Sunday skidoo scheming...

Think I have mentionned this on the blog before, but when I am out on a skidoo ride I find it is one of the best times to think. I mean, realistically, what else is there to do when you are driving? Sometimes the road/route is long, and the rolling hills can lull you into sleep if you aren't keeping yourself awake in another way.

So, today, I was having a lively internal discussion about: "Things you need to know if you don't have a man"...

It was prompted because my skidoo was running on one piston as we started to go home on the trail, when I stopped, Mark helped to change the spark plugs as one was clearly DEAD, can you say that, a spark plug is dead... well, in any case, it wasn't doing it's job, wasn't sparking, so... yeah... it was dead.

I guess I didn't mention that I was out with Isabelle, Mark, Nancy and Heather and Imaapik today. Mark, Isa and I left before Nancy since Mark wanted to run his dog team. When Nancy caught up, we tied the dogs on a lake, and went by skidoo to Alain Rochefort's cabin near the mouth of the Koroc River, where we spent the day hanging out, eating and relaxing.

Okay, back to the list. After Mark changed the plug and we got on the road, I started thinking about things that I need to remember or things I have learned how to do since I don't have a man to them for me. When Mark took out my spark plugs, he pointed out that I should really be using #8's during January and February, instead of the #9's that I had in my machine all winter. I'm not actually sure whether it is a SERIOUSLY bad mistake but I thought, hmmm, well, I guess that is something I should write about in my blog so next year when I can't remember, well, then I can check it out here. Just to clarify, #9 spark plugs are for the spring, when the weather is warmer.

So, if I was to organize this in a list, a list of things usually the man in a family knows, I would have to say: #1- Use #8 spark plugs in Winter. (#9 in Spring)

#2- Open the small vent on a red 5 gallon gas tank before opening the large pouring hole. (I found this out a few times after a warm day, when the gas sputtered out all over my ski pants, since heat makes an air build- up inside the container)

#3- Always check that your throttle is not frozen BEFORE you start your skidoo. (No damaging stories to explain how I know that, only that a guy told me to do it when I first bought my skidoo, after HIS accident! haha)

#4- Coolers and other breakable things should be placed at the back of a qamoutik/sled, since there is less banging on the ground when you drive over bumps. Sleeping bags and soft things work best in the front of the sled.

#5- ALWAYS carry spark plugs, a spare belt and a tool kit. Inevitably you will always be in need of one of those things when you forgot it at home. (Like today, I seriously ALWAYS have spark plugs, except I didn't bring them today, so I still owe Isabelle 2 spark plugs, since luckily she had some!!)

#6- Check the oil before you go on a long drive. The other day I was a bout 20 minutes outside of town when I noticed the oil light on my machine... (6B could be watch the indicator lights on a dash board: I think I had been driving quite a while with the oil light on! Yikes!)

#7- Invest in some good bungee rope. Tying things on a sled is so much easier when you get the leverage of stretchy rope. It's a pain tying up a qamoutik with regular rope, I always left it loose until I got some bungee rope, now I appear much stronger than I am.

#8- If you are stuck in soft snow, or a hole, DON'T give her tonnes of gas hoping to get unstuck, this will only cause you to dig down deeper and become more stuck. I did it a lot in my year, because it made sense to me that if I could only go fast enough, I'd shoot out of the hole, but it won't happen that easy. You have to lift up the track and get on more stable ground before giving her a gas and pushing for all you're worth.

#9- If you own a GPS you don't even need to stop and ask for directions. You can even mount it on your skidoo, then people will think you have an impeccable sense of direction naturally.

#10- If you just wear the same clothes for many days in a row while camping, you can pack lighter and you also can save on gas. (Ok, that one was a joke... kind of! haha)

#11- Before storing your skidoo for the summer, you need to elevate the track off the ground and also you should put a bit of oil in the hole where the spark plugs go. It helps to lubricate them for when you start up the following Autumn. If you put to much, you'll have a blue smoke machine.

#12- Changing drill bits is easy and much faster than a screwdriver. You simply have to hold onto the piece at the end where the bit goes in, make sure your drill is spinning backwards and it will loosen itself, so the bit falls right out. Repeat in opposite direction to put the bit back in place. Oh, and for my seriously challenged friends- a bit is the ong skinny drilly piece that makes the hole in your wall or that twists the screw wherever you are trying to put it.

#13- Duct tape really can fix anything, I know my brother, Paul is probably shaking his head in shame when I say this, but I had a hole in the front of my rubber boots so I found that I could even patch that by wrapping a band of duct tape around the leg of my boot many times. It does look rather poverty stricken, but hey, my feet seem to do well back and forth to school. (PS I can post a picture another day if anyone wants to see my styles! haha!)

Well, I feel a bit embarrassed by this post, but I just HAD to share these things. Maybe you all knew these things already, but I'm just trying to remember them all myself next year.