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Having the hull finished at the welding shop is a major step.  Chinook now looks (mostly) like a real sailing yacht.  Super, super exciting. Welding done, the hull is put onboard a dolly to be removed from the shop. From the dolly, Chinook is lifted onto a truck bed for transport. This is the fastest it will ever go! A la prochaine! The hull is on in its way to Cherbourg to be given a coat of paint, then fitted out with electrical, plumbing, cabinets, furniture, standing and running rigging and all sorts of other expensive bits and pieces.

While in France, we get to help with the renovation of a 300+ year old house in a 1200+ year old village. Does that make it a ‘newer’ neighborhood? We are so impressed by the work Florence is doing and her courage to take on this job. This is Florence's new place in Obernai.  It was originally part of Fauburg. Fauburg (light brown) was annexed by Obernai (dark brown) somewhere between 741 and 1216 BCE This is how it started out.  Pretty plain. Open the walls and voila!  Beautiful beams!  Those are staying. A big mess, but the results are going to be worth it. The ceiling is coming down, too.  More timber beams! A picture from the attic, looking down at the carnage. One room mostly clean. Sandblasting the timber beams. New and old wall coverings, new and old timber beams Framed walls to hold the insulation, new windows and electrical conduit. Framing around the timber beams. Starting to take shape! Lunch at the hopefully-soon renovated farmhouse across the lane....

It's our last night in Canmore. Tomorrow, we head to Calgary then a Paris-bound plane on Tuesday.  It is both incredibly exciting but also a little odd. It has been a bigger challenge than we had anticipated, packing up our perfect life.  We love living in Canmore with all the fun activities and a marvellous circle of friends.  Leaving now, as the snow has melted and the trees have leaves with the anticipation of summer, is particularly tough.  And weird that our bikes have been sold.  We rode the tandem for the last time.  We have loved that bike.  It is a great way to get around town and you can chat as you go. Many non-cycling friends and even Mum have been ridden round on the tandem.  So many great memories. It was a tough one to part with.  Best way to get around town - and now, she is sold. Paring down on things that we will no longer need has been frightfully difficult. The spare ski jackets, the extra bike helmets, ice skates, xc ski ...

The Skunk Cabbage is named for its distinctive smell - what a name for such a pretty flower!  It is also  known as Swamp Lantern, that I am not sure is much better.  "What's in a name?  That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet" - Shakespeare They are a member of the arum family and grow in swampy, damp places.  Such a colourful and prolific flower on the dark forest floor as we hiked the Wild Pacific Trail.  The Wild Pacific Trail is stunning, with surf pounding the black volcanic rocks, the temperate rain forest with a towering canopy, dark understory and scattered ancient cedars.  The trail includes viewing areas for an artist to set up an easel and paint the spectacular scene or a walker to linger and watch the whales and seals and otters.  There are many beautiful places on this Earth and this is certainly one of them.

 Nomads. Homeless is a misleading term as we still own our half of the duplex in Canmore.  There is another family living there now.  Five days ago, we packed the last few of our possessions (that we hadn't sold, gifted, donated or trashed) into the van and left the driveway.  Now what? An opportunity to see a high-calibre indoor rock climbing competition (courtesy Megan P.'s efforts at qualifying for Western Canada Regionals) was handily located in Surrey, so that meant we could attend the competition and then visit Sean's mom on Vancouver Island. The Hive, set up for competition Megan is Number 265 - waiting for her chance to flash this! Doing their thing, being impressive Watching an indoor climbing competition is always entertaining.  The strength-to-weight ratio of these kids is astounding, never mind their flexibility, endurance, practical application of physics, etc.  Despite an overly hard final round of puzzles (yes, that's what they call the ind...

 While we are reducing and lightening our Canmore footprint, the fabrication team at the Garcia shipyard has been working on the hull.  Here are more pictures. Firstly, the hull now has plates and the seams are welded shut.  It also has a towing point at the stem.   Seriously. Next, it also has portholes.  This is how they start ... just tack welded in. And this is how they are finished. Mmmm, brushed aluminium. This is how we expect the topsides (hull above the waterline) to be finished. The boat also has a centreboard.  This is all 130 kgs of it, being lowered into place.  With the centreboard down, the boat needs nine and half feet (2.9 metres) of water not to touch bottom.  With the centreboard up, she needs only three and three quarter feet (1.14 metres) of water to float. Here, the worker is positioning the pivot into its cradle.  The very beefy pivot pin secured in place. The interior of the hull, showing the solid welds to the ri...