We survived another winter in Winnipeg, which seemed to last forever- we had snow fall in early May.  Andy had a knee replacement in late November and recovered from it.  He was in the hospital for a total of 9 hours. I kept myself busy by crafting, puzzling and participating  in  activities within the  building. In early May, I was tied for 1^st place for photo of the year, with this pic that I took a few years ago.

Our initial plan for this summer was to take the boat to the Maritimes- however if you’ve followed this blog over the past 11 years, you  will know that are plans don’t always work out.  The craziness in the middle east has almost doubled  the price of diesel, so has put this trip out of reach.  Instead,  we plan to go down the St. Lawrence to Montreal and then up the Ottawa River to the Rideau canal.  I will be flying to Halifax for the Eastern Star Grand Session in early July, as I am currently the Grand Representative to Nova Scotia and PEI in Manitoba.

We left Winnipeg on May 16, making stops in Thunder Bay and Sault Ste Marie, before arriving in Bancroft on May 18^th Victoria Day.  Traffic on the highways over the long weekend were relatively light, there was still snow in the bush along the north shore of Lake Superior in places.

We visited on Tuesday with the Vermeersch’s and then went to the boat on Wednesday to unload the car and get our new dinghy and the davit system installed. 

On Thursday, the boat was launched, but because there was mechanical items to be done, we did not go to Buckhorn. I tried to track down a package from a yarn store in St. Catherine’s, Canada Post showed that the package was delivered, however the Yarn never showed up in Vermeersh’s community mail box.  I contacted Canada Post by email, and talked ( AI bot) and got no helpful answers, I then went to the Bancroft Post office, and they gave me a number for customer service live person.  Still not  resolved, I contacted the yarn store and they will be putting in a claim on my behalf—they will also try sourcing more of the yarn. If they can’t get it, I will be knitting a two toned shrug.

 On Friday morning, we arrived and finished unpacking the car and groceries that we had purchased.  We went to find out the status of our canvas repairs, and learned that they had not been done, and likely wouldn’t be done until the following week.  We were upset, as the canvas shop had the pieces since October. We took back the pieces and put them back on the boat, because of some ripped zippers—I will be busy on a warm day with a needle and thread to get us through the season.  We went back to Bancroft for another night,

While there, we got our new Starlink Mini to work, by actually talking to a live person, who was able to access our account and make changes, that were blocked to us when we were using the app.

On Saturday, we fueled up the boat with diesel and also bought some gas for the dinghy motor.  We then proceeded to go through Buckhorn lock around 9:30, and continued on through Lovesick, Burleigh and Young’s Point.  Just before we arrived at Young’s, the predicted rain began.  We went another 45 minutes and arrived in Lakefield around 12:30.  We tied up and plugged in and pulled out the heater, as we were cold and wet.  It rained most of the afternoon and evening.  We remained in Lakefield on Sunday, it was still cold and misty.  We walked into town to the Hardware store and grocery store and then returned to the boat and continued putting stuff away and familiarized ourself with the dinghy davit system.

We left Monday morning at 10 when the locks opened and made our way through:  Lakefield, Sawer Creek, Duoro, Otanabee, Nassau Mills, Peterborough lift, and Ashburnham where we tied up just after 2:00.  A big day for us 15 Km and 7 locks Good news—I got a text from Helen, and my yarn has been found. Yipee. On Tuesday, we got up and went through Lock 19, Scott’s Mill shortly after 10, we then followed the Otonabee river to Rice Lake and crossed it to reach Hastings Lock 18, we were through and tied up by 2:40.  Encountered wind on the Lake but it was sunny, and I read a book while the captain drove.  Approaching the lock, the winds and waves increased and it was very rocky.  Winds persisted into the night, gusting to 46 km/hr. We were tied up in calm water by the lock.

We left Hastings at 8:30 , and travelled up the Trent River to the flight lock of 16/17 arriving there just after 10:00, we then proceeded to 15, where we saw a young white tailed deer swimming in the water.  We continued through 15,14 and 13 and arrived at Old Mill park around 12:30. 

  After docking, I went to the office to find out if there was anyone in the area that did canvas work—as I wanted to get our screens on the flybridge repaired professionally if possible.  A business was suggested and they were a 5 minute walk across the Bridge, so I dropped the screens off, to be picked up on Friday morning. The business was next door to V&S so stopped in there to browse.

In the late afternoon, we walked over to the Royal Canadian Legion, which was nearby for a drink, and met a lot of nice people—pretty busy for a Wednesday afternoon.

  On the way back to the boat, we stopped at No Frills for a couple of things.  Weather was warm with just a light breeze. On Thursday night, Brian Hayton from Bancroft, came for the evening, we also hosted  Steve and Dodie Sharp, boating friends for supper and a visit.  On Friday, while I went to do laundry, shopping and pick up the repaired canvas, Andy and Brian repaired the wiring for our anchor light.  They also played with the dinghy in the canal. 

Later in the afternoon Heart Tug arrived at Campbellford, and we visited with them.  In the afternoon the winds picked up, and it was a very rocky night.  On Saturday morning, we went through  6 locks and arrived in Frankfort, in the afternoon.  The spot under the willow tree was taken, but we parked nearby. 

On Sunday, it was again a little windy, so we stayed put- not a single boat came through the lock.  We walked over to the nearby park for ice cream and showers.  On Monday morning, we set off for Lake Ontario, going through 6 locks before reaching Trenton.  Was a warm  day,  there was some wind and waves in the Bay of Quinte. 

We stopped at Crates Marina in Belleville for the night.  We will be heading towards Kingston tomorrow.