Tiring, But Fun and Satisfying

Last weekend was very tiring, but fun and ended with a sense of accomplishment. Debby, my sister came down from Calgary to help me lay laminate flooring in our living/dining room. She had done this before and I had helped Griff lay the same laminate in our study. However, for both of us it had been a while since we had done it.

I spent Friday taking out the rug, underlay and all the staples and nailboards that were holding those in place. It made for a long day what with moving furniture, my bed and TV, back and forth across the room so that I could still use them and yet get the rug out. I left part of the rug in place so that the furniture left in the room would not mar the underfloor. The hardest thing to move was our upright piano. I had visions of it tipping backwards knowing that there would be no way Debby and I could get it upright again. However with a lot of manoeuvring I managed to get it moved into the front hallway.



Saturday morning arrived and I busily got the rest of the furniture moved out of the room, except for the TV and table which was too heavy to move (besides if I moved it out of the room I would lose the satellite connection and we wouldn’t have any music to work to), and was already to start when Debby arrived at 1100. We started by deciding which direction the boards would run and where we would start. We got one row in place and went from there. Trial and error that first day figuring out how the ‘click and lock’ laminate worked. We managed to get one corner of the room done – approximately ¼ of the whole job.


While I made breakfast Sunday morning Debby decided to read the directions since we both felt there must be an easier way to lay the rows of boards than the method we had used on Saturday. As it turned out there was and Sunday went much faster. We were able to get the entire floor laid up to the area where we would need to cut the boards lengthwise. Up until then we, I should say Debby since she did all the saw work, were able to do all the crosscuts with Debby’s circular mitre saw. I was very grateful that she came to help. She worked the saw like a pro and she had the arm strength to push the boards together that I lacked. She also came up with a solution to the one problem area.
On one wall we have a stone fireplace. Trying to figure out how to get the boards cut to correspond to the irregular edge of the stones was puzzling. She suggested that we lay tile on the floor in front of the fireplace and that would give us a straight edge for laying the laminate against. The fireplace has a raised hearth that has black ceramic tile on it so that seemed like a good solution. I went and bought some black tiles and laid them out where they would be and laid some laminate against that. The result was great. When Griff gets back next week we’ll lay the tile and then finish laying the laminate when we can access a table saw to make the lengthwise cuts.




As I said a tiring weekend, but we had a lot of fun and found the results very satisfying.

Update from a Solo in Paradise

Actually Paradise is what BVI calls itself on their licence plates but I really think that it is a false claim compared to most of the other Caribbean islands we have visited.

Anyway, thought I would update my days here although they are not much different from the last blog I wrote. I am going to try to put in some pictures this time though.

So what do I do with my time - well, I work on the boat on the inside

- and I work on the boat on the outside

- and I take walks up very steep hills (this picture is looking back down but of course since I always start from sea level, I had to walk up to get there.

- I look at the views from the tops of the hills I walk up - this is Trellis Bay and the airport on Beef Island. I walk to Trellis Bay quite a bit. About 55 minutes there and 60 minutes back (I am hot and tired then)
- I look at other views from the tops of the hills I walk up - this is East End Bay or Fat Hog Bay, depending on where you are looking. You can see Mystic Journey down there right behind a power boat

- sometimes on my walks I find hidden and Secret Gardens. I found Josiah's Bay quite by accident after walking for about 90 minutes and turning down an unmarked road.

- as you can see it appears to be a good spot to surf.

Meanwhile, on my way back to the boat I thought I had better take a picture of the last anchorage we will ever have dropped the hook for Mystic Journey. I really shouldn't ever say it is the last anything because who knows what may happen. After all, a few years back I probably would have said the last place you can ever expect to see me is sailing on a 49 ft yacht in the Caribbean with my soulmate.

Finally, although I really love being in the sun and on the water and being warm, as I said before, it is not the same at all when I am not with my life partner. The bags you see below have been packed and in the fore cabin since the middle of January. In a hurry Griff?????

20 Sleeps But Who's Counting

20 sleeps – that’s the number of sleeps left until Griff is back with me. It has been a long time since I came back to Canada. Not that it hasn’t been busy.

When I finally got out to the acreage I discovered evidence of bigger leaks than I was lead to believe by Randy – water spots on the ceiling in the study on the main floor. We decided that maybe it would be a good idea to get our insurance agent involved since it now looked like it would be costing more than our deductible. Very glad that we did!

It turned out that there were four major leaks in the two bathrooms as well as a minor one in the ensuite and in the kitchen. These were the result of frozen pipes caused by the renters leaving a window open and the furnace turned off in -30C weather and a blizzard. Of course bathroom leaks cannot easily be fixed without cutting holes in walls. Part of the ceiling in the study also had to be removed because even though the leaks were fixed there was still water leaking from the ceiling. When they opened the ceiling there was insulation present that was soaking wet. Next to be done was patch all the holes and paint. Thankfully the insurance company arranged for that to be done.

Finally, February 1st and everything was done. I moved in and haven’t stopped since then. I discovered that almost every wall in the house had either large holes from nails or dents from moving furniture. I can’t imagine using drywall screws to hang things, but that is what they used as evidenced by some left in place. I spent a few days filling holes and dents. Then I started the process of painting. It turns out that when I am finished every room will have been painted except for one bedroom upstairs and one in the basement. As well the main area in the basement was still not repaired following the flood last spring – I painted the walls and now I am waiting to get the carpet laid then it will be finished as well.

With the help of my brothers I have moved the bins in from one of the outbuildings and have slowly been unpacking them. However, since we decided to wait until Griff is home to move the furniture in I can’t unpack everything because there are no places to put some things and others are for hanging on the walls which I don’t want to do without Griff’s input. I remembered where some things were stored. Unfortunately some of the things I need to live out here – like our dishes – are stored in with the furniture. Thankfully my mother was willing to lend me enough dishes, utensils and pans so that I can at least cook here.

The weather the last week has been very unusual. It has been very foggy. This is a picture looking west along our laneway. There are other farm buildings about 200 meters from the end of the fence. You just can't see it. Because of the fog I stayed at the acreage. The main reason why I was able to get so much accomplished.

This is a picture of our gnome who sits under our cedar bush in the front yard. Notice the expression on his face - he sits under his blanket of snow waiting for the return of Griff and spring just like I am.

I am actually holding out fairly well. The loneliness is worse on some days. I am sure the next 20 days will go past as quickly for me as January has. I know it has been worse for Griff since he doesn't have the friend and family support close by like I do.

Still Crazy After All These Years

Some of you oldies may recognize the title for the blog. I was going to say still here after all this time but the title fit me better.
Well, I am still in East End Bay, also known as Fat Hogs Bay, on Tortola,BVI. We thought it might be better to leave the boat in the water for as long as we could since it supposedly helps to sell boats if they are on the water but it hasn't worked so far. Of course selling/buying a boat is not like buying a house or car, where you can check out what is in the papers, hop in the car and go and take a look at a whole bunch until you find what you want.
I guess in a sense a boat buyer does the same thing but because all the research is done beforehand, you could say that actually "taking a look at a whole bunch" is done by internet.
The next phase of actually going and "kicking the tires and checking the paint job" usually requires buying plane tickets and booking accomodations etc etc so people are much more careful. That is good for the buyer but for us sellers??? - we have no way of knowing how thoroughly people are researching our boat except for knowing the number of people who choose to scan it on the website. Scanning doesn't necessarily mean researching it and just knowing someone has looked doesn't tell us how long or how seriously. People also focus less on looks and more on what the boat has to offer sailing-wise so, it isn't just the kitchen and the bathrooms (as Rob says) that sells the boat.
Anyway, I have filled in my time doing things with the boat that might have gotten done eventually if we had kept the boat but were not a great priority - painting the toe rails, re-varnishing all the varnished surfaces etc etc. There is not really a lot that needs done to Mystic Journey because over the 2 years we have had her we have done all the musts and most of the nice to do's so it is just paying attention now to the small things that may catch a buyers eye. I have also been walking a lot, between weather fronts that have come through regularly giving us lots of rain and wind. I have walked from here to Roadtown (probably 10-12 miles), Roadtown to Nanny Cay (about 9 miles) and back and up and down various steep steep hills that are the norm on these islands. There is a nice beach about a mile away that I go to and I regularly walk to Trellis Bayup by the airport

There is a marina here at the anchorage run by a very nice man called Walter and he has given me wifi access, free water and showers, access to a fairly large selection of DVDs and books and he is quite helpful whenever I need to know things about the island or how to find things.
There are 3 grocery stores quite close although the meat selection is very poor and there is a bakery with the best banana bread on any of the islands.
I still would rather be home with Cheryl working on the acreage. This has been a fantastic adventure and although we could not do the South Pacific thing due to a number of factors, most recently our destructive tenants, I am truly blessed that we have been able to do all we have. There was never any question, however, that our hearts were on the acreage and I need to get home to help Cheryl put it back into shape and make it lovely again

AND, I am coming home, leaving here February 28th, home March 1st. We decided that we would put the boat on the hard in Nanny Cay so it is accessible for Clive, our broker and we will trust that it sells fairly soon. Clive has said that since MJ is a true bluewater cruiser, people looking to buy this type of boat will be just as happy to see her out of the water anyway so they can look at the overall worthiness picture, not just how pretty she looks in the water.
Keep your fingers crossed. We will likely do another blog "when all is said and done"!!
Don't forget to check periodically