[RHClarke]

This morning started off a bit cold (-21oC with a wind-chill of -32oC), so Lucifer had to earn its keep today. While Lucifer warmed up, the doorways were shoveled and snow was removed from a few of the shelters. While this was going on, the frigid air was disturbed by the sound of an unfamiliar diesel engine. Gilles, from Cantly, brought one of his "small" trucks to the barn to give us a first hand look at one of his latest projects. After firing up the onboard generator (which came to life within seconds), the tour of the many storage spaces began. This truck will make any future MV convoys a little less challenging as it is kitted out with spares to beat the band. The tour of the truck included some tasty treats. No sooner had we opened the box of Tim Horton's doughnuts, Guy Vapeur showed up - I guess old habits die hard... Grant made his entrance and claimed the last treat and the group retired to the barn to bask in Lucifer's hellish glow.

The conversations ranged from various jokes, to sewing jobs and the S&P Rally to be held in July of this year. After chewing the fat for the best part of an hour, Guy parted company and the rest of us headed out for a bite to eat. Our newest favourite eatery is called Boboul, located in nearby Limoges. Hopefully this eatery will keep itself from burning down…

Upon return to the barn, there were more jokes and kidding around. As usual, MLU was discussed in great detail. Eventually, we decided to do some work. The wood crib used to feed Lucifer needed filling. After shoveling out the back doors to the barn, we brought in some wood that we had cut and split last fall. Bob speculated that the load of wood should take us into the warm weather without resupply. Hopefully, he is right, but the cold weather we have been having in January does not auger well…It must be noted that we have had very little snow to date – both a good and bad thing. Good in that shelter maintenance and snow removal has been quite easy, bad because the lack of snow may impact the fire season in the late spring. There is still plenty of winter to come…

After restocking Lucifer’s larder, Bob broke out his spot welder and with Grant’s help, we welded up a new set of hatch lips for the 45 and Prototype HUPs. In both cases, the original hatch lips had rusted to a state of non-repair. So, both sets of lips were ripped off and replacement lips got made up today. The new lips consist of two pieces of 18 ga metal. The first piece has a 90o bend that forms an “L” shape along its length. The long part of the “L” is about an inch and the other part is about ¼ of an inch. The second piece is just a long strip of one inch 1 and 1/4 inch flat 18 ga metal. The short side of the first piece was welded along the length of the second piece forming the necessary “lips” and mounting flanges for the large hatch opening. The lips of course engage the foam rubber seal on the sliding hatch thus keeping the rain and dust out.

Bob and Grant were graceful enough to finish the last piece for me, as once again, time had expired. It was a nice, but cold day at the barn.


Photo 1-Tour of Gilles' truck
Photo 2-The Hammond Sewing Circle - discussing Jeep seat replacement
Photo 3-Spot welding - we are now "experts"...
Photo 4-Destructive testing - Bob hammers the stuffing out of test sample of the lips
Photo 5-Busted Lip...