True North - Down East

[DukeCanBuildit]

@Metal Geezer

Hey Thom,

I’ll be watching out for you……and moose.

I was here for Dorian, that other “once in a hundred years” storm we had three years ago. The cottage was rocking and creaking all night - no damage then, minor this time (for me, at least). Fiona was on a much greater scale. The damage to property, crops, trees, and shoreline is incredible. Entire seaside cottages were washed out to sea in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

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[DukeCanBuildit]

Thanks for the heads up about the bridge. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in traffic because of construction. That trip on the north side of the river sounds like a great option - if I only had the time.

I appreciate the tip.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Our cottage community is on a narrow peninsula with the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the north and a salt water bay off the gulf to the south. They farm and harvest mussels and oysters in the bay. It’s relaxing to watch the working boats move around the bay as they work. I took advantage of the nice weather and got a closer look…

Mussel farming is pretty cool - baby mussels are placed in tubular mesh “socks”, lowered into the water and secured to the series of floats you see in picture - they are left to grow and mature in the salt water bay and harvested when they’re just the right size. Truly sustainable - gotta love that.

I ”know a guy” so I can get them fresh out of that bay in front of my cottage the very same day! A little onion, a little lot of garlic, fresh heavy cream, a bit of white wine, some melted butter, bread from the local bakery, a big glass or two of white wine and you’re in heaven.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Early Friday morning, I went looking for a forestry road my GPS accidentally directed me down years ago - good thing I was driving my 2001 Ranger that day. I found the trail and was part way through it when it occurred to me that it might be blocked by fallen trees from Hurricane Fiona. It wasn’t, but there were signs that it had been blocked at some point.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

So, I was having trouble with the Internet connection in PEI and couldn’t upload the pictures and videos I wanted to until I was back home here in Toronto. I loaded up my truck last night and got it ready to leave early this morning for the long trek back home. It was a 5:00 am start and I rolled in around 9:00 pm.

There were a few more tools in the back on the way home. I’m a hard core DeWalt guy and always need tools at the cottage, but outfitting it with pro grade tools can be pricey. I’ve found that Ryobi tools are very reliable, perform well, and have great versatility with their interchangeable batteries. They are more tool than I need at the cottage but they are priced right.

Since Mrs. DukeCanBuildit is no longer capable of travelling to PEI, I’ll likely be selling this cottage in the Spring. It will be easy enough to sell furnished (at a premium, of course) but I wouldn’t want to let it go with that jobsite table saw, mitre saw, and duffle bag full of cordless tools - they are six years old but are like new - hardly used. Someone left a cooler there and it proved handy for the trip home.

The Ranger was super comfortable, got decent gas mileage and performed as expected - no issues. I saw a couple 5G Rangers in PEI but none while driving through New Brunswick and Quebec. Odd, but they sure seem to have a thing for Gladiators in Quebec. It was a great trip and a good experience - I managed to make all the needed repairs and I can’t wait to go back one final time again in the Spring.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I wasn’t able to upload this video until now either. I took it when visiting the World’s Longest Covered Bridge in Hartland, NB.

It might be the slowest 1/4 mile on record but it was kind of interesting to drive through it - single lane - 20 km/hr (15 mph).

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

When you’ve driven half way across the country to fix storm damage and the local seamless gutter guys can’t get to your place because they’re busy replacing a crap ton of twisted gutters, you make sure you can buy enough material to do it yourself.

And you know the gutters you can source will not have the same profile as the gutters on your place, so you can’t just get one 10’ piece of gutter to replace the 7’ damaged section. You need to buy everything to replace the entire 40’ run, including end caps, coupling joints, an outlet, hangers, etc. Ugh! It’s a lot of work and money but you order it.

So, what do you do when you order your materials online (plenty showing in inventory online and the other local sources have none) and Home Depot cancels 99% of your order because they only have the aluminum fascia in stock and none of the gutter?

You replace the section of damaged fascia and decide that having a working gutter on the cottage is the most important thing. Then you look over at your shed, have an epiphany, apologize for what you’re about to do, and amputate 8’ of its gutter with the left side end cap and splice it into the cottage - it’s the exact same profile, so it can be done - there’s a trick to it but DukeCanBuildit. The shed can wait until the gutter guys aren’t so busy - should only be about $100 for them to make it whole again. Until then it will have a big scar and a noticeable limp. ?

A little cleaning and a rattle can of white paint to blend it all together next Spring and it will be like the damage to the cottage never happened. Pics or it didn’t happen, right?

It’s a good thing I had a bundle of shingles in the shed and was able to take care of the issues with the roof. No water damage inside and at least I know it’s buttoned up from the elements. There were a few torn screens but I have a roll of screen and spline in the shed as well and made the repairs.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

A tip for folks travelling by car through Quebec…

They have excellent rest areas with picnic tables and restrooms with easy highway access. They were super clean and well kept with lots of trash cans and plenty of parking, even for trailers, fifth wheels, motor homes and big rigs. A perfect place to stretch your legs and have lunch. There appeared to be concession stands around the back side of the restrooms that were boarded up - not sure if they’re seasonal or simply no longer operating. Maybe @CB750F knows more about them?

These are terrible photos but I thought it was worth posting because they really are nice spots.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

One last detail for folks who like the numbers.

4,049 kms
12.3 litres per 100 kms

2,515 miles
19.1 mpg

Considering the way my truck is set up (canopy, roof rack, hard cases on the rack, levelled, bigger A/T tires, wide fender flares) and being loaded up with a lot of tools, I’m fine with those numbers.

If I was concerned about my fuel consumption, my truck would still look like this…..?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Every trip has a misadventure and this one was no different. Not that anything happened to me or my truck. My wife was annoyed because she thought she heard the neighbour tearing up cardboard and wheeling their recycling bin out to the street at 5:00 on Friday morning.

Garbage day is Wednesday. Crap! I asked her to look out the window and see if the shed door was still locked - nope, she said it looked like it was open. That was no garbage bin she heard being wheeled away - that was my DeWALT cordless lawn mower, leaf blower and trimmer.

I came home to this…?

 

[Highlander]

Every trip has a misadventure and this one was no different. Not that anything happened to me or my truck. My wife was annoyed because she thought she heard the neighbour tearing up cardboard and wheeling their recycling bin out to the street at 5:00 on Friday morning.

Garbage day is Wednesday. Crap! I asked her to look out the window and see if the shed door was still locked - nope, she said it looked like it was open. That was no garbage bin she heard being wheeled away - that was my DeWALT cordless lawn mower, leaf blower and trimmer.

I came home to this…?

Too bad about your loss. The only truly perfect neighborhood is one where the next house is 500 acres away.

Frank

 

[AzScorpion]

2,515 miles
19.1 mpg

Considering the way my truck is set up (canopy, roof rack, hard cases on the rack, levelled, bigger A/T tires, wide fender flares) and being loaded up with a lot of tools, I’m fine with those numbers.

If I was concerned about my fuel consumption, my truck would still look like this…..?

You mean this, right?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

You mean this, right?

They’re the same, right? ?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Too bad about your loss. The only truly perfect neighborhood is one where the next house is 500 acres away.

Frank

Thanks Frank - it’s a good thing my tools were handy - like I needed another project! After a coffee and some breakfast, all is right with the world once again…

 

[Highlander]

Thanks Frank - it’s a good thing my tools were handy - like I needed another project! After a coffee and some breakfast, all is right with the world once again…

Have you thought about tamperproof exterior door hinges? I'm sure they won't come back again, but others might.

Frank

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