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Goin' Up That Lazy River

A perfectly calm day to bring the Phoenix up the St Clair River from it's winter storage location in Port Lambton. Click any picture to enlarge.

I passed the 'River House' across from Stag Island. This place is owned by a group of friends, from our condo.

A classic yacht owned by Mr Beauchamps, a local Sarnia businessman, lies at Corruna.

The two Cats purred as I left Stag Island behind at 1250 rpm.

A sign of the times, this fuel sign shows the US prices in gallons. At up to $1.10 per liter in Canada there is still an considerable difference as $3.24 works out to 85¢/litre.  This makes a big difference and our Looney is strong.  I need some, so I will head over to the Black River in Port Huron soon. The Phoenix holds 400 gallons or about 1500 litres. If I buy 200 gallons I can save up to $200. vs a Canadian marina. That's worth the 15 minute ride!

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The Emerald Lake.

With all this heat of late, we figured we'd better get the cover off the pool and get things started. The water temperature was 63° F so under the safety cover an algae stew turned the water green but generally it seemed to be clearer than usual. Soon after the salt chlorinator gets going the water will clear up and the Emerald Lake will turn back to crystal clear. 

Today the Phoenix launches, so later today, we are off to Port Lambton to steam up 26 miles to Point Edward.

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Two days later. (Saturday May 29)  Sand filter and chlorinator running continuously. Water Temperature now 72° F

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Coming Down To The Finish Line

Wendy's pre-painted boards went up fast and Tim made quick work of the slats with the little air nailer.

The whole thing looks spectacular with a coat of paint/stain. Whew! It's been quite a busy month.
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.Looks like it's always been there! Click to enlarge.
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Desert Sand Man

Due to some delays at the Rona Store where I rented the sander, (I first came home with and returned a sander that didn't work) I was forced to perform this dusty task in the peak heat of the day. This  weather has been truly amazing and we've set new records for temperatures in May. As the thermometer soars above 30° C (86° F) here I am creating dust to stick to my sweaty skin. The deck is coming up like new though.

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Privacy Screen

Wendy had a fine idea. That was to paint all the pieces of the somewhat intricate privacy screen latticework BEFORE we assembled them.  Her experience with the previous lattice was that it was difficult to reach both sides and avoid runs. Again, with my trusty chisel, I notched out the upright columns, cut the lattice strips to length  and got everything ready for paint.

The Battle Of Culloden

Aye laddie! We went out to Fanshawe Pioneer Village to witness a Scottish battle where Bonnie Prince Charlie's group of Jacobites loses the battle for the Monarchy on16 April 1746. This was the last staged battle in the UK and if you are curious you can read about it here.

Our good cruising friends Pete and Donna came down from Orillia for the event. They have a large trailer which holds all the paraphernalia they need for a weekend reenactment. Their tent even includes a full size bed.
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At Last - The Painting Begins

After much consternation and deliberation, we have picked a colour and Wendy began spreading it on to make sure it's what we want before ordering 9 gallons more. No returns on a 'custom' paint colour.

I think it's a sharp, clean colour and it really sets off the foliage in the garden. Good going Wendy.

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A Rot Driven Project - When Will It End?

A deck railing post at the corner of the deck has completely rotted out so I fashioned a new post. I'm getting pretty good with a chisel don't you think?

Wait a minute. If I'm making a new post anyway, maybe I should make a longer one and build a trellis with lattice work. It will offer a little shade and privacy at that end of the deck. There's my new upright post. Ever since we tore down the old structure, I feel like the neighbors can see right into my space.  Let's see where this leads.

Tim and I are 'old hands' at this woodworking now so the new trellis is advancing at a good speed. Five years ago I bought a pneumatic brad nailer for up to 1 1/4" nails and never used it. This is the perfect job for this gun. The trellis will block some of the neighbour's view, but we need to have more screen so maybe along our concrete retaining wall that is at the edge of our lot and entirely on our property. Never quit when you are on a roll.

Here are (above and below) some Photo Shop visualizations of what the screen beyond the trellis might look like.

THESE ARE NOT REAL PICTURES - Just dreaming at this point. Click to enlarge.

In this 'phony' picture you can see a view from our neighbour's porch. This is the new 4' x 16' screen/trellis we plan to build along the concrete retaining wall between the properties.  Compare without the screen shown below:

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I Haul U Haul

Rotten, pressure treated wood from the deck, stairs and the old structure were loaded into a $19.95 U Haul trailer and towed to the recycle plant. It cost me another $58 to get rid of the nearly half a ton of rubble. Ironically, that's more than the whole project has cost me so far. Where else could you have so much fun for so little?

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Rebuilding a Planter Box

The rather large planter boxes adorning our deck were showing their age from the moisture of the soil within and the effects of the elements from without.

 Some of the outer boards were loose and rotten so I decided to take one apart to see if I could repair it.  We had been debating whether to scrap some or all (3) of them.

I figure there is about one half ton of dirt in each box so it is impossible to move them without emptying them out. As part of my deck board inversion project I was eager to access the boards under the box so the only way is to shovel out the dirt. I only had to replace 2 of the boards under the planter and neither one was because of damage under the box itself.

Once I began to tear one of the boxes down, I could see that they are nicely made and they hadn't really deteriorated as badly as one might have expected considering they are over 35 years old. The effects of years of water intrusion is very evident but the plywood inner wall was not de-laminating and other than looking bad, the wood was mostly intact. A galvanized inner liner was in very good condition. 

 This is the second box we have moved and I was again surprised at the excellent condition of the deck boards underneath. In spite of the fact there is a drain tube which allows the boxes to drip right on to the deck boards, there was absolutely no sign of rot.

Wendy and I both agreed that the boxes are too good to scrap so we'll work them into our project.
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What Stopped My Toro?

Last evening my son Tim was about to cut the lawn but every time he engaged the drive on the lawn tractor, there was a loud vibration and a terrible, pulsing noise coming from the rear trans axle.  The grass really needed cutting but it sounded like the tractor would not make it through the job. What ever it was, it sounded expensive. Looking from underneath I could see that the drive belt was fluttering wildly whenever he engaged it. I have all the service manuals for this machine on my computer so I checked out how to replace the drive belt (not a 10 minute job) and searched for the part number. I figured the belt must be ready to break and was vibrating because of a tear or gouge.  Tim finished the lawn without a further event, so, since it was dark now,  I  decide to tackle the repair in the morning.

I ran the tractor up on the ramps and followed the instructions in the service manual for changing the main drive belt. With the rear cover removed I defeated the safety cut-out so I could see (while engaging) the trans-axle pulley and the pulsating belt. Normally the belt will not engage without the driver sitting in the seat, but you can insert a jumper wire in the interlock and bypass this safety feature. I started and stopped it a few times but I could see nothing wrong with the belt or the pulleys.

Then, just by luck, when I turned the engine off, the pulley stopped and I could see a bulge in the belt. This, I thought confirmed my feeling that the belt was defective and I was about to go in and call the Toro dealer. While I had it apart I cleaned all the grass fluff and debris off the trans-axle and fan so It should run cooler now

I twisted the belt as if to pull it off the pulley and  lo and behold, there was some small pieces of wood stuck in the groove of the trans-axle pulley. I can't imagine that you could ever get anything to stay wedged in the pulley even if you tried. It took a fair effort with a small screwdriver to dislodge the chips.

Problem solved - Cost $0.

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"The Project" - If You Think YOU'RE Getting Tired of This!

I couldn't continue on with my deck rejuvenation project after seeing the deplorable condition of the stair stringers languishing in the mud, so I decided to try to jack up the entire landing in an effort to bring it to its original level.

I was successful in shimming up on the concrete piers that have settled over the years. Now I thought I had better go and get some gravel to add as a stabilizing factor and to provide better drainage for the underlying clay whilst slowing down the flow of the ever-eroding water.

 Oh oh! Look what I've done to the upper railing. The jacking has caused the stair rail to push the deck rail out of alignment.

I tried to alter the old rail, but effectively ruined it with a mis-calculation so now I tried my hand at joinery and fashioned a brand new handrail of suitable length.

 The BEFORE picture above, and the AFTER pictures below show my progress with the board inversions, new rail,  and gravel added to help keep the whole thing drier.

Lookin' good don't you think?