There is a big crew down for the weekend. Eric, Des, Parker & Dane, with Len & Darlene. Jared and Eric’s friend Barret and Scott.
Crib #2 is the first to be rebuilt. During 2022 the high water caused it to separate under the water line and the top half floated off to be recovered and re-attached and levelled up to the new height.
Crib #2 to the shore needed a new concrete pad as the original crumbled away so Scott forms up a bit of custom work.
To mix the concrete the old wheel barrow is pressed into service. This wheel barrow has been at the cottage from the very start and I can remember it from my parents house for years before that. A bit of vintage equipment that gets a surprising amount of use.
The original Crib #1 needed to be totally replaced. It was built from railroad ties that were nailed and bolted together but over 40 years in the water took their toll and there was not much left.
While Eric and Scott are lining things up with Crib #2 and the shore, Jared is busy building Crib#1
The pile of rock in the foreground was emptied out of the old crib and will go back into the new crib. Lots of manpower involved everywhere in this project. Between the rocks and Jared you can see the old railroad ties from the original Crib #1
Once Crib #1 is built it is floated into place.
But the bottom of the lake was hiding some surprises that presented a challenge to getting Crib #1 into the desired place. This took quite a bit of time and the muscle power of all the guys plus the leverage of a 6′ iron bar borrowed from the neighbour to move a large rock.
Some of us were on the shore watching the young guys work on the problem. I was farther back with the camera.🙂
Next up is building and positioning the beams to connect Crib #1 to Crib #2
After a long morning the crew breaks for lunch prepared by Darlene & Des.
After lunch with the beams connecting Crib #1 & #2 in place, more beams and posts are put in to join the shore to Crib #1
By the end of the day all of the posts and beams are in place and some joists are being positioned. The crib work seems to get all the attention but there is a complex post and beam going along the shoreline to carry all the joists from the cribs.
Fabulous progress was made in a single weekend thanks to a very hard working crew. My heart felt thanks to all. ❤️