Laurie Mustard / Winnipeg Free Press
Summertime is about to get a lot more adventurous for Doug Cook’s grandchildren once he completes construction on this swimming pool designed to look like Captain Cook’s ship.
Flood? Fear not... Doug Cook to the rescue!
You may have already spotted Cook’s apparent shipbuilding endeavour on your daily cruise down Wilkes Avenue and wondered what the heck the story was behind it.
And I’m guessing that you’ve already guessed Cook is not building this to save a select few from possible rising floodwaters. Nope. It’s not Ark II either.
What you’re looking at here is one of the coolest backyard projects I have ever seen.
It’s a swimming pool!
I’m serious. Cook, who is one of those oh-so-creative people who thinks way outside the box, for whatever reason, decided a ship would be the perfect thing to build a pool in.
"I enjoy telling people," Cook says. "Most people build a ship to put in the water. This ship is being built to put water in."
And there you have it. It’s as simple as that, although choosing a ship design has resulted in the build becoming a lot more complicated than he ever imagined. It only made sense to give his ship a Captain Cook look, and researching that (with considerable help from son Travis) long story short, now has him being an expert on the life of Captain Cook, and a member of the International Captain Cook Society.
You just never know where a fun idea might lead. While the external look will be very reminiscent of what Captain Cook’s ship Endeavour looked like, only a little less barge-like, the interior will understandably have nothing in common with Cook’s craft.
Worthy of note, Captain Doug Cook’s mission is considerably different than the 18th-century Cook’s quest — which was basically exploration and discovery.
Our Captain Cook’s basic intent has a lot to do with making his grandkids even happier!
This prairie schooner will never leave dock. It shall remain locked on the land, and will feature a 30-by-15-foot above-ground pool that is four feet deep — offering "surf’s up!" availability all summer long, for years to come.
The "ship" will also contain changing rooms, a washroom, a shower, of course, and no surprise here, a playroom for the kids! There’ll also be an afterdeck... uh, a deck on which to soak up the sun, as well as being the perfect perch to keep an eye on the grandkids from.
His original thought was to build the ship to scale — Captain Cook’s ship was 100 feet long, and carried 110 men. Doug has settled for 80 feet long, and 23 feet wide.
And you can’t have a ship without rigging — the design of which is still in the works. With every stage comes a new permit, although Cook grins when he tells me that unquestionably, his most challenging permit approval came from his first mate — and soul mate — his wife of nearly 50 years, Phyllis. I’m thinking we have a co-captain thing happening here. Great couple.
With a pool depth of four feet, I’m doubting there’ll be a diving board, but I am betting there will be a plank to walk, and maybe even a captain’s log to sit on somewhere around the pool. Such fun.
The more I check this ship out, the more I want to be one of their grandkids! Prior to this, Cook built them a magnificent tree house to play in. It reminds me of a mini home, but in a tree! We’re talking Disney World North here! Haul anchor, Captain Cook. Grandkids Ho!
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