We left at 9:15 and headed North west out of Britt.  We went through Cunningham’s channel as well as Roger’s gut; 2 very narrow passages.  We headed north along the west side of Dokis island, as far up as Eastern outlet.  We travelled up the Pickerel River about ½ mile and anchored a couple of times, but our anchor was dragging on shear rock, so we moved to another spot near Bowens Bay, but again it wouldn’t catch.  We ended up anchoring in a small bay with rocks all around us. 

Andy took the dinghy out and tied a rope from our stern to a rock on shore. 

  Our version of Mediterranean tying, as there were no trees.

This kept us from swinging into the rocks on our starboard side.  The wind blew gently most of the afternoon.  In the late afternoon, Andy caught his first fish for 2021, which was a Bass.  We had a pleasant night with no crashing on the rocks.

As the winds were to increase, as well as rain in the forecast, we wanted to leave the anchorage early, and left just after 7:00.    We travelled 6.5 miles, going through Dore’s Run, there were a couple places where there was some choppy water.  We arrived at our new anchorage in the Outer Fox islands at 8:20, which was very sheltered. 

We could see the waves crashing on the rocks to the south. 

  We did swing around a fair bit, and had several fishing run-abouts passed by, and the rain did fall.  It was a cool day, we both changed into sweats, and I added another blanket to our bed.

In the morning, Andy couldn’t get the VHF radio to work, so he fired up the generator at about 6:30 to ensure everything was fully charged.  At 7:45 the generator stopped because of high temperature.  Andy determined that the seawater circulating pump was defective. By the time we had cleaned up the mess it was after 10:00.  With charging issues and no generator, our travels towards Killarney could no longer happen.  We called Britt, to see if we could come back there for repairs.  They had space, so we travelled back the 19.6 miles to Britt, and arrived at 2:45.  We had forgotten that Monday was a civic holiday so no one could assess our problem until Tuesday. So we went for ice cream– you can never have enough Kawartha!

On Monday it was windy, I spent some time washing and waxing a portion of the bow.  I may have found a simple shade solution for our sundeck, we have been thinking about adding a hard top or canvas for the past couple of years. This boat had a piece of canvas that they rolled out and propped up as required. It may be just the thing that we need for those very hot days.

Here’s another option that I saw:

The marina filled up with at least 4 other boats that had mechanical issues.  We also saw one small runabout towed in that had hit rocks and was taking on water.  Our issues weren’t as bad as his, but sometime during the night our shore power cord was disconnected from the pedestal, maybe someone tripped over it or the wind- who knows.  In the morning our battery bank was almost completely discharged. Andy plugged us back in around 7:00, and charging started.  At 8:10, the mechanic from Wright’s came onto our boat, with Andy’s help, he was able to remove the generator water pump.  The service manager made some calls and was able to find a replacement.

It will be shipped to Hindson’s marina in Penatang for us to pick up next week while we are at Harbour West.  We spent the remainder of the day cleaning and sorting inside the boat. Andy finally cooked up the bass for lunch, it was very delicious, wish he had caught a dozen more.  In the afternoon we installed a new 12V light fixture in the aft cabin, replacing a fixture with old bulbs that are no longer made.  This will be a great improvement. 

We walked over to Ice cream on the rocks to get burgers for supper, I also had a sampling of Kawartha’s death by chocolate.

On our return we went to visit the crew on Mayhem, another boat with engine issues sitting here in Britt.  They are in the process of moving the boat from Gore Bay to Toronto.  The owner is a retired military person, and in talking he and Andy found some people that they both knew in the construction business.  They are waiting at least one more day for parts before they can get going.  We showed them some of the anchorages, between here and Port Severn.

We left Wednesday morning at 6:45, following another boat Freshwater Pearl, that was having engine issues, and only had one that was working.  We ran about 5 miles offshore out in the Bay, by-passing the Norgate rocks and the Hangdog reef. 

There was a bit of wind but not too bad.  We veered off into Pointe au Baril, as the Freshwater Pearl continued out in the Bay.  We arrived at Hopewell Bay, at 10:30, having gone about 31 miles.   There were only 4 other boats in the bay, by nightfall this had increased to a dozen,

we were very sheltered and swung around as the wind changed.  Since we have very little confidence in our charging system, we decided that we should likely get power for the night.  We left the anchorage at 10:00, and travelled 49 miles back to Henry’s.   I saw this moose, made of wood in someone’s yard along the way– pretty realistic.

We arrived at 2:00, the place was hopping with the late lunch crowd, and there was over an hour wait.   We put our names for dinner, and got a table around 6:30.  Instead of each of us getting the individual pickerel dinner, which was fries and 3 pieces of fish, we opted for a 4-piece dinner, which we shared along with a salad.  We also asked for pan-fried fish rather than deep-fried—it was amazing.

Once we were back on the boat, Ted the owner of Henry’s dropped by with a complimentary bottle of wine, for frequent visitors, as we had been there 10 days previous.

On Friday we left Henry’s at 8:45. We had a great visit with dock mates; Robert and Ivie from Midnight Sun, they are gold loopers , who have also circumvented Lake Superior twice. We got some good advice from them.  We travelled around 40 miles down the channels and around Beausoleil island, to reach Victoria Harbour by 1:45.  As it turned out –August 6^th was the day we completed the loop 5 years ago, right here at Victoria Harbour.  Where has the time gone?

Andy called Hindson’s marina in Penatang, to find out if our water pump had arrived, he was told the pump was coming from BC and the gasket from Edmonton, and neither had arrived yet.  We will check back with them once we are at Harbour West.  We don’t want to be leaving Georgian Bay without a working generator.

 I walked into town to the Laundromat and did a couple of loads of clothes, while Andy walked to the Foodland for a few supplies.  I was back by 4:00 and we sat and visited with Jamie, Jill and Jake on the docks- we had met them on several of our previous stops at Queen’s Cove.  At about 5:45 the skies opened and we got drenched.

We met Jaimie, an engineer that Andy had worked with over 10 years ago and her partner Jay at Queen’s Quay for supper and drinks. 

We had a good visit, they shared the details of their kayak trip around Philip Edward Island and other adventures. 

We had last seen Jaimie here at Queen’s Cove back in 2016. Once they left at about 8:30, we played some cards and then I went to bed.  We had left many of the windows open, as it was very humid.  At 11:30, we were awoken to pouring rain, and had to get up to close windows.

On Saturday, we did some reading, and then went to the Village Mercantile hardware store for lunch.  On our way back to the boat we stopped at Foodland and picked up a few more groceries.  I’ve included a picture of my tomato plant, as I believe that I may get to taste the first ripe ones later this week.

We spent the afternoon doing some cleaning and visiting with other dockmates. We ordered 2 medium Pizzas for supper.

On Sunday we left Queen’s Cove at 11:40 and headed for Penatang.  We arrived shortly after 1:00, and plugged in.  We had gone a total of 11 miles.  We didn’t have to cook, as there was still plenty of Pizza for lunch and supper.   We spent part of the afternoon waxing the upper helm.  I finished up by scrubbing the upper helm floor. 

On Monday, Brian came by the boat shortly after 9:15, and we went over our list of issues.  He decided to try and figure out our charging issues first, and worked on this item until late afternoon.  He then started on some of the Garmin upgrades.  He pulled our lower helm apart, there were wires everywhere.

Progress was slow.  It was a hot humid day.  I went to check on the swallows that were here on our last visit, but it appears that the nest is empty- so the birds must have grown up and flown away.

We had a light rain through the night, which didn’t really help with the humidity.   We had additional downpours three times throughout the afternoon. Brian returned on Tuesday at 10:00, he did a load test on our battery bank, and found that many of the batteries in the Port bank, were not holding a charge.  Another contributing factor to our on-going charging issues.  Andy went up to the on-site mechanics to find out if they had batteries in stock—of course they didn’t.  They called around and found 2, but they wouldn’t be delivered until next Monday.  Batteries should be a staple just like bread.  Andy touched base with another boater that we had met earlier this summer, who boats out of this marina.  He called around and found us 6 in a couple of different locations.  Andy went up to see the on-site mechanics, they too had found us a set of six, and would send someone to the boat in the afternoon, to remove the defective ones, so that the core credit could be applied to the sale.

 Brian continued with the setup of the engine inputs.

  He did not finish, but will not be able to return until Thursday.  We also got the news that our generator pump had arrived at Hindson’s, but not the gasket.   Andy will check with them again tomorrow.  With all these unexpected repairs, I know where our pension checks will be going this month!  It is what it is.   Someone else thinks the same as us, because I saw it as a boat name.

  It was another unsettled night with lots of dark clouds around us.

On Wednesday morning, we changed slips, as the people whose slip we have been in are expected back today.  The new slip has some great bonuses- it is closest to the office—so much better WIFI and proximity to the showers. The technician came with the batteries shortly after 10:00, and all were installed by 11:00. 

The water pump and hopefully the gasket will be picked up later this afternoon and installed.   We have our fingers crossed that Brian will return tomorrow, finish the upgrades and allow us to get to Port Severn.

  We’ve been on the water for just over a month, but have been relying on marina’s as our charging issues have reduced our confidence in anchoring out for more than a day or two.  Once we get back to the TSW, we tend to tie up to lock walls, so our days with shore power will be minimal.