We’ve been in the apartment for over a month and we decided we needed to take a road trip back to Ontario to view the Fall colours and do some visiting.

We left early (5:30 a.m.) Saturday morning September 30^th  and Andy drove us  towards Marathon. We made a stop at the Terry Fox Memorial in TBay, and I took a few pictures.

We arrived at our hotel 11 hours after leaving home and Andy called up one of his friends, and we went with Jerry to the Legion to catch up on the news in Marathon.  The next morning after picking up coffee and a pumpkin spice muffin at Tim Horton’s, which was located next door to the Travelodge, we were on the road again.

Today we were headed to Manitoulin Island, which is the largest lake island in the world, with an area of 2766sq KM, and has over 100 lakes.  He drove as far as Little Current . We went over the  one-lane swing bridge,

which we had waited for in the past on our boat , in order to enter the Little Current harbour.  we checked into the Manitoulin motor inn

It was a relatively new hotel, but its downfall was that for TV stations, it only had Netflix—so no access to current news.  We went out to one of the restaurants- Elliot’s  in town for dinner, and then returned and watch part of a series on National parks, that was narrated by Barrack Obama.

In the morning, Andy went to the Tim Horton, which was located next to our hotel, for coffee and a muffin and then back in the car.  Today we were going to South Baymouth to catch the Chi Chemaun (ojibwe for big canoe) Ferry to Tobermory.  It was a 65 Km drive across the island that was dotted with field of grasses, and several herds of cows.  There were also lovely colours in the trees as they were changing from greens to yellow, orange and reds.

We arrived early and got into line for the ferry.  While we waited to load, we walked around and checked out the trading post as well as the nearby marina  I bought some hawberry jelly, which is a native berry to the island. 

Once onto the boat we left the car and we explored the boat, and then had lunch in the cafeteria.  We went outside and I took a few pictures,  it was very windy, and there were about 2.5 foot waves.

For a good portion of the  43 KM ride, there was no land to be seen. Approaching  the Bruce peninsula, the Cove Island lighthouse came into view, marking a treacherous narrow passage between Georgian bay and lake huron. This lighthouse is located on the northeast tip of the island in the Fathom Five National Marine park, and was built in 1858. 

Once we reached Tobermory, we exited the ferry and drove towards Owen sound, stopping in Wiarton to check out the marina, and look for Wiarton Willie, the famous weather predicting ground hog  and  then we stopped again at  the Georgian Shores marina in Owen sound. Once we got to Mike and Franziska’s we had drinks and visited in their backyard.  In the evening, we went to a restaurant near the east harbor, that was originally a Canadian Pacific train  station.  Mudtown Station,  with the mud  referring to the neighborhood streets that were , covered with thick mud during the spring melt.  The meal and drinks were very good.  We returned to the Edney’s for dessert and more visiting.  After breakfast in the morning,

we were back in the car and on the road again.  We were travelling 2.5 hours, so that we could have lunch and a visit with my uncle in Strathroy. We went through the countryside, where there were many corn and soybean fields, and trees of all colours. 

We met Wayne at his place and then  we followed him to Roy’s restaurant. 

After lunch, back in the car and we were off to Hamilton to check into our hotel.  We had plans to meet David, the electrical engineer  for dinner at Chuck’s. to talk about upgrades.  Before we were finished eating, Andy’s niece Caitlyn and her partner Chris, stopped in at the restaurant for a visit and beers.  We had a good visit with the two of them, and learned a little about Cait’s post doc research, and Chris’s  PhD research.  Great visit! Seems like a pattern is developing on this trip—travelling in the car, eating and drinking. In the morning we met up with Tom and Peggy Dunmore, boating friends, 

who live in Hamilton, for coffee and a 2 hour visit.  Then back in the car, and off to Oshawa.   Our route took us across the Burlington bridge,  then along 403 and 401, very busy traffic with many lanes, however we were lucky that it was mid-day, and we had very few slowdowns.    We arrived in Oshawa, around 3:00, at Rick and Linda Wigmore’s, who again were boating friends that we met on the Trent Severn. Linda had already started decorating for Halloween, and we found this couple on their front step.

  Andy also found a partner, with more limb issues, than he has.  Don’t they make a fetching couple!! It was a lovely afternoon, and we spent an hour visiting in the back yard.  Andy and Rick  moved indoors to watch the Blue Jay’s  playoff game on TV, while Linda showed me some of her quilting projects. 

She let me sew a few squares together—maybe this is something I could do.  After supper, we sat out on their back deck—their house backs onto Camp Samac, so no neighbors behind them—it was so quiet and relaxing.  In the morning, after breakfast,

it was back in the car, our first stop was Campbellford, as Andy wanted to buy some more pea-meal bacon to take home.  Then it was off to Buckhorn, to check on the boat.  We found it on the hard, in the back boat yard.  We were told that the Lithium batteries, were dead or asleep—so Andy called Karl in Ottawa, to find out what needed to be done.  The batteries were boosted, and then they again started absorbing power from the solar panels.  While at the boat, we dropped off a few things we had brought from Winnipeg, as well as picked up a couple things that we had forgotten to take when we left in early August.  The surveyors report that had been done a few weeks earlier was not available as yet, so Andy got the name of the surveyor, in order to track it down, as we need a new survey before we can renew our boat insurance.   We left around 3:00, and then it was on to Bancroft to stay with Brian and Helen for the night.  We  visited, for a while, and  went out for dinner at Dave’s Place.  We returned from the restaurant and had dessert- apple crisp with Kawartha ice cream.  Yum! 

In the morning , after breakfast, Andy and I went over to Brian Hayton’s place, to check in on him. He had his left knee replaced on Wednesday- so was recuperating, and being looked after by his daughter. 

We stayed for about an hour, and then back on the road.  We stopped at the Kawartha store—Andy wanted some dried sausage, however I opted for coconut ice cream in a dish.

  Then back in the car, and we headed for Sudbury via North Bay.  We filled up the car at one of the first nations gas stations, and continued on to our hotel in Sudbury. The hotel was located next to a Perkin’s restaurant, so that was our choice for supper.  In the morning we were at my  father’s  85 year old cousin Betty’s place for breakfast.  Andy cooked bacon and eggs, while Betty and I talked and visited

  At 10:00. We left and headed west, stopping in the Sault for gas, and then continuing on to Terrace Bay.  Arriving after 7:00 p.m. at the Red Dog Inn. 

We had picked up KFC for supper.  The plan on Sunday was to go as far as Fort Frances, and spend Thanksgiving with Dave and Elaine.  In the morning, after scaping the ice off the windshield, we reconsidered, and opted to drive 9 hours to get home to our own bed. Also there could be delays on Monday, because of holiday traffic and construction. 

The ice on the windshield reminded me of a billboard I had seen earlier on our trip, near Haliburton, Enjoy the changing colours, as the next one will be white. Along the way I took more pictures of leaves and the , trees and rock, as we travelled along by car.

We stopped near Nipigon for more cheap fuel at Lake Helen, and topped up in Dryden. Near to home, we passed the centre of Canada,

and the landscape had changed from bush and rocks to flat fields.  We arrived home shortly after 4:00. 

We  were gone 9 days and Andy drove over 4700 Km on our fall excursion, and I’m sure we both gained some weight with all the sitting, drinking and eating we did. No other travel plans in our immediate future! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

We left Campbellford just before 9:00 and locked on the second lockup, this lock is a Port tie, not our preferred side.  We then went through Crowes’s Bay and then on to Healey #15, another Port tie when locking up. 

Once we were through, we tied up on the wall,  about an hour later there was a huge rain storm.  We were joined on the wall by Virginia II, which we had seen several times over the past week.

  On Monday morning, we went through the Healey flight locks, 16 and 17, and once again did a cross over, when both boats were at the same level.  We then continued on to Hastings and were through the lock and tied up on the wall by noon.  Three locks and 13.5 miles.  We were joined on the wall  by many other loopers as well as Virginia II. 

On Tuesday we left Hastings around 7:30, as we had 38 miles to the next lock, as well as the crossing of Rice Lake.  We were through Scott Mills by noon, Ashburnham by 12:50, Peterborough Lift lock at 1:50, followed by Nassau Mills at 2:50, Otonobee at 3:20, we moved on to the bottom of Duoro, Lock 24 and tied up at 3:30

Long day 8 hours, 5 locks and 42.7 miles. We visited with Roger and Sue, which we had met the night before in Hastings, and had travelled through the locks with.

The flower garden’s here at Duoro, are the nicest I’ve seen, lots of Asiatic lilies in bloom.

   On Wednesday morning we locked through, Duoro at 9:35, followed by  Sawer Creek  at 10:15 and Lakefield at 10:45 and tied up at  11:00.  A short day, 3 locks and 2.3 miles.  We wanted to plug in to power for the day, as our batteries were in the low 20’s, and it was going to be a hot day, so fans would be required.  We walked into town, for some other essentials—beer  for Andy and coconut ice cream for me. Around 3:30, Virginia II  (Doug & Liz& Cassie) arrived and tied up—I’m absolutely sure that they are following us. We later had a visit with them at the picnic table,  Also Stuart and Rod from Sea Turtle joined us, and Andy gave them the Cole’s notes version of where to go in Georgian Bay and the North Channel. We also met Vicki and Aaron on the boat No Fixed Address—they are full-time live-a-boards, as well we met  people on a boat called Prairie Girl,  from Saskatchewan.

  I will be leaving my tomatoes plants here at Lakefield Lock 26, I can’t take them home in the car, as they are much bigger than when I brought them here in June.  Becka and the lock staff will take good care of them and share the tomatoes with other boaters passing through this lock. I had thought that I had brought a prairie pride and a brown cherry onto the boat, but the second tomato doesn’t look like a brown cherry , so it may be a rio grande—got my labelling wrong.

We woke to rain on Thursday, so I spent some time purging and packing on the boat.  Once it cleared before noon, it became very hot outside, getting up to the mid 30’s.  So we fired up the air conditioning to cool off the boat.  We spent some time at the picnic table, in the shade.  I pulled out the hose and washed the bow of the boat,  I would still like to give it a coat of wax in the next day or two.  Lots of boats came through the locks today, and the wall here is full.

Liz had gone into town in the afternoon,  when she returned she brought over a gift for us, as a thank you for helping them tie up on numerous occasions.

On Friday morning, we left around 10:00 and headed for Young’s point, we were followed by Virginia II.  Once through the lock we tied up on the right and Virginia II tied up on the left. 

We continued packing up stuff, in the afternoon we went to Lock side trading for ice cream.  Around 4:00 we were invited to the picnic table near Virginia II for Caesars and snacks.  Liz had made mini pizza’s using naan bread, they had peppers, onions , cheese and smoked meat on them- very tasty.  For the sauce she had used BBQ sauce with a couple teaspoons of Dijon mustard. Can’t wait to try this at home.  We had a lovely visit with them, I can’t call them stalkers anymore, as they are now friends, and we hope to meet up with them next summer on Georgian Bay.

In the evening Andy did a little fishing beside the boat, and caught several fish.

On Saturday we had planned to leave to go to Burleigh or Lovesick but a combination of rain and wind  kept us at Young’s point for one more day, which was fine as there was more cleaning and packing to do. We left on Sunday morning and headed for Buckhorn, passing through the locks at Burleigh, Lovesick and Buckhorn.  There was no room at the Buckhorn lock so we continued on to BYH, pumped out and then tied up near the gas dock.

Andy brought the car around and we started packing up the trunk.  Later that evening we were entertained by the Fuderer family, as they all came down to the gas dock for high level cage diving, I asked Peter about it and he said it’s a tradition in their family.

On Monday morning, we were up early and went to Lakefield for the 6:00 opening of the laundromat.  I didn’t want to be bringing clothes and bedding home, that could just stay on the boat. Once we were back on the boat, we continued packing up the car and I defrosted the freezer. We learned that our alternator had not arrived- as it was shipped to Ivy Lea and not Buckhorn, so it will likely not be installed until spring.  We left and went to Bobcaygeon, for my last coconut ice cream from Kawartha.  We then drove up to Bancroft, as we were going to stay a night with Brian Hayton, before heading west.  We spent the afternoon visiting, and I did a little bit of weeding in his flower beds.  Brian and Helen Vermeersch joined us for supper—Brian fried up some fresh pickerel that he had recently caught along with fries, coleslaw and fresh beans from the garden.  Helen had brought berries and Kawartha ice cream for dessert—so I got to have ice cream twice in the same day.  After they left Brian and Andy played cross-crib, but I was tired, so I went to bed. In the morning, after coffee and a bagel, we headed off, stopping in Parry Sound for gas, and arriving at our hotel in Sault Ste Marie around 4:00.  We met the Gillespies for drinks and snacks at the Water tower hotel around 7:00.  Had a great visit and caught up on what they’ve been up to. On Wednesday we left the hotel around 7:30,  it was very foggy out, Andy could only see a few meters ahead of the car.  We gassed up, as we left the Sault, the fog started lifting. There wasn’t a lot of traffic in the morning, but it increased as the day progressed.  We stopped at the A&W in Marathon for lunch, and then stopped again in Nipigon for gas. Lots of road construction in this area, it looks like they are twinning the highway all the way from Nipigon to TBay. We stayed at  Super 8 motel in Thunder Bay, as my friend Teresa’s partner Maureen, had come down with Covid.  So we didn’t want to risk visiting them. On Thursday we left the hotel around 8:00, and started the last leg of our trip home.  Stopping in Dryden to top up the gas, and then several stops because of road construction between Dryden and the MB border. Doug Ford is spending lots of money in northwestern Ontario!

We arrived home around 3:30, unpacked the essentials from the car and turned on the AC in the house, as it was very hot out.  We ordered take-out for dinner.  On Friday, I pulled some weeds in the garden, we went to the lawyer’s office to sign house sale papers and then drove to Morris to sign the forms for our new tenant’s policy at the apartment and Andy renewed his driver’s license. We also changed the address on both of our licenses.  On our return to the city, we drove by the apartment, and saw patio furniture on some of the balconies, so we know that some people have already moved in. In the afternoon,  I spent a lot of time on hold on the phone as I tried to inform our utilities of our upcoming move.  After dinner, we visited on Dave and April’s deck catching up on what been happening on the street as well as our boat adventures.  On Saturday, I spent a couple more hours out in the garden pulling weeds, it was definitely easier than previous years, as Dave had sprayed roundup on them. The lawn is full of weeds as well, I pulled a few, but may have to spray them as there are hundreds! In the evening, Andy went to the airport to pick up his cousin Maureen, who had flown in from Victoria for the upcoming family reunion at Camp Morton. On Sunday we did some shopping, and I spent another hour pulling weeds from the lawn. I also baked a sour cream rhubarb pie for dinner, using rhubarb from my garden. While pulling the rhubarb, I noticed a couple of shoots of asparagus, which I thought was quite weird, as I’ve only ever seen asparagus in May.

The plan for tomorrow is to see if everything that we need to take to the reunion will fit in the car-it’s going to be a challenge as there is 60 lbs of fish, sausages, baking, other food and beverages, as well as bedding, cooking supplies, 2 sets of golf clubs, prizes and clothes for the two of us. If we can’t fit Maureen and her stuff, one of the other cousins will take her to Camp Morton.

We left Port of Orillia at 7:45, and crossed a very flat Lake Simcoe,

arriving at Gamebridge at 10:30.  Andy had  a low oil pressure on the Port engine, so he ran with only the Starboard engine through this set of locks.  We were through the 5^th lock, Bolsover at 12:40—he checked the oil, and called the diesel mechanic from Orillia as well as BYH and his brother Duncan.  It may be that the oil pressure sending switch is toast.  We continued on and were through the Kirkfield lock at 16:10, after waiting for the lock to come down and then take us up which is typically an hour each way. We arrived at Rosedale at 5:45—long day, 42.2 miles and 6 locks. There were only 2 other boats above the lock,  I would have thought it would be busier for a Friday night.  Andy touched base with Karl, regarding meeting up later in the week.

On Saturday we locked through Rosedale at 9:05, and then were on to Fenlon at 9:50 and Bobcaygeon at 11:55.  These two locks were busier, as they are in the middle of busy towns and have power.  We had rain off and on in the morning.  Peter from BYH called, Andy told  him about our latest issues.  He said we could stay at the gas dock for the night, as we wanted fuel and a pumpout.  We arrived at 1:50 and tied up having gone 34.3 miles and 3 locks.  Rain continued throughout the afternoon. Around 6 pm a house boat stopped and the gas dock and tied up perpendicular to it. 

Both Andy and I came out to talk to them.  They knew almost nothing about boating, docking or tying lines. Andy helped them turn the boat, so they were parallel with the dock. Andy texted Peter, and he came down to tell them that they couldn’t stay there, and that they should go tie up on the blue line at the Lock.  After they left, we jumped in our car and drove to the lock, so we could help them tie up.  We told the lock staff that they were enroute, and Steve and his crew took over, and turned them around, so that they were facing away from the lock.  The driver of the houseboat, said he was restricted and couldn’t actually go through the locks—we figured he didn’t pass his 5-minute training session.  As pleasure craft owner,  we need a boating license—however renters do not—I don’t get it—they are definitely a hazard.

We  filled up with fuel and pumped out before we left Buckhorn Yacht Harbour at 9:00 on Sunday, passing by the rental- still tied up to the blue line.  We went through Buckhorn at 9:20, Lovesick at 10:10, Burleigh at 10:45, Young’s Point at 11:45 and arrived at Lakefield at 12:30, where we tied up and plugged into power.    There were several boats there, many of which were loopers. By late afternoon the lock was was full.

  There was also a kayaker there name Chris, who was from Ottawa.  He had started in Port Severn less than a week ago , and had gone 220 km.  He ended up pitching his tent, close to our boat, so Andy spent some time visiting with him.

On Monday morning, we went though the Lakefield lock at 9:30, with Chris.  He is amazing, and kept up with us the whole way,

  We went through Sawer Creek at 10:00, Douro at 10:20, Otonobee at 10:50, Nassau Mills at 11:20 .  Chris dropped off here for a rest.  We went through the lift lock at 12:10 and then through the Ashburnham lock at 12:30 and tied up on the gray line.  Tough day- 7 locks and 10 miles.  We visited with Kirk, the lockmaster who we knew from Buckhorn, as well as Andrew who was a Lovesick last summer. Chris appeared shortly after 1:00 in his kayak, he was taking it out here and going back to Ottawa.

We spent a peaceful night and met some loopers in the morning from around Duluth, that shared some favorite anchoring spots in Lake Superior.  We left in the morning, just before 9:00 to head to Scotts Mills Lock 19, so we could get through and head up the Otonobee River to Rice lake and Hastings.  We arrived at 1:30, having gone 38.4 miles.  We tied up on the gray wall, and were soon joined by many loopers.  We walked to the LCBO and grocery store, and just got back to the boat, when it started to rain. 

In the morning we locked through Hastings, and headed up the Trent river, when we got to Heally falls flight lock, we did a cross-over at the top of 17, with 2 looper boats and a deck boat. 

When we went over to the basin, before Lock 15,  we saw Just Wright in the lock.  We had planned to meet here for a catchup. We had last seen them on June 11^th in Buckhorn, as there were leaving to go down the TSW back to the Thousand Islands and beyond. In the afternoon, Andy put a light coat of Cetol on the teak railings, and then we went to visit at the picnic table.  We had some rain, so moved onto our sundeck, after the rain it became very hot and humid. We had a quiet night.

On Thursday we went through Lock 15 – Heally falls at 9:25, followed by Crowe’s Bay at 10:30, here we waited for a couple of boats coming up, then it was on to Campbellford at 11:00.  We waited for a couple more boats, and once we were through the lock there was another 7 boats waiting to go through.  We arrived at Old Mill Park, Campbellford at 11:15 and tied up.

Around 1:00, Karl arrived with our new inverter, as well as some other parts.

  He worked most of the afternoon, on setting it up with our Lithiums, and when he left we were fully charging. .  After dinner, he finished up and was off to Ivy Lea.  We felt a whole lot better, although he discovered that one of our alternators wasn’t putting out the correct voltage, and will have to be changed.   He removed the DC-DC charger, and took our old inverter to sell to another boater.  On Friday we walked over to the laundry and Sharpe’s grocery store for a few things.  Around noon, Brian and Helen arrived from  Bancroft and we went to lunch, then the chocolate factory and V&S.

We had intermittent showers throughout the day. 

On Saturday, we had Rick and Linda Wigmore visit from Oshawa, we had drinks and snacks and told long-story- short tales at the picnic table. Around 1:30, David and his mother Grace arrived from Hamilton—David and Andy were going to come up with a plan for electrical upgrades over the fall and winter. 

David helped me upgrade the Garmin GPS system, as well as reset a tripped fuse on   the hot water heater, since my hot water was running out, even though we were connected to shore power.    We will be setting up a list with pictures of what needs to be done and sending it on to him later this week.  After they left we had dock tails with 7 or 8 boats looper boats. In the morning we will be starting our trip back to Buckhorn, as we have to leave for Winnipeg on the 1st or 2nd of August.

After topping up the fuel and pumping out, we left Victoria harbour on Sunday July 2^nd.  It was still a little smoky, with very little wind.  We went about 21.6 miles and anchored in Monument channel between Star and Galbraith islands.   We were joined later in the afternoon by Crustacean.  There were 5 other boats in the area.  After crustacean did some exploring, they flew their drone around  our boats. 

   Bill picked us up and we went to their boat for drinks and snacks, and got to meet their son Kyle.  We spent a quiet night. 

In the morning we left and went 18.6 miles to 3 fingers lake, which is part of the Massassauga park. 

We anchored in this bay, with about 7 other boats, and celebrated out 13^th anniversary.

In the morning when we went to leave, the Port starter battery wouldn’t turn over, so we started the generator to charge the battery.  We decided to go the 4 miles to Henry’s restaurant and plug in.    The next morning we left around 10, and went to  12 mile bay,

we were meeting Brian Hayton, at a public dock near Moose Deer Point marina. 

He was driven there by Brian Vermeersch.  He brought us some provisions as well as  a spare starter battery.   Once he was loaded up we took off and headed back to the Monument channel and anchored around 2:15.  We relaxed in the afternoon, and the two old guys went for a dip and later  tried fishing,

bringing back this small bass. 

It was a hot evening.

In the morning we left just after 8:00 headed for Longuissa Bay, just as it started to sprinkle.  We had to pull up the anchor as Andy’s night-line had hooked onto one of  the float line.  We went the 13 miles and arrived at about 10:15.  It rained on and off all afternoon. We occupied ourselves playing cards.  In the evening, Brian went out in the dinghy, but came back empty handed.  He said the bay was very weedy.  At nightfall there were 10 sailboats and 4 power boats in the bay—very popular spot! 

In the morning we left  the anchorage at 8:10 headed for Port Severn lock.  There were some waves, once we were in open water, but they diminished as we turned into the channel headed to Green and Potato Island.  We reached the lock at were though by 10:40.  We were then on to the big chute and waited for one lock up before going through.  Once on the other site, we stopped at the dock and went for ice cream at the marina. 

A few miles further up the trent severn, a light on the port engine went on and there was a blue puff a smoke.  Andy shut the engine down and we proceeded to Swift on one engine, arriving at 2:50.  Andy called around in Orillia, looking for a diesel mechanic, and found one that will take a look at our engine on Wednesday.  Andy went down to look at the engine, and it looks like some coolant  and possibly oil spilled out.    He called his brother, Duncan for his opinion, and we now suspect that we  may need a new head gasket. We are going to spend a couple nights at Swift, plugged in to power and then one night at Couchiching, before booking in for  3 nights in Orillia.

Another high speed power boat, called money just money, also had an engine issue– Maybe we need to rename our boat to something like this- Money Just Money! 

We played cards in the evening,  it was a cooler night, so most of the windows were closed. 

On Saturday, Andy brought out the charts for Georgian Bay and the North Channel and went over them with Gary, a looper  from Pennsylvania on Frost Free.  Andy and Brian did some fishing near the spillway from the dam, but came home empty handed.

 A bit of a sleepness night was had by the captain and admiral, as Andy worried about passing through Hydro glen and mcdonald’s cut—two narrow channels with a strong current on one engine.  Going through these areas, Brian and I were on each side of the boat with boat hooks,  but Andy did a fabulous job, and our services weren’t needed.  We continue along the Trent Severn and arrived at the Couchiching lock around 11:00.  We told the lock staff we were on one engine, and another boat helped us tie up, and allowed us into the lock first.  Once we were out, we tied up on the port side. 

Andy called Port of Orillia, and booked us in for Monday to Thursday.  We went for a walk around the lock, and saw there was a restaurant nearby that served Kawartha Ice cream.  We decided to go later in the afternoon for some.  However unknown to us, when we showed up at 2:45, they were already closing for the day. Met some loopers from Coburg, that were on day 6 of their loop having started from Pigeon Lake- liked the name of the boat–Done Saving.

We played more cards in the evening, and we  all went for showers. While I was gone, Andy and Brian, saw a fox near the boat—maybe Muriel was checking in on us.  We had a pleasant night and   we were the only boat at Lock 42.  It was a little foggy in the morning when we got up.

  We asked theLockmaster to call the CN bridge tender to find out a good time for us to come down to the bridge.  We don’t want to be idling for an hour in front of the bridge with only one engine.

At 9am the lock called the bridge, but he didn’t pick up.  A boat came to the lock, which had been able to get under the bridge, and told us that there was another boat on the other side waiting.  Within about 15 minutes, it appeared. So we decided to go up to the lock to find out when it might open.  After a short wait the bridge tender came out, and said they were changing the starter in the generator, and it may be an hour or more—so we turned around and went back to the lock.  Around 10:30, the locking staff told us that the bridge would be opening shortly, as a train had just  crossed.  So we fired up and went back to the bridge,  once there, the bridge tender told the 10 opposing boats, to let us pass though first, as we only had the one engine. 

Most of the boats were flying the AGLCA burgee.  We crossed Lake Couchiching, and were tied up at the marina by 12:30.  After having lunch, I did a couple loads of laundry, while Andy and Brian went to the Legion and liquor store.    The marina had another 8 or 10 looper boats by nightfall, one was a 65 foot Fleming.  For supper, Brian took us to Fionn Maccools, we returned to the boat and played cards.

Many of the looper boats left early in the morning to get to the train bridge and Couchiching.  The boats are rushing to get to the Big Chute, during the week, as they will not put large boats through on weekends.    In the morning another boater, stopped by who was a mechanic—he checked our coolant and determined it was very low—so we topped it up. Around noon, Brian and Helen arrived, they had come to pick up Brian Hayton, so he could return to Bancroft.  We went out for lunch to Friends Dinner, which was quite good.  Afterwards we stopped at Canadian Tire, as Andy wanted to pick up some more coolant, and Rotella T5 oil, just in case we need to replace fluids, if it ends up being the head gasket. Just as we were getting out of the car and saying our goodbyes, the skies opened and  rain started to fall. 

Andy and I returned to the boat, so that we could cover up the top.  We had rain and thunder for most of the afternoon, so we played cards.  Around 6:00, there was a bit of a break in the weather, so we walked over to the Metro grocery, to pick up a few things.  On Wednesday, many boats left in the morning, and many more arrived as the day went by- the outer docks here are almost full.  

Steven, the diesel mechanic  came by around 9:00,  he looked around the engine, and had Andy start it up.  No water was being released, so he ascertained that we likely needed a new impeller in the coolant water pump.   We had a  couple of spare ones on-board.  Around 10:30, Kevin, who works for Steve, came by to replace it. When he pulled out,  the impeller, none of the fins were left intact.  He had to pour a lot of water through the water-heat exchanger to dislodge any impeller pieces, prior to replacing it.  Andy ran the engine  for about 30 minutes to get it up to temperature, and ensure we had good water flow.  By 12:30, Kevin was gone, and then Andy and I had to clean up the water/antifreeze mess beneath the engine. 

While we were busy in the engine room, our friends Peggy, Tom and Nayla from Hamilton arrived on Water Lily-  we had met them last summer on the Rideau.  We spent several hours later in the afternoon catching up with Tom and Peggy, while Nayla kept guard, or cuddled with us.

In the evening we caught up on some episodes of Coronation Street.

I was awoken around 4 am to wind and rain, which continued until 8:30.  Since I couldn’t get back to sleep, I stayed up and read.  Once the rain had stopped and the wind died down several of the looper boats left for Couchiching.   Around 11 we walked over to Wilkie’s bakery to pick up Chelsea buns, and then went to Metro for a couple of things.  We came back to the boat, had lunch and played some cards.

In the evening Tom and Peggy stopped by for some more visiting.

If the weather and wind is favourable in the morning, we plan to cross Lake Simcoe to Gamebridge Lock 41and beyond. Karl the electrical engineer should be back from Scotland in a day or two, ans we still hope to meet him somewhere to look at the electrical system before we return to Winnipeg at the beginning of August.

We left Buckhorn at 7:55 and moved through Bobcaygeon, and then Fenlon Falls, we arrived at Rosedale around 12:30 and tied up.  We were the only boat on the top side on Friday night, however other boats joined us for Saturday. 

We were next to RikAnha, and visited with them and their cat Wizard.

They are headed to Georgian Bay as well sometime over the summer.On Sunday we left around 11:00 and crossed Balsam Lake arriving at the Kirkfield lock at 12:50, a lockage was just going down , so we had to wait an hour for it to come back up. 

We  were out of Kirkfield by 2:35.  We continued on through  the very weedy Canal Lake, and then on to Bolsover, Talbot, Portage and stopped at the top of Thorah, where Bill and Margie from Crustacean  were tied up.  In the evening Bill put on a wet suit and dove under our boat and theirs to remove weeds that were wrapped around the props and rudder. 

Here’s our boats on Monday morning at Thorah.  

We left together and went through Thorah, and then Gamebridge and hit Lake Simcoe at 10:00.  I saw these Turtles sunning themselves, along with a Heron.

We arrived at the Port of Orillia at 12:15, I did some laundry , the dryer was broken, so I hung our clothes on the flybridge to dry

and we walked over to Metro for provisions.  There is a huge construction project happening around the marina,  one of the staff said they are building 80 affordable condos, with a price tag of 1 Million. Yikes. In the morning before departing I went to Wilkie’s Bakery at 9 for fresh butter tarts and Chelsea buns ( they were still warm). The Kawartha Voyager was tied up at Port of Orillia, it is making trips in this area, going between the Big chute and Peterborough.

We are going to travel with Crustacean for the next week, showing them parts of Georgian Bay. After crossing Lake Couchiching, we were stopped at the CN train bridge for over an hour because of many trains on the schedule.  We anchored a fair distance from the bridge and rafted with Crustacean while we waited.

  Then it was on through the Couchiching Lock, Sparrow Lake, McDonald cut and hydro glen before arriving in Swift Rapids  at 3:05.  We tied up to the grey line where they now have 2 power pedestals.  Had a quiet night. 

In the morning we locked through just after 9:00, and then it was off to the Big Chute.  When we arrived, the staff was just leaving to do some dam work, so we waited and showed Bill and Margie the carriage and explained what would happen.  Another boat showed up, and they went through first, alone.  We were next, here we are leaving the carriage. 

Once we were through, we tied up and I got off the boat, so I could take pictures of Crustacean.  

Once through we continued on to Port Severn, again we had to lock separately as this is the smallest lock on the Trent, and it would have been a tight fit for both of us to get into it at the same time. 

Once out, we went between Green and Potato islands and headed for Beausoleil Island.  We both tied up to the docks at Cedar Springs by 3:45 , after a 27 mile run for the day. Some changes had occurred since we were last there in 2018, when these docks had been closed due to high water. 

The next morning, we led the way and showed Crustacean some of the Anchorages nearby that we had either stayed at or had explored, these included frying pan, Goblin,  Longuissa Bay,  and Hockey stick.  We then proceed along Muskoka , Musquash and Monument channels to get to Indian Harbour around 1:00, another 27 mile day. After anchoring in the bay with 5 other boats, we just relaxed.  Around 5:30, Bill came over by dinghy to take us to his boat for dock tails.  While there Andy helped him tighten the belt on his generator.  Another peaceful night.

In the morning, it was cloudy,  we weighed anchor at 10:00  and proceeded to the O’donnell point anchorages,  on 12 mile bay, as well as Big David Bay. We continued on to San Souci island, and tied up at the dock for lunch at Henry’s. 

It was a cloudy day, and our charging system was acting up, it doesn’t seem that the alternators are putting power into the house bank.  Andy called Karl and tried a few things to try and figure out what wasn’t working, with Bill assistance as well as Ted, the owner of Henry’s. 

We also plugged into shore power for a few hours to try to re charge our house batteries. Around 6:45 we left and headed up to Port Rawson, and found a place to anchor around 7:30.  Around 8:00 we tried to start our generator, and it wouldn’t run- likely a dead starter battery.  Andy called back to Henry’s to book us in there for Saturday night, so that we can charge our lithium’s fully.  Andy realized in the morning that the generator’s start button on the generator had been switched off. 

Once he put it in the correct position the gennie fired up and pumped power into the batteries.  Yipee.  He then had a call with Karl, to discuss the dc to dc charger.  We left the anchorage around 11:00 the 8 mile run to Henry’s to re-charge the batteries.  Just before we left a fishing boat stopped and asked us for directions to Pennsylvania Island—they had a fully stocked boat with about a dozen rods, however, they had a 1 page map of the area, and no bait.  They ended up following us out of Port Rawson all the way to the bait store on Pennsylvania Island.  We arrive at Henry’s around noon and tied up.  Andy went back into the engine room and spoke to Karl on the phone.  The DC-DC charger still does not appear to be working, ie) supplying power from the engines to the batteries while we are running. Karl thinks that we need some  larger breakers added to either side of the DC charger.  We have decided to go back to Victoria Harbour for Monday, and will see if we can buy them there and have them installed.  We went up to the restaurant for a drink and some lunch.  Karl will also order us another external regulator, as one of them doesn’t seem to be working well. We spent the afternoon relaxing, relieved that we can continue our vacation in Georgian Bay.

On Sunday we left Henry’s around 8 am

and retraced our route to Longuissa Bay,  there was smoke in the air for the entire trip.  We  arrived at Longuissa at 11:30, sharing the anchorage with about 5 other boats.  Crustacean joined us there later in the afternoon.  I spent some time cleaning the boat.  We had docktails with Margie and Bill on our boat. 

I also went for a swim off the back of the boat to cool off. 

We had a couple short showers throughout the night.  In the morning we left the anchorage around 8:30, and headed the 18.7 miles to Victoria Harbour.  We experience a  little rain when we were near the northern shores of Beausoleil Island, but Andy continued to drive from the flybridge.  About 20 minutes from Queen’s Cove, there was a warning on the VHF radio that a squall was approaching southern Georgian Bay.  Unfortunately, we were not get at the marina when the skies opened, we were completely drenched.  Andy tied up to an outside dock in the marina, to wait out the storm, so that we could move to our assigned slip.  After we moved, Andy went up to check-in and order the required circuit breakers for the dc charger.   There was a break in the weather in the afternoon, so we walked into town to reprovision. We then spent some time catching up on Coronation Street, and I watched the video of the grad ceremonies for my great-niece Neva in Swan River.   The rain started again around 4:00 and it continued to rain until dark and through the night. Here’s a view of my boat garden, it seems to like the amount of rain and sunshine it has been getting, I have a dozen tomatoes, and some radishes that should be ready in the next week or two.

This garden is easy to weed, unlike back home, where our neighbor has sprayed the weeds with Roundup!

The modifications to the canopy also seems to be a success, as there was very little pooling of water after yesterday’s rains.

Early this morning, we learned that our friend Muriel had passed away in Bancroft, so that put a damper on the day.  I’m very glad I visited her 3 weeks ago, when we were there. I spent the morning doing some cleaning on the outside decks with a scrub brush and soap.  Around 11, I walked up to the laundromat—I missed a huge rain shower by mere minutes.  Once the laundry was completed, I met Andy at the Village mercantile for lunch and Kawartha Ice cream.   

We returned to the boat, and Andy checked if the circuit breakers had arrived.  They were in, but a mistake was made- they had sent two identical breakers, which wasn’t what had been ordered.  So, one more day of waiting.  Andy added the one breaker that he received.  We also put a call and email into Sensata- the maker of our inverter and monitor, to get assistance on setting it up for the lithiums—as it doesn’t seem to be fully charging them.  We had a call back later and were told that are equipment (bought in 2020) was too old to communicate with Lithium, but a circuit board could be changed in the inverter to upgrade it. This incompatability will explain why our system is wonky on days we don’t have sun to charge the batteries. After some discussions with Karl, we may be replacing the inverter and monitor  so that we can get the system running as it was designed.  We want reliability and redundancy to operate this boat worry-free, especially if we spend next summer on Lake Superior.  Karl will come up with some suggestions, and hopefully we will meet up with him in about 3 weeks to replace and make corrections.

We awoke this morning, to wind, smoke, cooler temps and may flies.  Will likely stay here one more night. I continued to scrub the deck and gunnels, while we waited for delivery of the other circuit breaker.  I saw this sign near someone else’s boat on A dock.

 It is very true even if boats can be a money pit- we keep thinking that the next upgrade will solve the electrical issues that have plagued us since 2015. Hopefully if we get it functioning properly it will bring happiness and smooth sailing!!

More bad news the circuit breaker didn’t arrive yesterday, so we will have to wait here yet another day. We hope to leave later this afternoon, to find somewhere close by to anchor, as it is the start of the July long weekend and it will be busy. Our plan is to stay out on Georgian Bay until about July 7th and then start heading back into the TSW, so we can rendez-vous with Karl after he returns from Scotland.

Circuit breaker did not come in Thursday’s shipment, so we are still in Vic. Harbour, we are hoping that it comes today (Friday), so we can leave and spend some time at anchor. It is raining and smoky here again today. Hope everyone has a great Canada Day tomorrow!

Circuit breaker arrived Friday afternoon and was installed by my favourite electrician-in- training. We plan to leave here Sunday morning and head north-west back towards Port Rawson.