We left Orillia and after crossing Lake Couchiching, waited only a few minutes for the train bridge to open.  We then went through Couchiching lock and continued along the TSW.  There were lots of boats on the water going both ways, as it was a Saturday.  We continued and went through Swift Rapids around 2:00, we arrived at the top of the Big Chute shortly after 3:00.  We tied up, and then walked over to the marina Ice cream shop, the ice cream was cold but it wasn’t Kawartha. One of our dock mates was from Harbour West, and we told them that we would be there later in the week. They had a cat that posed for me as well.

   In the evening I saw a pontoon boat show up with a trailer on it as well as a couch.  The trailer with couch were pulled away with a car, and the pontoon boat left later.

  We played a couple games of cards and then went to sleep.

On Sunday we were in no hurry, so waited until the 3^rd lockdown.  The second lockdown had about 15 kayakers.

  We got to Port Severn at 11:30, and there were about a dozen boats ahead of us.  It was about 4 lock downs before it became our turn, this is the smallest lock on the TSW, so limited capacity.  On our lockdown the boat that we were suppose to fit in beside ended up being wider, than they had told the lockmaster- so we had to stay at the back of the lock, rather than moving up to the front. They did fit in one more runabout type boat but instead of them tying to a cable- they were across the lock perpendicular to our boat.  One of the women on the boat had her boat hook up against our dinghy so they didn’t make contact with it. Oh, I guess there is a first time for everything.

Once we were out, we headed for Beausoleil Island, however we started getting strange messages on our chart plotter—Low input voltage to Radar, Panoptix disconnected, and then the engine monitors dimmed and we lost our VHF radio.

Andy called the marina in Penetanguishene, to see if they had a slip and if we could come immediately.  Bryn from the marina did some checking and called back to say there was an open slip for the remainder of the week.  We then headed there immediately, and arrived at 4:15. We were assigned to slip 102, at about 8:30 p.m. the slip holders returned to from their weekend away, so we moved over to slip 103.  In the morning Andy checked again with the marina staff and we were re assigned to 111.  That slip is vacant all week.

At about 9:30 our electronics technician and his dad showed up to assess some of our problems.  They realized that our batteries had not been connected correctly, so revised them.  They also realized that our starboard external regulator wasn’t functioning, so they replaced it with the spare one that we had.  A fuse was also required for our starboard battery monitor.  While in the engine room, coolant was found to be leaking.   Andy talked to Brian, a boater we had met at the big chute and he gave us some advice.  Andy wasn’t sure it something needed to be welded, but it ended up that all Andy had to do was tighten up the clamp on the hose and add another one.  In the afternoon the Garmin software was updated and the AIS was partially installed under the upper helm.  AIS stands for Automatic Identification System- it will allow us to see other boats on our electronics screen, and other boats will be able to see us.  The electronics technicians have other jobs to do, so will not be returning to our boat until later in the week- likely Thursday.

On Tuesday morning, Andy decided to check the house batteries to see if any of them needed water. He ended up adding almost 13 Liters of distilled water, we had assumed that BYH had serviced the batteries before putting us in the water, but this had obviously not happened.  This was likely another contributing factor to our electrical woes.  Following the batteries, we decided to change the oil in the two engines.  Andy had purchased an oil extraction pump in 2020, but didn’t have a chance to use it as our 2020 boating season was very short.  It took about 3 hours to do the two engines, which was a lot quicker than the handpump we had used in the past.  At about 1:30, a thunderstorm passed through the area, and we had several hours of rain.

On Wednesday we attempted to rent a car, but Midland had none available.  Andy was able to borrow a car from one of the marina employees, and we went in to Penetang to get some supplies.  I did some reading and cleaning.

We also worked on another project:  In our aft shower there was some cracks in the existing vinyl and what looked like a couple of screw tips coming through. I had cleaned the shower stall several times over the years, but there was always   some white flaking, which I now believe might just be soap scrum. We had cut some vinyl pieces to recover the shower stall, so began fitting and affixing them using a spray glue. 

On Thursday, the electronics tech was scheduled to return to the boat, he let us know that he was sick and wouldn’t be coming. Later in the day, he said texted to say that he wasn’t well enough to work Friday either.  He proposed that we use Team viewer and contact Norland for help to set up our electronics.  This is way beyond our computer and knowledge capabilities, so we said that we couldn’t do it.

Thursday, we continued with the shower project, as well as added the dinghy collar that I had sewn over the winter using canvas stuffed with the buoyancy material that I had taken from old lifejackets.  

  We’ll test it out sometime later in the summer. I’ve also included a picture of my fender covers that I had made, they all seem to fit except the ones that I had made for our white fenders.  I must have measured incorrectly; they will have to go back to Winnipeg to be altered.

  We started pulling out our paper charts to figure out where we wanted to go next. We did not plan sitting in a marina for days on end.  We hope to leave here Friday, and come back in a few weeks after spending some time at anchor.  We would like to test out our charging system to see if it is working properly.  We may venture as far as Killarney, with a stop in Britt for laundry.  Sorry Mike, going to Owen sound is likely not in the cards, without our navigational systems working properly.  Our proposal for the electronics tech, is to return here in about 2 weeks to finally complete the navigational deficiencies, before heading back down the TSW.

Friday morning, I watched these swallows in their nest attached to a rafter of the shower house here at Harbour west.  I think there is at least 4 birds in the very small nest, but it seems that only 3 can put their heads at the edge to be fed.

We hope to leave Harbour West before noon, but will depend on the electronics tech’s answer to our proposal.

We left at 5:30 on July 10^th and were in Wawa by 7:00, only stopping in Dryden and Nipigon for gas.  On Sunday morning we left Wawa at 6:45, and stopped in Sault St Marie at 9:00 for gas and at 3:15 in North Bay for gas.  Our route took us through Huntsville and then through a portion of Algonquin Park.  Algonquin Park must be full of moose, as we kept seeing this sign

—Maybe they got a deal on it only having the paint 24 KM  once and replicating it.   We arrived at Brian and Helen’s shortly after 6:00.  After supper, I got on the computer and applied for my Official Covid Immunization record of double vaccination- got the code and took a picture on my phone- – the official card will be mailed to us in Winnipeg sometime in the next month.

Early on Monday we made the trek to Buckhorn in order to unpack the car and then wait for the boat to be launched. 

The boat looked amazing, we had   couple of gouges filled and buffed out as well as some detailing done so the hull looked great. 

I had never been at the marina for launch day, as the boat was going down the ramp, watching from shore I noticed that the ropes weren’t out, nor were the fenders down- Oops!

Once we were in the water around 11:00, we had the water lines flushed out and all engines fired up.  There was an issue with the generator battery and it was taken off the boat to be charged up.  Andy also wanted a wash pump installed that used lake water, as well as an additional accumulator tank installed.  The priority was the wash pump installation, as well as the rear toilet that had been an issue in 2020. Once these two jobs were completed, we also realized and issue with the anchor light.  There seemed to be some broken wires, this job would be tackled on Tuesday morning.  We headed back to Bancroft, and after supper, did some reprovisioning.  It was a long day.

On Tuesday morning, when we got to the boat, we unpacked the car, and then move the boat to the gas dock so that we could top up our fuel.  Since I could not bring the tomato that I had started to the boat, because of lack of space on our 22 hour trek.  It could only have come if it had sat on my lap and that wasn’t going to happen.  However Helen had a cherry tomato plant in a pot that she offered me.  Here it is bungied to our boat.

We also needed to exchange a propane tank.  Around 10:30 the technician came and between him and Andy were able to re wire the anchor light, he also returned the generator battery and checked that it was working.  Once this was completed, we untied and moved to Buckhorn Lock #31 and tied up.  Late afternoon, I walked to the Foodland store for a couple of items.  Quite the adventure—they were paving the main highway coming in and I had to walk across the new HOT asphalt.  I did my grocery shopping and leaving the store it was pouring out.  I loved it – it’s been a long time since I had experienced a downpour, as we are having a drought in Winnipeg.  Being a former girl guide, I was prepared with an umbrella, but was soaked to the skin by the time I got to the boat.  We spent the rest of the day unpacking and putting stuff away.

On Wednesday morning we left Buckhorn just before 8:00 and headed for the locks of Bobcaygeon, Fenlon Falls and then on to Rosedale. 

We decided to spent the night there.  Our friends Julie and Glenn from Balsam Lake stopped by for a short visit and a drink.  We met some new people who had some questions about the great loop.  We had drinks with them as well, and they brought us a pizza that they had cooked in an outdoor propane pizza oven.  It was very tasty.  There are banners up as the TSW is celebrating it’s 101 years of operation, last year didn’t really allow for any kind of celebration so it was bumped to this year.

On Thursday we left Rosedale around 8 30, we had been told that there were issues with the Kirk field lift lock, and that locking would be about every hour and a half.   We arrived there at 10:15 and went into the lock

but were not locked up until the other two boats that we had met at Rosedale arrived.  We were through the lock by 11:30.   We then went on to Bolsover, Talbot, and Portage.  We knew that a storm was brewing and that Lake Simcoe was going to be ugly- so we wanted to be tied up securely, we ended up doing one more lock and were through Thorah by 14:20.  We wanted to be on the bottom of the dam for some protection from the winds.

We were just tied up when the first drops of rain fell, shortly after that at about 10-minute intervals we had severe weather alerts coming over our phones telling us to seek shelter, as high winds, thunder, and rain along with funnel clouds were anticipated.  So, we put some extra ropes on the boat, we had winds and it poured for a couple hours.  At some point there was a tornado in Barrie which was about 18 miles from our location.  The worst of the storm was to the north of us.  We spent the evening playing Five crowns, a parting gift from our neighbours Dave and April in Winnipeg.

On Friday morning we left Thorah at 8:50 and travelled one mile to the next lock- Game bridge.  We went through it and then were out in Lake Simcoe for the 20-mile crossing to Orillia.  We were having some electrical charging issues, — Have I ever said these words before in this blog?  Of course, I have for almost 7 years- this issue never seems to get resolved.  We were in touch with the electrical technician in Penetang, and he gave us some things to try.  Once we were off Simcoe and on to Lake Couchiching, we decided to go to the port of Orillia marina and arrived before noon. We wanted to have shore power for the night to ensure all our batteries were charged up.  But our troubles did not end in Orillia as we anticipated, we were assigned a bad power pedestal, which only worked intermittently, but we didn’t clue into this for a couple of hours.  We didn’t know what was happening our AC current needle was fluctuating, the inverter was putting out 50 Amps and our battery charge was continuing to go down.  This shouldn’t have been happening- typically with shore power the battery charge goes up. Finally, we asked the marina to check the pedestal, and was told that indeed it was not working.  Great—we are not going mad!  We still have some charging issues, but after switching to another pedestal the battery power went up to 100% in a couple of hours.   Around noon I saw a rainbow type ring around the sun- maybe this phenomenon was the cause of our issues. Definitely weird, there was a second rainbow ring, but I didn’t capture it in this picture.

 I took a walk to Metro and picked up some groceries—I also stopped at Wilkie’s bakery for some Chelsea buns. The street was decorated with Peace sign, just like this one.

   We had a short visit with our friends from the Rosedale lock, as they are at this marina farther down the dock from us.

We will leave Orillia in the next hour or two and head closer to Georgian Bay, so that we are in Penatanguishene for Tuesday.

 

  May 26- June 2

The trip home to Winnipeg started out great,  Dawn picked me up  before 7 am to take me to the Philadelphia airport, and I was checked in, through security and at my gate by 8:30.  There had been recent stories that you needed at least 2 hours to get through security but  I took less than 10 minutes.  My first flight left on time and we actually arrived in Minneapolis 25 minutes early—that’s never happened to me before.  The next flight left Minneapolis at 3:20 destined for Kansas City, and here’s where the perfect flying day began to unravel.  Approximately 15 minutes before we were due to land the pilot announced there was a tornado near KC airport, and we were being diverted to St. Louis.  Just before landing there, he announced that one of our engines had been shut down.  On our  approach down the runway we were escorted by 4 fire trucks—I guess in case we didn’t stop in time.  We deplaned, and began the wait for the next flight.  Our current plane was inoperable  until maintenance did repairs.  So we waited. About an hour later, we were told that a plane arriving at 9:30 would be available to take us to KC.  Delta provided us with snacks, water and ordered about 60 large pizzas to feed us.  I called the Kelly’s who were waiting for me in KC-they had been sent to the Tornado shelter at the airport.  They were going to go to out for supper and then to their hotel to wait.  At 10:20 when we were suppose to depart on our new flight, we were just starting to board.  We then had a number of other delays the first was that the number of passengers on the plane didn’t match – so the flight crew had to do a physical count.  The next 3 delays were weather related—a thunderstorm  had surrounded the St. Louis airport, so the ground crew were  sent inside,  next the flight plan had to be changed and uploaded onto the plane’s computer and when this was complete the ground crew was once again  shuffled inside because of the storm.  Finally at about 11:30 we started to pull away from our gate, and were in the air before midnight.

We finally arrived in KC at about 1:00, over 8 hours late a long travel day!  Robert Kelly was a very welcomed site at the airport,  He took me to the hotel where he provided me with dinner from the Outback Steakhouse. I slept a few hours, and left the hotel in my car and headed north up I-29  for the Canadian border, which I reached at about 6:30.  I was at my house in Winnipeg, shortly after 8 pm—another long day.  My tenants were gone for the weekend and had graciously allowed me to stay at the house where I had to search for the things I required for Grand Session, which I had packed away some 7 months earlier—Do you think I could remember what box I had packed them in?

On Saturday, I started on a list of errands that needed to be attended while in Winnipeg.  In the evening I went to Erin and Jason’s to share some of the gifts had been  collecting along the trip for them and especially the pirate’s booty for Jack.

Once at home,  I had a short visit with our neighbours, Dave and April.

Sunday morning, I had to be at the Canad Inn for a 9:00 breakfast and then practices. Wasn’t able to check into my hotel room until after 1:00 .  Shirley Gibson, my page/personal assistance for the session went out  for lunch and took the  third member of the team—my baton along with us.

Sunday night was the Church service we three, went out for drinks dressed alike.

Monday was more practices in the, morning, followed by lunch where I saw my  Missouri friends and members from my  former chapter.

The afternoon and evening consisted of  the informal and formal openings.  Lots of marching, and it was a late night almost 10:30 by the time the last introduction was done.   Tuesday was the business, the memorial service, elections and more eating we pulled apart ticket books for an upcoming raffle that evening

Head table at the banquet.

Wednesday brought the recognition of 50 year plus members—three of the members had actually first joined OES in Washakada chapter, which was the chapter that was in my home town- Swan River.   At the Teddy Bear’s Picnic lunch, I finally got to sit with the Kelly’s and visit.  Wednesday afternoon was the farewell speeches

and in the evening was the installation of officers and I had the duty of being the installing Marshal, reciting the memory work that I first started learning while travellng down the Tennessee River back in November.

All the walking /marching had done a number on my left knee and by Monday afternoon it was starting to bother me, I purchased a brace and wore it for practice and will wear it for the installation as well.

The installation went fairly smooth, and then my duties were finally finished and I could celebrate by having a few  drinks.  On Thursday I spent a few hours at work and then did some errands, laundry and repacked for my trip back to New Jersey. Had supper with my tenants, and had a visit with the neighbors.  Will be flying tomorrow morning to Philadelphia via Toronto.

May 14

We left shortly after 8 and headed back up towards Annapolis, we took the Solomons Island Road for  the trip, so as to see some different country from yesterday.  The sky was blue, with hardly a cloud in the sky.    We reached the Chesapeake Bay Bridge around 9:30 and paid the toll to use it.

The Baybridge is a 4.3 mile span that connects the eastern and western shore.  It was originally opened in 1952, and a second span was added in 1973.

There were a number of boats out on the bay.

On the  eastern shore we went through Kent Island continue to the town of Easton and then turned  west  and went another 9 miles to St. Michaels.  We arrived at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum at 1030.  http://cbmm.org

Our first stop was the boat building yard, where a group of staff along with volunteers are building a  hooper island draketale, similar to this Martha boat, making one piece at a time.

They started the boat in January and hope to have it completed by early August.  Another exciting project at the museum is the restoration of the  Edna E. Lockwood which is an example of a Chesapeake Bay nine-log bugeye, which was used for oyster harvesting.

This will be a 3 year project and the logs which will form the base came from North Carolina and are currently soaking in the bay.

The Edna Lockwood was built in 1889, and the proof is the silver coin attached to her mast- we were told that this is a practice of shipwrights  to date the boats.   Once the restoration in complete in 2018, a silver dollar will also be added to the mast.

Other areas at the museum included the hooper strait lighthouse, which was somewhat of a similar design to the lighthouse I had toured in Edenton NC. But at this museum I was able to wander through the entire lighthouse.  Here’s the actual light in the tower

 

There were also a number of other types of boats, which were designed for a specific purpose or type of fishing.—here’s some information on them.

there were also primitive boats made from a single tree.

There was also  a replica of a  crab picking plant, and a display of all the different Oyster  and crab cans.  

 

I also finally saw a live Blue Crab.

On the way home we passed both a wheat and canola field, already in bloom.

We also stopped at an Outlet mall.  Before we reached the Bay bridge- they skies opened and we had our daily shower.

It was a very informative day, back at the boat there were some ominous clouds, and the winds picked up throughout the evening.

May 15

Sunday was a  quiet day, we drove to Prince Frederick to shop on the way home we found this street.

which reminded me we also bought the McKendry  history  in an Irish store in Annapolis.

When we got back we  watched an Osprey catch a fish and eat it outside of our boat on the shore.

The plan is to leave sometime in the morning and continue our trek northward.

 

April 20, 2016

We learned some more history stuff in the morning after going to the Edenton Coffee house for breakfast.  I took pictures of the Cupola  house built in 1758 and  the gardens.

 

We also learned that in 1862, many of the bells from the churches in town  had been melted down to make cannons, and were used in many battles in the mid 1860’s by a unit referred to as the Edenton Bell battery.  The cannons shown below are from the Revolutionary War.

We  also learned that  the underground railway thrived in Edenton,   and many slaves were assisted in  obtaining freedom , by being transported by boat.

At 10:00 the  Roanoke River lighthouse was open and I took a short tour of the place.  Furnishings  of the lighthouse are typical for 1886.

At  10:30, we departed Edenton for our next stop on the Albemarle Loop.  Today’s destination was Albemarle Plantation Marina, which was about  a   25 mile ride on the north shore of the Albemarle  Sound.    The wind had picked up, and we had 2 – 3 foot waves for the first hour.

 

Once we got  through the bridge, and protected by Harvey point  the waves diminished slightly.  We arrived at  the marina at 1:05.

We learned the layout of the complex, found  out where showers, laundry, the clubhouse and golf shop was, and had a golf cart assigned to us.  Andy booked a Tee time for 3:00.  He did the back 9 holes, I went along to take pictures and pull the flag.

Here’s the view of the marina from the 16th green.

Following golf, we went to the clubhouse for supper.  In the evening Jack Atwell and his wife stopped by.  Jack is the person spearheading the Albemarle Loop.  Andy wanted to give him some suggestions, and let him know that we’ve been enjoying the towns we’ve stopped at so far.

We’ll be leaving in the morning, the winds will dictate what time we go- but the plan is to get to Elizabeth city, which will be about a 60 mile day.