Repairs
A few weeks ago we took our first trip out to the cabin for the season to open it up and make sure that nothing had gone drastically wrong over the winter - and by drastically wrong I mean a bear deciding to take up residence in the living room or something equally horrible. Having heard from the neighbours who had been out the week before that the ramp had broken on the dock we knew that we were going to be doing at least some repair work, but not really how much. About a fortnight before we arrived there had apparently been an enormous storm that lashed the lake and it was probably this along with the low water levels grounding one end of the dock that contributed to the rod breaking that the ramp pivots on. There should be a threaded rod between the ends of those two stringers that the ramp rests on
Busted ramp
Here's what's left of the rod
The huge storm also contributed to 17 log booms breaking up and down the lake which meant dozens and dozens of floating logs, making lake navigation interesting to say the least.
The prevailing winds mean that most of them end up lodged against our dock
So a lot of the time was spent moving floating logs with a pike from where they were bumping into the dock to another spot down the beach where they wouldn't cause any damage. Thankfully we were able to find some iron bar at a local welder near Barriere and this allowed us to make a temporary fix for the end of the ramp. The only problem then remaining was how to actually lift the stupid thing up and put it in place, keeping in mind that it must weigh something in the order of 3-400kgs. Needless to say, plenty of pulley systems, leverage and blood sweat and tears were involved to finally get it working again.
The new fulcrum
The best way to relax after a busy day fixing things and hauling large heavy things around is obviously to have a game of Chiang Mai (or Jenga, depending on where you are from) and I'm happy to say we managed to achieve a fairly remarkable 39 levels on our tower before the inevitable collapse.
39 levels!
At least when we broke the Jenga tower we knew exactly how long it was going to take to fix it again!
All in all, it was a pretty decent trip out, although the weather was not exactly cooperative. We got things fixed, the cabins are opened up nicely and we're looking forward to the brand new lake season.
Busted ramp
Here's what's left of the rod
The huge storm also contributed to 17 log booms breaking up and down the lake which meant dozens and dozens of floating logs, making lake navigation interesting to say the least.
The prevailing winds mean that most of them end up lodged against our dock
So a lot of the time was spent moving floating logs with a pike from where they were bumping into the dock to another spot down the beach where they wouldn't cause any damage. Thankfully we were able to find some iron bar at a local welder near Barriere and this allowed us to make a temporary fix for the end of the ramp. The only problem then remaining was how to actually lift the stupid thing up and put it in place, keeping in mind that it must weigh something in the order of 3-400kgs. Needless to say, plenty of pulley systems, leverage and blood sweat and tears were involved to finally get it working again.
The new fulcrum
The best way to relax after a busy day fixing things and hauling large heavy things around is obviously to have a game of Chiang Mai (or Jenga, depending on where you are from) and I'm happy to say we managed to achieve a fairly remarkable 39 levels on our tower before the inevitable collapse.
39 levels!
At least when we broke the Jenga tower we knew exactly how long it was going to take to fix it again!
All in all, it was a pretty decent trip out, although the weather was not exactly cooperative. We got things fixed, the cabins are opened up nicely and we're looking forward to the brand new lake season.
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