This is the ideal time of year for crib dock repair. The ice is thick and safe to drive and work on, and the sun is shining, so it is great to be working outside.

We are out on the ice near Mortimer’s Point on Lake Muskoka.

Rob Borne, of Robert Borne Construction, is using his transit to level these docks to within 1/16 of an inch of the back wall of this old boathouse, which is made of concrete.

The stringers are going on today, and they must be levelled, before the decking is applied. You can see how pleased Rob is when he checks the level and finds that it is perfect.

He showed me how to use the transit to check his work.

Man, was it cold out there! By the time I had been there for half an hour, I was ready for hot chocolate. Taking my gloves off to take pictures was painful.

They have been working four weeks on this boathouse. Part of the boathouse had to be lifted more than 8 inches to bring it to level.

These guys do beautiful work.

You can see our car out on the Lake Muskoka near Mortimer’s Point. We are driving on a construction road over the ice.

The ice was only 24 inches, a couple of weeks ago, and the weather was mild, and so we predicted an early ice out.

Since that time, the weather has been so cold, that we are building ice every day, especially when it really drops in temperature at night. There is now at least 30 inches of ice on the lakes. Since there is almost no snow cover, the cold goes right down and builds ice depth quickly.

The weather channel suggests that we will have cold weather for at least another two weeks. That could leave us with close to 36 inches of ice.

Our “ice out” prediction is moving to the end of April. “Sorry about that,” to those islanders who are eagerly waiting to get boats in the water.

It is increasingly expensive to cottage on Muskoka’s largest lakes

In 2007, 3% of Lake Muskoka cottage sales, 7% of Lake Rosseau cottage sales, and 7% of Lake Joseph cottage sales were for prices between $2,500,000 and $3,000.000

21% of Lake Muskoka cottage sales, 35% of Lake Rossaaeu cottage sales, and 45% of Lake Joseph cottage sales were between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000

6% of Lake Joseph cottage sales were between 3,000,000 and $4,000,000

Take heart that there are still numerous cottages that sell for under $500,000.

Lake Muskoka had 27% of the 2007 cottage sales under half a million, Lake Rosseau had 5%, and Lake Joseph had 2%

There was an interesting article in the Toronto Star recently about the replacement value of trees. The presence or absence of trees greatly affects both the real estate value and the livability of your property. Trees clean the air, stem water runoff into the lake, provide shade for cooling the exterior and interior of the building, as well as providing beauty and curb appeal.

The return value of planting trees and shrubs on your cottage property is significant. In New York City, it is calculated that every $1.00 put into the trees provides $5.60 of return on the money. That makes planting a very good investment!

The water in the lakes is so high, that the skeg of our outdrive, which is usually well out of the water, is immersed about four inches into the lake. We were able to raise the boat on the lift another three inches, however some of the skeg is still in the water.

You should check on your boat, to make sure that all is well in your boathouse, with this high water. The high water is pushing the ice up, and depending on the height of your boathouse doors, and whether your boathouse is bubbled, there could be the possibility of damage.

Because the water in the lakes is so high, you may find that your bubbler is making water go all over the floor in your boathouse. You can see in this picture how the water is right at the top of our docks, and the splash is wetting the entire floor. We have picked up everything that was sitting on the floor of our boathouse to keep it dry.

This picture shows you the water at our dock on Lake Muskoka. You can see that it is almost to the top of the dock.

The ice on the lake is not very safe, as the water below is pushing it up, and it can easily crack.

Please be careful.

We have prepared an article entitled “Caring for your Trees” to help you find local services. Please click the link to check it out! Thanks for reading.