Cruising Adventures of the Red Witch

Having Little Red tied up at the dock on Link Lake, we were able to take advantage of the summer weather for a few day trips and one camping trip.   Falcon loves to be outside exploring, and he is very interested in seeing everything from a little ant to catching a fish.    On one of our day trips we stopped at one of the many beaches and Jason cleared a trail into a beautiful waterfall.   Away from the lake shore, and surrounded by the moisture from the waterfall, there were many wild blueberry bushes loaded with beautiful berries.   The pleasure of picking and eating fresh, wild blueberries is something that we look forward to in Ocean Falls, and this year did not disappoint us.   The berries were big and juicy, and Falcon quickly learned how to enjoy the picking and eating of fresh berries. This past summer was also particularly good for enjoying salmon berries, huckleberries, and raspberries.

After weeks of rain, our good weather finally arrived in June, and we were hard at work rebuilding our boat.   With my parents here over that time period to help with watching Falcon, both Jason and I were able to put in the much-needed time to get "Little Red" ready for the water once again.   With my dad here to help with replacing the axle on the boat trailer, cutting the fibreglass, and as a third set of hands during the longer days of fibreglassing, things went smoothly.   During the first week of July, Little Red got her coats of paint, the controls and steering wheel were re-installed, brand new seats were put in, and the outboard motor was remounted.   Then, finally, around the middle of July we got to launch her once again, and Little Red spent the rest of the summer up on Link Lake.  

After a successful spring of halibut fishing, prawning and crabbing, we hauled out our little red boat to do some maintenance.   However, our relatively small project quickly snowballed as we discovered that her transom core was rotten, and so was the floor.   We rigged up a lifting system to get the outboard motor off of the boat, and when we cut the back fibreglass of the transom away we were able to grab out handfuls of the rotten plywood core.   It did not take us too long to get the floor and transom removed, and the paint sanded, including making a cardboard template for the cutting of a new transom. Since the job of fibreglassing is very sensitive to any moisture in the air we had to wait for good weather to be able to start the reconstruction.

We had some lovely weather this past spring in Ocean Falls, and we enjoyed some fun day-trips in the canoe out on First Lake. The first trip was when there was still some snow on the ground, so not quite warm enough to play in the water.  However, as spring progressed we had some very warm days.  On one such day, the lake was very calm for canoeing, and after arriving at a spot near the end of the lake we spent some time on a beautiful sandy beach.   We played in the water and built sandcastles with Falcon, and took time to relax and have a campfire picnic.  

  Since arriving home in Ocean Falls in May of 2023 we have done quite a bit of prawning, crabbing, and fishing.   Falcon has gotten to see a small octopus up close. He was curious to get to touch some prawns as we took them from the traps. Falcon liked to help with the shucking of the crab.  And, he was often our measuring guide for how big our salmon and halibut were.   We also often enjoyed taking a break from fishing by spending some time at one of the outer beaches.   Falcon loves to explore and throw rocks.  

Falcon, Jason, and I had a lot of fun this past winter with Falcon having his first experience of snow, and having his first Birthday.   We also got to go out in search of our own "perfect" Christmas tree. While Falcon was a little unsure about meeting with Santa Claus, he did enjoy the decorations on the tree.  We had a family Christmas with my parents joining us in Ocean Falls for a couple of weeks.   Falcon got to experience his first toboggan ride, and we enjoyed some wonderful snowy walks through the woods.   With lots of snow, and Falcon taking his first independent steps over the Christmas holidays, together with many other "firsts", it was a winter to remember.