Most of my year is spent in a modest and enjoyable central-Halifax apartment with my wonderful partner.  I work a part-time job in the city.  My home is located close to Dalhousie university where I’m studying biochemistry.  I’m a musician, mainly rhythm guitar.  I’m also responsible for Maritime Method Software.

For the time being, though, it’s summer country living on the Bras d’Or lake in beautiful West Bay, Inverness County, Cape Breton.  It’s wonderful to wake up with the birds chirping; to see the sun rising between the trees, with the privacy that only a country home can provide.  It’s also a great place to rock out & party late at night!

Potentially, traveling from Halifax, the Maritime Bus is an option; they’ll allow a bicycle as baggage; the tent, along with the rest of the camping gear, will fit in a small hockey bag.

There is an internet connection here, which enables me to work.  For the future, I envision staying here throughout much of the summer, doing computational biochemical work and writing while looking out the front window upon the Bras d’Or lake.  There is an RV style trailer and a small well-insulated cottage here for lodging; the latter structure is my preferred abode.  It’s a superb setup.  Our family, loved ones and friends have been sharing accommodations here for the past 3 years.

There is plenty of room and opportunity for a substantial garden.  There are kayaks and canoes.  The bay water is sheltered and often calm.  Fire pits and a gazebo.  Electricity.  BBQ.  A speedboat.  Trees for firewood.  Port Hawkesbury is a 45 minute round trip by car; 5 hours by bicycle.  Maybe someday we’ll get a hemp growing license.

There is no sewage here but I’m told that a septic tank is forthcoming by the end of this summer.  For the time being, we’re using a portable toilet and “composting” our waste but I’ll not go into gross details about that.

Water management is an issue, because other than the rain and the salt water lake, there is none to be found on site.   There is a freshwater spring about 2 miles up the road.  Conceivably, one could bicycle with a trailer in order to collect 10 gallons or so.  It has to be boiled for drinking.  The presumption is that all of this water collection and sterilization for a single person could be accomplished in about 4 hours via bicycle and the Kelly Kettle, once a week, equivalent to a couple of good sessions at the gym.  If the freshwater spring ever runs foul or dry, that would push us to rainfall collection.  Maybe we will dig a well and install a pump at some point; maybe that’s an unnecessary complexity and maybe we’re already happy with what we have.

There is no plumbing in the cottage but I’ve managed to become comfortable living “without running water”.  With a few tweaks to the washing routine, along with a couple of novel tools, it’s not really a problem.  I must say, however: after a week or two in this place, faucets and plumbing with virtually unlimited HOT and cold water can truly be appreciated as the technological marvels that they are!  On the other hand, it’s reassuring to know that a person can still live comfortably with a small amount of water.

The procured spring water can easily be used  for washing.  A bottle of castile soap makes life easier and more enjoyable; I use it (sparingly & effectively) for laundry, dishes, and body.

For energy and water efficient laundry, here’s the inexpensive solution: these rapid hand washers, paired with a couple of 5 gallon buckets for washing & rinsing, one of these spin driers, and some sort of a drying rack really will work quite well; voila.  If we didn’t have electricity, we could fashion some sort of spin drier out of a bicycle & bucket.

Key to comfort, is to keep a kettle of hot water on the stove throughout the day for hand washing & dishes.  Just pour a bit into a small steel bowl placed in a plastic basin.  It’s convenient and efficient for washing; it can be reused throughout the day until it becomes too soapy, at which point, it can be tossed out the front door into the gravel driveway.  It’s vegetable soap, phosphate free, and as far as I know it has negligible effect upon the environment when used in this manner (I stand to be corrected).  There is also a teapot filled with fresh cold water, for rinsing dishes and whatnot.  The absence of tap water hasn’t been terrible.

The salt-water lake, in addition to the solar-heated shower bag, is all that’s needed for bathing.  I won’t use soap in the lake; the salt water seems to work well as it is.  A wash basin with hot water & facecloth also helps.  The new water-conservative hygiene habit was initially a bit difficult to form but now it’s like clockwork.

Supposing that this place were off grid and electricity was solely provided onsite by solar & wind, water could be boiled throughout the winter with the Kelly Kettle in order to save electricity; to do so, one would have to collect the proper amount of twigs throughout the summer.  A more industrial outdoor wood boiler would be preferable to this, maybe some sort of rocket stove design.  Perhaps a small tub for the winter getaways would be a nice addition; it could be stored in the loft or the garage throughout the summer, alongside the cross country skis.

In actuality, it’s necessary to take a trip into town once a week to stock the supplies, to buy 10 gallons of fresh water and groceries, in addition to collecting water at the spring.  With multiple visitors, it’s a bit more work to accomplish, but if 5 extra people are staying here it shouldn’t be too much trouble for one or two people to run up to the spring once every couple of days.  If the garden ever gets growing, these trips into town could be drastically reduced.

The cottage is about 600 square feet, insulated, with a loft.  It’s very cool in here during the summer.  I’m told that a 1500 watt space heater will keep the inside warm during the winter, kitchen excluded.  In the spirit of living off grid, I’m supposing that this heating could be supplemented by some sort of radiator filled manually with boiled water, preferably such that the water can be reused for washing after the heat is extinguished; I’ve yet to come across such a rig.

The kitchen is adjacent to the main room but it’s sort of like a sun porch and it’s not insulated, likely it’s cold in the winter.  There is a toaster oven and a Compact Kitchen fridge & stove.

As it is, this place would be rough to live in during the winter.  For the summer, it feels quite like a home.  It’s relaxing and inspiring.