The last couple of weeks of July were pretty busy for us. Preparing to be gone for 10 months is a balance between getting all kinds of jobs done and making time to spend with friends and family that you won't see for almost a year.
I've been trying to fit lunches in with friends where we can work it out (summer is so busy for everyone), but I am running out of time, so I won't be able to see everyone before we have to leave. We did get out for a sail with friends over from England, so I am glad the timing worked out for that. We've also been trying to see Sebastian (the only grandchild in Nova Scotia) as much as possible this summer. Luckily his other grandparents have a cottage nearby, so he has been up here a lot to visit all of us.
The first two weeks of August, we flew out to Alberta to see the rest of the grandkids before we go. The day we flew out, we were over at the boat with an air cylinder and an extension hose so that Dave could dive under the boat to try to sort out the spur cutter on the prop shaft. After a few dives to get the pieces off the shaft and a good look at the pieces, we think we have figured out the problem. The bushing between two of the pieces was thicker on one side than the other, so we
switched it around so that the thicker piece is on the side where the parts rotate past each other and there no longer seems to be any noise when the shaft rotates. Between all of the diving, attaching Allen keys to strings, comparing the new rig to the old one etc. etc. it took us most of the morning. We still haven't heard back from the company whether the bushing was manufactured out of spec or if it was just in backwards, but we think it is fixed now and we will hope for the best.
We didn't realize how much we had on the go until we got to Alberta and realized we were on 'vacation'. Who knew we would need a vacation from retirement? But we did. We spent two weeks hanging out with the kids and grandkids and not thinking about the boat and everything we had left to do. We even managed to get three days in Jasper National Park, one of my favourite places in the world, thanks to getting a last minute booking at a cabin just outside town. It was a great time, and a much needed break.
When we got home, we found that our computer wouldn't turn on - just what we needed. Luckily a) we had ordered a new laptop for the boat just before we left, and it had arrived while we were gone and b) Dave was able to get the old computer working with a new power supply. It's not completely stable, but it was good enough to get our files off to transfer to the new laptop. Note to self - make sure you do backups more frequently than once a year!
The day after we got home from Alberta, we took off on the boat to Pictou Island for the weekend because it was just too nice not to. We tried out our new aft bunk cushions for the first time and although we both slept well they seem really hard. After much discussion about what to do, we are going to try a few more nights sleeping aboard before we go, with and without softer foam (which we had on top of our old cushions) on top. This is one of those things where we might have to figure it out once we are under way.
When we were in Alberta, so many parcels arrived at the house (things we had ordered for boat projects and our trip) that our son in law (who had been at the house while we were away) commented that it was like being at the post office. We were happy to come home to all of those parcels, as they included the laptop, the new fridge insulation panels and the new holding tank.
While Dave works on big projects like re-insulating the fridge, installing the windlass, and the forward holding tank, I am taking care of the nitpicky details like renewing our passports, Visa cards, arranging medical appointments, travel medical insurance, sorting out banking, mail etc. It is a lot of work to do everything that you do over the course of a year in just a couple of months.
We also have to make sure that things are in good shape for our house sitter. Dave finally got the lawn mower working reliably after the great "even though the container says gas it is actually dirty diesel taken off the boat" debacle, but all of these things take time away from boat projects.
We are really happy to have found someone to stay in our house while we are away, although I certainly have spent enough time on the phone working out details with the phone company, insurance company etc. The most annoying thing about that is that when you think you have it figured out and you call back to make final arrangements, you get a different person on the phone and they tell you that's not how it works at all. As you can imagine, that doesn't frustrate me at all! I am slowly learning to take big deep breaths, smile and be pleasant, using the 'you catch more flies with honey' approach.
Over the summer we have been using up the contents in our freezer, which has resulted in some interesting meals. One notable disaster was battered fish and fries which had both been in there for way too long. Now anything that seems like it has been in there for a while it is going in the green bin!
This week we are taking the opportunity to spend a bunch of time with our grandson, Sebastian, as we are taking care of him while his parents are away in Cape Breton working. It's a lot of fun, but pretty time consuming, so we are happy that his other grandparents are taking him for half the time as well! We've developed a bit of a routine, where Dave hangs out with us for a bit in the morning and then heads for the boat to work on projects and Sebastian and I go and do something outside until his nap time and usually when Sebastian gets up Grampa is back home to play again until supper and bed. Since I missed this age with Dave's kids, it is both fun and educational for me. We are lucky to be able to do this before we go, even if it may delay our leaving for a few days.
Dave hasn't had the best week with projects unfortunately, as he ended up piercing the vacuum on one of the refrigeration insulation panels that we got from California, forcing a last minute re-work of the arrangement of the panels in the fridge, and then the next day, when he went to take the dinghy out to do some more work on the boat the engine wouldn't go in forward. He wasn't able to fix the engine (it is an ancient Evinrude we planned to replace when we got to the Bahamas) so yesterday he drove it to Truro to see if someone in the business can bring it back to life long enough to get us down there.
He is almost finished the windlass install and we know what we want to do with the bimini, but we can't find anyone to bend the tubing in Pictou County, so that may be another project we have to figure out under way.
We are tentatively planning to leave around September 8th if we can get the bulk of the important stuff figured out before then. Once we are 'ready' it is up to the weather gods from there.
I've been trying to fit lunches in with friends where we can work it out (summer is so busy for everyone), but I am running out of time, so I won't be able to see everyone before we have to leave. We did get out for a sail with friends over from England, so I am glad the timing worked out for that. We've also been trying to see Sebastian (the only grandchild in Nova Scotia) as much as possible this summer. Luckily his other grandparents have a cottage nearby, so he has been up here a lot to visit all of us.
The first two weeks of August, we flew out to Alberta to see the rest of the grandkids before we go. The day we flew out, we were over at the boat with an air cylinder and an extension hose so that Dave could dive under the boat to try to sort out the spur cutter on the prop shaft. After a few dives to get the pieces off the shaft and a good look at the pieces, we think we have figured out the problem. The bushing between two of the pieces was thicker on one side than the other, so we
switched it around so that the thicker piece is on the side where the parts rotate past each other and there no longer seems to be any noise when the shaft rotates. Between all of the diving, attaching Allen keys to strings, comparing the new rig to the old one etc. etc. it took us most of the morning. We still haven't heard back from the company whether the bushing was manufactured out of spec or if it was just in backwards, but we think it is fixed now and we will hope for the best.
We didn't realize how much we had on the go until we got to Alberta and realized we were on 'vacation'. Who knew we would need a vacation from retirement? But we did. We spent two weeks hanging out with the kids and grandkids and not thinking about the boat and everything we had left to do. We even managed to get three days in Jasper National Park, one of my favourite places in the world, thanks to getting a last minute booking at a cabin just outside town. It was a great time, and a much needed break.
When we got home, we found that our computer wouldn't turn on - just what we needed. Luckily a) we had ordered a new laptop for the boat just before we left, and it had arrived while we were gone and b) Dave was able to get the old computer working with a new power supply. It's not completely stable, but it was good enough to get our files off to transfer to the new laptop. Note to self - make sure you do backups more frequently than once a year!
The day after we got home from Alberta, we took off on the boat to Pictou Island for the weekend because it was just too nice not to. We tried out our new aft bunk cushions for the first time and although we both slept well they seem really hard. After much discussion about what to do, we are going to try a few more nights sleeping aboard before we go, with and without softer foam (which we had on top of our old cushions) on top. This is one of those things where we might have to figure it out once we are under way.
When we were in Alberta, so many parcels arrived at the house (things we had ordered for boat projects and our trip) that our son in law (who had been at the house while we were away) commented that it was like being at the post office. We were happy to come home to all of those parcels, as they included the laptop, the new fridge insulation panels and the new holding tank.
While Dave works on big projects like re-insulating the fridge, installing the windlass, and the forward holding tank, I am taking care of the nitpicky details like renewing our passports, Visa cards, arranging medical appointments, travel medical insurance, sorting out banking, mail etc. It is a lot of work to do everything that you do over the course of a year in just a couple of months.
We also have to make sure that things are in good shape for our house sitter. Dave finally got the lawn mower working reliably after the great "even though the container says gas it is actually dirty diesel taken off the boat" debacle, but all of these things take time away from boat projects.
We are really happy to have found someone to stay in our house while we are away, although I certainly have spent enough time on the phone working out details with the phone company, insurance company etc. The most annoying thing about that is that when you think you have it figured out and you call back to make final arrangements, you get a different person on the phone and they tell you that's not how it works at all. As you can imagine, that doesn't frustrate me at all! I am slowly learning to take big deep breaths, smile and be pleasant, using the 'you catch more flies with honey' approach.
Over the summer we have been using up the contents in our freezer, which has resulted in some interesting meals. One notable disaster was battered fish and fries which had both been in there for way too long. Now anything that seems like it has been in there for a while it is going in the green bin!
This week we are taking the opportunity to spend a bunch of time with our grandson, Sebastian, as we are taking care of him while his parents are away in Cape Breton working. It's a lot of fun, but pretty time consuming, so we are happy that his other grandparents are taking him for half the time as well! We've developed a bit of a routine, where Dave hangs out with us for a bit in the morning and then heads for the boat to work on projects and Sebastian and I go and do something outside until his nap time and usually when Sebastian gets up Grampa is back home to play again until supper and bed. Since I missed this age with Dave's kids, it is both fun and educational for me. We are lucky to be able to do this before we go, even if it may delay our leaving for a few days.
Dave hasn't had the best week with projects unfortunately, as he ended up piercing the vacuum on one of the refrigeration insulation panels that we got from California, forcing a last minute re-work of the arrangement of the panels in the fridge, and then the next day, when he went to take the dinghy out to do some more work on the boat the engine wouldn't go in forward. He wasn't able to fix the engine (it is an ancient Evinrude we planned to replace when we got to the Bahamas) so yesterday he drove it to Truro to see if someone in the business can bring it back to life long enough to get us down there.
He is almost finished the windlass install and we know what we want to do with the bimini, but we can't find anyone to bend the tubing in Pictou County, so that may be another project we have to figure out under way.
We are tentatively planning to leave around September 8th if we can get the bulk of the important stuff figured out before then. Once we are 'ready' it is up to the weather gods from there.