The big girl is lifted and ready to be taken to her summer home...life on the hard.
The boatyard crew of Stafford,Craig and Phillip feel like our Bahamian family. Of course the Abaco Yacht Services is Celebrian's home away from home.
Lynn and Peter will be life long friends. Perhaps our wakes will cross again in the Caribbean?
Having the cottage is a real blessing on the last night in the boatyard.
I am sitting in air conditioned comfort writing this blog update in the cottage that we rent the last night at the boat yard. We stayed here last year and it really makes life easier especially when the weather is hot. The captain is putting on Celebrian's cover which we call the circus tent. I am ever so grateful that I was able to get all the below deck work done before he started to put the tarp on. I have been suffering with swollen legs in the heat so I am more than grateful to be out from underneath the cover. The weather has been a scorcher and the boat yard is almost unbearable. We have never had to work in such heat before but by the looks of the weather in Ontario we won't be complaining about being hot for long.
After our exciting time in White Sound, Green Turtle Cay we headed back to Manjack Cay for a couple of days. Lynn and Peter sent us off with a farewell dinner to die for.....steak, LFPs (their friend Len's favourite potatoes), broccoli, and apple pie with vanilla icecream. And just when you think Lynn can't spoil us anymore she gives us a loaf of homemade cinammon bread along with a beautiful card about friendship.
We will miss our dear friends next year more than words can say. The weather has been quite lovely and we hated to head back to Green Turtle and Abaco Yacht Services to haul out. Last year The Bahamas had one of the worst winters in forty years; however this year we have been blessed with great weather.
We came into the dock on Friday afternoon at high tide and since then we have been working long days to get Celebrian "summerized." If it wasn't for salt water things would be much easier; however we have to clean everything on the boat in order to keep from getting mildew. That means a lot of laundry at $4.00 a wash and $4.00 a dry. In addition we have to de-salt all our gear whether it is dive gear, comfy seats,life jackets or paddles. In addition we have to deal with all the food....some of which we give away and things like canned food and dry goods if they haven't been open we leave on board.
All the engines have to be serviced ...Mr. Yan, our diesel, Mr. Johnston, our outboard and Harry Junior, our Honda generator. In fact Harry had major surgery after his 300 hundred hours of service. In addition there is the pickling of the water maker which is critical. There is a reason sailors call living on a boat in a yard ....living on the hard! All in all things have gone very well this year and it makes us feel good to know that Celebrian has been put away in good order. We always worry during hurricane season but we know she is in good hands at this boat yard.
Goldberrry is ready to be hoisted up on deck. The cabin is beginning to fill up and it is getting increasingly difficult to move around below decks. Celebrian's circus tent begins to take shape.
Mr. Johnston gets taken for a last spin.
The admiral baking muffins for the trip home...as if it wasn't hot enough??
We are now sharing our cottage with another couple from Ontario. Christine came down with heat stroke and her husband couldn't wake her up this morning. Their boat was tied up at the dock. The boat yard found a local medic and they took her to Marsh Harbour where she was rehydrated and released this afternoon. This cottage has two bedrooms so we volunteered to share with them so she could sleep in an air conditioned room and not on a very hot boat. Just a reminder to us all of how important it is to drink lots of fluids and stay hydrated.
I am now sitting in front of the gas fireplace in the condo putting this blog together. It always amazes me at how quickly we slide back into our life in Ontario. It takes us a few days to get through the mail and get caught up but after that things just fall into place. While I am busy getting the condo back into shape the captain has returned to the cottage and framing walls in the loft. When we are on the boat we are dreaming about the cottage and life in Bayfied and when we are at the cottage we are dreaming of sailing in the Caribbean.
We had an uneventful trip home and had both the Green Turtle Ferry and the Yellow Air Taxi all to ourselves. We have flown several times by ourselves in the 8 passenger Cessna. We are always happy that the plane isn't packed since our luggage is usually the equivalent weight of another passenger....this time we were about about 160 pounds.
This year we flew our staysail home and plan on having a new one made. It provided good protection for the tree bonkers and looked particularly interesting in the x-ray machine as we came through U.S. customs in Fort Lauderdale. Spirit Air to Detroit was on time so that was a bonus. This year we arrived home to freezing temperatures and rain and it was a rude awakening; however we know better than to complain. Our new neighbours Paul and Jane welcomed us home with a cheerful note and some breakfast treats...very thoughtful and much appreciated.
At ninety I hope to be doing as well as my mother. She came to the cottage for two weeks this summer.
Rob and mom enjoy a paddle in the lake.
With Gayle's help mom was able to enjoy both great dinners and good care.
The glass arrives by trolley piece by piece. The stairs look great after several coats of varnish.
Some guests got carried away in their enthusiasm to decorate the bonker tree???The decorating was not meant to be a contest; however the men seemed to feel that higher was the challenge.
The host and hostess look very festive in their Deck the Trees party wear. This year's annual beach bash was a festive occasion and to celebrate we decorated one of our trees in fish floats that we flew home from The Bahamas. In The Bahamas many islanders and in particular those who live on Cat Island decorate their trees and homes with these floats as a way to ward off evil spirits. I think we can safely say that we are well protected from the spirits after this decorative extravaganza. 
The bonker tree looks very good as do the bonker stars. 
It really is quite amazing what people will do at a beach bash.
The maple flooring is laid and the saws have now been banished from the living room. We are busy getting the cottage ready for my mother's visit later this month.
Choosing boards is more complicated than it sounds.
Christine collapses on the couch after a long day of laying flooring.
Rob uses his new air compressor nailer to nail the maple flooring.
To celebrate this year's anniversary we had a delicious lunch at Thyme on 21 in Goderich. 
A mother deer tells a new born fawn to stay still by the side of our cottage road.
The birthday boys of May....Bob and Doug.
The nasty weeds stopping the flow of our creek don't stand a chance.
We have some good storm watching in the spring as the weather changes.
A sure sign of spring at the cottage are the trilliums in the bush. Another joyful sight has been seeing loons on the lake on their journey further north. What a wonderful time of year this is.
A pizza and a glass of wine tastes good after a busy day on the job site.
The antique washstand looks fabulous. The captain has a way with wood.
The railings look great....lots more beautiful pine wood to varnish.
Soon after we were home in mid April it was back to the lake to begin working on the cottage. The first thing Rob did was frame the walls upstairs followed by drywall. Rob spends most days there while I try to catch up on things at home at the condo. I am also chief researcher and shopper! 
The stairs up to the loft were an exciting addition this week. Unfortunately there was a glitch in the design so they are not finished yet; however our stair builder Dave has assured us he will be back soon with the problem rectified.
The fan adds a tropical feel to the cottage and will be very practical once summer gets here.
This is an antique wash stand with a vessel sink. As if we don't have enough to do we have to strip the wash stand and varnish it. The good thing is that we will be varnishing the stairs at the same time.
The loft frame before the drywall was hung. Rob working on the closet in the back room. This area will have the upstairs toilet and wash stand.
The slanted loft ceiling is a challenge for closet space but with a little ingenuity we should be able to make it work.
Once the drywall was done in the loft it was time to get the paint brush out. 
Framing and drywall were first on the spring agenda.
The bonkers that came home in our stay sail are ready to be hung with care. When I look at the pile that we carried home from the beaches of The Bahamas I can't help but think that we are perhaps going a little bonkers ourselves? That being said Lynn and Peter also collected bonker fish floats and managed to fill their forward cabin with quite a few. At least they floated their bonkers home and didn't have to air freight them or explain to U.S. Customs what the round things were in the luggage?! According to the Cat Islanders who practise voodoo the McGuffins and Forgoshes will not have to worry about evil spirits in their homes by the water any time soon.
The big girl is lifted and ready to be taken to her summer home...life on the hard.
The boatyard crew of Stafford,Craig and Phillip feel like our Bahamian family. Of course the Abaco Yacht Services is Celebrian's home away from home.
Lynn and Peter will be life long friends. Perhaps our wakes will cross again in the Caribbean?
Having the cottage is a real blessing on the last night in the boatyard.
We will miss our dear friends next year more than words can say. The weather has been quite lovely and we hated to head back to Green Turtle and Abaco Yacht Services to haul out. Last year The Bahamas had one of the worst winters in forty years; however this year we have been blessed with great weather. 
All the engines have to be serviced ...Mr. Yan, our diesel, Mr. Johnston, our outboard and Harry Junior, our Honda generator. In fact Harry had major surgery after his 300 hundred hours of service. In addition there is the pickling of the water maker which is critical. There is a reason sailors call living on a boat in a yard ....living on the hard! All in all things have gone very well this year and it makes us feel good to know that Celebrian has been put away in good order. We always worry during hurricane season but we know she is in good hands at this boat yard.
Goldberrry is ready to be hoisted up on deck. The cabin is beginning to fill up and it is getting increasingly difficult to move around below decks. Celebrian's circus tent begins to take shape. 
Mr. Johnston gets taken for a last spin.
The admiral baking muffins for the trip home...as if it wasn't hot enough??
This year we flew our staysail home and plan on having a new one made. It provided good protection for the tree bonkers and looked particularly interesting in the x-ray machine as we came through U.S. customs in Fort Lauderdale. Spirit Air to Detroit was on time so that was a bonus. This year we arrived home to freezing temperatures and rain and it was a rude awakening; however we know better than to complain. Our new neighbours Paul and Jane welcomed us home with a cheerful note and some breakfast treats...very thoughtful and much appreciated.
