Wayne and Catherine still need to make an effort to make time for their art, despite being in the middle of nature. It’s a busy life maintaining a floating home. There is constant work to be done just to survive, let alone fix the damage caused by an unpredictable winter storm or, once, a fire.
“There’s a mistake [assuming] that we don’t have to work,” Wayne said. “It’s all about maintenance.”
Often the pair spends their days apart, doing work in different parts of the cove. Catherine paddles a canoe over to a nearby cascade, to check the gravity-fed pipes that lead to their home and provide running water. Wayne visits their 43-year old son, Shane, who lives in his own float home just across the cove, to cut firewood together in preparation for winter.
Despite the fact that their electricity comes from solar panels and generators, Wayne and Catherine hate the term off-the-grid. “I’m unplugged,” Wayne said, “which means I have control over my power use.” They insist they are not here to isolate themselves. They have been assigned a floating GPS number, pay provincial and municipal taxes, use Facebook and watch television using satellite connections. On my visit, Wayne watched the US Open tennis championship between chores.
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