We left the dock an hour before the canal opened to trundle over to lock 1. Got tied on the blue line, and relaxed while waiting for the staff to arrive. Just before opening, another boat arrived and the pair of us locked through.
While we were in Trent Port Marina, we stored some long-term provisions. Vacuum-sealed for freshness!
Bit of a misadventure leaving the first lock. Our stern fender got tangled in the lock cable. As the boat powered away from the lock wall, it got pulled back in by the fender. I did not know this, and so had put the boat in gear to move out of the lock. This generated enough force to pull the rope out of the fender, and pulled the boat back to the concrete wall with enough force to make a divot. There was no depth to the wound - paint only - but not something you want to have happen. The fender ended up in the lock. Luckily there was another boater watching us on shore, and she was able to retrieve the fender for us. We stored it on the stern, and I planned to fix it the next day.
Only two boats, and no down-bound traffic, so we made great time and quickly found ourselves at the top of lock 6. This is the first lock station on the Trent with shore power, so it is a popular spot. We take shore power when we can, but we were planning to try to giddy-up a bit through the first part of the Trent, As Louise wanted to make Orillia in time for the big Pokemon event. When travelling, we often target lock stations that do not have shore power so we don't have to get involved in the shore-power-hunger-games. Our locking partner peeled off to stop at lock 6 while we continued on. Our plan was to get to lock 8 and then evaluate whether we wanted to keep going to Campbellford or not. It was pretty hot, and sometimes we find that we start making mistakes if we push too hard and do too many lockages in a day, especially when it is really warm.
Coming up to lock 7 had our only white knuckle moment of the day. The water levels are high in the lakes, and so the lock staff has been dumping water through the system. Each lock entrance is at a narrow location beside a dam or weir, which creates a current as you enter the lock station. The current on the approach to lock 7 was especially strong, and to add to the fun, a boat had just exited the lock and was heading out. Murphy's law. You boat all day over a large lake, nice and calm, no traffic. As soon as you enter a narrow space, you run into lots of other boats. Anyway, we were committed at that point, having entered the heavy current, so I slowed down to allow him to exit the narrowest part first. We could not run at idle as the current was too strong, but luckily he came out quickly, so I didn't have to mess with the current too long. You need to keep moving in these areas and use some authority on the throttles to maintain momentum. Driving a big boat, momentum is your friend and enemy. Things happen slower because the boat's momentum slows changes in direction, which gives you have lots of time to react, but once she goes she goes, so you don't have all day to screw around. Keeping a bit of throttle on prevents any kind of nasty-ness, as there is enough water moving over the rudder to maintain steerage.
We passed through lock 7 and moved on to lock 8. Here I could increase the RPMs for a bit to keep the big CAT happy, and eventually found ourselves approaching lock 8. Again a down-bound boat. Bit of a pucker going around the last marker as this guy gave us no space at all, even though he had lots of room to his side of the channel (we were right up against the markers and in shallow water). You encounter jerks sometimes.
We had made it to lock 8 with plenty of time to spare, and so decided to keep going to Campbellford. Louise got on the phone to reserve us a spot on their wall and everything was set. When we arrived, the wind was on our stern and fairly strong. We made our approach with help from the harbour staff and got set in for the night. Louise ordered pizza from a local place called Apollo's, and I walked over to pick it up. Louise had to boil water - the dishes were piling up since we were waiting for the hot water tank - and took care of getting ready for dinner. While we were having dinner we got hit with a short but strong thunderstorm. Lots of wind, gusty winds and heavy rain, but it only lated about half an hour.
The next morning we set off at 8 am for the lock station. Turned out we were the second boat there. We watched as they had trouble tying up to the blue line, I guess no coffee yet.
We pulled in behind them and visited with them a bit while we waited. Just before opening, two more boats showed up and hovered below the entrance. The lock staff took the two boats tied, and one other from the approach and up we went. The first locks in the Trent cannot support full lockages. The valves open on only one side of the lock, creating a swirling current that is dangerous if you are tied to the wrong side. So, only 3 boats since we occupied the entire wall.
The first boat to enter had trouble tying up, and we ended up waiting outside for quite a bit. At one point, their boat was completely sideways in the lock! Uh oh. That's two blown approaches in a row. Eventually they were secured, and in we went. Our anchor ended up pretty close to the guy in front, which made him nervous. I asked them to pull ahead a bit since their lines were tied pretty loose and drifting back towards us. Once they tightened their lines the gap was better. The third boat made it in with a bit of space to spare, but their anchor was sometimes over our dingy, and up we went.
Exiting the lock, I decided to give buddy in front some extra space in case we had more drama at the next lock. He did not disappoint. About 500 meters from the next OPEN LOCK, he stopped, right in a heavy current zone! I got on the VHF to ask what the issue was, and he said he was waiting for the trawler. I asked how many boats were exiting the lock. He replied that the lock was empty, and he was waiting for the third boat to close before going into the lock. WTF? I told him to enter the lock and wait inside (think it came out a bit impatient), and then in he went. The current from where he stopped to the lock was visibly strong, so we waited back a bit to make sure we could enter safely. Eventually they entered the chamber, and started to dick around trying to tie to the wall. We proceeded ahead to wait just outside the lock, as the current in the lock aprons was not strong, just the approaches. I got on the VHF to warn the guy behind me about the strong current, and to ask him to wait a bit as buddy was still trying to set up his lines. Eventually they were tied, so we entered the lock, and I got on the VHF to tell the other boat it was safe to come ahead.
Exiting each lock I gave the guy in front lots of space, and he screwed up every time he tried to tie up to the lock cables. He would come in perfectly, then suddenly do something to pull his boat off the wall and sideways. Between the locks he would speed up and slow down at random times, and once almost went the wrong way around a marker. Fun.
That morning I had re-attached the rope to the other end of the fender, planning to simply re-use it. In the first lock, we discovered that it would not hold air, and so we had to switch it out. Louise tried to use it as a fender for our fender (the fenders sometimes scrape the concrete walls, especially in locks with swirling currents) but the broken one soon filled with water and we had to remove it.
Our new fender-fender.
And its dead.
After we left Healy falls, the run to Hastings would be a few hours, buddy in front started out really slow through a strong current zone (of course), then cranked it up and left us. Bye-Bye-La. We and the other boat (a Monk I think) trundled along through cottage country. Along the way we were greeted by a gold looper on VHF, who had a cottage on one of the lakes. Nice.
About 4 km away from the next lock, I saw buddy floating in the lake ahead of us. They had waited for us! Not sure why, but now we had to lock through with them again. mmmm
A really heavy current coming into the lock station, but once inside the approach barrier things calmed down and we got tied up, then went to help the trawler behind us. They guy behind was getting hit by the edge of the swirly current. Once tied up he "floated" off the wall as the current bounced off the concrete and pushed his boat away. Nothing some ropes and well-placed fenders couldn't handle.
Locking went well and we tied up at the grey line at the top. During the day, several more lockages came up which almost filled the grey. Louise and I treated ourselves to dinner at a local establishment, then turned in for the day.
The next morning we were up bright and early - like every other day - and got underway by 6:00 am. We crossed Rice lake, then went up the river to Peterborough. We locked through and went up the lift lock, then tied up to the grey line for the day.
Went up top to the flybridge to relax for a bit in the breeze, and then we became part of the show as a local tour-boat went through.
While we were on the river that morning, Louise got a notification that our water heater had arrived. Got on the phone, and made arrangements to get it. My sister Ruth had volunteered to meet us part way with it, but when we called she offered to bring it all the way to us. NICE. She dropped it off around supper time, and we took her out for dinner (after taking cold showers to get rid of that 3-day-without-a-shower-boater aroma). That evening I got the tank in place and hooked up the plumbing connections.
I had a helper for the tank install. I use small food containers from dollar store to hold tools and bits when working in the bowels of the ship. If you drop things down here, they often find their way to inaccessible locations (Murphy) and keeping everything in these little containers keep things from rolling around. It is also a great was to reduce the number of things you forget in the bilge when you finish a project.
I did not connect the electrical right away as the instructions for the electrical did not make any sense. I found a youtube video from the manufacturer, which gave the same crazy instructions. Basically, if you wire the tank the way they instructed, you would burn down your boat. Since it was late in the day, I did not want to do something stupid like follow their directions, so decided to get some rest before tackling the problem in the morning.
The next morning I spent some time researching the proper way to do it, and finally figured out the proper way by interpretation of a set of instructions from the same manufacturer on an Australian web site. From what I could see, the instructions that came with the water heater had been translated from another language or two (more than once) and so the instructions were totally mangled. Like broken telephone with extra broken. Worse, the people who made the instructional video knew nothing about electricity, and just parroted what was in this crap manual. I sent an email to the company, as they really should fix those instructions (and remove their video from youtube) but I am not holding my breath.
Can you spot the deadly part?
Instructions and video from the water heater supplier. Burnin down the house!
After doing some reading, I thought I understood what had happened with the manual (someone just used the old manual and worked from there when writing the new one, while switching between 2 or more languages). I hooked up the power to the hot water heater, and we had hot water. Boo-yah.
After fixing the water heater we had to flush the hot-water lines as they had some of the crud from the old tank in them. In the case of our galley sink, there was enough of this stuff to partially clog the faucet, so had to disconnect that and clean out the filter screens on the inlet tubes.
Louise found a great drying rack for our dishes. Drains right into the sink, and rolls up small. Also expands our counter space while cooking.
Eevee is getting more comfortable on the boat. For the first couple of weeks, she stayed inside, but now started asking to go outside. Of course, being a cat, she stays our for a couple of minutes only then wants back in (then out then in then out then in). Nice to see her expanding her horizons though.
Off we went up the canal with a goal of getting to Burleigh falls. Once again, we seemed to be the only boat moving, and made good time.
Had some fun with a sailboat in Hell's gate. As we were approaching the narrowest, rockiest part (why do we always meet boats here, not in the middle of a lake?) a sailboat tacked in front of us. The wind was behind us, and they were moving in the opposite direction, zig-zagging back and forth upwind in the narrow channel. I throttled back and got ready to go into reverse, just as they tacked in front of us and sailed out into the channel. It was perfectly timed, but did manage to get me to pucker-factor 5. After that adventure, we steamed on to Burleigh falls, which was showing a red light, meaning the lock was not ready. We tied up to the blue line and I walked up to see what was happening. Turns out a BIG rental houseboat was entering the lock going down-bound. I asked the lockmaster if we were OK where we were, and he suggested we untie and hover in the bay until the houseboat was well clear. We did so, and managed to evade the danger (the houseboat came right at us from the lock), then locked up and tied to the grey wall. We overnighted by ourselves at this great lock station, just us and a huge flock of geese pooping everywhere.
Next morning it was raining. The dregs of hurricane Beryl had reached us. Forecast for rain, with gusty winds later in the day. Normally, travelling on the canals in the rain is pretty efficient since fewer people move when the weather is bad. We therefore planned to go to Fenelon falls or perhaps Rosedale. The rain was pretty steady over the day, and the winds picked up as we went. The lakes we were going through had long fetches, so the water was rough in a few places. Coming into Bobcaygeon we were beam on the waves so things got a bit slammy and rolly for a while. We locked through at Bobcaygeon and got a spot at the top. The wind was really getting gusty by this time, and the lock staff told us that Fenelon falls lock station was full, so we decided to stay in Bobcaygeon for the night. Got Chinese take out for supper - for some reason the other restaurants in the area were closed - and hunkered down in the rain for the evening.
So far we had been travelling quickly on the canal. One of the reasons for this is that Louise likes to play Pokemon Go. Apparently there is a big event this upcoming weekend, and she wanted to be in a larger town to take advantage of it. Not good to have a schedule on a boat, but so far we were looking good.
Next day started out rainy. We got an early start off the dock and set off for Fenelon falls. The rain eased off after an hour or so, but then the wind started to pick up. By the time we were approaching Fenelon we were getting slammed by waves on the beam. The lake we were on had a big fetch, aligned perfectly with the wind, so the water got pretty choppy. Arrived in Fenelon to find a down-bound lockage in progress, so we tied to the blue to wait. This represented the furthest we had gotten in the Trent system, everything beyond this was new. Talking with the lockmaster, they had plenty of space the previous night, so we were completely mis-informed at the last lock. Oh well.
Locked up by ourselves and set off across the lake. At the entrance to the harbour at Fenelon falls, they marked a shoal using a bunch of inuksuks. Cool.
As we were approaching the cut to enter the Rosedale lock, I saw an AIS target ahead entering the lock in front of us in the narrow channel. Checked identity and it was the Kawartha Voyager! I got on VHF and asked him if we should wait in the lake for him to exit the channel. He replied that there was lots of space and to come ahead and pass port-to-port.
After crossing Mitchel lake we made a Securite (securitay) call as were were entering a very narrow channel. Luckily there were no boats coming the other way (at least none that answered VHF), although another big boat entered the channel behind us. Clean sailing through a very skinny channel to Kirkfield lock.
Kirkfield is the second lift lock on the system, and the highest point on the system. Going down looks like you are falling off the edge of a cliff. While we were in the lock, I asked one of the lockmasters about an obstruction that had been reported in Canal lake. He said it was a stump, and that the reports he heard is that it was ABOVE the lock (we had already passed it). So much for internet info. I wonder if the reported groundings had something to do with the markers switching sides on the other side of the lock here?
After canal lake we passed through the hole-in-the-wall bridge. Bit of a breeze to ruffle the water, so we did not get a good water reflection to make it look like an actual hole, but cool pictures.
We passed through several more locks with two other boats. Along the way we passed this big ugly dog statue beside a boathouse. Because, who doesn't want a big ugly dog statue on their property?
We stopped for the night at the top of Thorah lock 40. Eevee decided she wanted to hang out on the flybridge for a while.
Louise spent some time on the laptop sorting out all the USB's we had with us. We had no time to sort through them when we left, and we had not used most of the in years, so had no idea what was on each one. She went through each one, keeping what we wanted and wiping what we didn't.
The next morning we set off for Orillia. The lake was flat calm and we passed very few other boats on the way. As we were exiting the canal onto the lake, one of the boats behind us stopped. We had no idea why (thought they were stopping for coffee) and there was nothing on VHF, so we kept going, as did the third boat in our group.
There was a very strong stern current in the narrows. This can be dangerous, as a following current limits your ability to manoeuvre, and it was a very narrow channel with lots of boat traffic. A bit freaky too, the water is very clear, and you can see the bottom, which gives the illusion you are about to smash into it.
We arrived at Orillia and immediately did our laundry. The place was empty and we decided to get a machine while the getting was good. Just as the laundry was finishing up, the boat that stopped behind us arrived. I asked what happened, and apparently they sucked up some weeds, overheated one of their engines, and airlocked the closed cooling loop. They had limped to Crates marine, where they got a quick repair (translation $$$) and then on to Orillia.
The boat is in here for the weekend. Micheline is picking up Louise and they are going to Toronto for a big Pokemon event. I am solo on the boat (with Eevee) with a big to-do list.
Boat name of the day: Shagmaster
