We arrived at Buchanan Marina on the Red River of the North, situated by the Louise Bridge in Winnipeg. There SHE was! For sale!
(Photo actually taken at Chuck Abramson's in West St. Paul, Manitoba. She was gorgeous ... varnish gleaming!)
Dick Watt looked tougher than ever when he launched the old girl into the muddy waters and tied her to his main dock. Now that was a boat! Forty feet of Manitoba made "whitefish hull" with a World War II remnant diesel engine. (Cookies left in the cabinets used to taste like the diesel fuel smelled.)
Sitting on The wheelhouse sofa ... Bert Flett (with drink in hand) and Archie Tawns (with Raid in hand.) It had been quite a RMYC Partay! 😂
Our Boca Raton pals, Rod and Shay, appeared on the dock, ready for an adventure. So, the 4 of us entered the main salon and headed down below forward to explore. There, in a cabinet I found my Dad's "tin box" full of maintenance receipts. Yes folks, I SHOULD have woken then! But noooo ...
She looked a little in need of TLC, but Mark and I never shy away from a labor of love, and I loved that old boat. You see, childhood memories are intricately woven into each wooden plank. In fact, my first administration, Larry Flett, replaced 3-5 rotten planks a year in her hull. He'd plane and shape and sometimes steam the plank to get it into the curve of her belly. As long as the stem and keel were good, he could repair it.
So the wind picked up as it's want to do and I thought about bringing the old girl to our home dock at 820 Kildonan Drive. Dad had built that split level dock, all 54 feet, with pilings from Bill Harris's Pile Foundation company. It stood the springtime floodwaters with only a few boards torn away by icebergs. Maintenance is key with wood, isn't it!
Reality began to creep into my dream. Mark could bring this single screw maiden to the dock, but with my 2 titanium knees, could I leap off and lash her to the dock? Be damned reality ...
Magically, the old boat was afloat 2,000 miles away on Lake Eustis, Florida. Perfect! There are a few 40'ers on connecting Lake Harris, so my dream weaver was happy enough with the scenario. The old beauty could relax in the sweet water lakes.
I recall this day perfectly. I was walking on the cabin roof with my bottle of Pepsi to climb atop the wheelhouse roof, my favorite place to ride. We were on Lake Winnipeg heading to Gimli Manitoba. Dad took this picture and thought it so funny.
All was well until I realized we'd have to back her down our canal to tie up at home base. Slowly the morning light came upon our bedroom windows. Drat. The once proud 40' ArJoy sits rotting at the RMYC.
Perhaps we NEED a project like Ruth told husband Rick Moir. Oddly enough, Rick knew the ArJoy as he had an old girl drydocked at Buchanan's too.
As the Everly Brothers sang ... All I have to do is dream ... DREAM DREAM DREAM 😴
So, good morning sunshine! At least I don't have to buy cases of "Git Rot" nor boxes of #8 Robertson drive brass screws ... but in reality, I'd love the journey as much as the sweet dream. Ah, gettin' old ain't for sissies ...
It was wash day and IRONING! Yes, Sue, I did get the iron out! I'm beginning to gather things for the RV trip to Sarasota which has three nights of dinner dances and then the trip to Charleston for Randy and Dawn's marriage! Life is pretty darn good.
Well, the afternoon got away on us. If you have lived in Florida, you know the scenario. LOL. Now, it's 630 and we have chicken on the barbecue, wine at the outside patio, a slight breeze and 78°. One could get used to life, retired. But where is that lusty old-scow?
Dinner was great. The wine flowed and we relaxed into the evening. 😘
I love this blog. It brought back lots of great memories. I loved Buchanans. I made some great friends there and we had some wonderful
ReplyDeletetimes there and at the Manitoba Yacht Club.You had the nicest parents. Life was fun in the Manitoba Boating World during the 70's and 80's.