Making Lemon-Aid out of a Lemon

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Hey Smitty 716,

Help has arrived in the form of my friend Norm who was the engineer on my favourite fish boat and he and I went over the trailer together and made some plans on how to start repairs and reinforcing the badly damaged areas. All the while talking about the boat and our friend who owned her. So we're having a great visit as well as getting some work done.

Whatever that trailer was backed into was a very solid object, there's impact damage from back to front on the right (starboard) side. some bad, some not so bad. We'll do what we can this visit and Norm will come back to do more whenever he has time.

Our friend who owned the fish boat passed away two years ago and we were joking about him looking down from heaven and wondering how we met! (Facebook-West Coast Fishermen group)

I will take pictures of our efforts on the trailer

Cheers and Goodnight
Lois
 
Hi Everyone.

What a BIG difference having a helper who actually CARES about what needs to be done AND understands it AND has the skills to fix it. My trailer is going to be awesome. The only concern I have is the impact on the back end left cracks from the back to the front in places on the interior above the cupboards but that's okay, its all repairable. Trailer will be squeaky clean soon, Norm is out there washing it as I type this and he's also done a bunch of work on my car that room mate Rob never got to.

The guy I got the trailer from is also here, helping clear out the hoarder mess. However I'll admit that the day jump-started and hasn't slowed down so I HAD to take a break.

More good news, I'm getting a donation of more flooring for the trailer and will be getting a donation of firewood from the same person. Partner Rick is working for it, exchange is good, no $ involved. Ditto with Dave the former trailer owner, he does graphics and will re-do the lettering on my boat for me. AND paint the logos back on the trailer when we paint it next Spring.

Its all great and I'm going to be tired tonight. But I'm happy to be getting rid of the junk and getting the trailer and my car sorted out.

Cheers, I need more tea, I'm still half asleep because of getting going so fast today
 
Hi Everyone,

Making great progress and will be able to post some pics of exterior soon, interior still needs LOTS of work but I was given some of the necessary lumber by 2 different people so will save a few $$ there.

It POURED buckets here last night but trailer is now covered by huge tarp and completely dry inside.

Friend Emmett is going help with final interior "decoration" , friend Sheila is going to do curtains and cushion covers.

Getting plenty of help now and that makes a big difference

I'll be away for a week or so but will post when I get back. My OLD laptop is lousy on Wi-Fi so won't be posting while I'm away

Cheers, Lois
 
Hi Everyone,

Well I went away, had fun for a couple of weeks and then oh drat I got pneumonia and have had it for a month. But while the body was confined to bed, the brain was busy with thoughts of how to get the repairs done.

Rick took out the dividing walls in our carport, which gives me materials to make the sub-floor and a nice big space to work in. Just about over pneumonia, I see my Dr tomorrow, but now Norm has come down with a bad cold so he probably won't be able to visit again until after Christmas. Its been too darn cold to do any work in the trailer, even with a heater, plus having a temporary extra room mate means if we put a heater on in there, we blow a circuit breaker in the house.

So instead of making lemon-aid out of my lemon today, I'll be making chicken soup to cure what ails me.

Happy Holidays everyone, however you care to celebrate this season, we're just having a big meal and relaxing for that day

Cheers, Lois :)
 
PS: Change of tow vehicle as my buddy with the truck wimped out on me, prefers to be a servant to his abusive common-law. A situation I was hoping to get him out of.

Norm to the rescue (again) he found me a 1996 Chevy Astro AWD. It needs work too but will do the job when repaired
 
Thank heavens for Coleman camp ovens, my stove is SO old that I can't get the thermocouple for the oven.

Also thank heavens I'll only be cooking for 2.

Just have to make a trivet to keep the camp oven stable on the stove burner.

When I'm connected to shore power I'll be able to use my toaster oven and other small electric appliances and save propane.

Shore power at home is a problem at the moment as we have more RV's than we do outlets and I can't run a heater at the moment without unplugging Jeff's camper. Ditto for using power tools, we'll be using the battery powered tools and charging them in the house.

Ah well, lots of time to get things done yet. Now that I'm over the pneumonia I had I will be cleaning the trailer again. Norm is coming over after Christmas and we'll do some of the interior repairs.

I think the combination of the trailer and the Chevy Astro will work well. Norm is a Mr Fix It and can carry his tools in the van with our bikes so he has income on the road and I'm going to try writing bits and pieces about the places we visit and sending them to the BCAA magazine.

I know this thread is getting boring but should take a turn for the better soon

Cheers
Lois
 
It's not boring!

I've read it only in bits and pieces. I'm going to need to go back and review the early posts.

It's been an adventure. I'm glad it's coming together for you.
 
An adventure in construction and learning how to fix an RV. Tow vehicle will be most expensive part of job, tracking papers will be the cheapest. Wish the weather would warm up. I want to get the trailer cleaned up because I'm expecting company by New Year's. No place for him to sleep if I don't get a bunch of things moved to the carport.

At least carport is ready to be our work room. Glad we were able to keep most of the wall and closet pieces together

Cheers
Lois
 
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