July 2- 6

There were about 15 very large Looper boats tied up in Campbellford by nightfall on July 1^st, all wanting to go through lock 13 in the morning. Here is a picture of some of them on one side of the canal.

We left the dock at 7:30, hoping to be the first boat on the blue line, so that we would lock through first.  We were soon joined by several other boats, and by the time the lock opened at 9:00, there were about 9 boats waiting.  We did get through with 3 other boats, Voyager, Nellie May and Rpad after 9:30.  It seemed that the lockmaster was a little overwhelmed by all the; traffic that early in the morning.   We stayed in this grouping through locks 13,14,15,16 and 17.   I had one mishap in one of the locks and lost hold of my rope, so that the bow swung out.  Not a good thing.  Glen was able to keep hold of the stern, and with Andy’s help we were able to get a bow rope attached again.  Mishap number 2 for the day, while I was down in the galley making lunch, my boat hook went  for a swim when we hit a big wake, but I hadn’t noticed it missing until I needed it for Lock 18. We arrived at Hastings at 2:10, and because it was so hot opted to stay at Hastings Village Marina, so that we could plug in and get AC. As well a thunderstorm was in the forecast and we got thunder and rain around 5:00.   That evening we went out for supper to McGillcafey’s Pub with Glen and a couple of his friends, Rudy and Kay.  The food was good and so was the company.

We left Hastings just before 7: 00, as we had watched 2 of the larger boats leave a 6 and 6:20. We had about 40 miles to go, crossing Rice Lake  which was very calm, and then follow the Otonabee River

until the next lock.  We reached Scott Mills Lock 19, after 10:30 and then went through Lock 20.  We were out of the lift lock by 12:30;

we locked up with one small run- a-bout.  We got through Lock 22 by 1:30, and were through Lock 24 at 2:20.  Our guest on board, caught a few winks while he could, as handling the lines is more strenuous than driving the boat.  It was great having another pair on hands through the 30 locks!!

We had decided to stay a Douro for the night, as it had showers and a tiny library.  We celebrated out 8^th anniversary here, and had a nice dinner and wine.

On Wednesday morning we left Douro at 8:50, as we only had to go about a mile to Lock 25.  We continued on through Lakefield and then arrived at Young’s Point at about 11:00.  We stopped at the Young’s Point trading company for Kawartha ice cream—I was reminded by some friends that I hadn’t included our ice cream trips lately.  We did have Kawartha several times while in Trenton, because it was  conveniently sold right at the marina.  While at Young’s point we encountered Herb Seaton, who we had previously met in Tarpon springs where he is the harbour host for AGLCA.  We had also seen him last summer on the waterways near Swift Rapids.    He joined us for ice cream .

He is repeating the loop again this year in order to acquire a platinum burgee. We informed him that there were many loop boats behind us, so he followed us out of Young’s Point,

through Burleigh Falls, Lovesick and on to Buckhorn.    We met the Kawartha Voager, just after passing through Hell’s gate.

We got through Buckhorn lock shortly after 3:00, but there was currently only space on the wall for one boat, so we let Herb have it and we moved on to Buckhorn Yacht harbour.  Once we were tied up near the fuel dock, Andy and Glen went back into Buckhorn with our car to see if Herb needed anything.  The three of them later returned to  our boat for supper.  When we took Herb back to the lock we stopped by the Ice cream shop and had Kawartha ice cream again.  Twice in one day– We’re in heaven!!;;

On Thursday morning, Andy went and picked Herb up at the lock, as he wanted to talk to canvas people at Buckhorn Yacht Harbour about replacing some damaged canvas. Andy and Glen then drove to Trenton, so Glen could pick up his truck.  While they were gone, I cleaned the upper helm and pulled the canvas over it as a thunderstorm was predicted later in the day.  I also de-frosted the fridge, and started packing things for storage, as well as things we want to take back to Winnipeg.  With only having the one boat, we will be able to leave more things on the trawler.  Shortly after 1:30, Andy returned.  At about 3:00 we left for Bobcaygeon, as I wanted to do a couple of loads of laundry, so I could leave the bedding and towels on the boat, rather than taking these items home.  Herb came with us to Bobcaygeon.  They dropped me off at the laundry, and then Andy showed Herb where the Kawartha dairies was located  ( and had ice cream) as well as they visited Settler’s village.  They picked me up shortly before 5 and we drove back to Buckhorn,  when we dropped Herb off at the lock, I realized I didn’t have my purse—so we drove back the 24Km to Bobcaygeon, and lucky for me it was  on the bench where I had been sitting waiting.  We came back, dropped off the laundry and then went to Herb’s boat for docktails.  We were joined by loopers from Karen Ann and Coconuts.

Today, Friday, we will spend the day, doing more packing and cleaning.  Brian and Helen stopped by this morning for a short visit.  We plan to leave Buckhorn in the morning, have lunch in Sudbury with cousin Betty and then on to Sault Ste. Marie for the night.