2018 IN REVIEW
THE hobbyists 2018
2018, WAS the YEAR WE PAID OURSELVES. Projects, adventure and celebrations.
OUR JOURNEY STARTED WITH THE SALE OF OUR HOUSE. Read about it below. Our grand plan, backPACK through asia until the weather gets warm Enough to move on to our new home.
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AFTER SELLING WE BOUGHT A PIECE OF LAND ON PELEE………………….
WE STARTED A NEW PROJECT “ THE NEST ON PELEE”…………….
THE NEST WILL BE OUR LONGEST PROJECT TO DATE. Here is a teaser video of things to come.
Photos taken with Aerial.
THE NEST ON PELEE
SINCE THE PROJECT IS IN THE PLANNING PROCESS WE DECIDED TO FIND INSPIRATION IN SOUTH EAST ASIA. We Did. SOUTH EAST ASIA HAS A FUSION OF ASIAN, EUROPEAN, SOUTH AMERICAN, AMERICAN AND EVEN A LITTLE CANADIAN (IT MAY have TAKEN ACCIDENTALLY STUMBLING UPON IT, BUT WE FOUND IT.).
WHILE TRAVELING WE DID RESEARCH INTO THE WORLD OF HOSPITALITY AND THE WORLD OF HOMESTAY’S, AIRBNB’S AND SOME HOTELS. See some of our destinations and where we stayed, ate, celebrated and of course found adventure.
OUR TRAVELS IN ASIA BELow
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THE ADVENTURE…………………….
SCUBA DIVING IN ASIA
PREAMBLE: (The summer before we got married we got certified for scuba diving, and had taken a trip to the cottage where we attempted to reach the bottom of the lake). While on the trip we used our certification to continue our training and scuba hobby. We were infatuated. We couldn’t get enough diving in. Most of our trip was on the main land or offered limited diving possibilities. We found as many opportunities as we could, Diving in 4 different bodies of water and technically 3 different countries. WE HAVE OFFICIALLY GAINED 6 ADDITIONAL CERTIFICATIONS, INCLUDING OUR DEEP DIVE SPECIALTY AND NIGHT DIVE SPECIALTY. One of the highlights of our trip.
PLACES WE WENT DIVING IN 2018
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THE HALFWAY POINT………………
DURING THE MIDDLE OF THE TRIP WE RETURNED TO SINGAPORE. WHERE WE BOUGHT AERIAL OUR DRONE. WHILE WE WERE TRAVELING AROUND WE CAPTURED SOME FOOTAGE WITH AERIAL AND WE CALLED IT:
SHOTS FROM ABOVE W/AERIAL.
Aerial HAS 500 mins of flight time. She has been on 14 PLANE TRIPS, all carry on. Two trips to Pelee Island for surveying and marketing purposes. She has also escaped death on two occasions and has suffered no damage. READ MORE ABOUT AERIAL HERE.
RETURNING TO CANADA
AFTER OUR JOURNEY, 10 WEEKS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA, WE RETURNED TO CANADA.
AFTER a delayed start to the boating season we finally made our maiden voyage on wind dreamer. The trip took us from Hamilton (MACASA BAY) MACDONALD MARIne To Port credit yacht club(pcyc). AFTER EXPERIENCING ENGINE ISSuES WE LEFT ON JUNE 8th.
AFter the nerve-racking journey, We then BEGaN OUr FIRST SEASON LIVing ABOARD WIND DREAMER, OUR 29FT SLOOP. WE KEPT HER IN A SLIP on C-dock, OUR NEW HOME FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS. throughout the summer WE TOOK lessons with DIANE REID, an instructor from sail canada AND the FIRST CANADIAN WOMAN TO SKIPPER THE WORLD’S LONGEST OCEAN RACE! by the end of the summer we received our sailing 1 accreditation. READ MORE ABOUT WIND DREAMER BELOW. MORE UPDATES TO COME IN 2019. #winddreamertheboat .
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While in Newfoundland for a family wedding, we closed on our property on Pelee island. It was official we were land owners on Pelee. THE property has 258 feet of waterfront facing south by Southwest at the most southerly populated part of Canada. We headed back to ontario and settled back in on the boat. We visited pelee island A few times over the summer, DOING SOME WORK AND ALSO JUST GETTING TO KNOW OUR FUTURE HOME. YOU CAN CHECK OUT A VIDEO BELOW OF what’s on pelee.
We had many visitors over the summer who went with us to pelee and stayed on Wind dreamer in PORT CREDIT. Thank you to everyone who came and experienced our adventure. A shout out to our German friends, who made us take Wind Dreamer out within 2 hours of being off the plane and to the previous owner Mr. Dawson for all of his help and support. For all Wind Dreamer’s adventures and pics check out her Instagram hashtag #winddreamertheboat .
AS WE FINISHED the season on Wind dreamer we were also in for one more adventure.
IRELAND ALL-THE-WAY-ROUND
We were off to Ireland for the wedding of Megan (Melissa’s Best friend) and Gerard (Justin’s brother). We Left tiny again but for a shorter trip, this time, 3 weeks. We toured the emerald isle, stopping at scheduled and non scheduled AIRBNBs, HOME STAYS and a castle for good measure, to get the real feel of ireland and its culture. We enjoyed Guinness and some more Guinness. And we saw a few things in between our pints of black gold. They were married in a beautiful ocean side gallery with arched glass ceilings and walls that made for epic panoramic views during their “I do’s”. We celebrated and continued our journey to see the rest of ireland. See our travels below. check out their HASHTAG #teamshepmore
DESTINATIONS IN IRELAND
AFTER OUR TRIP TO IRELAND WE returned TO CANADA
WIND DREAMER Was due out of the water in 2 Days after arriving back home. We got on task and prepared her to be hauled out. During our trip we were informed wind dreamer’s cradle was scheduled to be cut up for scrap. The city of hamilton had forced our old marina to shut down and there wouldn’t be room for our cradle to stay. We hired a company out of Hamilton to transport our cradle to PCYC the day before haul out. We got it all done and celebrated with a beer at the CLub. THE PICTURE Below, Wind dreamer on the boat lift.
NOVEMBER DECEMBER
We spent the next 2 months starting our businesses which were long over due.
MElissa started Mækr.ca. A website and shop showcasing the things she makes (Justin also makes a few)
Justin Finally got his Idea Hunnie Doo into its functional form online. SEE them below
OUR BUSINESSES
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AND THERE WAS STILL ONE LAST Thing to do!
GO back to NEWfoundland for a new Year’s EVE WEDDING!
AND DON’t Forget the mummering! SEE BELOW.
IF YOU THINK LAST YEAR WAS BUSY FOR US WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE 2019!
WE’LL KEEP
HANDCRAFTING
CONTENT.
YOU KEEP WATCHING!
START BY CLICKING
ON THOSE NICE PRETTY
PICTURES BELOW.
ENJOY SOME MORE OF OUR ADVENTURES, PRojects and creations below!
PROJECTS Air, land & SEA
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We left Hanoi at 10 am, headed to Halong Bay in a private car. The timing didn’t work for us to take a bus and the private car was reasonably priced. We arrived in Halong Just after lunch.