Big Cliff

Years ago when I lived in French River we saw many of them, I was out picking worms one night and had one actually come at me, I kept backing away from it but inspite of what MNR will tell you, it was quite agressive. Back in the late 60's MNR denied there were any in the area. My Mother-in-law attended a community meeting and one of the topics was the snakes being seen in the area. I don't know the name of the MNR rep that was chairing the meeting but when the topic was mentioned he insisted there were none in the area. Without a word, my Mother-in-law walked up to the front with a sac in her hand and plunked it down on the table right in front of them, yup, inside the bag were two good size ones, alive and well. As they just about fell over each other trying to get away from the table they finally had to agree that there MIGHT be the odd one in the area LOL. She laughed about the look on that MNR reps face for years after that. In loving memory of Sibble (Mary) Mines; gosh I miss that woman!

So, I assume you are going to insure this package so what happens down the road if it gets stolen or damaged and the insurance company wants to see copies or receipts or anything to prove what you paid for it? Personally I'd do it right and never have to worry about it again but that's just me.

There is all kinds of open water in front of my place today, there were sleds and ATV running all over out there on Saturday. Conditions are changing almost hourly with all this rain and wind, I'll wait until I can shore fish or get out in a boat.

Same as you would with bunks but it is easier, guide poles/rollers really simplify the process.

I'll bet he has been the BUTT of a lote of jokes! : Happy birthday Rocket!

Louis, if you haven't cut the trailer light wires yet, see if you can just pick up an extension harness at CTC it will have the plug on both ends and will save you having to cut and splice wires. Just give the plugs a light coating of vasaline before you put them together and that will keep them from corroding. If CTC doesn't have one then any RV place should.

Can you post a picture? I use to work for EZ-Loader building boat trailers but I am having trouble understanding why you are having a problem. If I can see what you have to work with, I probably have the tools to do the job and I could run down there on Thursday and do it for you.

It's really not that hard at all, just drive down any country road in this area about an hour after sunrise and you are almost certian to see a flock or two of them. Now vehicle wheel placement and throttle controle are critical in these situations, you want to make sure you straddle the bird and not let him get off the ground (20 lbs of turkey @ 80-100 km/h can really mess up a rad), a good head shot with the bumper is usually sufficent and if you roll him right you can save yourself a lot of plucking. Or, you can go sit in the bush, and hope you are smarter than a Tom. Good luck and enjoy!

Sorry to hear this Terry, I'll keep an eye open in the Lindsay area and will deliver flyers to the local shops tomorrow.

BnB, no problem I will try to give everyone about two weeks notice and probably try to set it up for the third weekend in May so that those that want to can come and fish and get their boat inspected too all in one trip.

No Terry if it doesn't pass, he will tell you what you need to do to comply (it's up to you to do it or not as you see fit) however if you were to get stopped out on the water and your boat didn't pass, you could be charged. This inspection is for pleasure craft, fishing boats like you and I have and even if you do get the sticker now, it doesn't mean you couldn't get stopped out on the water but if you have all the proper safety gear and have complied then you have nothing to worry about. If you get the sticker now, then remove the safety gear and you get stopped, then you could still get charged. For me, it's piece of mind, I like knowing that I have everything up to standard, little things like taking your fire extinguisher and turning it upside down and giving it a smack with a rubber mallett every once in a while to insure that if/when you do need it it will work properly are just some of the things that could help save a life. It's one of those things, if you want to do it you do, if you don't want to..... your choice. Gord said he would like to allow between 30-45 minutes per boat so that he would have time to do a proper inspection and answer any questions etc. Seems like a good investment of time to me.

I asked this question of my friend who teaches the boating safety course and here is his reply: "Hi Cliff.....this question comes up every time we teach Safe Boating....coming up with a "black & white" answer is difficult....common sense prevails! Our explanation is as follows..... The prudent mariner takes every possible precaution to ensure they return safely to port after every voyage. That means using whatever safety mechanisms are available including a passive radar reflector when visibility is degraded in an area where other, large, fast moving marine traffic can be reasonably expected! This is especially crucial when boating in or near commercial shipping lanes! Reducing speed, turning on running lights, donning life jackets, posting a lookout, listening for other craft, sounding the appropriate sound signals and anchoring if conditions warrant are also strongly suggested. Is someone likely to be cited for not having a passive radar reflector hoisted in a light mist? Probably not, but "better safe than sorry!" Hope this helps a little...... Gord" Hope this helps Gerritt. Cliff

Sorry for any confusion guys, yes, it is the Pleasure Craft Courtesy Check.

Moe, check out Xplornet, apparently they will have coverage to most rural areas by this summer. Cost me $100.00 for instalation/equipment and the package I bought is $29.95 a month. I bought the slowest package 300 kbps but it is still so much faster than I had on dialup and actually I have done several speed tests and I am getting much better speeds than what I am paying for.

Try to get a little pressure on that nut from the back (a pair of curved needle nose pliars might do it) or put some pressure on the back of the wheel so that it pushes against the nut then try turning it off and hope you can catch some thread, might just do the trick and it can't do any harm.

No wonder there are so many commedians out of work, they are all hanging out here ya, I did get one last year but didn't take any pictures.

If you can't get at it with a torch for some reason, give it a good soaking with penetrating oil and see if that will help. There is a tool called a nut splitter that you should be able to pick up at CTC or a hammer and chisel. Take a hacksaw and cut through the nut try not to mess up the threads on the bolt if you need to keep it.

Finally! they figured out what the problem was (actually were). A conflict between towers and someone hadn't set up my account speeds properly. The insatller came back today and repositioned my antenna so that I have a better quality signal but my speeds were still way below what they should have been so he got on the phone to the office and got a tech that knew what he was doing. The tech reset some things and all of a sudden my speeds are way up there and actually exceed the package I bought into. To top it all off they even gave me a free months service. Thank you Xplornet and Dital City

That's the one! And you'd be welcome to spend the weekend here if you would like. I'm not sure of the date yet, we'll see how many people are interested. He lives in Godrich so he'll be coming down here for a weekend and do the inspections then, he needs to know how many people will be coming so he can make sure to have enough stuff with him. Makes a lot of sense to me to get it done rather than being checked out on the water and getting charged if you don't comply! Thought it was real nice of him to offer to come all the way down here and do it for free!

A good friend of mine is licenced to do the boat safety inspections and he would be willing to come down to Lindsay at some point this spring and has offered to do the full and proper Coast Guard boat safety inspections for I and any friends who would like them. There is no charge and if your boat passes you get the sticker and a copy of the inspection is filed with (I think he said Dept. of Transport) etc. If it doesn't pass then he would give you a list of what you do need to get a pass. It would be done by appointment only and you would have to bring your boat to my place by trailer or water and takes about 30-45 minutes. Let me know if you are interested and we'll work things out from there.

A friend has come up with a new product for the hunting/fishing industry and is just working on the advertising materials for the hunting side of it. He needs a picture of a bow hunter in his camo prefferably with a deer in the picture. If anyone can help it would be much appreciated and I would need permission to use the picture. (not sure what is required here perhaps TJ could email me a copy of a waver that he uses or something). There is no money involved but I can probably swing some free samples of the product for who ever submits the picture that gets used. Thanks Big Cliff

I have the perfect spot for you if you don't mind driving over to Lindsay (and you won't have to work at it). There is a variety of situations available from hard woods, cedar swamp some small ponds, meadows, an old apple orchard and if you want to do some water work in the lake, you just have to come over to my place. let me know if it will help youand I'll supply more information.

I am not a very fast typest (but I have been getting lots of practice) I just spent an hour typing out a post to add to hookset's thread, went to up load it, my link failed, and I lost everything. I will try to do this in point form: Xplornet technicial support, especially level II is awesome (IF YOU CAN EVER GET THROUGH TO THEM). I have logged many hours on hold untile I finally gave up. They don't seem to care. Don't believe every thing the installer tells you: We were given a lot of "UNtruths" when we compaired what Xplornet Tech support told us vs what the installer told us. i.e. Installer told us we were getting really good speeds, Xplornet tech told us our up load was only 44% down load was about 30% of what they should be. Insataller told us that leaves on trees wouldn't affect our signal, Xplornet Tech told us that he would be surprised if we even had service here once the leaves got on the trees (with our present set up). Installer told us that rain and snow wouldn't affect our signal, (well, lets just say that I already know better but that was confirmed by the Xplornet Tech.). I have always said that Bell had the worst customer service in the world but I think I owe them an appology, I will however admit that at least when I do get through to Xplornet I can understand them. As it stands right now Xplornet is sending a work order to our dealer to reposition our antenna (up on our tower which is some 40' high) and following up with me in about a week (right after my 30 day money back guarantee is up) It's OK, I've made them note all the problems I have had and the fact that I have been trying to co-operate with them so the 30 days has been extended. OH, and the best part of all of this is that the dealer that we went through for all of this lives just down the road from me!!!!!!!!! Hope I get some service!

I post specific spots and even GPS Lat/long lots of times. I even posted the coordinates for spot right out in front of my house once and watched for a couple of weeks to see how mant people fished there, None! (could be no one believed me) But if you really want to know my secret holes you have to come fishing with me and unless I know you well and trust you, you will never know all my best ones or what I was using. Actually, If I don't trust you, you won't be going fishing with me anyway. If someone asks me for help and I think it might infinge on someone elses enjoyment or if it is a spot someone has taken me in confidance then I don't violate that confidance. If I feel that I can help someone and they have shown a willingness to help others then I often supply the information via PM or email. I have been fortunat enough to be able to help a few people here over the years and have received just as much if not more help in return. I guess about the only rule I worry about is to "do unto others". Seems to work for me anyway.

I know first hand what you and the rest of the family are going through at this point but as others have said, he is in the best care available and you have to be strong for him and have faith in the people that are caring for him ant the technology that is available today. I'll be saying a prayer, keeping my fingers crossed and waiting for your update!