Author: islandiagrabo

The weather was really nasty today with on and off severe thunderstorms.  Bob had the usual list of repairs to do so Steph, Josie and I wandered around the town of Campbellford between and during rain squalls.  We revisited the last two locks, went over a suspension bridge, took Josie to a Splash Park and then did errands in town.  No specific destination for tomorrow, just have to wind up in Peterborough on Thursday.

The flip side of the giant coin.  About 10 minutes later on our way to locks 11 and 12 the skies opened up and we got soaked.

In case you want to know how the locks work.

Looking down from lock 12 to lock 11.

Josie and Steph on the lock.

Looking at the raging Ranney Falls from the suspension bridge.  Current is so strong that there’s talk of closing the canal system. Yikes!  Hope that rumor isn’t true.

Josie racing across the suspension bridge.

Made it into the splash park – lots of fun for Josie.

Circled back to the boat – just in time before the next thunderstorm hit.  Lots of “loopers” tied up along the city dock front.

So I picked up Steph and Josie in Toronto (after first going to the wrong airport – who knew Toronto had two airports?!).  We got underway around 4 and made it through 4 locks.  Had the docking area for Lock 5 all to ourselves for the night.  Lovely!  Today (June 25) the weather fluctuated from calm to gusts of 35 knots, to blue skies to hail.  Nonetheless had a great day and made it to Campbellford, home of the giant “Toonie.”

 

 

 

Leaving Trenton to head up the Trent River, and as the sign says, Gateway to the Trent Severn Waterway.

 

 

 

 

First lock  – out goal with Steph and Josie is to make it to Peterborough by June 30th.

 

 

 

Josie on the bow.

 

 

 

Docked at the base of Lock 5 (of 44 locks).

 

 

Josie loves looking through binoculars.

 

 

This is for Rosie, Debbie and Jeannie.  Found a milkweed leaf at the lock area with a monarch butterfly egg on it.

 

 

 

Next morning we discovered a black blotch that is actually the newly emerged caterpillar.  Should be fun for Josie to watch the caterpillar growing.

 

 

Leaving Lock 7, taken by new Looper friends.

 

Parks Canada has placed sets of red chairs throughout their park system.

Suspension bridge over the Trent that Steph and I (and Josie) hope to walk over tomorrow.

Last set of locks for the day, up 50 feet via two consecutive locks.

Headed into Campbellford for the evening.  I guess Josie has had enough of locks for the day!

Celebrating Josie’s 6th birthday 2 months early since we won’t be able to be in Maine for her actual birthday.

Blowing out the candles.

And Josie in front to the world’s largest “toonie.”  Apparently the man who designed the two dollar Canadian coin came from Campbellford.

We left Picnic Point by 8:20am on June 22 ( of course the windlass stopped working, made for a nice early morning workout!), breezed by the customs dock at Gananoque (no agent appeared) and proceeded 86 miles to Trenton, Ontario.  The day started out sunny but then clouded up and became rather cold and windy.  Other than the captain’s chair deciding to come loose (no apparent reason, wave action was rather minimal) the trip was uneventful until the last 2 minutes when our navigation system blared an error warning of low voltage.  We shut the system down and decided to enjoy a cocktail once we were all tied up and secure for the evening.  We took at slip at the Trenton Port Marina which is an amazing marina, probably one of the best marinas we have ever traveled to.  It poured during the night and on into Friday making us glad for our decision to travel all the way to Trenton.  Of course our Nav system wouldn’t even boot up necessitating a call to a local mechanic – Dave Gartshore.  Life saver!  After 2 1/2 hours of tracking down every wire leading to the system he and Bob found a bad ground!! I swear, bad grounds are the root of all evil on boats.  Anyway, we rented a car and provisioned for the week as well as made trips to the hardware store for items needed for endless minor repairs.  We were invited to “docktails” by some fellow loopers (probably a dozen looper boats in the marina) which was quite pleasant.  The evening was capped off by a brief visit from Dave Gartshore who within minutes had our windlass working – by merely looking at the wiring.  Go figure.

Next up  – I drive to Toronto today to pick up our daughter Stephanie and granddaughter Josie.  They will spend a week with us.  Can’t wait!!

 

Bob inspecting the launch – finally ( 9 months on the hard!).

Morning entertainment – watching the geese doing yoga on the submerged dock next to us.  You can just barely make out a cleat.

The rest of the yoga class.

“Make new friends but keep the old..”  Here we have an old marina buddy and a new “looper” buddy helping us cast off the lines.  One of the cool things about doing the Loop is not just the places we will visit but the people we meet.

Actually leaving our beloved marina.

Clearing the submerged dock.

And away we go!  (Thanks Sally Skelley for taking this picture  – and the other one of us leaving).

Only went as far as Picnic Point off Grindstone.  Had the whole bay to ourselves.  Here I am celebrating with a glass of champagne.  Thanks Jane M. for the new glasses!

Leaving Picnic Point, doesn’t look like much but it is one of our favorite anchorages.

Heading to Canada to check into customs.  Going through the narrow passage by Jack Straw Light.

O Canada!!! Our home for the next 2 months or so.  Flag compliments of brother Ray – thanks!

So then it got cold – is it really the second day of summer??

 

Now there’s a wind vane!  Very unique topping to the Trent Port Marina.

This is a map of the Trent Servern Waterway (TSW).  We will probably take 2 to 3 weeks to leisurely transit this amazing system of 44 locks – Canal was built over a period of 30 years in the early 1800s.

 

 

So, we did get our boat launched on Tuesday (6/20/17).  Took about 4 hours to get the two engines and the generator working properly.  One minor leak was noted in the stern.  On Wednesday we had the leak attended to by Mel “the fiberglass guy.”  We did last minute provisioning and cleaned the decks. We set a send off time for 5pm and it happened!!! Lines were cast off and our new Looper friends and old marina buddies waved us goodbye. We are currently anchored off Grindstone Island in our favorite cove (Picnic Point Bay).  Tomorrow we will check into customs and head toward the Trent Severn Canal System.  Pictures to follow!

Once again our target launching date has been postponed.  We ran into further areas of rot that needed addressing.  This time the stringer in the mid bilge area was found to be cracked and full of water.  Phew, what a smell when the planking was pulled up so as to drain the water out!  Plan is to get the area as dry as possible and re-fiberglass.  The bow pulpit should be going on today, rudders have been put back on, plumbing in the stern area (re-hooking up the water tanks) should also be finished today.  There are several areas along the freeboard that are still awaiting new gel coat and the stern has to be “injected” where there are some soft spots.  Engine work has been completed, just need to put in a new generator battery.  So now we’re looking at being launched Monday or Tuesday.  We need to sea trial the boat to make sure all the engine repairs were done properly and to learn how to use the new fore and aft thrusters.  The Trent Severn Canal is open and we hope to be underway Thursday or Friday.  Meanwhile, our daughter Stephanie and granddaughter Josie fly into Toronto on the 24th.  Cutting it close!  (Plan is to rent a car from wherever we are to pick her up).

Bob trying to stay positive by doing needed “little stuff” on the boat while major repairs are slowly being addressed.

The unexpected new problem of a cracked stringer in the mid bilge.  Water was sucked out.  Fans are now on and when dry, this area will get re-glassed.

We were rudderless for quite some time.  Note the very rotted rudder post block which has now been replaced.

Our boat in the parking lot awaiting a re-done bow pulpit.

Well, our target date has come and gone.  Since I last wrote, the water level on the St. Lawrence is at a record high.  Our dock at our marina (French Bay) is awash and the Trent Severn Canal is closed.  Rumor has it that the waters won’t be receding until June.  In the meantime the fiberglass work being done on our boat (that was supposed to have been finished last fall) is progressing at a snail’s pace.  Engine work is proceeding on time.  Our new target departure date is June 15th.  By then the waters should be lower and the Trent Severn Canal will be open.  We did manage to paint the bottom of the boat.  Our plan is to rent a nearby cottage next week so we can pick away at all the small stuff while awaiting the yard work to be done.  Have to say, it’s a bit frustrating!  On the plus time we’re spending extra time with our grandson which is always a good thing.

This is where our boat normally lives, note one of the electrical junction boxes is partially underwater.  The electricity will need to be turned off.

The dock next to us is awash.

Here’s Bob painting the bottom of the boat.

Inside, home sweet home!  Engines are undergoing maintenance and repairs.

Bob deep into the engine room cleaning out the space where new batteries will be placed.

New batteries, a lovely site!