June 18 – We were so excited to hear from the shipping company as the timing for Starship to be picked up is absolutely perfect! Last week we were able to get all the essential boat work done and after one more day preparing her for the big trip, we will be excited to see her get loaded onto the shipping trailer at some point Wednesday afternoon! Our plan is to do the seven-hour drive from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay on Wednesday night so that we arrive at the same time the truck does. Thursday morning we will be launching and then spending the following four days putting up the mast and boom, setting up the rigging and water system as well as any other setup we can get done before we drive back to Winnipeg on June 26. We then have a final week in Winnipeg to finish tying up loose ends and saying our goodbyes before we do the official drive back to Thunder Bay the weekend of July 1 to move on to Starship!

This weekend has been spent packing and connecting with family and friends in this precious time we have left here. Jason is at Lac du Bonnet today having a great Father’s Day with Dylan and family at our aunt’s cabin and I just got back from a really nice afternoon celebrating my Dad with my stepmom and brother.

We are excited and have a million things running through our heads at any given time right now! For me, I am trying my best to not let myself feel overwhelmed with all we still need to organize before we go. Also, as expected, the goodbye visits are starting to feel heavier on the heart, much heavier.

It has taken 30 years for us to get to this point in fulfilling this dream and most people who know me are aware that I am a big Tragically Hip fan. Since we got the exciting news of our boat shipping date a few days ago, I have had Gord Downie’s voice in my head singing:

It’s been a long time running
It’s been a long time coming
It’s been a long, long, long time running
It’s well worth the wait

Boat work – Starship is almost ready to go!

June 13 – Today was a very productive day at the boat we are happy to report! We decided to rig the mast in Thunder Bay instead of right now so this meant I could prepare the mast for transport. This involved wrapping it in plastic and then again wrapping it tightly with shrink wrap. It was a surprisingly time-consuming task but satisfying at the same time!

While I was working on the mast, Jason was busy working on the water intake under the hull for the watermaker we will be installing. He had already mounted the intake but was second-guessing his process and decided that given the fact that it could allow water to leak into the boat, he wanted to make absolutely sure it was watertight. After taking it off, he applied epoxy, and tomorrow we will reinstall the intake.

The third job we tackled today was installing the new steering cable. All went well and tomorrow we just need to connect it to the rudder.

As we sneak closer and closer to the earliest possible date the boat will ship, we possibly only have three work days left. To our absolute delight, we are certain we have time to get everything done! That is hard to believe as it’s been such a long road to get to this point! Tomorrow we will be finishing the intake and steering cable tasks and then moving on to the last of the engine work that needs doing.

Hopefully this Friday the shipping company will be able to tell us when we are scheduled for Starship to make her big trip to Thunder Bay! That would be very helpful as we also are prioritizing time with loved ones right now. Being so busy with preparations on the boat as well as at home, we have not yet fully allowed ourselves to feel the emotions of all the goodbyes we need to do soon. We think that’s a good thing…for our hearts…for the moment.

June 11 – This week and next week are very busy for us as we finish getting the boat ready to ship! The guys at Kinetic Machine Works did a great job cutting and welding the arch that Jason designed. The arch will attach to the stern of the boat and will be used for lifting the dinghy, a place to mount additional solar panels, a lift for the outboard motor, and more.

By the end of the day Friday, Starship was starting to look like a boat again! We just have next week to get everything done in time for the first possible ship date of June 19. We will find out exactly what day the boat will ship at the end of this coming week, but just in case it’s going to be June 19 we have to have her 100% ready to go!

P.S. Thank you very much to the kind anonymous ‘boat fairies’ that have left gifts for us! We have found on the boat a guidebook for Lake Huron, various helpful articles, and a spear gun for fishing!