Milling Lumber to Build Our Island Blacksmith Shop - Skote Outdoors - Newfoundland

Mar 30, 2025

This week’s episode takes us off the island for a bit. I head out with our good friend Gord, who’s been a regular on here, and we take his boat out to scout some nice big logs. After finding what we need, we continue on to Gord’s hometown of Rushoon, where he’s got a proper bandsaw mill set up. We spend the day milling up a pile of lumber, load everything onto the boat, and make the haul back across the ocean to our little home on the island. Back at the homestead, Kelly heads up to feed the goats and finally gives them their names—names that came straight from you in the comments. One by one, she introduces them all, and just like that, the goats feel even more like part of the family. With spring creeping in, I start breaking ground for what will eventually become our off-grid blacksmith shop. There’s no machinery out here, so it’s shovel, pickaxe, and a lot of patience. Then comes a big milestone—something we’ve been working toward for a while now. I head back to the water line and finally finish the last stretch into the house. After who knows how many years, we now have running water inside. No pumps, no power—just gravity and persistence. It might seem small, but to us, it’s huge. We close out the episode with a trip across the water aboard the Cape Millie. Kelly packs up five of her handmade sea glass necklaces, and we head over to Bain Harbour to mail them out to some of you who’ve been following along. On the way, we do a little Q&A on the boat, chatting and answering questions from the comments. It’s been a full week of progress, hard work, and small wins—and we’re grateful to have you all along for the ride.