My sister and brother-in-law arrived for the weekend from Alberta. I was hoping for a sunny weekend to take Springer for a good run, unfortunately the rain gods played against us and it remained windy with intermittent rain for most of the week. We managed to take off from Palm Harbourside Marina on Saturday and spent a few hours close to Gabriola Island. I didn't want to make anybody seasick by venturing too far out, so we stayed fairly close to home.
My sister has never operated a boat, but I conned her into sitting in a helm chair
and I left for a cup of coffee. She did really well. She kept the boat straight and didn't hit anything.
After returning back to the Marina, I noticed one of the boats had a total winter cover. The cover was built by Lohman Sail and Covers in Ladysmith,
( www.boatcovers.ca ) and I noticed the material was like a sail cloth material, very lite and easy to work with. After talking to the owner of the boat, I was sold on the idea. Winter covers like this in the past have been very difficult to work with. The material was very thick, heavy to work with and very expensive.
On Sunday, Sherry and I drove to Ladysmith to discuss the pros and cons of the winter slipcover with the Lohmans. It didn't take very long, and I decided to have one built for Springer. We paid the deposit and will have delivery in 12 weeks. To view the boat, go to www.boatcovers.ca
We should be able to get 10 years of use which is quite cheap when you consider not having to pay for a boat house. Installing the tarp for the first time will take approximately 2 hours, however when you've done it a few times they say it is easy to install in less than one hour.
