Gentlemen's weekend this year was scheduled a bit earlier both in the hopes that the weather would be more pleasant but also so that it was still fishing season. It ran from Thursday, 26 September to Sunday, 29 September. Naturally we still got some rain and it was still somewhat cool. The main task was the installing of an insert into the old fireplace and a new smoke stack in place of the old chimney taken down last year.
Now that the new insert is in place a winter trip is required to see if it can reliably heat the whole Cabin on its own!
I arrived Wednesday evening and opened up the Cabin. The weather was nice so I spent every night in my hammock set up outside the bunk room.
The Cabin was in good shape. The work on the kitchen was completed and the logs above the fireplace (which where damp and rotted) were also replaced.
The weather was nice on Thursday. Jon and Jim arrived in the early afternoon. They did some fishing in the Sucker river, mostly losing some lures. We got a fire started in the new fire pit and kept it going the whole weekend.
It seems to be a requirement that it rain during gentlemen's weekend. This year, Friday was the rain day. Though a little work got done in the morning, it rained most of the rest of the day. Most of the guys went out fishing in the cold rain. Bill stuck it out for the longest and came back with two brook trout. He also ended up sleeping for about 12 hours recovering from that expedition.
The weather cleared on Saturday so this is when the bulk of the projects were done. This included the usual cedar shingling which is close to being finished. There was also the processing of a lot of dead wood for use in the winter. But main task was the insert!
The fireplace was finally going to be put back into use, Jon brought up an insert which we then installed. It was a long process driven by Jon with a lot of help from the rest of the guys. It took all day to complete with only a couple of trips into town required. The end result was the guys sitting inside the Cabin, in the dark, watching the fire for hours. It was incredible to have a fire in the fireplace again and to be able to actually watch a fire inside the Cabin.
As usual we all departed on Sunday. The Cabin was closed up and the new insert ready for its real test in the winter. Will it heat the whole Cabin on its own? Will it be more efficient than the existing wood stove? Stay tuned!