Made it to the cottage for Thanksgiving weekend, and the wonderful occurrence of a meeting of the entire family! Mom and Dad; John, my sister Susan, and daughters Rachel and Natalie; Jeff, my sister Pamela, and their daughter Sophie; and Katherine and I with Alexander and Rudi.
Thanksgiving weekend also generally means 'closing' the cottage, although being a four season home, what it really means is storing everything used in the summer that you cannot leave outside over the winter. The paddleboat and wooden stairs come up from the lake, and for the first time this year, I built indoor canoe storage! There was no way I would be leaving an H20 composite canoe on blocks and under a tarp outdoors over the winter.
Building the canoe storage system was a four person operation. My dad Roger offered engineering advice while enjoying a
Sleeman Honey Brown Lager. Jeff assisted with experiential advice and opinion while enjoying a
Unibrou Chambly Maudite, a beautiful strong amber ale. John cut the support hangers and made tools available while sipping a
Honey Brown, and I measured and installed the brackets while also enjoying a
Sleeman. Then John and I raised the canoe and slung it in postion!
An unexpected bonus is the fact that there is enough room to store a second full size canoe (16' or more) underneath the first, and even a 15' solo underneath the first two!
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