posted December 03, 2003 01:59 PM            

We've had folks from two neighbouring boats over for dinner in the past couple of nights....we've..or rather Lynn has organized enough room now to have a warm comfortable saloon with the lights down low....the teak bulkheads, china and wine glasses make a nice setting for a relaxed meal with company.

I have lots to do....mount the microwave....tom free up the counter top.....install AC or Engine coolant powered domestic water heater and repair the cracked plastic accumulator tank on the pressure water system. The carpet is ready to lay.

We have bought a used semi-rigid (fiberglass bottom and transom) inflatable dinghy from a neighbouring boat on our dock, ....10-1/2 ft long with a 15hp Suzuki outboard...both are 1995 vintage but in excellent shape. I need to bail out the ice and water, remove the motor and rent a truck on the weekend of Dec 13/14 to haul it to be stored in a fellow sailor's garage. He's a sailor too and we'll haul his inflatable and outboard motor the same day in a rented pickup or cube van. We have ropes and pulleys in the rafters to hoist both boats up overhead inside the garage.

Lynn and I wake up at 6:20...listen to the news for 20 minutes and then head for the shower shack. Sundays I make my world-famous waffles with real maple syrup! Sundays we try to sleep in a little. We make a pot of brew, (Irish creamed on weekends) have a leisurely breakfast and then either walk all the way to Rye high or take the streetcar along Queen's Quay to the post office behind the Hummingbird Centre for mail pickup. We get to work at 9:20 and feel better for the 50 minute walk. I have gone down a pant size and so we both wear the same size 36 pants and shirts too...fewer clothes in the boat now to store!!! Same sized t-shirts and sox too.

We have two 3/4 hp water turbines to suspend under the boat.....they keep water circulating to help prevent ice buildup round the hull...although last winter was very cold and people skated beside the boats...made a hockey rink too!

The top accessed cooler has a refrigerated cold plate inside...powered at the dock by shore power electricity, and run while summer cruising by a belt driven compressor from our main diesel. But the temp only goes down to about 40F...no ice cream or cubes but good cold food. There is lots of room too but as it's all accessed through a large top lid (actually part of the counter top) organization is key. We buy meat every day or so. We buy bagged lettuce, milk, juice and pop and beer and cheese less often.

The floors are cold because of the 40F water under the boat...the new carpet will help that (and nice slippers too) Lynn keeps some cans and jars of food under the floor...it's like a cold cellar!
We have 60 amps @ 125VAC of shore power electricity on the boat so lots of heat & power to run 3 heaters, two de-icers, double hot plate, microwave, coffee maker, waffle iron and a crock pot.

It's a rewarding life but a bit hard for me just now..the list of chores is so long....Lynn and I often have differing priorities on what shoudl be done first. I have troubles coping with the constant boat movement at the dock......my balance at work and on land is a bit compromised I think. Hope I get used to the constant movement.

We have a PC and a wireless internet connection in the marina for entertainment. I have several radios and a 5 inch B&W TV but don't watch more than an hour of TV each week. I want to install my ham station equipment into the boat's navigation station and rig an HF antenna up the mast while we're stuck there in the winter marina until mid-April.

We don't wish to leave the boat untended in the ice very long during the holidays...can you imagine what a long power outage would do if we were away? Last winter people used chain saws to cur ice around their boats! I have my dad's old pick axe.

Ken

PS Here's a website of someone else's boat under the winter cover. Note the hockey rink. http://www.angelfire.com/oh4/stonecutter2/winter.html

I am very impressed and hope to follow in your foot-steps in a much larger "Celtic Kiss". Kudos to you and Lynn. I am curious of how you protect the hull from chafing on the ice though.

I also think you're a very brave man to admit on the internet that you wore your wifes underwear.

posted December 04, 2003 07:29 AM            

Glad to hear from you Ken. Sounds like you and Lynn are settling in OK. Where are you putting the Christmas tree?

Take care of yourselves, Eric

posted December 04, 2003 04:08 PM            

We use similar water turbines to keep the ice from heaving boathouses in Muskoka. The power often fails there. Ice then forms around the boathouse but usually not thick enough to damage the structure. When the power comes back on the turbine or bubbler clears the ice in a few hours.

Problems can occur if the propeller unit is not deep enough in the water. A thick freeze will sometimes jamb the unit causing a burnout when it starts up again.

The liveaboard life sounds great.