The First Blog

This is the first blog for the Travels of True North III, our 1977 Canoe Cove 41 Coho trawler which we acquired in August 2015, and which we have been refitting and trying out in preparation for some long journeys in the years ahead, since we both (just about) retired at the end of 2015.

The work-in-progress “Our Brief History of Boating” pages on this site (see menu) will eventually describe how we got to this point in our journey – we’ve done a couple of sections so far.

Meanwhile, in the depths of our Canadian winter, the boat is under wraps at Loyalist Cove Marina in Bath, Ontario (near Kingston and a good 2 1/2 hours by car away).

When we visited the boat recently we stayed at a hotel in Kingston overlooking Confederation Basin, and close to restaurants for dinner with friends Tony and Dianne…

We visited to discuss with the mechanic Dave P and other marina staff the work being done over the winter on the boat – most importantly, the hydraulic steering system, which was misbehaving at the end of last season –  and have the tonnage of the boat officially measured by an appointed surveyor for our application to The Vessel Registry to have True North registered with the Canadian Government…a short video:

Since a registered vessel is given a unique name, we have been lucky to be able to reserve True North III with the people in Ottawa (while we had already called it True North, a name probably common in Canada). Luckily only True North, True North I and True North II are already taken by other registered vessels in the country. Once approved, we’ll add the “III” to the boat, and Greg has prepared the artwork…

Back in Toronto, all sorts of research and paperwork is being done on mechanics and refits, equipment and charts and navigation and permits and licensing and the Great Lakes and the USA and the Bahamas, etc., while detail wood work is being done by Ron and I. For instance, we have augmented a shelf cabinet with a teak tray…

…and rebuilt the steps for inside the engine room…

…as we wait for the ice to melt.

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