We left at 9:30 and travelled through the flight lock at Raney Falls by 10:10, we then went through Hagues Reach, 10:45, Meyers 11:17. Percy Reach 11:45. Glen Ross at 1:10 and tied up at Frankford by 2:05.  We had gone through 6 locks in 4 ½ hours and had gone a total of 24 miles.   We tied up under a very large willow tree that provided shade from the hot sun.  A sailboat with Dave and his border collie Kona, showed up a little later and docked beside us. We visited with them, and I threw balls and sticks for Kona.  Two kayakers had tents set up on the opposite side of the lock.

On Tuesday morning, we decided to stay one more day in Frankford,

I trekked the mile into town to do a couple loads of laundry, and also popped into the Foodland to buy butter tarts.   Shortly after I returned a boat called Compromise, docked beside us.  We spent most of the afternoon visiting with Rick and Linda at the picnic table under the willow tree. 

As the day progressed many more boats from both directions tied up at the lock.  By the time the locks closed there were 7 of us.

  After dinner which was left over Chinese food, we walked with Rick and Linda to the campground near the lock for Kawartha ice cream. There was a bit of a breeze today, so the sun did not seem as hot as it was on Monday.  Since we are so close to Trenton, it is fairly common to have C-130 planes flying overhead.  We saw several during the day.

We left alone in the first lock on Wednesday, just after 9:15 and then went through Trent at 9:50, Batawa 10:10, Glen Miller 10:40. Sidney 11:05 and Trenton at 11:25.  We had gone through 6 locks in 2 hours, and just over 7.5 miles.  We tied up after the last lock and called Crates Marina in Bellville to book a slip for the night.  We arrive there around 2:00, filled up with fuel and went to our assigned slip.  We walked around the marina ground, and checked out their store, we bumped into Celine who we had met the previous week at Lock 15.  Their boat was at Crates having some upgrades and repairs done. Later in the afternoon, Andy wandered over to where their boat was sitting and chatted with Celine.  He invited them to share supper with us, as they were relegated to restaurants, as their boat was on land. 

We had an enjoyable evening getting to know them better.  One of the other boaters light the propane fire pit, which was very ornate.

On Thursday morning we left by 7:30 headed for Kingston.  We passed by Deseronto, the Glenora/ Adolphustown ferry

Picton Bay, Bath and then Amherst Island.  I took a couple pictures of the island and ferry for my friend Susan, who vacationed there many times. 

We arrived at Cedar Island, the first Parks Canada island in the Thousand Islands at 1:40.  We made it to the Thousand Islands again! 

We had help docking from the people in the slip next to us- Steve and Mary Parent.  When Andy went to shut down the engines- the Port engine would not stop—more trouble in paradise!.  Andy pulled his fail safe—string attached to the solenoid in order to stop the engine.  We had gone a total of 61 miles in about 6 hours- likely our longest day so far this summer, maybe the engines were not used to working that long.

On Friday morning, I did some cleaning in the boat.  At some point Andy tried to start the Port engine, and nothing happened.  The Starboard engine was similar.

Maybe we are going to have to change our permanent address to 1 Cedar Island, as without engines we will be stuck here. 

Later when the boaters next to us; Steve and Peter (who is an electrical engineer), where up they came over to help diagnose our problems.  They moved our generator battery to the become one of the starting batteries, but still not enough power to start the engine.  They then brought Steve’s generator battery over and booster cable to try to boost- still no luck.  Around noon, it was determined that both starter batteries were so drained down that we likely need two new starter batteries.  Steve called his marina which is only a few miles away, but they didn’t have any.  Steve, Peter and their wives were going into Kingston by dinghy, so they said they would bring back two starter batteries for us.  Andy gave them his credit card and money for a taxi, as they likely had to go to Canadian Tire.  These people were amazing- helping us out in this way.  They returned at about 5:30, and immediately installed the new and put the generator battery back.    Now we can leave the island. We ran the generator for a short time to ensure that the batteries were fully charged.  In the afternoon, Wayne in Prescott, had also suggested Karl- electrical technician in Ivy Lea who may be able to assess our issues.  We will likely stop to see him on our way to Prescott, in order to gain some peace of mind.

On Saturday morning, it was very calm as we left the docks at Cedar and proceeded east farther into the Thousand Islands, we had an appointment with Karl, at the Ivy Lea restaurant dock for sometime around noon. 

As we travelled, I was continually monitoring the voltage on the starter batteries using my Victron battery monitors, very soon I could see that there was a problem with the starboard engine having readings up around 17 Volts.  When we stopped at Ivy lea at 11:40, we could once again smell cooked batteries.  When Karl got on the boats, he checked a few things, and realized our main battery switch was not functioning, so changed the wiring there.  We thought that may resolve the issue, he told us to keep monitoring the batteries and record our findings.  We agreed to meet again the following week for a more thorough inspection.  Very soon after leaving as we headed to one of the islands we realized, that the starboard engine was still not behaving.  We tried a few of the islands, but all the docks were full.  We finally decided to anchor at Central Grenadier.  It was a calm sunny Saturday of the long weekend- there must have been over 60 boats anchored and many rafting together.  Once it became darker, many of the boats left, and there were less than ten boats anchored as well as those tied to the dock.  During the night the winds picked up, and we were rocking pretty good, before 7am, Andy said we should move the boat, as our anchor was dragging.  We did reposition, and just after we had, we noticed a boat leaving the docks, so we moved in and tied up.  

As the day progressed, the dock emptied, and some new boats came.  It was a very windy day, Andy contacted Karl, who said he would try to come out the 10 plus miles on his sea doo to look at our engines.  However, the wind didn’t really cease, so he wasn’t able to make it out on Sunday.   We stayed put, and continued to monitor our batteries, and frequently ran the generator to keep them charged up.  Finally later afternoon Monday, Karl arrived, and re-assessed our issue, it was determined that the external regulator that had been replaced in Penatang on July 19^th, had been installed incorrectly, so it was not limiting how much power could be released to house batteries.  No wonder we needed 6 new house batteries in early August, and the 3 starter batteries.  Thank goodness, finally some good news.  I was truly wanting to leave this island!!

On Tuesday morning we left Grenadier Island at 8:30 for the 4-hour run to Prescott.   We passed by Dark Island- where Singer castle is located

and were overtaken by a laker, as well as met a tanker ship. 

It was a calm day, and we arrived in Prescott shortly after noon.  Just before the marina we saw a train with windmill parts

and then passed by the Prescott coast guard station

We tied up near Wayne and Roxanne’s boat, the marina was closed on Tuesday, as the staff had worked Monday.    In the afternoon, Roxanne took be for groceries and to the LCBO.  We had a great time and drank a fair bit of wine.  Andy made kebobs for supper.  This was the first night in awhile, that I had a good sleep- maybe it was the wine.

On Wednesday, Roxanne needed to go to Long Sault to check on their house, as they had been away for several days.    I tagged along, and was able to do some laundry while we were there.  Very lovely home on Moulinette Island formerly called island 17.  On our return to Prescott, we took the scenic route along the long sault parkway and county road 2 and she showed me where she had grown up in Ingleside, we stopped in Morrisburg for a few things, and also stopped at the Iroquois lock,

but unfortunately there was no traffic. I was being cautious with pictures because we were so close to the USA I didn’t want to incur roaming charges on my phone.  

 For dinner we went to a nearby patio for Irish food with Wayne and Roxanne. Over dinner Andy and Wayne discussed

boating.

When we were done dinner, Andy’s phone rang, and Harold and Mary Quinn Grigs from Brockville had just arrived at the marina, so that we could get a visit in with them as well.

  A very enjoyable day!   The plan is to reverse course in the morning and make our way back to the Thousand Islands.