Bernie

If you say I have to take Friday off I can be the most awesome guy with a chainsaw you ever seen.

First of all Kennyman I have my Grandfather to thank for his foresight. I never met the man but from what I have heard about him he was very talented. He gave each one of his children a piece of the island. So in that I was fortunate enough to have the lake as a playground growing up. All my life I could never get enough of being there. The original cottage was built in the 1920's so lots of work to do yet.

LOL. I was in the doghouse a few times too after spending all the time on it.

Have yourself a fine time Joe.

Thank you all. Cliff you may have a long wait. You will have to come before its complete as I wont live long enough to finish all the plans I have.

TJ, I know how you feel about the place. It's beautiful. Good stuff! Feels good to get up there doesn't it. Lots more snow up that way. Does the watershed from there go into Nipissing? Hope it does because there isn't enough snow around here to bring the lake up in the spring.

What made it easier Solo is the fact it was an existing structure. A permit to move was required. $25 bucks. The first time I approched the building inspector he told me "no problem, all you need is the permit to move". Ya, right. Should have got it right then and there. Two months later when I went to get it he says "you need to get an engineers report on your dock before you move it" Damn! So later that same day one of my customers walks in. He's an engineer. I showed him the pictures I took of the construction process. He says "you made that from drill rod? That would hold a freight train!". Wow, another stroke of luck! He says make me up a drawing of your construction and I will help you out. Thanks very much Bill!

I took that last shot in January Mike. Another added bonus of having the boathouse is storing it there.

4 years ago I acquired My Grandparents cottage. It was almost beyond repair but I couldn't afford to build new. Kind of glad anyway because it teaches you much along the way. Fortunately I have access to lots of tools and equipment and a family with a vast array of skills. First thing I needed to do was rebuild the dock. It was in poor condition and I needed a place to tie the boat. So off to get the necessary permits. It was relatively easy because of the way I built it. Drive the pipes down through the sand and mud to bedrock in the winter and weld them together to make a crib in four points. It was a little cold on the fingers but man did it turn out great. The cottage had virtually no insulation and had to bundle up with lots of blankets overnight on the weekends. So after this job was complete I now had a really nice solid dock. The plan was to build a boathouse in a few years after the cottage was getting overhauled. Well fortune came my way when visiting a cottage on a nearby island. He was telling me he was going to build a larger boathouse. I looked at his old one and thought to myself "geez this one looks like it may just fit good on my dock". So I asked the good fellow "what are your plans for the old one?" His reply was "do you want it? He didn't have to ask me twice. I went and grabbed a tape measure and low and behold it would fit perfect. I couldn't believe my luck. Well to some folks this may be a task too large but I felt that it could be done. The dock top surrounding the old boathouse was redone in recent years and would be great for bracing up the building for the move. It turned out that it wasn't quite enough material but the extra required would be put to use again somewhere. I worked every weekend at it in October before the freeze up and continued again late December. Finally the ice thickness had developed enough to give it the mighty pull. I was worried the ice may not get thick enough. We had a abnormally mild winter. Once we got it over to my location it took my father and I two days to get it up on the dock as my dock was substantially higher than the one we removed it from. A couple of come alongs, a bunch of chain, a few more chunks of lumber and maybe a few choice words muttered under my breath and it was there, This past summer I found a local sawmill that could match the old wood siding to replace the ones that were rotted at the bottom. The roof structure didn't look strong enough for me so that was also braced over the summer. Changed the old two door boat entry into one and moved the man door over to the other side. A few coats of paint and wow, it looks like it always was there. More to do on it yet but it is functional. Boy is it nice to have no more wet seats and fogged up windshields. There were a few other trials and tribulations along the way but thats the basic story.Hope you enjoyed this. Take care all.....Bernie G

I know what you mean there Joe. There were a few bands in the past that didn't suit my ear. Now they are a favorite. This band sounds familiar right away but can't put my ear on it why. It is good music, the lyrics are secondary at this point. Do they get much airplay on the stations down there? They don't here.

Wow. Good to see stuff like this solved here.

So if you dropped your wallet it's your mistake. Someone else gets to keep it? Same thing. My conscience would not allow me to do that.

Im glad Bunk kept after you to complete that young fella. Well done!. Thank you for taking the time to do it for us.

I really enjoy most of the Eagles tunes Cliff. That one is one of my personal favorites. Parking music from the 70's. Ha

Wow that's for sure Joe. Roush has some good cars though. Jimmy sure didn't have it today, unusual for him. Hard licks by Tony and Jeff into the walls. Thought Jeff may have gotten hurt bad in his collision. Did you see the interview with Tony after his crash? Definitely messed his marbles.

Sounds good Gerritt. Have to load em up on a CD and give it a listen on the stereo. Do I hear a hint of Zepplin in there?

Years ago I may not have returned it. Now with a few years of life experience there would be no question it would be taken back or paid for.

Thanks Gerritt. At the cottage on dial up. Will check them out tonight when I get home.

We use one at our hunt camp to keep the generator battery charged. Works great! Keeps them from freezing in the periods in between visits. Also good for vehicles sitting for a month or two without being driven.

I find the French is better fishing when the water warms up in July and August. They may be there in the early going too but usually don't head down there because the fishing is good in the South Bay area. Carp is right about how beautiful it is. It's nice to go just for the scenery.

Or maybe take the kids waterskiing. Just to cool my temper.

I see guys targeting bass from May 24 weekend until bass season all the time. When I see them casting in towards my dock with a topwater they catch hell from me. They mouth back and say there is nothing illegal what they are doing. Hmmmm? Gets me some hot under the collar but I tend to leave it at that point. Not much for heated arguments.

Hey guys, thanks for the advise. Tinman, thank you for the PM and the advise offered there. It was informative for sure. Thanks Big Cliiff,the oil around the lake would not be a good thing if it leaked. Not likely the tank would ever be filled but the risk is there. Joe, the antifreeze idea sounds good if required. The furnace would be mounted under the cottage so no piping will be needed. Art, the wood stove keeps the living room and kitchen warm enough but the bedrooms tend to get a little chilly without the electric heaters on. Central heat is what I'm looking for. An outfit like that would be great for at home though. Karen and I have talked about installing a natural gas one in the living room. Would like one at home that can operate without hydro in case of a power failure. Gerritt, thank you for your kindness. If you can get me a roundabout price on one so I can start a budget on the whole thing that would be great.

I think I will start looking for a high efficiency propane furnace. The only concern I have with it will be the water condensate freezing as it will be exposed to freezing conditions after the weekend is over. So the type I get will need to fully drain the system as it is running. Used to be licensed to do Propane conversions on vehicles but let the certificate slide. I have a couple of licensed friends who can inspect the job at completion. Interesting on the abs pipes Wayne. My home furnace pipes are at least 20 years old. I will check them out for cracks. Thanks for the heads up.