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(Note: This blog entry represents a combination of writings and pictures already posted about our Cool Change II, Land Yacht Adventures 2021 through Cindy via Facebook and Rick via email. So for some of you, the following posts may be duplicative, but for others, this is the first time you are seeing them. We are repeating them here to centralize the record and share our experiences more broadly.)
RICK’S POST:
The drive from New York to my sister Chrys’s home in New Hampshire was one of the most scenic parts of the land yacht voyage to date. We followed the mostly two lane Highway 7 from Glenville, NY through southern Vermont and up into New Hampshire. The Highway cut through the Green Mountain National Forest and felt very remote. We drove alongside rivers and creeks with trees and other greenery everywhere. There were lots of signs advertising Vermont maple syrup from farmers along the way.
Unfortunately, along with the remoteness, there was virtually no cell service most of the way. I was hoping to get an appointment with a welder that could do some work on the frame of our trailer. Recently while just doing a routine inspection of the trailer, I had discovered what looked to be some serious cracks on the frame of the trailer. It appeared to me to be an original factory defect because the frame on each side of the trailer was cracked in the same place. There was a piece of metal gusset that was welded on both sides that looked like it was intended to give extra strength to the frame that I think ultimately contributed to the failure. As we were going to be staying a full week with my sister’s family, this would be a good time to arrange for getting the repair work completed.
We knew better than to try to contact an RV dealer about doing the work because our experience to date had been that they have too much work. Due to the pandemic, RV sales have been through the roof and most service departments are booking most of their service time with dealer prep of new units that have sold. Any RV repair work appointments are being scheduled weeks and sometimes months ahead. Besides, any welding work would probably be subbed out to a mobile weld shop anyway.
We had found a company near Gilford called East Coast Welding that advertised mobile service so we gave them a call. I explained the situation to the man that answered and told him we would be in the area for a week. He told me that he too was really backed up with work and could not make a commitment. He told us we could bring it by his shop and he would take a look in case he could somehow find the time to fit our repair job into his schedule. During our conversation we lost the connection and I was unable to get a good enough cell signal to call him back over the next couple of hours so I gave up and just planned on making contact after we arrived at my sister’s home.
My sister Chrys had told us to call her when we got close so she could be outside to direct us to where we could park the rig. The road they live on is very narrow and has a fair amount of traffic so it was awkward getting backed in through a narrow gateway onto a driveway/lawn area in back of their house. We would only be there for a few days and then would be moving the rig to a friend of Chrys’s that owns a horse property and has plenty of parking area. Chrys had asked her if we could park there while were visiting, as well as for about a month a bit later when we would be flying home.
I told Chrys about our issue with needing a welder and she said we should check in with her husband Barry on it when he got home. Barry runs a local marina and is a boat broker in the area so has lots of contacts with the trades in the area. When I talked to Barry, he told me he had a welder that he used for all his marine work and he was pretty sure he could get him to do the work because Barry rents him what he called “the best slip in the marina!” It turned out that the welder Barry was talking about, was the same person I had contacted on the way to New Hampshire.
Sure enough, he remembered me and told Barry I should bring the rig to his shop close by the marina when we got back from spending a few days at the island house. That really came as a relief as I did not want to delay getting cracks in the frame repaired. The problem was only going to get worse, the more miles we put on it.
So we packed up things for a few nights’ stay at the island house. That evening, Barry took Chrys, Cindy and I, their daughter Maria, and their son Marky out to the island. The properties on the lake have become very popular over the last decade. Even though the lake has 365 islands, 274 of which are inhabited, properties are expensive and hard to find, and every one of the available boat slips is taken. The lake itself is 10 miles wide and 28 miles long.
Chrys and Barry had owned another property on a different island, which they sold to get something with a bigger home so that they could entertain more family during the summer months. That was why they had purchased a second home to begin with. All of the island homes are summer homes only, because in the winter the lake freezes over and all the boats have to be taken out of the water before that occurs. But for about six months a year, people can enjoy their boating and island living.
The island they live on is called Mink Island and it encompasses an area of just 26 acres. There are a handful of homes on the island. Chrys & Barry’s house is very private on a lot of a few acres. They of course have a dock to land on when they get to the house, and interestingly, as part of their annual winterization of the property, they have to haul the dock out of the water. There is a large winch attached to a tree close to the dock that is used to haul out the dock. There are companies in the area that specialize in winterizing the island homes, including hauling out and then returning the docks in the spring.
Chrys and Barry’s island home 
Lake Winnepesaukee
The home is island casual, with lots of wood throughout and a huge deck and outdoor kitchen. Inside is a full kitchen as well but most of our meals were cooked outside on the grill. Shortly after we arrived on the island, Chrys took us to her and Barry’s favorite spot on their property that they call “the point.” It is out in front of the house on the tip of the island.
We followed a winding path out to the point where there is a small deck and several chairs to relax in. We could instantly understand why this was their favorite spot. We shared some wine and watched the sunset and the night coming on. As it got darker, we could see lights twinkling in the distance from the mainland and some of the other islands. It was sensational! Barry barbecued dinner for us each night and we ate outside under the stars at a big table in the outdoor kitchen area.
Another very cool feature of the property is that there is an adult treehouse. It is located behind the main house and consists of a good sized-room up in a tree at the end of a lighted path. A funky but sturdy staircase leads up to a small deck in front of the tiny house. Entering through a glass sliding door, one finds a wood paneled room complete with a small refrigerator, a good-sized bunk bed, a sink and a portable air conditioner.
Out of the back door lies a hand railed catwalk that leads about 50 feet to another building in a different set of trees, which is the bathroom. When you enter through the door, it is a surprise to see it is complete with a sink, toilet and lights. One of the trees it is attached to actually passes right through the room and out through the ceiling. There is a second door that leads to an outdoor shower complete with a privacy fence around it. When you shower, you are standing on a wood slatted deck and the water from the shower just drains through the deck to the ground 30 or so feet below. Showering there reminded me of places Cindy and I have experienced in Central America and the South Pacific.
Of course, we were not going to miss out on the chance to stay in the treehouse so that is what we did. As it happened, a hurricane we were just hearing about was due to arrive in a couple of days so we only spent one night in the trees. The next two nights we stayed in main house and spent some time getting the island home hurricane ready. It was not all work though, the weather was still nice and we enjoyed the days paddle-boarding, relaxing and boating on the lake. They have a small Boston Whaler that Cindy and I took to explore around the lake and Chrys taught me how to use a stand up paddle-board. The first time out, Chrys and I went for a circumnavigation paddle around the island and on another day, Cindy and I took a canoe and followed Chrys on the same route.
The canoe trip was on our last day on the island and the weather was starting to arrive ahead of the pending storm. We were about a half hour away from arriving back at the house and I told Chrys we had better be getting back as it looked like it was about to hit the fan. We got maybe half way there when the first rains hit. It started pouring and a headwind was steadily building as we raced to get back to the house. When we got to the windward point of the island, Cindy and I started encountering waves along with the wind and heavy downpour. For a moment we considered just taking out at the nearest point of land, which is what Chrys ended up doing, rather than continuing around the point to the dock. I was mostly worried about capsizing and loosing the boat because it was an aluminum canoe that had no floatation. If it filled with water there was no question that it was going down like a rock. But the spirit of adventure won out and we paddled on as a team and made it to the dock somehow without capsizing. Once we were safely on land with the ship intact, I saw that Cindy had that look she gets after paddling through an exciting rapid or a brisk sail. We still have it in us! It made the experience complete and I was happy for having paddled all the way.
After awhile, the storm eased and we continued with the rest of the hurricane prep, which consisted of lashing the canoe to a tree, and bringing all the paddle-boards and other sporting equipment, along with all the outside furniture, into the house. Barry came out to the island to help with the prep and pick us up after he got off of work. We went back to the Gilford home to ride out the storm, not really knowing what to expect.
As often happens with hurricanes, this one, Henri, took a turn at the last moment and largely missed us. Though we had lots of rain and some wind, the area ended up being relatively unscathed. Back safe on the mainland, we stayed at the Gilford house for a couple of days to let the storm pass before we went back out to the island.
Gilford is an historic village. Many homes in the area date back to the 18th Century and follow local ordinances to keep their original exterior design. Chrys and Barry did a complete remodel on their home on the inside, also largely leaving the original architectural exterior intact.
They have built a complete one bedroom apartment upstairs that we stayed in while we were with them in Gilford. It was great that we could stay there, giving us as well as them some privacy. They have an Labradoodle named Rocky who I became very good pals with.
Chrys and I took him walking in a state preserve forest close to their home. Rocky and I later returned to explore the forest several more times while Cindy and I were there. Rocky is a joy to walk as he is so well behaved on a leash. I could tell when he was getting tired during our walks because on the way out, he was full of energy and on the way back, he wanted to walk very slowly.
Their eldest daughter Elena Rose was away at College during our visit, but younger Maria Rae was home as well as Marky. Maria is interested in the performing arts and is a very talented actress and singer. She was auditioning for a part with a local playhouse while we were there. We always look forward to seeing video snippets Chrys sends us of her performances.
Marky is a sports enthusiast who nearly always has a ball in his hands. Barry set up a basketball court inside the barn so Marky and his pals have a place to practice in the wintertime.
I brought the trailer over to the local welder and left it in his care. He was an older gentleman and from his inspection and comments afterwards, I knew he was the right person to do the work. I had envisioned that he would be doing the repairs by stop-drilling the cracks and then welding steel plates over the area. He agreed that he thought that would be the strongest repair, but he said that the area he would be working in was too close to the floor of the trailer and he was afraid it would catch fire as the frame would be getting very hot. So rather than taking that risk, he opened up the crack and laid in a thick welding bead. He painted over it so that it would show if the crack was to return. His work when he finished looked very good to me and I was very relieved that the repair was complete with all the miles we have yet to travel.
While we were staying in Gilford, we went out to dinner with the family, including with Barry’s folks Bill and Rosemary. We went out to their favorite Mexican restaurant in the town of Laconia called Casamigos. It is a fun place with some good yet inexpensive food and of course, margaritas.
Once the weather improved, we all went out to the island house for a couple more days. Barry is able to buy one of the boats he sells each year at cost to use for a season. Then he sells it at the end of the season as lightly used and hopefully is able to break even. It is a great perk for working in that industry.
This season he had bought a surf boat to take the kids and their friends on during the summer to wake surf. I had never seen one of these boats before. It is about 25 feet long and has a large inboard engine capable of moving it along very fast, but it is actually also built for going slow in wake-boarding mode. There are large water ballast tanks in the stern of the boat that are filled at the flick of a switch from a console at the helm. They are filled so as lower the boat deeper in the water, creating a larger than normal a wake, a surf wave behind the boat to either side as chosen.
The boat, when in surf mode, travels along at 11 mph and the surfer rides the wave on a wakeboard. Similar to jet ski boats, it has a sound system and very large speakers mounted facing aft so the participants get to rock out with their favorite tunes. Marky, Maria, and their friends are all experts at getting onto and riding the wave all over the lake. Yes, I had to give it a try but I was not able to successfully get up onto the wave. With a few (or many) more attempts I may have caught on but I did not want to take time away from the fun that the kids were having. Chrys & Barry have succeeded in making summers magical for their children as well as nephews, nieces, and their children’s friends.
Our last night on the island, Barry brought Bill and Rosemary (Barry’s parents) out to have dinner with us. Barry and Chrys had things to do in town during the day, so Cindy and I made the dinner that night and we all sat in the outdoor dining area and had enjoying another great meal and visit. Rosemary brought along her signature blueberry pie for dessert. If you have not had blueberries from the northeast, you have not tasted blueberries!
The lake house is the kind of place you just want to stay in forever, and I cherish the memories we made there. Most of all I will cherish the special moments shared with my sister Chrys. We do not spend near enough time together. But as all good things come to an end, it was time for us to be moving on. Over the next ten days we would be retracing some of the Patrinellis family history as well as visiting with a good friend of Cindy’s from her college days. So now we would head a bit further north, and into the state of Maine.