After going to BYH for a pump out, water refill and a check of our turbos, we were off down the TSW.
We did a couple locks and then tied up in Rosedale for a couple nights, we then crossed Balsam Lake and were just through the first long Trent cut, when we were hit by a thunderstorm, we dropped anchor and waited it out. We then continued through Mitchell and Canal Lakes as well as the Kirkfield lift lock. We tied up at Bolsover, where we had rain off and on for the next 5 hours. We stayed an additional day, and met up with Julie and Glenn on Sunday for a visit.
On Monday we started locking through the last 5 locks around 9 am in order to reach Lake Simcoe. In the first lock we were alone, but had 3 other boats with us for the final 4. We reached the lake at 11:45, and arrived at the Port of Orillia around 2 pm. After doing some chores- laundry and grocery shopping, we relaxed. On Monday we left just before 9 and headed up Couchiching Lake, we arrived at the train bridge before 10:00, it was posted that it would open around 10:45, but it was 11:20 when it finally opened. We were boat number 7 of 14 that were waiting. We had already decided to tie up in Couchiching for the night, so went to the grey line. It took several lock downs to clear the backlog of boats. We spent the night at Couchiching and moved on to Swift Rapids the next day, and were able to get a spot with power. We spent two nights there before moving to the Big Chute for a night.
On Saturday the 15th we moved to Port Severn lock for two nights. Since it was a sunny day, the lock was extremely busy with people going out to Georgian Bay. On Sunday, Tom and Peggy, came and picked us up and took us grocery shopping in Coldwater, we then went back to their trailer, for snacks and wine. For dinner we drove over to Queen’s Quay in Victoria Harbour. On Monday morning we locked out into the Bay, and went to Wye Heritage for 3 nights. Our dinghy went in for repairs on Monday afternoon, and was picked up Wednesday morning, our diesel mechanic, who boats out of Wye Heritage, provided the transport to CO2 in Midland. We had dinner the first night at Fin City, and met Don, the boat broker who had sold us On Business, 12 years ago. On Wednesday afternoon, we had a boat electrician come onboard, and assess our electrical systems. We will be seeing him again, before we head back to the Trent. On Thursday, after a pump out and the addition of diesel, we left Wye Heritage and headed to Frying Pan bay on Beausoleil island. We anchored out with about 14 other boats, as all the docks were occupied. On Friday morning, when a dock was vacated, we moved and tied up.
Around noon on Friday, Heart Tug, with Randy and Audrey arrived and were able to tie up next to us. In the afternoon we visited and shared stories about our summer. On Saturday morning, we left and travelled towards Massasauga Park, we anchored for two nights in Ladas Bay, it was quite windy, so we had to repositioned the boat. On Sunday the wind howled until almost midnight. Monday, we decided to move to Spider Bay, which we knew was a sheltered spot.
On Tuesday we left around 8:45 and headed up the South Channel towards Parry Sound. We wanted to be there for the 11:00 opening of the Rose Point bridge, we arrived early, and anchored out while we waited. We went to Big Sound Marina, for day docking. We were meeting our friend Brian, who was coming for another 5 day visit. Brian took us grocery shopping, and we also got our propane tank re-filled. Once our tasks were done, we made the 5:00 swing of the bridge and were back in Spider Bay by 6:45. We anchored in the same area, near Starke island. For the next 4 days, Andy and Brian went out two or more times per day in search of fish, they explored many of the small coves in the Spider Bay area by dinghy.
They came back one day with a Bass, and caught another one on Friday, so we did have a fish dinner on Friday night, along with Corn on the cob, that we had purchased in Parry Sound. One night while they were out fishing, I saw a black bear swim across the bay, as well as had a couple of white tailed deer, eating weeds very near to the boat.
On Sunday we returned to Parry Sound to drop Brian off at his car, we arrived for the 11:00 opening of the Swing Bridge. After lunch at Chuck’s Roadhouse, Brian took us shopping, and then left for his 3 hour trip back to Bancroft. We had noticed some issues with our new MPPT charger so Andy was in contact with Karl, who had installed it in July. We stayed at Big sound marina over night, so that we could fully charge our batteries, do laundry and fill up with water. Georgian Bay is quite beautiful- full of rocks, trees growing in rock, and water!! Saw this tour boat arrive Monday morning.
Will be heading back to the numerous anchorages in Massasauga Park, before returning to the Trent for our September 25th pull-out. 4 months is getting to be too long to be on the boat!
On Thursday, we left Smith Falls and went to the Blue line to go through Lock 31, we were joined by 3 rental Le Boats—this being their first lock, 2 of the boats didn’t have a clue what to do or how to tie up.
The lockmaster was very patient with them and gave instructions. We continued on as a group, and the locking staff at the Poonamalie lock, also provided instruction on locking and driving. After this lock we finally got into one of the Rideau lakes, and lost our traveling companions, however in the Narrows lock, Newboro and Chaffey’s lock, we had another “Rinker” boat with thrusters that had a very tough time trying to lock and navigate. We followed him out of the Newboro lock, and on two occasions he went the wrong way. We decided to stay at Chaffey’s lock for the night and tied up with power, the Rinker continued on so hopefully we’ve seen the last of him. We met a couple on Happy Daze, who are also Gold Loopers, and had a visit with them. On Friday we left Chaffey’s and went through Davis lock with Happy Daze and one other boat, when we got to the 4 locks at Jone’s falls, we were with 4 large boats in total, we were on the Port side for locking at the back, in several of the locks, we had the dinghy rubbing on the abutment and the motor just inches from a metal ladder. Once we got to upper brewers, we stopped and tied up and let the other 3 continue on. After a shower, we decided to move on as well, as Upper Brewers was filling up fast, and lots of the big boats wanted power, and we didn’t necessarily need it. We went through Lower Brewers lock and tied up at the bottom with 2 of the big boats we had locked with earlier in the day and one other smaller boat. We had dock tails at 5 with Happy Daze and Morning Sun and had a fire later in the evening with all 4 boats. On Saturday morning we woke up to rain and thunder, we stayed put for the day, and caught up on chores.
On Sunday morning we left just before 8 as it was 10 miles to the Kingston Mills lock. We got there just around 9, however there were 3 boats in front of us for the first lock down, so we had to wait for the Kawartha voyager, and another lock up. We didn’t get into the lock until noon. We were through the 4 locks by shortly after 1 Pm, and then it was off to Confederation Basin. We had to go through the Kingston Bascule bridge–on Sundays they pull out a section of the bridge, so large boats like ours can pass through- not the ideal solution!
We tied up on the Break wall, and I went in and did a couple loads of laundry. We then walked to Food Basics for a few groceries, and the LCBO. We took a taxi back to the marina, as it was a hot day, and too far to walk with groceries. Andy talked to Karl, and was assured that he would be coming to the boat in the morning to install the alternator, new MPPT controller and the 2 15 amp circuit breakers. He arrived at 10:00 the next morning, and spent several hours installing the alternator and figuring out how to get RPMs to display. He did the other installs as well, and left shortly after 5 pm, he was having issues, as the transfer switches that had been installed in 2019, seemed to interfere with the Norland analog to digital component, but finally got it working to Andy’s satisfaction. We had to pay for a second day at the marina, because the work was completed so late.
On Tuesday, we were awoken by the wind howling before 5 am, we couldn’t decide if we should go or remain in Kingston. Around 6:15, we decided to go, knowing full well that there would be a couple spots that the waves would be hitting us broadside. In the beginning it was a little bumpy, but once we were in the protection of Amherst Island we had more than an hour of shelter, we then had another 30 minutes as we crossed the lower Gap, where it was ugly. As we got near Adolphus town. The sun came out and the wind subsided, Shortly after Deseronto we had heavy rain, thunder and lightning, but made it to Belleville shortly before 1 pm. We got a pump out, and fuel. We decided to stay for 2 nights to relax, and wait out the rain and wind before heading up the TSW. On Thursday we left shortly after 8 pm and headed down the Bay of Quinte to Trenton, and the first lock on the TSW. We arrived at Lock one and there were several boats already in line to lock up. We waited and went up in the 3rd lockage with 3 other boats, that rafted, as they only allow boats to tie to one side of the lock, because of the way the water comes in. We went through 5 locks and arrived at the bottom of Lock 6; we were told that there currently wasn’t space for us on top. Within about 40 minutes, a couple of the boats pulled away, so we were able to lock up, and get near to our favourite willow tree. We made friends with the couple that was under the tree—Rob and Donna, so we could get a little closer. By the end of locking there were 7 boats at the top of Lock 6.On Thursday, when Rob and Donna left, we immediately backed up our boat to be in the shade of the willow. Our friends Rick and Linda, who we had originally met under the willow tree 4 years ago, drove up from Oshawa for lunch and a visit—Andy treated us all to Smash burgers , fries and onion rings from the food truck in the Lion’s park. The burgers were amazing!
On Saturday, we left with another boat shortly after 8 am, and headed for the next lock which was an hour away, we locked through 7 and then moved on to 8, which was another 8 miles away. We locked through 8 and stayed on top where we joined Rob and Donna. It was a very pretty setting, but busy with lots of people fishing and picnicking. On Sunday we left just around 9 and went to the next lock which was about a mile away, We locked through 9,10, and the flight lock of 11/12 before arriving at Campbellford town dock around noon. In the last lock, Andy had an issue starting the Starboard engine—possibly a faulty battery We tied up, and did a few chores. I set off to Laneway’s Laundry to do a couple loads, returning around 2pm. At 4 we walked over to the Legion for a drink; there were a few faces there that we remembered from our May visit. On Monday Brian and Helen came for a visit and brought me my Amazon package—a dongle for the MPPT controller, so it would show up on my Victron app on my iPad.
We did some shopping and went out for lunch, Andy and Brian also went to Canadian Tire to buy a spare marine battery- should we need it in the future. On Tuesday morning before we left I noticed that part of our dinghy had deflated, and found a fish hook nearby- maybe one of the fishermen on the dock at Percy’s reach had put a hole in it. We left Campbellford, and went through locks 13, 14 and 15. We tied up at Lock 15—Tuesday forecast was for a 100% chance of rain and winds. We didn’t receive any rain until almost supper time, and then again in the night. On Wednesday morning we locked through the flight of 16/17 Heally falls and then went the 15 miles to Hastings and lock through there as well. Since we were the first on the lock wall, we tied up at the very end. We visited the LCBO and grocery store. In the afternoon, we stopped in at the local Legion for a drink. About a dozen people were playing dart, Andy was challenged to a game. People were very welcoming, and one guy bought us each a drink. By the time we got back to the lock wall it was full- mainly of Loopers, and several also were tied up at the nearby marina. On Thursday, we departed before 6:30, as we had 37 miles to the next lock, with the crossing of Rice Lake and then the Otonabee River. We arrived at Scott’s Mills lock 19 around 10:15, and had to wait for a lock down before entering. We were through and then got in line for Lock 20 that was only a mile away—there were about 5 or 6 boats, including some kayakers ahead of us so we had to wait about an hour for it to be our turn. We were joined in the lock by 3 other boats and some kids under 10 years old in a canoe—so it was a painfully slow lock up- likely double the time it usually takes. Once through we were at the lift lock, there were only 3 boats in our group, and we were out of the lock shortly after 1 pm. We then locked through 22,23 and 24, in order to get to the top of Douro. We were meeting some boating friends- Randy & Judy who we had met at the Lakefield lock. Andy had participated with them and some other campers in a trivia contest at the Canoe & Paddle pub back in July of 2016. It was great catching up on the past 10 years.
On Friday, Randy and Judy were heading for Peterborough and we were headed to Lakefield.
We had to go through Lock 25, and then 26, we found room on the wall and plugged in to power. Linda from Shala Mar, sent me some pics that she had taken in the lock, as well as from the previous day of us locking in Peterborough- it takes 2 minutes to go from the bottom to top of the lock.
At the lock we met cousins of Randy’s and shared boating stories with them. The walls soon filled up at Lakefield with more than 40 boats going through the lock on this long weekend Friday. We arrived at the top of Lock 26, and were able to get a power spot, which was wonderful as it was very hot and humid. The place soon filled up with boats- mainly Loopers, some of which we had seen in the past few days. We talked to a few and explained how large Georgian Bay and the North channel were—a couple of them thought they could get to the North channel in 6-8 days. No concept, we told them it was still about 5 days before they would reach Port Severn. We visited with Gordon and Tracy who were in the Parker boat next to us—they are related to Randy and Judy.
I also ordered two new headset for us from Marine outfitters, as one of ours only works sporadically, and we’ve come to rely on them so much for locking that we need a working set. I’ve asked to have them shipped to Buckhorn, but because of the long weekend, are unsure of when they may arrive there.
On Saturday I started doing a good cleaning of the boat interior, washed floors, dishes, vacuumed the rugs and dusted. While I was doing this Andy walked into Lakefield and went to Foodland for a few items. He returned with Kawartha Coconut ice cream for me, and also a tub of Tragically chip for the Lock staff. Rob and Donna, on Shoal survivor, locked up and tied up a few boats in front of us. We visited with them in the afternoon. On Sunday we decided to stay in Lakefield, as it was predicted to rain most of the day and night. In the afternoon, we walked into Lakefield for a coffee at the cafe, and then a trip to the hardware store and Foodland, before returning to the boat. We did get a little wet, so started the heater in the boat to warm us up. We spent the rest of the day playing cards and reading.
We moved about 6 miles on Monday and tied up at the top of Young’s point with Shoal Survivor. It was a sunny day without rain. We went to the Young’s Pt Trading Post for Ice cream- I tried the Peaches & cream, wasn’t that impressed, will have to stick with Coconut. In the afternoon, I read a book, while Andy visited with the neighbours.
On Tuesday we left at 8:30 and proceeded across Clear and Stoney Lakes to Burleigh Falls, we only waited a couple minutes for a boat to come out, and then we were on our way up.
Next stop, was the Lovesick Lock, and again we got right in with another boat. We followed him to Buckhorn, where we had to bobble and wait for a lock down. We were through the lock and tied up by 11:45 with power next to JoKen, people we know from Buckhorn Yacht Harbour. While we were crossing Lower Buckhorn Lake, Marine Outfitters called and said my package would be shipped, with a 1-2 day delivery. We will stay here at the lock for the next 2 nights. We visited with people that we knew from Buckhorn Yacht Harbour in the afternoon and watched the concert by the lock in the evening.
We hope to go to BYH tomorrow, for a pump-out, water, and help with finding the hole in our dinghy, before we move on up the Trent to Georgian Bay for a month.
Brian H arrived from Bancroft on Saturday to keep Andy in check while I was away, he brought with him a sturdy new step for the boat that Brian V had made. Andy and Brian took me to the airport early Sunday morning for my flight to Halifax, upon arrival there I was met by Christine and Graham Williams. Graham is my Eastern Star counterpart- I am the representative to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in Manitoba, and he is the rep from there to Manitoba. As Christine drove to Truro, I got to know a little about them. We stopped for lunch, and then checked into the hotel, which would be home for the next 4 nights. Later we went out for supper, with a couple more Star members. On Monday morning, I registered, and then went for pictures at some point, and to a Grand Representative’s meeting. That evening at the informal opening of the Wishes do come true Grand Chapter of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, I was introduced along with lots of other people. There was an amazing group in attendance from Manitoba, included in the picture is a PGM of Nova Scotia, that was initiated into O.E.S. in Portage la Prairie.
The next few days we spent in meetings, watching how this Grand Chapter conducts business and comparing it to what we do in Manitoba. On the Tuesday night, there was a western themed banquet, followed by line-dance instructions. On Wednesday night was the installation of the new officers, following that was a reception.
On Thursday, Christine and Graham took me to their place in Dartmouth, so they could drop off their stuff, we then toured around Darthmouth and Halifax, before they took me to the airport to catch my 5:40 plane back to Ottawa.
While in Halifax, I tried some local wine, cider and food- donair, when I got back to Ontario, I also found donair flavoured chips in the grocery store.
While I was away, Andy and Brian did some playing in the dinghy, going all the way to Long Island lock one day and then up to Burritts Rapids the next. They had to replenish the gas in the dinghy when they got home. They were also stopped by the OPP, and questioned on a number of things—only got a warning, no fines. The crew from Hurst marina came up with a plan to fix and reinforce the solar panels on the bimini and also put a filter on the black water tank. All this work was completed on Friday.
On Saturday morning after paying the bill, we set off for the next lock which was Burritt’s Rapids, arriving at 1:30 and obtained the last spot that had power.
On Sunday, we continued on down the rideau, passing through the 3 locks at Merrickville, we couldn’t stop because of high water the docks were not available for use. So, we continued on to Kilmarnock and went through the lock and tied up. We spent 2 nights there and had a good visit with Fred and Helen from J’ai Fini, which we had met last summer up on Georgian Bay.
On Tuesday morning, we left and travelled to Smith Falls, and tied up on the wall with power. Tuesday was hot 34 feeling like 44, we were glad were able to run the fan and AC. Jamie and Sheri, boating friends from Victoria Harbour stopped by for a visit, as Sheri lives in Smith Falls. We went out for supper at the Lockmaster’s Tap house, which is nearby, and ran into new boating friends that we had just met in Burritt’s Rapids. Tuesday night there was a huge thunderstorm with winds, and in the morning several trees had been knocked down in the park. Wednesday, Sheri came by and took me grocery shopping for a few things, when we returned to the boat, we had finally heard from Karl, who was suppose to come and install our new alternator—he wasn’t able to make it. So, we rescheduled now having it done in Kingston on Sunday afternoon or Monday. We will stay in Smith Falls another night and then head quickly down the Rideau, to ensure we are close to Kingston for the Sunday bridge opening. My knitting project has had a bit of a setback– I somehow managed to complete the 4 rows of pattern the wrong way, so I am learning to unknit– slow process, and I don’t feel like doing it in this heat– it will have to wait for another day!
With regards to my title—we have seen various locking methods on this trip, we’ve used cables in the TSW and now the Rideau, we have hovered and not tied up at all in the Iroquois, we used bollards in the American -Eisenhower and Snell locks, we’ve had long dirty nylon ropes thrown at us for the 2 Beauharnois locks in Quebec, and then we had the 2 locks in the Quebec Waterways, that had docks to tie to within the locks. Lots of variation- they all work- some better than others! The most grueling of the locking to date were the 8 step locks we did in a 3 hour period in order to reach the Rideau Canal and downtown Ottawa.
Didn’t leave Crysler Park, as planned, still very windy and rain showers every couple of hours. We walked over to the Upper Canada village-told it was about a mile away—sure seemed a lot more than that. Upper Canada village is a world renowned village of heritage structures of the 1860’s. We toured a saw mill which was still able to cut logs into planks, as well as a blacksmith, shoemaker, bakery, wool factory with working looms. There was also a church, masonic lodge and various other buildings. We did not visit them all as we were tired from our walk over. We did stop for lunch, and bought some bread that was made in the village bakery- very thick and dense, as they did not use yeast. On our walk back to the marina, we encountered a shower, and hid under a tree until it passed, farther up the road the harbour master in a truck saw us and gave us a ride back, which was great as we encountered another long shower once we were back at our boat.
On Saturday, with the winds subsiding, we left the marina at 7:30, headed east on the St. Lawrence to the American locks. These locks cover about 9 miles with the Dwight Eisenhower lock on the western end and the Bertrand H Snell lock at the East end. This pair of locks were built to bypass the Long Sault dam. The locks on the Seaway can accommodate ships of 740 feet and beams of 78 feet. We arrived at the Eisenhower lock and tied up to the lock structure, as there was no dock to tie to. Andy called the lock, and an employee came out to collect our fee ($60 Cdn for the 2 locks). We were told that they could take us into the lock shortly, but we would be held for a short time, so that we met a Tug in the 9 mile Wiley-Dondero channel between the locks. Once in the lock, we tied up to a floating bollard, and waited until about 10:00 when our locking down began. We dropped over 40 feet in a matter of minutes, and were out of the lock by 10:08. We then proceeded down the channel for our meet. When we arrived at the Snell lock there was a huge boat approaching, and since pleasure craft are low priority, we bobbled out in the channel. There was a mooring ball that we could have tied to, but once we checked it out, we decided not to. We continued to wait, shortly after 11, the lock called, and said they would take us in, once the ship had left the lock, around 11:20, the ship departed and we made our way in and secured ourselves to a bollard, for another 40 foot drop. We were out of the lock by 11:35, and departed U.S. waters. We continued on to Cornwall which was about 8 miles away, on this part of the St. Lawrence the current was about 7.5 mph, so we were being pushed by river. We had to go around Cornwall island, and then back to the west to get to the marina. We were tied up shortly after 12:45.
We were quite a distance from the marina office, and asked it we could move closer, and were given another slip assignment. In the afternoon, we called a cab and went to Walmart and the LCBO to reprovision. For dinner we ordered Pizza, we had heard on CBC earlier this week about Cornwall-styled Pizza, and wanted to try it out. We were told that with this style of pizza, all the toppings except bacon are under the cheese. The pizza was very good and filling, although the crust was thicker than we prefer—we both ate 2 pieces, so will have leftovers for a few days. On Sunday we walked to the nearby mall, most of the stores were empty- very depressing.
On Monday morning, we fueled up the boat before leaving, as diesel was 2.05/L, which was the cheapest we had encountered. We followed the St. Lawrence and made our way to Valleyfield Quebec for the night. Huge marina, but there was no one around on a Monday afternoon. On Tuesday morning we left Valleyfield at 7:40, as we had to go through the Larocque Bridge at it’s 9:00 opening, we were there about 20 minutes early, and were able to pass thru at 8:50 as it was opened for a ship travelling in the opposite direction. We then proceeded to the St. Louis Bridge for it’s 9:45 opening, once again the bridge opened a little early and we were thru at 9:35, then it was off to the 2 Beauharnois locks for our 11:00 and 12:00 reservations. We tied up at the upper lock by 10:40 and waited, finally at 11:20 we got in touch with the lock and they said there would be a slight delay. By 11:30 we were in the lock- here they threw us long nylon ropes to secure us to the lock wall. The second lock was similar and we were thru it by 12:40. We continued our crossing of Lac St. Louis, skirting around Montreal and the entrances to the St. Catherines, and Lachine channels.
We continue on to Ste. Anne de Bellevue, which is found on the western tip of Montreal island. Here we tied up for the night. It was June 23rd, the eve of St. Jean Baptiste day also known as Quebec’s National Holiday.There was entertainment at the town centre, which was only 100 meters from our boat. We walked around the town on several occasions, and sampled Ice cream, gelato, pasties and amazing bread from the Darling Boulangerie. We stayed a second night, and once again there was music nearby.
We met Robert and Claudette, Gold loopers who are the harbour hosts for Montreal. On Thursday afternoon we went through the lock, which actually had a dock inside, that we tied up to. This was a first. Ste. Anne’s claims to be the busiest lock in Canada, and typically rafts a number of boats together when they fill the lock. In the middle of the afternoon, we locked alone and headed across the Lake of the 2 Mountains towards the Carillon lock, we passed by the huge church in Oka. The Carillon lock is impressive with a 200 ton guillotine gate and a lift of 65 feet, it too had a dock within the lock, so made the lift relatively easy. We locked up with a cruiser and a sailboat, on Friday morning. This lock was beside a huge park setting, and the old lockmaster’s house was on site, turned into a museum, but wasn’t open while we were there.
Once we were out of the lock we continued down the Ottawa river to Hawkesbury and tied up at the municipal dock, we then walked into town to buy a few groceries. We spent the night and left around 9:30, we were still 60 miles from Ottawa, and wanted to get a little closer and anchor out for a night. We found a lovely sheltered spot behind Dube Island, near the Quebec shore of the River. Andy took the dinghy for a little ride, and dipped my body into the Ottawa river, as it was very hot.
On Sunday we left the anchorage around 2:30 and continued the remaining 30 miles to Ottawa—we couldn’t tie up at the blue line on the lock until after 6 pm—we arrived there at 6:45, and spent the night. Until it was dark, there was lots of boat and people traffic around. On Monday morning at 9:15, we were joined by 4 other boats, to begin the 8 step locks. There was a 45 foot Meridian, that took the Port side, and we took the Starboard position in front, a couple cruisers were behind us, and a metal boat was rafted in between them. Instead of 8 locks, they combined a couple so we only actually locked through 7. We arrived at the top at 12:20 and tied up along the canal at a spot near the McKenzie King bridge with power. We noticed that the number of Boats tied up in Ottawa for Canada Day was very sparse, I counted only about 10 boats, Ten years ago when were last here, the place was crowded with boats on both sides of the canal.
I made a trip in the afternoon to the Rideau centre to look around. On Tuesday, Andy and I went back there for lunch and to do some reprovisioning at Farm Boy. We had to return in the late afternoon to the Bell Mobility store, as both of our cell phones stopped working. We were told that someone had put two new I-Phones onto our account earlier in the day. We talked to the fraud department, and had our Sim cards swapped out, so that our phones would work again. In the early afternoon, I had received an email asking to activated my ESIM, I had taken this to be spam, but it is likely when the fraud had started.
On Wednesday, Canada’s 159th Birthday, it was hot and muggy, we took a taxi to the National War Museum and spent over 4 hours touring it.
When we were ready to leave it was pouring outside, and all the people at the Canada Day festivities nearby, had moved inside of the museum. When the rain let up, we walked to the O-train station and returned to Rideau Centre—this too was a zoo, as all the people who had come to parliament hill for activities had moved indoors here, to get out of the rain. After having lunch at the food court, we walked back to the boat, when there was a break in the weather.
The weather caused a cancellation of all Canada Day activities and the evening fireworks. On Thursday, just after 9:30 we started up the boat, and headed down the Rideau canal—we needed to wait for the Pretoria lift bridge, we passed by Dow Lake- there were hardly any boats tied up there, we went through the locks at Hartwell, Hog’s Back and Black Rapids. We had originally hoped to tie up at Black rapids, but because of the rain storm the previous day, many of the docks were underwater, so we continued on to Long Island and went through the 3 locks there, and tied up by 2:00. In total 8 locks for the day, we will stay here 2 nights and then continue on to Hurst Marina, where we will be for a night, so that I can catch my flight Sunday to Halifax for the Grand Session of Nova Scotia and P.E.I. I will return to Ottawa on Thursday evening, July 9th.
On Thursday afternoon, we had a huge thunderstorm around 4:00, with wind and heavy rain- I heard a bang, and didn’t realize until the following morning that one of our solar panels had been lifted off the sundeck cover and landed on top of the one beside it. Andy did some minor repairs with tie wraps to hold it in place for the short term.
Once I return from Halifax, we will continue down the Rideau and then return to the Trent Severn waterway– this is all familiar territory, as this will be our 3rd time down the Rideau, so we may try to go at a relatively fast pace– we need to be in Kingston on a Sunday, as that is the only day the Bascule bridge is open.
We left the boat on October 9th as planned, spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Bancroft—I had more KIC-20. We then travelled around Ontario and visited with friends and family. We attended Caitlin and Christina’s wedding in the beautiful Elora Mills. It was absolutely amazing. We then started home, visiting more friends along the way. We arrived back in Winnipeg on October 24th.
This fall was also a sad time, three very dear people passed away. A good friend from Eastern Star/Job’s Daughters that I knew for over 47 years- Louise who was 103. My former boss from the CGC- Phil who was 93, and my cousin- Maureen, who died in a car accident . They will be missed.
Andy will be having a knee replacement in late November, so there will be very little travelling over the winter. I going to need a big knitting or sewing project to keep me occupied this winter!!
On Saturday the 28th, we walked to the Bush Plane museum, which is located on the waterfront in the Sault. Here’s one of the planes, also information on how to become a forest ranger- which I thought might be of interest for Jack.
On our return to the marina, we met up with Pat and Marcia and had drinks and appies at Montanas, which is located next to the marina. On Sunday we left around 8:15 and travelled the St. Mary’s river to Hilton Beach, we did not see a single freighter, only a couple of fishing boats. We stayed here for the night. We had this coyote on our dock, to scare the geese away. It seemed to work, as there was no goose droppings anywhere to be found on our dock. We had a thunderstorm in the evening followed by rain throughout the night.
On Monday we left just after 7 am, and crossed all the open water of the north channel, passing by Bruce Mines, Thessalon, and Blind River. We ended up going up the Whalesback channel and anchoring in Moiles Bay, off of John island. Long day 72 miles in 7 hours.
The skies were overcast, but it was relatively calm. On Tuesday, Canada Day we travelled 37 miles, in and out of fog in order to reach Little Current at 11 am. We walked up to the grocery store and got a few things as well as ice cream ( not Kawartha). In the evening, we met with Betsy and Allan, loopers from Florida, as well as Mike a gold looper from Michigan.
Wednesday was to have very little wind and waves, so we left at the 9am swing bridge opening and went outside of Killarney past the Bustards, but by this point the wind was starting to pick up. We went near the Outer foxes and vixen island, 2 places we had stayed before, but couldn’t get the anchor to hold. We travelled a little further and anchored near Dead Island in mud and weeds and were good for the night. Another marathon day of 69 miles. On Thursday morning, our 15th wedding anniversary, we only had a short 18 miles to travel to reach Wright’s Marina in Britt. Here we fuelled up, had a pump out and refilled our water. For an anniversary gift, I picked out this t-shirt. I’ve experienced both of these choices, and prefer the first one!
We went to Ice Cream on the rocks and had our first taste of Kawartha Ice cream KIC(1) Black Raspberry Thunder& Pralines &Cream. People have asked me how often we have Kawartha- so I’m going to try to keep track this year. We ordered a Pizza for supper, and Sean, one of the marina staff picked it up for us. It was huge, we had it for supper and for lunches for the next 3 days.
We left Friday at 7:45, and traversed the Norgate rocks, followed by the Hangdogs. There was hardly a ripple in the Hang dogs, but you can really see how low the water is in Georgian Bay, as there are many new rocks above the waterline. We continued on as the waves and weather held and crossed Parry sound. At 2:30 we anchored near Falkner island in Spider Bay Saturday, we did a few cleaning jobs—I was trying to rid the boat of May fly carcasses, as we had an invasion 2 nights in a row with them. Also took a dip in the water, as it was quite hot. Finally a Time to Relax!
On Sunday our friends, Tom, Peggy, & Nyla from Water Lily and Randy and Audrey from Heart Tug, came to the boat by dinghy. They were anchored in Echo Bay a few miles away. The day was mainly overcast, with some wind. Rain was to start in the early evening. I watched this loon for awhile and go this picture.
On Monday morning we left the anchorage around 9:00 and continued south east towards Beausoleil Island. We tied up at the dock at Cedar Springs at 1:15. We were the only ones on the dock, but there were a couple of other boats anchored out. Once we had check-in, we went for showers, and got rid of our garbage and re-cycling. My plants are doing well. Have about 10 tomatoes, and the lettuce is almost ready to eat.
On Tuesday we left around 11:30 and travelled the 9 miles to Queen’s Cove marina in Victoria Harbour. We got into our slip A10, which is actually Water Lily’s regular spot. We went to the marina office and paid for our slip for 2 nights, and tried to find out when the electrical work might be scheduled, as the parts that we ordered had been arrived. On Wednesday morning the service tech arrived around 9:00, and by noon he had replaced the external voltage regulator and installed the dc to dc charger. With these additions, our alternators will be able to charge our house lithium batteries while we are running.
To celebrate we went to Queen’s Quay for wings and beers for supper. It was quite hot, so we ran the AC to cool down the boat. On Thursday we went the 9 miles to Port Severn and did our first lock on the Trent Severn Waterway. Will stay here a night or two, we walked over to the Ice breaker, and had KIC (2), coconut this time, also picked up some books from a book sale at the post office.
On Saturday we moved on to the Big Chute railway, and tied up on top at the docks. t was really hot with very little breeze, in the afternoon, we went to the Marina for more KIC(3)- not much of a selection, so I had Chocolate. On Sunday morning Andy called the next lock, Swift rapids to see if they had space at the power pedestals- they did so we untied and arrived there before 11 and took a spot with power. It was suppose to be hot, and we wanted to run a fan or the AC, as the night at the big Chute was extremely hot and uncomfortable. We decided to stay for 2 nights, as there is only one more lock before we reach Orillia. We met with some loopers and the captain pulled out his charts and showed them some of our favourite spots. I have recently read the book- a respectable ditch, about the building of the Trent Severn Waterway between 1833 and 1920. Definitely an eye- opener– so much politics involved, and the ideas for it’s use kept changing, in the early days it was used for moving lumber through log chutes, then they thought it could move grain from western Canada down to Lake Ontario- that never happened. It was used for pleasure craft and Steamers, taking people on vacations. I did learn that Swift Rapids was originally a marine railway similar to the Big Chute. Stewart from the lock, showed me some pictures of what it was like prior to the lock opening in 1965, and where the rail lines used to be. Couchiching was the last lock built.
We left Swift just after 10 on Monday and arrived in Couchiching around noon, it was very busy and the grey wall docks were full of people going to the nearby restaurant, we bobbled around for a bit, and finally got a spot and tied up. Later in the afternoon we met people on a sailboat, who had come all the way from Norway- they had been in North America for almost a year, and were headed to Georgian Bay.
On Wednesday morning, we heard from the lockmaster that the bridge would be opening shortly, so we rushed to it and were through by 9:35. We arrived at the Port of Orillia and were tied up by 11:15. We heard on the radio that there were issues at the bridge, and it was down for maintenance. Very glad we came through when we did. Once we were settled, I did a few loads of laundry, and later walked to the Metro store for a few things, thank goodness it is close by, as it was over 30 C here. One of the items was a tub of KIC (4) Salty Carmel Truffle. As the afternoon progressed many boats came in, to get power as it was well above 35 with the humidex. Rain and wind was predicted for the evening and Thursday, so I expect many of them to stay.
Later in the afternoon, the Diesel mechanic who is going to do some work while we are away stopped by, so that Andy could tell him what he thinks needs to be done. In the morning David, the electronics guru will be paying us a visit as well. We are going out for supper with Brian and Helen, they will be taking us to Barrie tomorrow to catch the bus for our 20 hour bus ride to Thunder Bay, there we will pick up our vehicle and drive home to Winnipeg, stay there a few days and then off to Swan River for my great nieces wedding.
In early January, we decided that we would like to spend a couple weeks in Ireland, after we had put the boat to bed in Buckhorn. We’d drive to Toronto and fly to the Emerald island but that didn’t really work out with the issues in Lake Superior, so we came home for a couple weeks. We left Winnipeg early on Tuesday September 17th and travelled as far as Thunder Bay. We stopped by McKellar marine and dropped off our newest lithium battery, we also were given 2 props that needed to be taken to Buckhorn. We stayed at the Choice hotel called the Courthouse, as that is what it previously was. We were given a room on the lower floor that had a wheelchair accessible shower, which was great but it was badly designed as when we showered the next morning it flooded the bathroom.
We checked out and drove towards the Sault. We spent the night, and went to Wacky wings for supper. We left early in the morning and travelled as far as Buckhorn arriving around 3pm. We picked up our refurbished props, and dropped off the other set from McKellar’s. We then drove up to Bancroft to spend some time with Brian and Helen.
On Friday we had lunch and a visit with Brian Hayton. We left around noon on Saturday, we stopped at Kawartha, as we were leaving Bancroft, as I had a craving for coconut ice cream. We arrived at Linda and Rick’s in Oshawa around 3 pm. We had some snacks and drinks and then Rick, Linda and I spent some time in their pool.
After dinner, I learned how to play shuffleboard, we also played a game of skip bo. On Sunday we relaxed, swimming, and playing games. Following lunch on Monday, we packed up and headed for Toronto. We called our parking garage, to see if we could arrive early, which was fine. We arrived at park 4u around 4 pm, and were given a ride to the airport. We got our boarding passes, and had to wait in departures, until we could check our large bag at 8pm. We then went through security and moved to our gate. We boarded our Air Transat around 11:15, and left Toronto at 11:55. At 1pm we were given a full meal, we then attempted to sleep, I was in the middle seat, between a man in the aisle and Andy, at the window, so a little cramped. It was a 6.5 hour flight and we arrived in Dublin at 11:30 a.m. once we were through customs and picked up our checked bag, we took a taxi to the Marine hotel in Sutton Cross, just outside of Dublin.
We rested a little, and then I switched the SIM card in Andy’s phone, so we would have phone and internet capabilities. We then for a walk to scout out the Dart tram station, and a grocery store. We ran into some friendly people who set us in the right direction of the station. Upon returning to the hotel, we ate in the restaurant, having soup and an Irish cheese plate for dessert. In the morning we went for breakfast, and then called a taxi to take us to Heuston station, where we were catching a train to Cork at 11:00. While waiting for our train, I scouted out where the Luas tram station was, as we will be using it on our return trip. On our 2 hour and 40 minute ride to Cork, we saw lots of fields with cattle and sheep. It rained for most of the trip. We picked up our standard rental car which was a little Mazda, we requested a GPS, which was an older model Garmin, which wasn’t very useful. We missed a few turns, but finally arrived at the cottage called Glen cairn, near Lismore. Rural roads were very narrow, hardly wide enough for 2 cars to meet, no shoulders on the road, roads are typically bordered by a hedge or rock wall. I was thankful that I wasn’t the designated driver. After unpacking at the cottage, which consisted of a bedroom, small kitchen and a bathroom, we set off for Lismore to pick up a few groceries.
We found that the cottage, was cold, so Andy emailed the owner and he turned on the heat. We also seemed to have a fly problem, it didn’t matter how many I killed or let out the window, they seemed to be multiplying. On Thursday, we drove back to the car rental place to get some more instructions. We then drove to Blarney castle, where we walked around and explored the gardens and the lower parts of the castle. We did not join the 1 hour wait to kiss the stone, especially since my husband has no problem with the gift of the gap, and “long story short”.
After a stop at the gift shop, where Andy found this saying that he liked, we left.
We then headed to the port of Cobh, pronounced Cove. The GPS took us the shortest wait, but involved taking a ferry across the harbour, which we didn’t want to do. So we revised the route, and after several missteps, arrived in Cobh. After finding parking, we went into the Cobh heritage centre, we started by eating, and then toured through the centre where we learned about Irish emigration, as well Cobh’s link to the Titanic. There was a cruise ship parked nearby, so the centre was very busy.
We stopped at a grocery store enroute to the cottage and picked up something to cook for dinner.
On Friday morning, I put in some clothes to wash, but the washer did not seem to be functioning properly- we informed the owner, and then left for the day. First stop was Waterford, another port city. After finding parking, we walked around, checked out some of the stores, and saw this artisan blowing glass.
We then ventured north to the town of Kilkenny. We went to the Smithwick brewery aka Killkenny tour and learned that Guinness actually now owns Kilkenny beer. Following the tour we went to Kytelers Inn for a pub meal and more beer for the navigator.
When we got home we learned that the washer was broken, so Katherine had taken my laundry to her mother’s place to wash and dry our clothes. She dropped them off after 9pm.
In the morning, we set off for the Rock of Cashel, enroute we stopped at the Vee, which is about 2000 feet above sea level. The V refers to v shaped turn in the road in a gap in the Knockmealdown mountains, from here you can see multiple counties. Upon arrival at the Rock of Cashel, we learned it is the greatest cluster of medieval buildings in Ireland, it was originally a seat of the Munster kings but was given up and repurposed as a church in the 11th century. It also has views of the plains of Tipperary, one of the most fertile areas in the republic.
We came back to the cottage, Andy cooked supper and then we started packing up our stuff. We left shortly after 7, as it was more than an hours drive to Cork, and it was raining quite hard and was very windy. We got into Cork, by 8:30, and had to find a gas station that was opened to fill up the tank. After dropping off the car, we were given a lift to the train station with our bags. We left on the train at 10:25; headed to Dublin. Enroute we learned that flooding, and some trees were down in Cork due to the rain and winds. Once in Dublin, we transferred to a Luas tram to get us to Connelly station, 2 very kind Luas employees helped us with our luggage and escorted us to our destination. We left Connolly at 2:50, on a train bound for Belfast, however due to construction of a new Grand Central station there, we were only able to go as far as Newry, we were transferred once again to a bus for the last hour. We arrived at Lanyon station, and called a cab to take us to our hotel. What a travel day in 10 hours, we travelled by car, 2 trains, a tram a bus and a taxi, going from Cork to Belfast in Northern Ireland. We met some people on the train, who said they would never go that far in a day. Andy explained we live on a boat in the summer and think nothing of driving 22 hours to get to it.
Our hotel was located in the Cathedral quarter of Belfast, close to city centre-called the Quarter by Warren, the room was very small, but adequate. In the morning, we went to the kitchen room, for breakfast, of toast, pastries, cheese, ham and beverages. Following breakfast we called a cab to take us to the Titanic exhibition. The exhibit had information about life in Ireland, the famine, emigration, and industry making of linen. The focus of the exhibit was on ship building, as well as the fate of the Titanic. Very well presented!
After lunch, we walked about 10 minutes in the rain, to the Public records office of Northern Ireland. we signed up for membership cards, and then went up to one of the research room, and got some assistance and guidance on what we needed to do to find Andy’s ancestors.
We were able to find the marriage, and birth records of his grandfather and 2 great uncles. We also found that there were McKendry’s in a cemetery in Portglenone. Leaving PRONI, we caught a bus to city centre, as it was raining, and went to White’s pub for dinner- rather than beer I have been trying the Irish apple ciders, and had a rockshore, which I think is made by Guinness—quite refreshing. On Tuesday morning after breakfast we walked around near our hotel and saw St Patrick’s church as well as St. Anne’s cathedral.
We checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the car rental office. This time we have a 2022 Hyundai Tucson, automatic, with an on board GPS , so a little easier for the driver. We found our way out of the city, and got to our cottage in Broughshane which was about 35 miles away. We dropped off our luggage then drove to Ballymena for some groceries.
In the main house, which our west wing rental is attached to , there is a film crew using it for series. I was told it was for BBC, and was about one of the Parnell Hall, puzzle lady mysteries. Interesting, people were buzzing around, until well past dark. Our accommodations were amazing, the kitchen was well equipped, it had 2 bathrooms, 2 TV’s and plenty of storage. We were very comfortable!
In the morning, after breakfast we set off up Carnlough road for the Antrim coast. We followed the road, stopping in Ballycastle, and took some pictures of the marina, which has more than 70 slips. Ballycastle, no longer has a castle it was destroyed hundreds of years ago. We did stop at Dunseverick and Dunluce castles. We proceeded to the Giant Causeway, which is an UNESCO heritage site of 40,000 basalt columns which remain after a volcanic eruption some 60 million years ago.
Following the causeway we then went to Bushmills Distillery and took the tour. Bushmills was started in 1608, and is one of the oldest distilleries in Ireland.
Following our tour, and tastings, we met some other Canadians, from Charleswood- small world! At the grocery store, across from the distillery I picked up some red wine for Andy and a 4 pack of OUTCIDER, another Irish cider for me to try.
On our way back to the cottage, we stopped at the Thatch inn for appetizers and drinks. Andy also enquired if anyone knew any McKendrys, and learned that there was a regular who typically came in on Thursdays- we may have to return.
On Thursday we started the day by going to Robert McKendys plumbing in search of relatives. We talked to Helen, who called her father in-law, who suggested we go to Portglenone, which was already on our list for today. At the cemetery we found a headstone/braid where Andy’s great great grandfather, great grand father, great grand mother and great uncle were noted.
Here is the inscription on the headstone at the townhill Portglenone cemetary:
Erected by Andrew McKendry, Mayboy, in memory of his father Frank who died 17th August 1887; aged 71 years. Also his mother Jane, who died 28th February 1857; aged 35 years and his brother James, who died 16th October 1889; aged 42 years. The above named Andrew McKendry died 28th March 1926; aged 76 years. also his daughter Mary Jane, who died 11th January 1931, aged 32 years and his wife Agnes, who died 13th June 1931, aged 71 years.
Following our visit here we drove to Londonderry, and once we found parking, we set off walking to see some of the murals. We could have booked a 2 hour guided walking tour, but we did not, which I was glad of. At one mural, there was a tour, and I couldn’t understand a word that the tour guide had said.
On our way back to the cottage, we had planned to stop at a pub in Ballymena, but couldn’t find parking, so we stopped in Broughshane, and bought some groceries for supper. On Friday morning, I put in a load of laundry, before we set off the “Candy” laundry machine, washes and dries clothes but takes about 6.5 hours for a load.
Since it was raining,we decided we needed indoor activities,so we drove into the outskirts of Belfast, and toured the Belfast castle and had lunch.
On on way back we stop at a grocery store in Ballymena, and purchased a few things. We drove back to the west wing, and noticed that the film crew had left. The laundry wasn’t complete, but it was on the drying cycle. Around 7, we went into Broughshare to the Merchant, and ordered fish and chips- I ordered smoked haddock and Andy had cod- the orders were massive- we likely could have shared an order. I enjoyed a couple outciders and Andy had wine. We then watched coronation street- in Ireland it is on Mon, Wed, and Friday for an hour, typically in prime time between 8 and 9. Ireland, have lots of game shows, and you can find one at almost any time of the day or night. We watched a lot of the chaser, but also bull’s eye- that combines darts and trivia, as well as tip-it, more questions, and moving markers to win money. This part of the world love their quizzes.
On Saturday, we packed up around 10 and headed for Belfast to return the car and catch our train to Dublin. Since we arrived early at the train station, we were able to take the noon train, instead of the 2 pm one which I had booked.Once again, we took a bus to Newry and then switched to the train. We arrived at Connolly station at 2:15, and got a cab to take us to the Marine hotel in Sutton.We were happy to learn that our room had been upgraded to a sea-side view. This will be our home for the next 5 nights as we explore Dublin. Here’s our view, with a few brave souls taking a dip in the Irish Sea.
For supper we went to Cucinos, an Italian restaurant in the hotel, where we shared a pizza. On Sunday after our breakfast of eggs, ham, hashbrowns, black and white pudding, we decided to venture into Dublin. It was overcast with intermittent showers. We walked the 10minutes to the Dart (Dublin area rapid transit)station, and took a train, getting off near Trinity college.
We did some souvenir shopping and walked around. We ended up going through the national Archaeology. Museum. Here there were many displays of artifacts-pottery, bones, mummies, and metals. As well there was information on how the Vikings in the 10th century had a role in Irelands history. Many of the artifacts had been unearthed in bogs, which had preserved them intact. We met some Canadians here, from Brandon MB.
We left, but taking the Luas tram back to Connolly station to catch our Dart train. We also purchased 3 day leap cards for each of us. These leap visitor cards are good for buses, dart and luas trams in the Dublin area, and only cost 16 euros for 3 days. For dinner we went to the Golden Elephant, which was located near our hotel. I had a Thai curry, and Andy has beef with vegetables.
On Monday after breakfast, we took the dart to Connolly, and the walked up to O’ cconnel street to the hop-on, Hop-off (ho-ho) terminal. We decided we would spend the next 2 days seeing the sights in Dublin by this method. We started by doing the entire city loop with its 25 stops, and saw many of the highlights of Dublin.
We then went back to stop 2, and took the docklands tour, which showed some of the newer areas of Dublin. Following the tour, we went to Murphy’s Pub for lunch, as one of the perks from the ho-ho was a 2 for one lunch deal. I had a salad and an angry orchard cider- wasn’t as good as the rock shore that Andy had.
After lunch, we took the ho ho to stop 5, where we got off near the Oscar’s Wilde statue, we then went to the national gallery of Ireland. The artwork dated back to the 1500’s, and had several Renoir, Picasso and Van Gogh pieces.
We got back on the hoho and went to stop 8 which was near the Pearce dart station. We got a train headed for Howth, and got off at the Sutton station. Tuesday, was a sunny day without rain, we reversed our steps from the night before, and got off at Pearce, and got on the hoho bus. We took it to the temple bar area, and walked around the area, with wall to wall bars and restaurants.
Then back on the bus and we went to Dublin castle and toured the interior.
We caught the hoho and went to Phoenix park, I walked around some of the gardens, with many of the flowers still in full bloom in October.
Back on the bus, we got off at stop 23, and walked to O’Shea’s merchant for their lunch special which was Irish stew and a Guinness for 10 euros, I substituted Guinness for rock shore cider. Once we were back on the bus, we took it to Pearse and caught our Dart to Sutton, arriving at 5:30. After some snacks, I put on my bathing suit and did some laps in the hotel pool.
On Wednesday, our last full day in Dublin, had rain in the forecast again. We decided to take the dart train to the end of the line in Greystones. This town is about 30 miles south of Dublin, and much of the track runs along the coast of Dublin Bay.
We passed through Blackrock, Seapoint, Mallin, Dalkey, Killiney and Brey before arriving in Greystones.Upon exiting the station, we stopped for hot chocolate and scones at the grey cafe. I had a raspberry scone which was very tasty. When we left the cafe, rain had started, we walked up the street a little, but the rain was coming down harder, so we decided our exploring of Greystones had ended, and we would catch a train heading back to Dublin. The first train was headed to Malahide, but we were told we could take it to Brey and switch to a Howth train there, so that’s what we did.
We took the train to Howth, arriving there at 2:30. Howth is a fishing village, with many vessels in the harbour, and several fish mongers set up to sell the catch, and many restaurants. We stopped at the Oar house for a late lunch.
Over the winter we had seen a “you gotta eat here” show, and the oar house had been highlighted. Our meals were fantastic, Andy had a small order of the bay mussels in a white wine sauce- he had between 40 and 50 mussels for 11 euros, I had grilled salmon, and a salad also very delicious. When we came out of the restaurant, the sun was finally shining. We got on the Dart and headed to Sutton and the hotel.
I attempted to check in for our flight, but wasn’t able to so we decided we would leave the hotel around 8:30, to ensure we are at the airport 4 hours before our 1:15 flight. I took some pictures around the hotel, and went to the water’s edge and stuck my feet in the Irish Sea- it was cold. I picked up a few shells on the shore, as the tide was just starting to go out.
On Thursday after breakfast, we were picked up by taxi and taken to the airport, arriving shortly after 9:15.We got our boarding passes, and checked our bags, because our flight is full, they also took our carry on cases at no charge. Once we were through security, we stopped at another gift shop to spend more euros, and then went to our gate to wait for boarding, which commenced at 12:15. We arrived in Toronto around 3:30 local time, once we were through customs and had our luggage, I texted Park 4U, by the time we found the column where we were to meet, our car and driver were already there. He drove back to the compound, and turned the car over to us. I would highly recommend this service, very professional and prompt, and you don’t have to wait for a shuttle to take you to the car park. I’m not sure if we have this service in Winnipeg, but it would be great- especially in winter. We left Toronto and headed for Barrie, traffic was horrible, since it was the end of a working day. We arrived in Barrie around 6 pm, found our hotel, and picked up supper. Long day, crossing many time zones. On Friday, we left the hotel by 7 and headed west, saw that the leaves were a range of colours.
We stopped for gas a couple of times, and arrived at the Travelodge in Marathon at 6 pm. Andy called Gerry Ferguson, and we met him at the Tim Horton’s, as the Legion isn’t open on Friday nights- had a good catch up with him. On Saturday we were both up before 4 am, and left the hotel just after 6, although it was dark out, we were travelling roads that the driver knew very well, having grown up in Marathon, so I wasn’t concerned. We stopped for gas in Nipigon, and once we got to TBay, Andy dropped me off at Teresa and Maureen’s for a visit, while he took our refurbished props to McKellar marine. He picked me up, and we were off again. Originally we had planned to stay with Teresa and Maureen, but because our sleeping habits were out of wack, we decided to head home and to our own bed. We fueled up in Dryden, and arrived at our apartment in Winnipeg at 5:30. We unpacked the car, and I started some laundry. It was great to be home, after being away 26 days. Our Ireland trip was great, highlights were finding some links to Andy’s ancestors, the Irish people that were so very helpful, the castles and ruins, the fresh seafood however I didn’t like the narrow roads, and lack of parking in the cities, and all the walking. It was tough to select pictures for this blog, I think we took well over 500 pictures between us– so there was lots that we saw on the Emerald Island. The captain is already talking about our next adventure, which may involve a canal boat somewhere in the U.K.
We had quite a rain storm and wind event on Thursday night which was followed by the double rainbow.
We left Friday morning on the first lift down, and were out of Swift Rapids by 9:10. We proceeded to the Big Chute where we found Heart Tug and New Song on the wooden docks.
We visited for a bit and then we proceeded to lock down on the railway carriage. We arrived in Port Severn around noon, and tied up at the wooden docks. Around 3:00 we walked over to the general store and ice breaker for ice cream. We brought back ice cream for the 3 lock staff. Heart Tug and New Song tied up on the wooden dock when they arrived.
On Saturday Rick and Linda came for a visit and we went to lunch at the Grill. David had arrived to do more upgrades on the boat, and had brought his Mom, Grace, so she came for lunch with us as well. David worked most of the afternoon, re-wiring in the engine room. He took a break for supper, and continued on until well past 10:30. There was one issue he couldn’t resolve with the new conversion box, so he reverted everything back to how it had been set up.
On Sunday, there was a good wind, so we decided to stay at Port Severn one more day. We did however lock through after 5, so we were at the bottom, in order to get an early start.
We left on Monday morning at 6:45 and headed to Victoria Harbour. We tied up at 7:45, and I proceeded to walk up to Foodland for some groceries, while Andy waited for a pump out and fuel. By 9:15 we were on our way north west, we finally stopped at 2:45, and anchored near the Jones Island lighthouse, which is South of Parry Sound. There was one other sailboat there. **
It was a hot day and I cooled off in the water a couple of times. While sitting on the back deck we were swarmed by deer and black flies.
We left at 6:25 and travelled for about an hour, before we were hit by an incoming squall. We pulled off the channel and anchored for about an hour while it passed. We continue on and passed through the Hang dog reef around 10:30. It was a little choppy, with a 10 plus knot wind.
We continued on and exiting Alexander Passage we had a good hour of rollers. We made it to the Byng Inlet lighthouse by noon, and continued westward. To get out some shelter from the wind and waves, we moved inland, and finally anchored at 2:30 near Obstacle island in the French Rivers area. Just before reaching our destination, we had to go through the Parting channel, which is the narrowest channel with the green and red markers almost on top of each other- so very challenging to get through. A 72 mile day.
On Wednesday, we got up and started making our way back to the small craft channel. The waves were predicted to be about 0.5 meters, the first 45 minutes, while we were in sheltered waters was OK, but after passing the Bustards, we were in open water on Lake Huron for the next 17 miles. The waves were approaching a meter to a meter and a half- very rough, and the waves were hitting us broadside at times.
We had a few casualties- lost a 23L water jug, that fell on its side and went under the canvas, as well as a boat hook which was unsecured, and one of our fender holders, shook free and also went overboard. Luckily we didn’t loose the fenders that were in it, as they had been secured to the railing. A very scary couple of hours for the admiral. The captain did an amazing job of getting us through. We were both thankful to reach the sheltered waters of Beaverstone Bay and Collins Inlet. We continued on, and went through Killarney just after noon.
We anchored in Covered Portage, with several other boats. There were gusty winds in the afternoon, and our anchor dragged, so we repositioned it a couple of times, by night fall the winds had subsided. In the late afternoon, Kate and Tom from Molly Brown, kayaked by and we had a good catchup with them. We had first met them in Orillia a few weeks ago.
On Thursday morning we left the anchorage by 8:30, travelling the 23 miles to Little Current. We wanted to make the 11:00 opening of the bridge, we were there with 20 minutes to spare.
Once through the bridge we called the Port of Little current for our docking assignment. They originally had us on the town dock behind the Post office, but the new GFI power pedestal did not like our boat, and kept blowing the fuse. The dock people reassigned us to the floating docks which still had the older type pedestals, and we had no problem. Once we were tied up here, I set off to the laundry mat. Between washing and drying, I checked out a couple stores on the main street. On my return to the boat, I met Bill and Julie from Jubilee- loopers who also plan to circle Lake superior- we exchanged boat cards. Once back at the boat, I found that Molly Brown had tied up in the next slip to us. Later in the afternoon we walked up to the grocery store, and bought a few supplies. Leaving the store, a women offered us a ride back to our boat—which was very kind of her. We went to the Anchor Inn for supper, and had Pizza and wings. On our return Kate and Tom dropped by and we provided highlights for the North channel. Molly Brown is on a tight schedule and needs to be back in Florida by early September, so their time is very limited.
In the morning, we set off shortly after 9 am. We had planned to go as far as Spanish, to check out the marina, but Andy had noticed that the channel was very narrow and shallow- so we may just stop there sometime, while we are in the car. We continued through the McBean and Whalesback channels and anchored in Long Point Cove, which had been recommended to us by Randy and Audrey. We went about 45 miles and there were 5 boats in this anchorage by nightfall.
On Saturday morning we left Long Point cover, passing by Blind River, Thessalon, Bruce Mines and finally ending up in Hilton Beach on St. Joseph’s Island. We had originally intended on only going as far as the Grant Islands, located between Blind River and Thessalon, but the rain started before noon, and the winds increased as the day progressed. We arrived in Hilton Beach after 1:30, totally drenched, having gone 61 miles. After tying up, we had lunch, and then went for hot showers at the marina. Around 5:00, our friends Pat and Marcia Gillespie, stopped by for a visit, they live in the Sault, but have a camp near Bruce Mines.
We went for dinner at the Tilt’n Hilton, which is just across the street from the marina. It continued to rain and blow throughout the night and into the early morning.
Around 8:30, we decided we were likely not moving for the day, so I went up to the boater’s lounge and did a couple loads of laundry. We were both very impressed with how clean this marina is kept– immaculate! We spent the afternoon, looking over the plans for our trip around Lake Superior. Andy called the marina in the Sault, to book us in for a couple of nights, as Tuesday’s weather does not look good for travelling. He learned that the Canadian lock, which is usually used for pleasure boats, is under construction, so we will be using the larger American lock to get into Lake Superior. In the afternoon, it cleared up a little and several of the sail boats from the marina went out into the bay. Most of the boats in this marina are sailboats, the exception are 6 power boats, a couple of pontoon boats and a seadoo.
We caught up on episodes of Coronation Street. In the evening, I figured out how to access the marine traffic website- as I wanted to know how many freighters, are usually in the commercial channel. When I looked, I took this picture —we show up because we have an AIS system that sends and receives.
On Monday morning we untied and went to the gas dock for some fuel, as we weren’t sure if we had enough to make it to the Sault. We passed by the Samuel Risley, which was anchored and is a CCG ice breaker—I guess you can never be sure when it might be needed in these waters. At one of the lighthouses, we saw workers doing some repairs.
We started down the St. Joseph’s channel and eventually entered the commercial shipping channel. There was a freighter behind us, called the Evans Spirit, at a wider part of Nicolet lake, Andy pulled over and he passed us. About 45 minutes later we met the CSL Assiniboine, both boats, did not give off much of a wake- I was pleasantly surprised.
We arrived in Sault Ste Marie at 12:30 and took on more fuel and had our waste tank pumped out. Once we were tied up to the dock, we filled up our water tank, and had lunch. We went for dinner with Marcia at Lychee Thai, and then she took us grocery shopping.
On Tuesday morning, we were awoken to a thunderstorm before 6 a.m. The day was cloudy and overcast. We walked over to the Station Mall, in search of advice on cell phone plans for the USA. We checked with one provider, and they could give us a deal, but they wanted to upgrade our phones. We ended up going to the Bell Mobility store- we explained we would be in the USA for about a month and didn’t want the Roam better plan which was $13/day for each day we either used the phone or text. The Customer rep was very knowledgeable and offered Andy a plan for the USA and Mexico for an additional $16 per month immediately. He also found that for only $1 more than the $35 that I was paying for no data, that I could get 60 GB. So I signed up for that as well. Andy with his new phone plan called over to George Kemp marina in Sault Michigan, and asked about stopping there in the morning, in order to go through customs before locking. We were advised to come over around 10:00.
So now we are set for the start of our big adventure of circumnavigating Lake Superior- it starts tomorrow, on the American side, weather permitting. Our plan is to be in Thunder Bay by July 24th, as we have rented a car to go back to Winnipeg for about a week for some medical appointments.
We left early Saturday morning, after packing the last of the things in the car. There was a gift card for Tim Horton’s on the windshield from Gisele, a new friend from our apartment building, so we could have coffee and a muffin. We made it to Marathon by 5 pm. To occupy myself in the car, I crocheted snowflakes, we had overcast skies most of the day with rain and fog in places. Sunday, we woke up early to get on the road, and again had rain and fog. We arrived in Midland around 5:00, another 11 hour day. On Monday morning we drove to Queen’s cove marina in Victoria Harbour, we wanted to find out their prices for storage. We also had coffee with Tom, Peggy and Nyla, on their boat Water Lily. We then set off for Buckhorn, arriving there around 1:00. The boat was in the water at the launch ramp, we started unpacking the car, and were asked to move the boat to the wall by the gas dock. We finished unloading and headed to Bancroft, where we were spending the night with Brian and Helen. Brian Hayton joined us for supper, so we got to visit with him as well. After some grocery shopping Tuesday morning we headed back to Buckhorn to continue with unpacking. This is our 9th year using the Parks passes, and my 10th year of writing this blog- Yikes- where has the time gone?
On Tuesday night, when Andy went to start the BBQ, it wouldn’t work. After 14 years our Magma had finally quit. We drove over to Home Hardware, just before they were closing for the day, and bought a Grill Pro replacement.
On Wednesday morning, we finally untied and headed down the Trent Severn Waterway. Our first lock was Bobcaygeon, followed by Fenlon Fall, where we stopped briefly to make a LCBO run, and then on to Rosedale. We shared the night at this site with this 92 foot boat- Encore.
Our friends, Julie and Glen, picked us up from the lock and invited us to dinner at their place on Balsam Lake. We hadn’t seen them in a couple of years, so it was a good night of catching up.
Thursday morning, we headed to the Kirkfield lift lock, which had been closed the previous day for inspections. The work to repair it from the 2022 breakdown has almost been completed. Only one tub was working, and we locked down with one other boat. The Encore was there, however he had to lock by himself, because of its length and weight. We did another 3 locks before stopping at the top of Thorah for the night. In the morning we locked through this lock and Gamebridge, and were out on Lake Simcoe by 10:00. Winds were between 10 and 15 knots per hour, so a bit of a bumpy ride, with 2 1/2 foot waves.
We took on fuel at Bridgeport Marina at the Atherly narrows, and then headed to Port of Orillia. It was great to get off the lake, and we relaxed. There was an event in the park, so we bought lunch at one of the vendors.
On Saturday, Brian and Helen stopped by on their way home from Barrie. Just after noon, David, the electrical engineer/magician arrived. We had a list of issues that we needed addressed, including the external regulator, being reprogrammed, a 12 V socket, Star link install, and source the issue with the batteries not being charged while running. David spent several hours Saturday, and returned on Sunday to continue.
On Sunday, I walked up to Wilkies for Chelsea buns and tarts. I saw these street decorations on the sign posts, I then walked over to Home Hardware to buy some potting soil- I bought 25L of soil and then had to walk back the 9 blocks to the boat, carrying it. But my garden is complete- 3 tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce and radishes.
David left Sunday night to return to Hamilton, but since there were still a few more items on our list, he agreed to meet us at the Port Severn lock on June 15th to knock off a few more. We stayed in Orillia one more night as the winds were still blowing. On Tuesday we left at 10:15, and made it to the CN swing bridge, and had to wait for about 45 minutes for a couple of trains. We dropped the anchor in the channel. Andy found that something was jamming the gear cable on the starboard side, he investigated and found that the starboard turbo exhaust screen clamp had broke. He tightened it to get us going to Couchiching, where he could make a proper repair. The bridge finally swung for us around noon, and we arrived at Couchiching, and tied up. The first lock of the day was just going down, as the lock staff had been away tending to water and dam issues for most of the morning. All the boats entered the lock and went down, so we were alone for most of the afternoon. We took the time to do a few tasks around the boat; after replacing the broken hose clamp, Andy also replaced our Canadian flag, and cleaned and re-greased the starboard door. The sun was shining, and that along with the house batteries now charging, while we are running our batteries were at 100%. By nightfall we were joined by 4 other boats. One of which was Heart Tug, which we had first met in 2017, Randy and Audrey gave us some tips on their favourite anchorages in the north channel.
On Wednesday morning we locked through with 2 other boats and headed to Swift Rapids, we passed through Sparrow lake and McDonald’s cut.
We arrived just after noon and were able to get close to one of the power posts to plug in. There are 5 boats at the top of Swift Rapids.
In the afternoon we put deflectors over the starboard windows, and affixed the Norek PT-35 sign.
On Thursday morning, with the help of Jean Francois from Felixo, we were able to put a plate under the teak railing join where it was cracking. All the boats left and we decided to remain plugged in, as severe weather was predicted for the afternoon. We did some cleaning and encountered intermittent rain showers. We will leave in the morning and go through the Big Chute and then on to Port Severn lock, where we will meet David on Saturday. Our tentative plan is to re-provision in Victoria Harbour on Monday, and then start heading west towards the North Channel. Our Star Link is wonderful- love having internet at my fingertips!
We had a fairly busy fall and winter. We participated in 2 person stick curling after Christmas. I’m saying I participated, as I really couldn’t figure out how to throw my rocks using the stick to have them end up where the skip wanted them. Needless to say, there weren’t many W’s beside our name! We had a relatively mild winter here—here’s a picture from our balcony on my birthday in February—it was raining, first time that ever happened in Winnipeg.
I remained very involved with the social committee in our building, as well as the crotchet and knitting group. I learned to knit on circular needles and made this.
Our group is now making poppies for a remembrance day display later in the year. And who says all poppies need to be red— I made the outlier which represents animal victims of war.
It is estimated that 8 million horses were killed during WW1. We also participate, in the Wednesday games night, and rarely miss the Thursday happy hour. Over the winter there was also Movies on Friday—so lots to do here, and we’ve met quite a few of the 60 apartment dwellers.
I am also a director on the St. Vital Agricultural society, and since I will rarely be around for the annual August fair, I took on the role of producing the fair book handout. I was guided through this process by Val Johnson, a former member of the board, who had done it for many years. I needed to contact and solicit advertisers, as well as update and replace information. Here’s what the finished product looks like.
I also became more involved with my Eastern Star group, and did a number of tasks at our Grand Session this week. Here’s a picture of my 2010-2012 grand rep counterpart from Missouri who came to Winnipeg for our session.
Also here our some of the Grand officers from 2015-2016 at one of the luncheons this week.
Glad the session is over for another year, so I can start packing.
Andy has been keeping busy as well, he has been designated the baker of our monthly birthday cakes for the building and has been busy as well. Here’s the cake he made for the April birthday people- which turned out to only be him.
His first priority was to keep his numerous doctor’s appointments. He also did some enhancements to the airflow issues in our apartment, by ordering deflectors—it took us 3 tries from Amazon, before the appropriate ones were found. Since setting up his Amazon account—you never know what might appear outside our door- a drone came last week. He also makes frequent trips to Princess Auto, to pick up his on-line orders from there.
He also toiled in our very small storage room, making this signage for the boat. Since our boat was never finished in the factory, 39 years ago, we wanted to indicate the marine architect that designed it along with our model. Thus Norek PT-35. The first sign, took almost 2 months, however he was able to re-fine his techniques, and the second one was produced in a couple weeks.
We didn’t make it up to Swan River over the winter, however my two sisters, did come to Winnipeg in early May for a visit, and it turned out to be the day of Maxine’s birthday.
So now that it is almost summer, and my commitments in Winnipeg are done– we are going to start the 22 hour trip to the boat, on Saturday June 1st – so that we can relax!
Our plan is to go as far as Marathon in the first night, and then to Midland on the second. We should arrive at the boat mid-afternoon on June 3rd. The boat should be in the water, and hopefully we can leave Buckhorn on Wednesday headed for Orillia. We’re booked into the Port of Orillia for a couple days, so David, from Hamilton, can come and do some electrical upgrades, including running wires for our new Starlink “Roam” internet service. Following our visit to Orillia, we will be headed out to Georgian Bay, and the North Channel with the our goal to be into Lake Superior by July 3rd. It is finally going to happen—we are going to take the Lake Superior Circle Tour on the water!
To prepare for this we did enroll in a 5 week webinar course put on by the Great Lakes Cruising club school, showing us what there is to see and do in Superior. We have been looking forward to returning, since our 2019, as we only saw a fraction of the Canadian side. So only 2 more sleeps until our 2024 summer adventures begin!
Cruising ON BUSINESS 