so the ladder wouldn’t be straight up and down.
If it’s too high it would be easy to cut it down and or remove a couple of steps.
The angled steps seemed like a good idea, but it took three attempts to get it put together correctly. Thank goodness for power tools, and deck screws.
A while back I decided to make an effort to be more thankful. And to that end I started a list on the iPhone Reminders app and I get a daily prompt to put something on the “Thankful” list. Now not every day gets and entry but most do. Another facet of this initiative is to monthly review the list to remind me of all the things I’m thankful for.
As a part of this month’s review I thought that once in a while I’d share one of these “Thankful” items on the blog. First up is this one.
Easton is my Grandson and this phone call was quite out of the blue and I don’t normally get any phone calls for the Grandkids so this was kind of special. The tree fort is at the lake and for me this meant he was thinking of good times at the lake and planning for more good times in the future. ?
I took a paddle down to the bay at the bottom of our point to be with the wildlife and nature as the sun rose. With a coffee on board it was a leisurely paddle with fog rolling across the water in the coolish 3°.
A couple of years ago the electric start on our 1990 Mercury 25hp outboard stopped working. I’d thought about taking it in to a marina to get it repaired but that would be awkward, put the boat out of commission for an unknown amount of time and likely be costly. It still started well with the manual “pull the rope” method so nothing was done. This year it was the target of a DIY repair.
At any marina on Lake of the Woods! The price is sky high. Gas stations in Kenora were charging $1.89/l but at a dock on the water it was $2.49/l. I knew there was a premium for the convenience of dock gas but on this trip I committed to getting the gas before checking just how exorbitant that premium was!
Our track to Kenora for water, gas and DQ
The first stop was our boat up Safeway to get water followed by the shocking gas tank fill-up. To ease the pain of that we went over the the docks at the Discovery Centre and walked up the road to the Dairy Queen for a treat.
To change it up a bit we returned home via the Second Channel, a nice scenic route with some interesting navigation to keep you on your toes, The GPS makes this so much easier and I’ve been through here quite a few times it’s pretty familiar.
On the weekend, August 19-21, Parker and Dane had their friend Aryton down at the lake. It was a busy weekend with swimming, tubing, seadoo rides, kneeboarding and fishing!
This was Aryton’s first time fishing and he hit the trifecta, first fish, biggest fish and most fish! Over several outings on the weekend the boys collectively caught 18 bass.
Aryton’s 1st fishDane has one on the line!Parker with one of his many fish
Fun fact: Aryton’s grandfather was a big Formula One fan and he is named after Aryton Senna, in honour of his grandfather.
