Aaahh, that feels good!

Sore and tired muscles are common at Port Ashton. Everyday tasks require plenty of physical activity...changing propane tanks, pumping water at the Beach House, making bunk beds, scrubbing toilets, filleting fish, hauling supplies and luggage, cutting wood and cooking.

There are two cures for an aching body - sleep and a salt water hot tub. Our hot tub is our one real luxury for the family. We splurged. Randy contracted a friend to weld a marine grade aluminum barrel that is four foot deep and seven feet in diameter. A wood stove was installed inside and barricaded with wood to protect the bathers.

We fill the tub with salt water, pumping the water from the bay on a high tide using a hose and pump. Ashes are cleaned out from the stove to make room for the new wood.

It takes about eight hours to heat the 55-58 degree sea water with wood. Someone must collect the wood, cut it and stoke the fire throughout the day. If we forget to start the fire in the morning only a late night hot tub is possible. And if we get overzealous the tub water can reach 120 degrees.


Collecting the wood for the hot tub is the children's chore. Today Lia and I collected the wood though. The trailer on the four wheeler was overflowing with wood. We impressed Myles with our haul.


Katy and Abbie, the nannies this season, are responsible for starting the fire and stoking it during the day. Learning to wield an ax so it efficiently cuts the wood to size is a skill the girl's acquire. Often, blisters go hand in hand with the learning process. After several weeks of chopping wood the young women are very proud of their bicep muscles.

"What is the temperature?" Randy will ask. Adding, "Stirred or unstirred?"

The thermometer is near the surface of the hot tub and since heat rises it always reads warmer until we stir the water. Often we use the human stir stick method...Randy or Lia get in the tub and move the water around with their body. If it is too hot we use a shovel!

Once the tub is to temperature we rush from our cabins clad in swimsuits and wrapped in towels. Our evening hot tubs are when we slow down, discuss the day, laugh and enjoy the scenery! Another perk of living at Port Ashton for the summer.