It appears I will be expanding my solar installs to include this charming and whimsical bunkie for Ruth. It is a perfect getaway set back from everything and with a small hollow that deer come to feed in as a front yard.

April 6, Good Friday 10:34 EDT:

Environment Canada Weather Forecast Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario.Marine Forecast issued for Lake Ontario. Issued: 10.30 AM EDT Friday 6 April 2007 for the period ending at 10.30 AM Saturday with an outlook for the following 24 hours. Forecast: Wind west 25 knots diminishing to 20 near midnight. Flurries and local snow squalls. Risk of freezing spray ending this morning. Waves near 2 meters lowering to near 1 after midnight. Outlook..Moderate westerlies increasing to strong.

Rufus is being extremely cute today and working overtime as he polices the ground for birds which fortunately he is none to accomplished at catching.

Saturday woke with bright sun and well below normal temperatures to where the Espar was welcome. But, non as welcome as a bit of sunlight even if tempered by cold. Thursday went pretty well with alternative summer plans B through F getting a work out. The temptation to drop the lines is becoming extremely strong, yet I know there is at least another year of work.

Other than his dry eye issue Rufus is an amazingly handsome cat with a sleek coat and a gentle nature in spite of his Alpha aspirations.

Bob Fleguel of Harari Sheep Farms who is the de facto steward of Waupoos Island did not wait long after getting the tow boat in the water to put it to work. The hunting party transport to the island was somewhat delayed by the venerable tow boat taking sick. After a good half hour of messing around the team set on to the island in search of our County coyotes.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

The entire eastern seaboard is getting record low temperatures. Here it is sitting right on 0C, with occasionally heavy snow squalls drifting in from the lake. We are of course warm and cozy with this a perfect day for paperwork. I will wrap up the rest of 2006 over the weekend.

Monday I will start on the Banker dory and open the Ben Gill shop 3 or 4 days a week. It will be warm enough with the sun coming through the door that I will not burn too much fuel and I look forward to a little boat building in the shop.

To dock or not too dock, that is the question. What to do, what to do. I really need to fully cut shore strings, but then income is much trickier. It is true I am getting itchy feet but Defiance still needs to do one last big haul out before hitting the salt. It has been three years since the last bottom job and the ice has pretty much skinned the last of the XXX of the first 24” of the hull. Fortunately the epoxy primer appears in good shape proving the stuff is tough as nails as this has been pretty rough service.

I have a excellent alternative haul out yard that is nice and commercial that would be an excellent choice for the last haul which would fit nicely into a summer cruise.

20:00 EDT: April 8, 2006

Navigation season has to have begun and I am still trapped behind a sunken tire break wall.

The leaving bug has me bad again. As I look out over the bay and watch the clouds chase each other across Little Bluffs I wonder ho long it will be before the smog comes this year.

I watched a wonderful slideshow/DVD last night of a couple of small cruising boats doing the North West Passage. The scenery was beautiful and the harbors looked so welcoming for a vessel such as Defiance. We would be at home among the working craft and their masters in these remote ports. The Greenland ports are worth a cruise on their own and dockage is a bunch less than Lake Ontario.

The sailboats have long legs in vast waters, but Defiance has that predictably factor in passagemaking. I am the strongest believer of choosing the right time for a passage and am quite happy to lie on the hook waiting for the right time to depart. Defiance has so far proven to be extremely able at providing trouble free day runs of 200 + miles. That combined with today’s communications capabilities helps provide a safe window in hostile waters.

In many ways things are more built up now than I had expected. It is entirely feasible to spend a summer doing nothing but visiting these outposts living as much as possible off the sea.

The reality is that the ice did not go out that much earlier this year however the bad was not that bad and did not last long. If for no other reason that is the Espar’s strength as the entire system was designed for Arctic service.

Easter, Monday April 9, 2006

Another holiday and it is time to get to work on the Dory at the shop. Picton was a ghost town 09:30 in the AM.

The road in is passable and the crisp morning was not cold enough to make the shop hard to heat. As expected I was able to use minimal heat with the sun shining through the plastic picture window door acting as a solar heat trap. The large shop was still as it was and quite unusable while the small one is quite pleasant.

Today I got started on the dory and have one side sanded which is faster than I expected the process to go. On the other hand I was right in estimating 4 days of pure sanding as the lapstrake takes forever to work. There are a number of small repairs to make and all the old sitkaflek calking has to be removed before I can start the repair and repaint process. however it goes very well and my shoulder showed no sign of giving up.

It does not take long once the snow goes ET will go this Saturday which clears out boats outside. Three weeks until I have to decide on what I do for the 2007 summer.

It was a good day as I also got the flooring cut for the aft cabin which frees up the V Berth for guests. The flooring feels so much nicer to the foot than the painted plywood. Now I have to decide how to finish the edges around the hatches which are essential.