More Boat Work

Shiny New Stem Plate

This boat is teaching me a lot.  A lot of patience that is.  It seems to be taking 10 times longer to do the work than I ever thought it would  However, it is going well, what I have done that is and I know it'll be strong too.

Old stern Chainplate

New Stern Chainplate

The last mention on here was I removed the rusty stem plate.  The stern chain plate was equally as rusty and I removed that too along with the port and starboard plates.  The stainless ones are now back in place and fibreglassed in.

Rudder Cut in Half

The rudder which you saw me stumbling around with has been cut and the shaft and bearings removed.  I enjoyed this job as it is the only job thus far I could do standing in a normal position  The bearing has been reamed out and had a plastic sleeve in it and is ready to be reinstalled along with the shaft which has been shortened in readiness to be attached to the tiller.  I'll be excited if I can get this project finished this year!  Sally has sanded the mast and that is ready to be coated with a aluminium coating once it stops raining.

Royal Botanical Gardens

Every couple of years S and I go to the botanical gardens in Burlington.  The RGB is the pinnacle of gardening and is well worth a visit.  Throughout the year they hold events such as a; lilac festival, rose garden, etc.  This year we decided to go to the rose garden at the beginning of July.  We both needed a break from the work we'd been doing and I was recovering from a kidney stone event, so this trip cheered us up no end.  We took a picnic for lunch with thermoses for tea rather than the stove.  A few years back we did take the stove and left quite the scorch mark on the grass, which I'm glad to say, has grown back with barely a trace.  I can't say too much about the beauty of the gardens; it's truly something you have to discover for yourself.  In the meantime, here's a few photos.

It's been awhile

It's been some time since I posted and for that I'm sorry.  Summer hasn't been all work.  We got out kayaking a few times.  We have a new place we like to go to; it's Little Lake in Peterborough.  It may not be exhilarating but it has plenty of variation and a nice beach for swimming when the water is warm enough.  There is the lake and also some channels behind the campground.  The railroad crosses one end of the lake on swing bridges which add some fun to the paddle.  At the west end of the lake there's a huge fountain.  Very tempting in the stinking hot weather.  Of course we can then wrap up our day out with a visit to Costco.  I'm sure our soggy, dirty look entertains the shoppers.

This is also the location of Sally's famous demonstration of the semi Eskimo roll in August of 2008.
Getting out with the kayaks became infinitely easier when we got the truck.  Not only is the roof lower than the van for loading it is easier to with some slick Yakima roof racks.  All the gear goes in the back of the truck and we aren't too worried if it's all wet either.  Getting changed in the truck is a bit tricky but since neither of us have been too shy the parking lot suffices.  This also scares off any people that want to come and talk kayaks.  Not as though I mind talking but everyone else has a better kayak and can't wait to tell you about it.  They either have longer, lighter, more stable etc etc.  But we are out in ours and they are just talking about it!!  For the record the blue boat, which is really H's is a Necky Santa Cruz and the green boat is a Necky Manitou Recycle.

The Rusty Stem Plate

Although the "The Rusty Stem Plate" conjures up ideas of English beer, this, in fact, is not so enjoyable.   Cape Dory, in their 1970's wisdom decided to use a lot of mild steel backing plates in their boats.  This is fine if it doesn't get wet which, invariably it does.  When we bought the boat 4 years ago it was pointed out that the stem plate was rusting so we decided to remove with when we got chance and replace it with something better.







I have read lots on the forums and blog sites about this; phrases like; impossible, many hours over several days and a great job if you are a midget miner.  Let my tell you it was tough and after it was out 10 hours one day 1 and a half another, I was sore all over.  Just for those of you that don't know boats it's in the very pointy bit at the front inside in a small cupboard called the chain locker.

We'll feel much more secure with it replaced that's for sure.  There's also nothing like the satisfaction of "do it yourself", and I keep reminding myself of that.  As for my body it looks like a fell into a rotating gorse bush!

New Adventures

Well it's not really a travelling adventure but an adventure all the same.  We have for a while been wanting to refurbish out boat.  Our boat is a Cape Dory 30C (C = cutter).  She's a lovely boat and we have had some great adventures on her.  However she's getting a bit rusty in places so we decided it was time to fix her up.
Working in the boatyard is bothersome it's a 30 minute drive and you never have what you need right there so we decided to move her to our house where she fits down the side of the garage just nicely.  Prior to that though we had some preparations to make.




Firstly the rudder had to come off.  The day after returning from the UK we started work.  We uncovered her and then emptied out everything we could.  Then we removed as much of the steering gear as possible and then got the yard to lift her so we could drop the rudder out.  To get the rudder of I had to first grind out the bottom bearing and support and remove that - now we are committed!!!

Sally finds it all very exciting especially having sandwiches in the back of the truck.

Snape and Thorpeness

S and I needed some exercise so we headed out to Snape to walk on the marshes. We had downloaded a plan of this from the internet some time before just in case. The walk was exceptionally pleasant. We parked at the Maltings and walked over the brigde before heading along the well marked and worn trail. Initially the footpath follows the river but then heads up into some woods. We met some people on the trail that suggested we headed over the hill and back a different route so that we could see the Exmoor ponies that graze there. So we did. It doesn’t take too much of an increase in elevation to see the effects of the sea wind on the flora of the hill. The trees were gnarly and stunted and gorse bushes were abundant (with extra sharp spines!) All of a sudden we came across about a dozen ponies grazing in a clearing. They didn’t seem to bothered by us so we didn’t bother them. Back at the river we followed the trail through the salt marshes back to the start of our walk. Kestrels hovered over head and wading birds plied the uncovered sands as it was low tide.

Two sailing barges sat in the sand at the maltings giving the whole place an olde worldy feel. It all looks nice until you start visiting the shops and tea rooms and see the prices are definitely not old world! The antique shop was interesting though to poke around in but again horrendously expensive.

We drove over to Thorpeness with the intention of walking around on a trail. Once there we had more tea and then decided that taking out a row boat on the Meare. Mandy our boat had it’s preferred route and it took me a while to become master of the vessel. For S it was a ride back in time as she used to do this as a kid with her friends. In her childhood she remembered that the lake had a Peter Pan theme with Wendy’s house, a crocodile and Captain Cooks castle. Much to her pleasure they we still there.

It was nice to see romance still alive; we rowed passed a couple who had boated out with a picnic and bottle of wine which they had set aside to indulge in some other activity. Obviously the sandwiches weren’t filling enough!! I’m sure the weed and mud that sprayed from my wildly thrashing oars added to their afternoon indulgence.

Back on Terra firma we headed to the pub for some sandwiches and a beer. Delicious!! Then we walked for miles around public footpaths and byways almost to Sizewell where we popped out onto the beach just short of a nuclear power station. We followed the Suffolk Coastal Trail back into Thorpeness for more tea before returning to base with glowing faces and tired feet.

The Chaffinch of Charfield

We have met many nice people on this trip including friends from our childhood. One of these is Dave. We look forward to our visits with him and him with us with great glee as each visit has it’s life challenging moments and side splitting events. This trip was no exception although our dangerous plan to remove the corner of the neighbours house which obstructs the Sun from Dave’s garden was not executed due to lack of chemicals. Having said that I’m sure his homebrew would have sufficed. Apart from laughing and drinking we did some serious listening to music. Dave has the best classical music collection in the world; often waking up with the BBC frantically knocking on the door asking to borrow something for their morning show! This time a collection of Beethoven’s symphonies conducted by David Zinman, awesome, a bit faster but also with lots of extra notes I’ve not heard before in other recordings. Apparently this was the way it was intended to be played but as Beethoven is long gone we’ll not have chance for his critical opinion.

Saturday saw us loading up the VW bus and heading out for a picnic. It was Dave who got us into VW’s in the first place. We owned our own VW camper van when we first married and have yearned for another ever since. Anyway, I digress, we picked up sandwiches in Tesco’s and with half a dozen thermos’s of tea on board we headed out to Purton for a walk. We parked up and walked down to Sharpness along the canal bank. The setting is perfect with the River Severn on one side and the canal on the other. Seeing canal barges chugging up and down reminded us of last years trip. The River has several old wrecks along the banks as a reminder to how dangerous the Severn tide can be. At low tide as it was this day it’s just a trickle but on certain tides the bore can be surfed and regularly is. There is also the remains of a railway bridge that was destroyed in 1960 by a run away barge loaded with petrol.

Back at the van we enjoyed our sandwiches and tea and a wonderful little church all decked out for a wedding that afternoon.  I've figured out why the canals are so shallow.  Every day tons of stale bread gets thrown into them in efforts to feed the birds.  Obviously bread is not a staple for ducks but one greedy swan certainly enjoyed a couple of slices that Dave and Sally threw to him.

Cars, Canterbury, Chinese lap guitars, Chandlers and Capel-le-Ferne

Lot’s of C’s. Well the car I’ll review later but as you remember we landed in England at Dover and not Gatwick as planned and Gatwick is where our car was waiting patiently for us. We managed to get a ride there with my Aunt and Uncle who were trying to get back to France. They finally did through the tunnel a few days later. After much ado with paperwork, the rental company’s computer was overloaded due to the huge influx of rentals, we got a Chevrolet Matiz which, I might just review later in the blog. After we dropped Aunt and Uncle in Worthing S and I returned to Dymchurch through the countryside. East Sussex and Kent still get my vote for one of the best scenery in the world. That is until you leave Tenterden on the road to Appledore. All of a sudden you are faced with what used to be a nice view of Romney Marsh, as bleak as it is, now blighted by multiple wind turbines to make electricity. Such a shame. However, it was a nice drive over very familiar ground. Somehow it all seemed much closer together than it used to.

Our next adventure in the car, which has now been dubbed the “Washing Machine” was to Canterbury. When I was a kid I used to dread trips to this small city as it meant trudging around shops getting clothes and shoes for “back to school” purposes. However, nowadays we love going there. Cantabs is filled with history and has played a very important roll in shaping British history right from Roman times. The head of the Church of England, the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, for example. Chaucer’s exceedingly droll and somewhat rude tales are centered on a pilgrimage to Canterbury and there has been much intrigue over the ages. Nowadays it still enthralls with charming side streets and little boutiques, the Weavers restaurant with its ducking stool for naughty witches, the cathedral (of course) and city wall remains, and European influenced cafes and bars. It was on one such café patio, enjoying a lovely latte served by an equally lovely Czech waitress (I know because I asked) that S and I watched a Chinese bloke set up what looked like a steel guitar, speakers the whole 9 yards. After a bit of tuning he inserted a cd and started to play along with it. Now it wasn’t too bad, just totally out of place, but it was loud and he only knew 2 tunes. He was still playing the same 2 tunes 2 hours later when we walked passed on our way to the bus station. The fact I even mention it is that it was actually quite terrible and it is a credit to the people of Canterbury that they tolerate this racket in their beautiful city. The astute of you will have noticed the words bus station; yes we did drive but Canterbury has a wonderful park and ride scheme. You park on the outskirts of town and ride the bus in, all for a modest fee. In return the city center is less congested with traffic and overall way more enjoyable.

From Canterbury we drove down the A2 to Dover for a quick look in Sharp and Enright. This is a chandlers that has been in business a long time, in fact I expect they sold D shackles to the romans. The shop is a gold mine of sailing junk the likes of which you just don’t see other places. It’s not too far from here in Capel-le-Ferne that one of the most tasteful and pleasant (and surprisingly free) monuments to the pilots of the Battle of Britain exists. As you park and walk over there are replicas of a Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes. Then built right into the white cliffs is a giant propellor with a large statue of a pilot sitting on the hub staring across the English Channel as if looking for fallen comrades. Behind the statue is a wall with the names of the fallen pilots from that battle. We stood on the edge of the cliffs for a while enjoying the English spring sunshine and contemplating the memorial on which we stood.

Party!!

It’s not everyday, or often at all for that matter, that people get married and stick with it for 50 years. Initially I think they stuck together as neither wanted custody of my brother or me! Actually, the love my parents have for each other has always been an inspiration to us and I mentioned that in the toast I proposed at the dinner on Sunday. We have never eaten so much in two days, ever. It was great to see a lot of family that we haven’t seen in a long time and my parents neighbours that not only keep an eye on my parents but also welcome us with open arms.

Unplanned Tour de France

Unbeknownst to us a volcano had errupted in Iceland and has covered European airspace in a fine glass like dust.  Now the Europeans are a cautious lot and they banned all flights.  We didn’t find this out until we got to the airport on Friday morning, nice and early, for our flight to Gatwick.  I guess there were some clues - the hotel was full the night before and there were only 2 other people on the airport shuttle.  So with some time pressure to get to the UK, i.e. we had to be there for my parents party - the whole reason for going, we decided to rent a car and drive to Calais and catch a boat to Dover.  What could be easier?  The only map we had was a 3"x5" all of France map in the Lonely Planet guide so I purchased a whole of France 3 ft x 3 ft map.  If nothing else it was in colour.  We had some tea and headed off with 1000 kms to do by supper time.

I must say the drive was excellent.  The French roads are in very good shape - funded by tolls and income taxes - and the scenery was, very French.  Through the Dordogne being our favourites.  My technique for navigating Paris was to trust in the fact that there may be road signs pointing north or to Belgium.  Even better, when we did get there, there were in fact signs pointing to the A1 Lille which is the road we needed.  We pulled into Calais around 7.30pm.

At this point I breathed a sigh of relief in that I thought we’d made it.  Usually you turn up, buy a ticket and hop on the next convenient boat.  Well as it happens, there are some other equally desperate travelers and the queue was 3 hours long to get a ticket.  I was quite cold too standing outside in the chill sea breeze.  Luckily Sally managed to find us some lasagne and yucky coffee.

We got to the front of the queue at about 11.45pm and just got on the boat.  I was late leaving as P&O levered more people on board in a Dunkerque like evacuation.  Everyone was very good natured and humoured about the whole thing; they had to be really but complete strangers were lending phones and buying less fortunates coffee etc.

We got on board, found a seat and ordered 2 beers which we immediately consumed.  We got 2 more but Sally fell asleep.  Somewhere between Calais and Dover her beer evaporated.  The rest of the journey went well.  Dad picked us up, just like he had done 20 years before when Sally and I went on cross channel hops regularly.  The whole of the Sands Estate Emergency Response team had been swung into action.  A ride home, tea was waiting and my parents neighbours had our room ready with clean towels.  I was asleep before Sally had showered - but we had made it.

Toulouse

Toulouse - we left Agen d’Aveyron and have been left to our own devices in Toulouse where Sally and I are doing our best to improve Canadian-French relations.  Toulouse is a beautiful city, airy, pretty and with lots of neat things to see and do.  We’ve been on two marathon walks and covered a lot of ground; basically everything the Lonely Planet guide recommends.  We went to the Musee des Augustins, Marchee Victor Hugo, Les Abottoirs (a modern art gallery) as well as walked around Basilique St-Sernin, the bridges of St-Pierre and Pont Neuf where we relaxed on the banks of the Garonne with hordes of snogging students.

We both really enjoyed the two art galleries we saw today.  The  old masters - Rubens, Lautrec etc.at the Musee des Augustins in juxtaposition to the modern art at Les Abottoirs was quite the comparison.  S said it got the effect in that we talked about both equally.  The astounding realism of the old and the jarring fantasies of the new.

We are now about to head out to the Frog and Rosbif pub.  They have unique home made beers and free internet access!
http://www.frogpubs.com/english-pub.php?pub=5

Tomorrow we fly to the UK.  We’ve just got the hang of speaking francais!!!

Millau

Millau - famous of course for the fantastic viaduct that spans the Tarn gorge.  It truly is a modern wonder of the world.  However the town itself is also very pleasant and could easily occupy a tourist for a day or two.  The drive in always thrills me (the two times I’ve been here) in that the trees have been severely pollarded.  I like the effect of this and the knobbly look of the trees, it also keeps them well under control.  In Millau we visited the Mussee de Millau which among other interesting artifacts contains a glove museum.  This has some gloves through time but even more fascinating is the manufacturing process.  I was amazed just how much stretch there is in leather and most of it has to be removed before the gloves are made.  Truly an art form.
The streets are filled with little boutiques and poking around them is fun although we were mightily disappointed that the Passion Lingerie shop had closed up.  In an antique store James spotted a Laguoile knife which was highly desirable - I desired it, so I got it.

Marcillac - Aveyron

Well here we are, in France, in the spring, what could be better?

Our journey was interesting to say the least but highly successful.  So let’s skip the boring travel details and get on to the nuts and bolts.

Marcillac-Vallon is a neat market town north-east of Rodez.  Sunday is market day so that’s where we went.  The drive there is wonderful through the hills, with quaint villages en route.  The main street of the town is closed off for the market and vendors sell everything from the famous Laguiole knives, food, fabrics and oysters.  Sally has to have oysters.  We tried some of the local fast food - a sort of onion bargee with pork called a fasouse (think that’s right).  I needed some cash so I bravely inserted my Visa card into the ATM having previously questioned my Uncle on the wording that may appear on the screen.  To my surprise it all came up in English and even spewed out the required amount of Euros.  Of course some wine teasting was required before heading back to Salles-la-Source which, as you can imagine from the name, is the source of some water which tumbles over the cliff in a very picturesque way.  The whole village is built on a steep hill and is the sort of place you see in holiday brochures but in fact you can never find.  I is the sort of place Sally and I could easily retire to and live happily ever after.

Now I won’t talk too much about the food because S will on her food blog.  However, we did get oysters and I tried two.  The second was better than the first but it’ll take a while for me to acquire the taste.  In the meantime S was barely visible behind the pile of shells from which she had slurped down the contents from within.

Banff Mountain Film Festival

Last night we went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival. Wild Rock Outfitters in Peterborough organises this annual event and this year it was screened at the Showplace theatre.

The films were good although I thought it lacked the energy of previous years. The one film, Solo, about a man who lost his life attempting to kayak the Tasmin sea was a very sobering and emotional film and brings home the dangers of undertaking any adventure. However, as one of the film's participants said; without adventurers there are no discoveries.

The second half of the show was more upbeat and had the usual crazy mountain bikers, unicyclists and climbing movies. Overall it was a good evening and we're looking forward to next year.

The link takes you to the preview on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uso3ZaEX21g

Oh!! The photo isn't from the festival (it should be) but is of me on a canoe trip in 2006 in the North Channel called the "Caribbean of the North". We were camping and canoeing for 10 days in some of the most beautiful scenery Ontario has to offer.