Log 71
Port Severn
6:00 AM
Saturday, July 29, 2000
Driftwood Cove Marina
Port Severn, Ontario
Day 90
If you look at a map of the US, (or if you’re watching the weather channel) and you look at the body of water in the chain of Great Lakes that is the farthest to the north, and east, (above the NE corner of Lake Huron) that is the Georgian Bay, and if you look at the far east tip of that Bay, that’s where we are. (It looks kind of like the spike at the far east side) That is the point where the Trent-Severn meets the Georgian Bay. (At Port Severn) If you look a little closer and head west on the Bay you will see a point where the land comes so close it almost touches. That point is called Killarney, and that’s where we hope to be tonight.
Well the chapter of our repairs is over. The boat runs great again, but it was definately an interesting, and very expensive experience. Expense wise we had to pay for the lifting and replacing the prop. (8.90 Canadian $ per foot to lift it, and 8.90 per foot to put it back in the water) Having the Detroit guy come out to tell us that the shutdown had tripped. (Not covered by warranty) And then the cost to fix the prop. (I think I could have bought a new one in the US for less) But Deb says, “we’ll worry about that stuff when the trip is over”, and Terry says, “Hey you had to figure something like that would happen on a trip like this, and it did”. Jeanie…she just smiles and says. “That’s a lot of money isn’t it?” All that said the people at the marina were absolutely fantastic. If we ever could have chosen a place to break down, that would be the place. We will talk about them for some time to come.
Getting here yesterday was a real neat trip. We knew that we had to wait for our prop to be delivered before we could leave (they promised us it would be there by noon) so in the morning Terry and I went fishing again for an hour or so. No luck. I never even got a hit, and I think Terry only had one. (And I question whether that was a hit, or he got caught in the weeds for a second…Donnie, and Les…you know what I mean don’t you?) After fishing we spent some time cleaning the boat. Jeanie and Deb cleaned and vacuumed the inside while Terry and I handled the outside. It still doesn’t look as good as Steve Larry and Darrell kept it, but we’re getting there. (Terry is a huge help around the boat, but his real strength is reading the charts) While we waited, we also topped off the water and fuel, and got a pump out. By noon we were on our way.
I have definitely got a different appreciation for the Trent-Severn the last couple of days. If you ever want to visit this area by boat, or land I recommend the most western part. The waters we were in yesterday we just awesome. I told Deb that, as many pictures as she was taking people still wouldn’t have the feeling of the beauty. It is a very neat boating experience. Why? If you have ever seen “On Golden Pond” you have a sense of it, but the real neat part, from a boating standpoint, is winding your way around these islands, and narrow channels (some are only a little wider than our boat, with huge rocks on both sides of the channel) that connect these small lakes. There are hundreds of very small islands, most of them with a house on them, and you know that people come here to spend their summers. On one hand it is very isolated, on the other you can get to anywhere on your boat (there are lots of classic wooden ones sitting in the boat houses) in just a few minutes. We saw a teenage girl go by us with a couple of smaller kids in a 15 foot aluminum boat with a 15 hp motor on it, and Jeanie said, “it’s probably a babysitter taking the kids back home”. This is a really neat place.
Before I close this I need to answer a couple of e-mails;
· Allan..Happy Birthday a few days ago. I remembered it, but I forgot to say anything.
· Mando..thanks for the note a few days ago. Yes we are looking forward to get back too, and enjoying a day at Blue Lagoon.
· Randy, and Dennis. I’m not sure why you didn’t get log #66, but it is strange that when this happens it always happens to the two of you. (Or maybe you are always the only ones who say anything) Whatever..I hope you got it when I resent it.
· Skip..Thanks for the notes. I’m glad to see you’re doing well. Yes Freidhelm is an interesting guy. You’ll come to like him.
· Barb..Thanks for the message, I’ll do my best to describe the areas as we go. By the way Deb wants to know who was voted off the island last Wednesday. (Hey she can’t lose touch with the real world)
· Hokie…How was the reunion on Saturday? Deb is wondering how I planned a week to be gone so we had to miss that.
I’ll keep you posted.
BK
Saturday, July 29, 2000
Thursday, July 27, 2000
Chapter 70: Trouble in Trent
Log 70
Troubles on the Trent
6:30 AM
Thursday, July 27, 2000
Starport Landing
Day 88
I don’t have a lot of time this morning, but I did want to get a few things in a log.
It was a very interesting day on the Trent yesterday.
The morning started out near perfect, with a pretty sky, and the promise of a great day of cruising. We pulled anchor in Deer Bay about 8, after we cleaned all of the bugs off the boat that had accumulated the night before. (I had to leave the anchor light on all night, and being in the middle of a cove these bugs must have said, “hey look…a light, let’s go over there, and then die” because the boat was covered)
Terry and I had discussed our plans for the day several times, and we were trying to make some time to be able to spend more time in the Georgian Bay when we get there. Our thoughts were to get through lock 41, and to Lake Simcoe, the largest lake on the Trent-Severn.
The first few locks were ok, but going a little slow, so we knew we were going to be tight on time, so we decided any time we had open water we would go as fast as we could, to make up some time. This worked out great as we blasted across a couple of the smaller lakes, and things were looking good.
Then the problems began.
We were coming out of a lock and getting ready to enter what the books says is a very narrow channel, and to be very cautious. We went through there with no problem, and even commented on how all of these “caution areas” were not really any big deal; you just had to pay attention. Shortly after that we entered a fairly large lake, and as planned we were going to go fast. We were out in the middle of this lake, in the channel, so I pushed the throttles forward, and all of a sudden “BAM” the props hit something. HARD!
I knew immediately we had a problem, it was just a matter of how big of a problem. I went in the engine room to have a look, and the port engine was vibrating pretty bad, and the generator sitting on the port side was vibrating as well, so I assumed we had hit the port prop. The starboard side seemed ok, but we wouldn’t be able to tell until we get a look at it.
For the next few hours we worked to try to find a place to pull the boat, and change the props. (The good news is I have a new set that I carry with me just for these kinds of emergencies) As it turned out, the best place to get this done was the place we were heading to in the first place. Starport Landing Marina, on Lake Simcoe. The only problem now was that we couldn’t go fast anymore, and so the day would be longer.
The next problem (problems) occurred as we were going down what they call the Trent Canal. This is a man made canal that connects a couple of lakes to help form the Trent-Severn. They report the depth to be over 5 feet, but they are wrong. In a stretch of waterway about 3 to 4 miles long we hit at least 3 times, and the problem is these hits are not like at home where you stir up some mud, the boat lerches a little, and you say we just hit bottom. This entire area is solid rock, so when you hit bottom here, you are hitting rocks.
By now I just want to be done for the day. I know I will probably have to put on both props, and I just wanted to be tied up to a marina for the night, and get this thing done. Time wise, we were not doing to well either. We still had several locks to go, and it was getting to be about 4:30.
All during this time I had several conversations with the marina, just to let them know our time frame, and make sure we had a place to tie up, and they could get to us first thing in the morning. Which they said “no problem” to both of these requests. Things had been better, but we were fine, we just needed to get this chapter behind us.
We came out of lock 41 and into Lake Simcoe about 7PM. Based on our calculations we should be at the marina by 7:40, and the marina was open until 8. Then came problem number, I don’t know, 3 or 4. We were just going along, and the port engine stopped. Dead. No power. The computer display beeped a warning, and the read, “code 338 tach signal loss”. Who know what that means? I didn’t, and so I tried everything I knew to get the engine to go again, but with no success.
Soooooooo now we only have one engine. We recalculate our arrival time, and called the marina. This time we were close enough to call on the ship to shore radio, and tell them our problem, and that we would be later than planned, so they should go home, and we would see them in the morning.
4:45 PM
Same day
Same place
Sorry, I was pulled away for 9 hours, to fix the boat.
So here we were limping along with one engine, trying to keep the boat straight. The sun was going down at a high rate of speed, and I’m trying to decide how I was going to get Headquarters in a slip. Just then we got a call from the marina on the VHF. They wanted to know are position, and said they would be there on the dock to catch our lines when we got there. Knowing that helped with at least one of our problems.
Well we made it in, without crashing the dock, and at least we were tied to something. The next hour was spent trying to get power to the boat. To explain all that went on would take too long, and probably not be funny (unless you were there) but trust, me it was a treat. The one thing I will say though is that this is probably the friendliest marina we have ever been to. Ever.
Earlier in the day, Deb figured out that we would be late getting in so she decided to cook some enchiladas for dinner, (which she did as we went through the locks) but she needed to finish them in the oven. Well we finally had power to the boat, but it was not adequate for running all we needed so, we had no more than turned on the oven, and the stove, and the circuit breaker “broke”. Now we had no power, unless we ran the generator. (The marina was now closed, and we couldn’t get to the circuit breakers) We ran the generator to get us through dinner, but there was some good news. While we were finally eating dinner (at 10:30) we saw the lady who owns the marina going into the office, so I went and found her, and ask her to open the door to the circuit breakers. (I knew where it was because of all the time we had spent earlier trying to get power) She was only happy to do so, and as soon as I got to the breaker panel I saw which one was “broke” and I “flipped it”. Wha-la…power! We were back in business, and we could turn the generator off, and sleep for the night.
Which we did.
The first thing I did this morning (after writing the beginning part of this log…hey they don’t open until 7…eastern) was to call the engineers at Detroit to ask them about the boat, and what could have happened. The engineer asked me if I had checked the emergency shut down. Which I told him no, I don’t know where it is. Well he said when the mechanic gets on board have them check this to see if that could be the problem. (If we get one to come, I’ll do that)
The owner of the marina (Freeman) and his entire staff are the most helpful people you could ever imagine. When they opened this morning (8:30) he was standing beside my boat and telling me what he had already done. Without even being asked, he was contacting the local Detroit dealer to see how soon they could get here, and they were getting the lift ready to pull my boat, and check out the prop. I like this place!
With only one engine, the trip from the fuel dock, where we were docked, to the boat hoist was an adventure, but we made it without hitting anything. When I saw the lift I could tell they were not used to pulling this size of boat, and I wasn’t sure if it would do it or not, but it did. Once the boat was in the air it confirmed my thoughts, and we could see the port prop was heavily damaged. The starboard prop looked good, so we decided to just change the port one, and put it back in the water. While this was going on I was on the phone with Detroit, and had arranged for the mechanic to come to the boat late in the afternoon.
With the boat back in the water, and the mechanic on his way, but not until later, we decided to take a dinghy ride to see some of the lake. We found a sandy beach not to far away so we stopped there, and got in the water for a while, and just enjoyed the afternoon. The weather, again, was perfect. (We have had nothing but perfect weather since we left Syracuse last Saturday, and they tell us this has been the nicest days of the summer)
6:15 AM
Friday, July 28, 2000
Day 89
We had just finished dinner, when the mechanic got on board about 7:30 PM, last night. After determining that they had given him the wrong connection for the engine computers, he started looking around to see if he could tell what the problem might be. As he was doing this, I mentioned to him what the Detroit engineer had said, so he looked at the shut down to see if anything was wrong. Guess what? It was tripped, and once he reset it the engine fired just fine. We talked for a while about how, or why this happened. He asked us if the water was rough, because maybe that had jarred the trip loose. After a lot of discussion the only thing we could figure is that 1) this could just be a fluke (and that would be under warranty) or 2) maybe hitting the prop that hard could have caused the problem. (Which means I would have to pay for the service call) He said he did not make that decision, that would be up to Brian, his service manager. (Can you guess who I’ll be on the phone with first thing this morning)?
The bottom line of where we are at this point is that we have lost about 1-½ days of travel time, but if the weather will cooperate with us we should still be able to still get back to the marina on Saturday, August 5th. When I figured out the travel plan for this leg I built in a couple extra days for weather, and we have now used them for repairs, so we’ll just have to see how we do. What it also might mean is that some of the special places I wanted to stop at we have to bypass. Oh well.
Today…
Another beautiful morning, but there is a chance of rain later.
Now that everything is running normal again, we are ready to go, but we have to wait for the prop to be repaired so we can leave. The prop shop told us they would have it back by noon, so we should be out of here very shortly after that. Our plan is to try to get to the end of the Trent-Severn today, and at the mouth of the Georgian Bay. It is fairly aggressive to think we can do this but we’ll see how we do.
I’ll keep you posted.
BK
Troubles on the Trent
6:30 AM
Thursday, July 27, 2000
Starport Landing
Day 88
I don’t have a lot of time this morning, but I did want to get a few things in a log.
It was a very interesting day on the Trent yesterday.
The morning started out near perfect, with a pretty sky, and the promise of a great day of cruising. We pulled anchor in Deer Bay about 8, after we cleaned all of the bugs off the boat that had accumulated the night before. (I had to leave the anchor light on all night, and being in the middle of a cove these bugs must have said, “hey look…a light, let’s go over there, and then die” because the boat was covered)
Terry and I had discussed our plans for the day several times, and we were trying to make some time to be able to spend more time in the Georgian Bay when we get there. Our thoughts were to get through lock 41, and to Lake Simcoe, the largest lake on the Trent-Severn.
The first few locks were ok, but going a little slow, so we knew we were going to be tight on time, so we decided any time we had open water we would go as fast as we could, to make up some time. This worked out great as we blasted across a couple of the smaller lakes, and things were looking good.
Then the problems began.
We were coming out of a lock and getting ready to enter what the books says is a very narrow channel, and to be very cautious. We went through there with no problem, and even commented on how all of these “caution areas” were not really any big deal; you just had to pay attention. Shortly after that we entered a fairly large lake, and as planned we were going to go fast. We were out in the middle of this lake, in the channel, so I pushed the throttles forward, and all of a sudden “BAM” the props hit something. HARD!
I knew immediately we had a problem, it was just a matter of how big of a problem. I went in the engine room to have a look, and the port engine was vibrating pretty bad, and the generator sitting on the port side was vibrating as well, so I assumed we had hit the port prop. The starboard side seemed ok, but we wouldn’t be able to tell until we get a look at it.
For the next few hours we worked to try to find a place to pull the boat, and change the props. (The good news is I have a new set that I carry with me just for these kinds of emergencies) As it turned out, the best place to get this done was the place we were heading to in the first place. Starport Landing Marina, on Lake Simcoe. The only problem now was that we couldn’t go fast anymore, and so the day would be longer.
The next problem (problems) occurred as we were going down what they call the Trent Canal. This is a man made canal that connects a couple of lakes to help form the Trent-Severn. They report the depth to be over 5 feet, but they are wrong. In a stretch of waterway about 3 to 4 miles long we hit at least 3 times, and the problem is these hits are not like at home where you stir up some mud, the boat lerches a little, and you say we just hit bottom. This entire area is solid rock, so when you hit bottom here, you are hitting rocks.
By now I just want to be done for the day. I know I will probably have to put on both props, and I just wanted to be tied up to a marina for the night, and get this thing done. Time wise, we were not doing to well either. We still had several locks to go, and it was getting to be about 4:30.
All during this time I had several conversations with the marina, just to let them know our time frame, and make sure we had a place to tie up, and they could get to us first thing in the morning. Which they said “no problem” to both of these requests. Things had been better, but we were fine, we just needed to get this chapter behind us.
We came out of lock 41 and into Lake Simcoe about 7PM. Based on our calculations we should be at the marina by 7:40, and the marina was open until 8. Then came problem number, I don’t know, 3 or 4. We were just going along, and the port engine stopped. Dead. No power. The computer display beeped a warning, and the read, “code 338 tach signal loss”. Who know what that means? I didn’t, and so I tried everything I knew to get the engine to go again, but with no success.
Soooooooo now we only have one engine. We recalculate our arrival time, and called the marina. This time we were close enough to call on the ship to shore radio, and tell them our problem, and that we would be later than planned, so they should go home, and we would see them in the morning.
4:45 PM
Same day
Same place
Sorry, I was pulled away for 9 hours, to fix the boat.
So here we were limping along with one engine, trying to keep the boat straight. The sun was going down at a high rate of speed, and I’m trying to decide how I was going to get Headquarters in a slip. Just then we got a call from the marina on the VHF. They wanted to know are position, and said they would be there on the dock to catch our lines when we got there. Knowing that helped with at least one of our problems.
Well we made it in, without crashing the dock, and at least we were tied to something. The next hour was spent trying to get power to the boat. To explain all that went on would take too long, and probably not be funny (unless you were there) but trust, me it was a treat. The one thing I will say though is that this is probably the friendliest marina we have ever been to. Ever.
Earlier in the day, Deb figured out that we would be late getting in so she decided to cook some enchiladas for dinner, (which she did as we went through the locks) but she needed to finish them in the oven. Well we finally had power to the boat, but it was not adequate for running all we needed so, we had no more than turned on the oven, and the stove, and the circuit breaker “broke”. Now we had no power, unless we ran the generator. (The marina was now closed, and we couldn’t get to the circuit breakers) We ran the generator to get us through dinner, but there was some good news. While we were finally eating dinner (at 10:30) we saw the lady who owns the marina going into the office, so I went and found her, and ask her to open the door to the circuit breakers. (I knew where it was because of all the time we had spent earlier trying to get power) She was only happy to do so, and as soon as I got to the breaker panel I saw which one was “broke” and I “flipped it”. Wha-la…power! We were back in business, and we could turn the generator off, and sleep for the night.
Which we did.
The first thing I did this morning (after writing the beginning part of this log…hey they don’t open until 7…eastern) was to call the engineers at Detroit to ask them about the boat, and what could have happened. The engineer asked me if I had checked the emergency shut down. Which I told him no, I don’t know where it is. Well he said when the mechanic gets on board have them check this to see if that could be the problem. (If we get one to come, I’ll do that)
The owner of the marina (Freeman) and his entire staff are the most helpful people you could ever imagine. When they opened this morning (8:30) he was standing beside my boat and telling me what he had already done. Without even being asked, he was contacting the local Detroit dealer to see how soon they could get here, and they were getting the lift ready to pull my boat, and check out the prop. I like this place!
With only one engine, the trip from the fuel dock, where we were docked, to the boat hoist was an adventure, but we made it without hitting anything. When I saw the lift I could tell they were not used to pulling this size of boat, and I wasn’t sure if it would do it or not, but it did. Once the boat was in the air it confirmed my thoughts, and we could see the port prop was heavily damaged. The starboard prop looked good, so we decided to just change the port one, and put it back in the water. While this was going on I was on the phone with Detroit, and had arranged for the mechanic to come to the boat late in the afternoon.
With the boat back in the water, and the mechanic on his way, but not until later, we decided to take a dinghy ride to see some of the lake. We found a sandy beach not to far away so we stopped there, and got in the water for a while, and just enjoyed the afternoon. The weather, again, was perfect. (We have had nothing but perfect weather since we left Syracuse last Saturday, and they tell us this has been the nicest days of the summer)
6:15 AM
Friday, July 28, 2000
Day 89
We had just finished dinner, when the mechanic got on board about 7:30 PM, last night. After determining that they had given him the wrong connection for the engine computers, he started looking around to see if he could tell what the problem might be. As he was doing this, I mentioned to him what the Detroit engineer had said, so he looked at the shut down to see if anything was wrong. Guess what? It was tripped, and once he reset it the engine fired just fine. We talked for a while about how, or why this happened. He asked us if the water was rough, because maybe that had jarred the trip loose. After a lot of discussion the only thing we could figure is that 1) this could just be a fluke (and that would be under warranty) or 2) maybe hitting the prop that hard could have caused the problem. (Which means I would have to pay for the service call) He said he did not make that decision, that would be up to Brian, his service manager. (Can you guess who I’ll be on the phone with first thing this morning)?
The bottom line of where we are at this point is that we have lost about 1-½ days of travel time, but if the weather will cooperate with us we should still be able to still get back to the marina on Saturday, August 5th. When I figured out the travel plan for this leg I built in a couple extra days for weather, and we have now used them for repairs, so we’ll just have to see how we do. What it also might mean is that some of the special places I wanted to stop at we have to bypass. Oh well.
Today…
Another beautiful morning, but there is a chance of rain later.
Now that everything is running normal again, we are ready to go, but we have to wait for the prop to be repaired so we can leave. The prop shop told us they would have it back by noon, so we should be out of here very shortly after that. Our plan is to try to get to the end of the Trent-Severn today, and at the mouth of the Georgian Bay. It is fairly aggressive to think we can do this but we’ll see how we do.
I’ll keep you posted.
BK
Wednesday, July 26, 2000
Chapter 69: Still on the Trent-Severn
Log 69
Still on the Trent-Severn
5:30 AM
Wednesday, July 26, 2000
Deer Bay
Day 87
Ok I think I spoke to soon. I was saying that the Trent-Severn reminded me (actually all of us) of the Illinois River. Well in places is did, and still does, but for the last couple of days it has changed dramatically, and it’s now living up to its reputation of “natures gift to boaters”.
The first part of the Trent-Severn is like weeds connected by water, and locks. It was unbelievable. I have been cleaning out my engine strainers 3 times a day because they get all clogged up, and I’m afraid the engines will overheat. In many places it is like a driveway down a narrow channel of weeds. I’m not talking about weeds on the side of the channel; I’m talking about weeds in the water, and under the water. The water is very clear, so they must be able to grow because they can get light, but they are definitely a nuisance.
We have gone through 30 locks now, in a little over 115 miles. Most of the locks are easy, and most of them expect you when you get there, because the last lockmaster called ahead and told them you were coming. They average between 9 feet lift to 30 feet so far, but the most dramatic was the one at Peterborough. It is a little hard to describe but I’ll try. Picture two huge metal tubs of water sitting side by side, with a tower in the middle of them. One is 65 feet in the air, at the level of the water above, and the other is in the water below. As you approach the lock they lower the gate on the lower one so we can drive in. As we did this you could see a boat driving in the huge tub of water above. Once we got in you tie the boat to a rail, so it won’t move. The next thing that happens is they lift the gates to keep the water in, and you are now floating in a tub of water. In order to raise the lower one, they fill the tub on top with enough water to make it heavier than the lower one, and all of a sudden we start to rise in the air, while floating in this tub of water. Half way to the top you pass the other tub on the way down, and in about 2 to 3 minutes you are on top. 65 feet higher than you were. They open the front gate, and you drive out of the tub, and into the river above. Amazing. Terry and I were saying could you imagine the guy who first thought about designing that thing. People were saying, “You want to do WHAT?”
One of the things that you notice here is how friendly everyone is. I mean everyone. They seem happy to see you, and all to happy to help if they can. The lockmasters are all smiling, and they make locking through easy, and a pleasure. (We should transfer a few of these to the Illinois locks) Most of the locks have two people in them. One is full time, and the other is usually a student just working for the summer. Oh yea. I forgot to tell you, most all of the lock doors are operated manually. They are huge wooden doors with an arm on them that has teeth on it. This arm is then connected to, and through, the side of lock. This arm is then connected to a gear that fits into these teeth, and when the gear is turned it moves the arm back and forth. So…..if the lockmaster wants the doors opened two people (one on each side) grab these pipes (which are attached to the gears) sticking out of the ground, and push these pipes as they walk around in circles. Which turns the gear, which makes the teeth move the arm, which opens the doors. Does this make any sense? (It takes an average of 12 complete circles to open a door) These folks are doing all of this work, and still smiling.
Starting yesterday morning the scenery on the Trent-Severn seemed to change, and by afternoon is was dramatically different, and some of the neatest waters I have ever been in. The channel winds around hundreds of islands as it makes its way between the locks. If you have ever seen “On Golden Pond” you have an idea of what we are seeing, but with a lot more islands. Most of these islands are very small, and most have houses on them. It is amazing to see these homes, and trying to figure out how in the world they built them. In some cases the home takes up the entire island. All you see is a home built on a rock, with a garage built on the water for the boat. And as I say the channel winds it’s way through these, and in some cases between two islands that are no more than a couple of boat widths wide.
The weather has been near perfect. When we got on the boat last Friday evening, a storm has just passed through, and it turned clear, and sunny. It has been that way ever since. The early mornings are a little cool, (mid 50’s) but without any clouds, when the sun comes up it warms things up in a hurry. We normally start the day out with the bimini top down, and by mid day we need to put it up because it is too hot.
This morning we are anchored in Deer Bay. It is a beautiful medium sized bay just off of the main channel. We got here about 5:30 last night. As soon as we did, everyone (except me) went swimming, and used the bay to take a bath in. After that we all took a dinghy ride to explore the bay, and then Terry and I then took the dinghy to try to find Walter. (Remember the fish in “On Golden Pond”?) After a lot of casting, and only one small bass, we came back to the boat for some dinner, and a quite evening of relaxing as we gently swung around on our anchor line.
Today…
We need to head out of here about 7:45 because the locks open at 8:30. We will try to get as far as we can, but it is hard to judge just how far that will be. We usually don’t even make plans for the night until after lunch sometime because you just can’t tell.
The weather looks like it will be great today, but then we may be in for some rain the next couple of days.
I’ll keep you posted…
BK
Still on the Trent-Severn
5:30 AM
Wednesday, July 26, 2000
Deer Bay
Day 87
Ok I think I spoke to soon. I was saying that the Trent-Severn reminded me (actually all of us) of the Illinois River. Well in places is did, and still does, but for the last couple of days it has changed dramatically, and it’s now living up to its reputation of “natures gift to boaters”.
The first part of the Trent-Severn is like weeds connected by water, and locks. It was unbelievable. I have been cleaning out my engine strainers 3 times a day because they get all clogged up, and I’m afraid the engines will overheat. In many places it is like a driveway down a narrow channel of weeds. I’m not talking about weeds on the side of the channel; I’m talking about weeds in the water, and under the water. The water is very clear, so they must be able to grow because they can get light, but they are definitely a nuisance.
We have gone through 30 locks now, in a little over 115 miles. Most of the locks are easy, and most of them expect you when you get there, because the last lockmaster called ahead and told them you were coming. They average between 9 feet lift to 30 feet so far, but the most dramatic was the one at Peterborough. It is a little hard to describe but I’ll try. Picture two huge metal tubs of water sitting side by side, with a tower in the middle of them. One is 65 feet in the air, at the level of the water above, and the other is in the water below. As you approach the lock they lower the gate on the lower one so we can drive in. As we did this you could see a boat driving in the huge tub of water above. Once we got in you tie the boat to a rail, so it won’t move. The next thing that happens is they lift the gates to keep the water in, and you are now floating in a tub of water. In order to raise the lower one, they fill the tub on top with enough water to make it heavier than the lower one, and all of a sudden we start to rise in the air, while floating in this tub of water. Half way to the top you pass the other tub on the way down, and in about 2 to 3 minutes you are on top. 65 feet higher than you were. They open the front gate, and you drive out of the tub, and into the river above. Amazing. Terry and I were saying could you imagine the guy who first thought about designing that thing. People were saying, “You want to do WHAT?”
One of the things that you notice here is how friendly everyone is. I mean everyone. They seem happy to see you, and all to happy to help if they can. The lockmasters are all smiling, and they make locking through easy, and a pleasure. (We should transfer a few of these to the Illinois locks) Most of the locks have two people in them. One is full time, and the other is usually a student just working for the summer. Oh yea. I forgot to tell you, most all of the lock doors are operated manually. They are huge wooden doors with an arm on them that has teeth on it. This arm is then connected to, and through, the side of lock. This arm is then connected to a gear that fits into these teeth, and when the gear is turned it moves the arm back and forth. So…..if the lockmaster wants the doors opened two people (one on each side) grab these pipes (which are attached to the gears) sticking out of the ground, and push these pipes as they walk around in circles. Which turns the gear, which makes the teeth move the arm, which opens the doors. Does this make any sense? (It takes an average of 12 complete circles to open a door) These folks are doing all of this work, and still smiling.
Starting yesterday morning the scenery on the Trent-Severn seemed to change, and by afternoon is was dramatically different, and some of the neatest waters I have ever been in. The channel winds around hundreds of islands as it makes its way between the locks. If you have ever seen “On Golden Pond” you have an idea of what we are seeing, but with a lot more islands. Most of these islands are very small, and most have houses on them. It is amazing to see these homes, and trying to figure out how in the world they built them. In some cases the home takes up the entire island. All you see is a home built on a rock, with a garage built on the water for the boat. And as I say the channel winds it’s way through these, and in some cases between two islands that are no more than a couple of boat widths wide.
The weather has been near perfect. When we got on the boat last Friday evening, a storm has just passed through, and it turned clear, and sunny. It has been that way ever since. The early mornings are a little cool, (mid 50’s) but without any clouds, when the sun comes up it warms things up in a hurry. We normally start the day out with the bimini top down, and by mid day we need to put it up because it is too hot.
This morning we are anchored in Deer Bay. It is a beautiful medium sized bay just off of the main channel. We got here about 5:30 last night. As soon as we did, everyone (except me) went swimming, and used the bay to take a bath in. After that we all took a dinghy ride to explore the bay, and then Terry and I then took the dinghy to try to find Walter. (Remember the fish in “On Golden Pond”?) After a lot of casting, and only one small bass, we came back to the boat for some dinner, and a quite evening of relaxing as we gently swung around on our anchor line.
Today…
We need to head out of here about 7:45 because the locks open at 8:30. We will try to get as far as we can, but it is hard to judge just how far that will be. We usually don’t even make plans for the night until after lunch sometime because you just can’t tell.
The weather looks like it will be great today, but then we may be in for some rain the next couple of days.
I’ll keep you posted…
BK
Monday, July 24, 2000
Chapter 68: Lake Ontario and the Trent-Severn
Log 68
Lake Ontario, and the Trent-Severn
5:35 AM
Monday, July 24, 2000
Lock wall—lock #6
Trent-Severn Waterway
Frankford, Ontario
Day 85
Well the state of New York is behind us, and so is one of the Great Lakes. We just seem to be ticking these things off one at a time. I figured out that we have put over 4000 miles on the bottom of this boat.
Yesterday was an almost perfect day to cross Lake Ontario. Or any lake for that matter. We untied the lines at about 6:15, and by 6:30 we were at the mouth of the lake. The sun had just come over the only cloud we could see, and it was going to be a beautiful morning, and day.
The waves were probably about 2 feet when we first hit the lake. On top of that there was a slight chop, and it took me a couple of minutes to work with the trim of the boat, and the speed to make it as smooth as possible. The perfect combination seemed to be 1650 RPM (about 18mph), and a medium trim, which made the nose of the boat stick up a little to make the chop less of an issue. With that all done, I hit the autopilot and we were locked in on the other side, with 61 miles to go. If you look on the map, we crossed from Oswego, NY to Brighton, Ontario.
For the early part of the crossing the swells were more of an issue. They really didn’t bother us, but they were there. Jeanie noticed that the timing of the swells was just perfect with our speed because we would just get over one, and then lay in the bottom of another. Whatever the case the further we went the smoother it got, and by the time we were about 80% there, there was only a light chop, and we had picked up out RPM to about 1750.
The total crossing took exactly 4 hours. By the time we were on the other side the sun was high overhead, and it was getting nice and warm. We had left the bimini top down, so it was actually hot when we slowed down.
The next thing we had to find after the crossing was a small boat channel called the Murray Canal. It was nestled in a small cove, and is about 8 miles long, and would connect us to a small lake, and the town of Trenton. With some good chart work by Terry we found it no problem, and before you knew it we were there. From that point it was pretty straight forward as we moved through the canal, which included paying them a toll for using it. This was an interesting procedure. When they open the first bridge on the canal, as you are moving through it, they stick this long pole out to your boat, and they expect you to put $4 in it. I’m not sure what they would do if you just waved, and said’ “Thanks, we’ll catch you next time”, but I didn’t want to find out. By the way, I think this is also about the point where the girls started to speak Canadian. I don’t know how the Canadians really speak, but the girls seem to have it figured out. No matter what the question, or the answer, you just say, “Yaa…u betcha” (I think they’ve seen “Fargo” to many times)
Once in Trenton, we stopped at a marina, and got fuel (68 cents @ liter..You figure it out) and a pump out of the holding tank. This is also the place where you clear Canadian Customs. This was not a big deal, except when they ask me how much liquor we had on board. I was going to tell them, but I didn’t want them laugh, then come and board the boat to see for sure, so I said 2 cases of beer, some gin, and some rum. “How much rum and how much gin” they asked. “Oh…a small bottle each” was my reply, and that seemed to do it. (I figure if they do board the boat later, I’ll tell them that my wife had gone shopping, and I’m flabbergasted at how much she had bought)
We started the Trent-Severn at 1:30. It is just like the Erie Canal. Narrow waterways, and lots of locks. (In fact, it is a little early for this, but you could make a comparison of what we have seen so far to the Illinois River. The water is not as clean, but the scenery is very similar) these locks are much smaller than what we have been used to. They are only about 150 feet long, and 45 feet wide. Kind of interesting getting Headquarters in and out of them. I hope it doesn’t get very windy while we do this, or there could be trouble.
The guidebook says that at the top of lock #6 is a good place to stop for a while, or for the night, and they were right. We made it here about 3:30, and decided with what lay ahead, this was the best place to stop, so we did. After tying up Terry and I headed into town to get a fishing license. We now were going to be in Canada for a few days so we decided a license would be in order. The lockmaster said the hardware store would sell us a license, and they closed at 5, but when we made the 15-minute walk, and found the store, there was a closed sign in the window. As we were trying to figure out if we had any other options people started coming out of the hardware store door. It was obvious they were leaving for the day, and had just closed. Terry (smart thinker that he is) hollered across the street, “Hey…you wouldn’t think about selling a couple of out of towners a fishing license would ya?” They all looked at one another, and said, “sure, come on in” (You got to love these Canadians).
So fishing license in hand ($35 each, for 1 week…I sure hope we catch some fish) we head back to the boat. By the time we got back Deb had made friends with everyone at the lock, and we were set for the night. Jeanie and Deb had also been straightening up a little, and we were starting to talk about what sounded good for dinner. Good time for a cocktail.
With cocktail hour winding down, I washed the dinghy, while Terry and the girls started to prepare for dinner (some kind of a chicken dish where the chicken floats in a butter sauce…I think Terry called it curry chicken…great stuff). In between the cooking and the cleaning we threw the lines in the water to see if anything was there. Nope!
After dinner we had a special treat. Ice cream. The girls had bought some while we were fueling up in Trenton, and it was great. (4 different kinds) Terry went back out to try the fishing, the girls were watching something on TV, and I took a shower, and went to bed.
A GREAT DAY.
I’ll keep you posted…
BK
Lake Ontario, and the Trent-Severn
5:35 AM
Monday, July 24, 2000
Lock wall—lock #6
Trent-Severn Waterway
Frankford, Ontario
Day 85
Well the state of New York is behind us, and so is one of the Great Lakes. We just seem to be ticking these things off one at a time. I figured out that we have put over 4000 miles on the bottom of this boat.
Yesterday was an almost perfect day to cross Lake Ontario. Or any lake for that matter. We untied the lines at about 6:15, and by 6:30 we were at the mouth of the lake. The sun had just come over the only cloud we could see, and it was going to be a beautiful morning, and day.
The waves were probably about 2 feet when we first hit the lake. On top of that there was a slight chop, and it took me a couple of minutes to work with the trim of the boat, and the speed to make it as smooth as possible. The perfect combination seemed to be 1650 RPM (about 18mph), and a medium trim, which made the nose of the boat stick up a little to make the chop less of an issue. With that all done, I hit the autopilot and we were locked in on the other side, with 61 miles to go. If you look on the map, we crossed from Oswego, NY to Brighton, Ontario.
For the early part of the crossing the swells were more of an issue. They really didn’t bother us, but they were there. Jeanie noticed that the timing of the swells was just perfect with our speed because we would just get over one, and then lay in the bottom of another. Whatever the case the further we went the smoother it got, and by the time we were about 80% there, there was only a light chop, and we had picked up out RPM to about 1750.
The total crossing took exactly 4 hours. By the time we were on the other side the sun was high overhead, and it was getting nice and warm. We had left the bimini top down, so it was actually hot when we slowed down.
The next thing we had to find after the crossing was a small boat channel called the Murray Canal. It was nestled in a small cove, and is about 8 miles long, and would connect us to a small lake, and the town of Trenton. With some good chart work by Terry we found it no problem, and before you knew it we were there. From that point it was pretty straight forward as we moved through the canal, which included paying them a toll for using it. This was an interesting procedure. When they open the first bridge on the canal, as you are moving through it, they stick this long pole out to your boat, and they expect you to put $4 in it. I’m not sure what they would do if you just waved, and said’ “Thanks, we’ll catch you next time”, but I didn’t want to find out. By the way, I think this is also about the point where the girls started to speak Canadian. I don’t know how the Canadians really speak, but the girls seem to have it figured out. No matter what the question, or the answer, you just say, “Yaa…u betcha” (I think they’ve seen “Fargo” to many times)
Once in Trenton, we stopped at a marina, and got fuel (68 cents @ liter..You figure it out) and a pump out of the holding tank. This is also the place where you clear Canadian Customs. This was not a big deal, except when they ask me how much liquor we had on board. I was going to tell them, but I didn’t want them laugh, then come and board the boat to see for sure, so I said 2 cases of beer, some gin, and some rum. “How much rum and how much gin” they asked. “Oh…a small bottle each” was my reply, and that seemed to do it. (I figure if they do board the boat later, I’ll tell them that my wife had gone shopping, and I’m flabbergasted at how much she had bought)
We started the Trent-Severn at 1:30. It is just like the Erie Canal. Narrow waterways, and lots of locks. (In fact, it is a little early for this, but you could make a comparison of what we have seen so far to the Illinois River. The water is not as clean, but the scenery is very similar) these locks are much smaller than what we have been used to. They are only about 150 feet long, and 45 feet wide. Kind of interesting getting Headquarters in and out of them. I hope it doesn’t get very windy while we do this, or there could be trouble.
The guidebook says that at the top of lock #6 is a good place to stop for a while, or for the night, and they were right. We made it here about 3:30, and decided with what lay ahead, this was the best place to stop, so we did. After tying up Terry and I headed into town to get a fishing license. We now were going to be in Canada for a few days so we decided a license would be in order. The lockmaster said the hardware store would sell us a license, and they closed at 5, but when we made the 15-minute walk, and found the store, there was a closed sign in the window. As we were trying to figure out if we had any other options people started coming out of the hardware store door. It was obvious they were leaving for the day, and had just closed. Terry (smart thinker that he is) hollered across the street, “Hey…you wouldn’t think about selling a couple of out of towners a fishing license would ya?” They all looked at one another, and said, “sure, come on in” (You got to love these Canadians).
So fishing license in hand ($35 each, for 1 week…I sure hope we catch some fish) we head back to the boat. By the time we got back Deb had made friends with everyone at the lock, and we were set for the night. Jeanie and Deb had also been straightening up a little, and we were starting to talk about what sounded good for dinner. Good time for a cocktail.
With cocktail hour winding down, I washed the dinghy, while Terry and the girls started to prepare for dinner (some kind of a chicken dish where the chicken floats in a butter sauce…I think Terry called it curry chicken…great stuff). In between the cooking and the cleaning we threw the lines in the water to see if anything was there. Nope!
After dinner we had a special treat. Ice cream. The girls had bought some while we were fueling up in Trenton, and it was great. (4 different kinds) Terry went back out to try the fishing, the girls were watching something on TV, and I took a shower, and went to bed.
A GREAT DAY.
I’ll keep you posted…
BK
Sunday, July 23, 2000
Chapter 67: Oswego
Log 67
Oswego, NY
5:10AM
Sunday, July 23, 2000
Oswego Marina
Oswego, NY
Day 84
There’s a sign on the water tower here in town that says “ Oswego..Where the water never ends”. We left Chicago over 10 months ago, and we’ve been on the water ever since, so I guess they’re right.
Well as you can see by our location, we made it to Lake Ontario. In a few minutes (as soon as I can finish this log) we’ll be heading across it. The trip here was great. We left our slip in Brewerton about 6:30, and we made it to the first lock (lock #23 on the Erie Canal) by 7 AM when they opened. Once clear of that lock we had about 4 miles to go before we came to a place called three rivers, and joined the Oswego River, and the beginning of the Oswego Canal. This canal headed straight north, and took us to Oswego, NY (once we went through 7 locks) and the junction of Lake Ontario. When we got out of lock #8 (I know I said there were only 7 locks on the Oswego Canal, but some how they left out a number, and the last one is #8) we could see the lake, and it didn’t look good at all. There is a rock break wall at the lake’s entrance, and the waves were crashing over it like something out of a movie, so we decided that we’d make the trip when things calmed down.
Without being able to cross, we made some alternative plans, and found a marina to enjoy the rest of the day. (It was only 1 PM) Once settled, we took the dinghy off the swim platform, and Terry and I went fishing. Well almost. We went out in the dinghy, and decided we better get a fishing license, but after tying up to a wall, and walking into town to buy one, and the place was closed, we decided to just take a boat ride and not risk being pulled over by some conversation police.
We thought we’d go out to the lake and see how big the waves were, and if it had calmed down any. We came around the lighthouse at the mouth of the harbor, and got caught in a huge wave that almost came over the side of the dinghy. (It looked like something out of Perfect Storm of something) I made a hard right turn, and gunned the 25 horse motor on the dinghy. We were down in the wave, and working our way out. As it turned out there was no problem, but we looked at one another and were glad we had decided not to cross.
One thing I did forget that happened while we were getting our slip. As I was leaving the boat I knocked one of our folding chairs in the water (Annie..remember the one you knocked in, and Donnie caught? That one!) and we spent the better part of an hour trying to hook it with something, and get it out. Which we did, while Deb and Jeannie watched, laughed, and took pictures.
The rest of the day was spent doing a number of things, but nothing if you know what I mean. For dinner we decided to go out because Terry and I were working on the charts, and we figure that this may be the last restaurant we see for a few days. The Trent-Severn coming up is fairly remote, and we will probably be eating on the boat. We found a good place right next to the marina, and all had great meals. After which we walked into town and went to the grocery store for some last minute stocking up. (I don’t mind being in a desolate area, but I didn’t want to run out of tonic)
Once back to the boat things slowed down pretty quickly. The girls took showers, and Terry and I tried to throw a line in the water, and see if we cound snag anything. (Which may have been the only way we would catch anything) All we ended up doing was practicing for the big cast, because we didn’t catch any fish. I hope with all of the opportunities ahead of us to catch some big fish, I don’t end up just saying, “All we did was cast”.
Today…
NOA weather says, “winds less than 10 mph, and waves 2 feet or less”.
As soon as the sun is up over the trees to warm things up a bit we’re heading out. The chart plotter says we’ve got about 65 miles to our destination (Trenton Canada) on the other side. From our slip it looks like it will be a great day to cross. It won’t be “dead calm” but it shouldn’t be too bad. Whatever the case…here we go.
I’ll keep you posted..
BK
Oswego, NY
5:10AM
Sunday, July 23, 2000
Oswego Marina
Oswego, NY
Day 84
There’s a sign on the water tower here in town that says “ Oswego..Where the water never ends”. We left Chicago over 10 months ago, and we’ve been on the water ever since, so I guess they’re right.
Well as you can see by our location, we made it to Lake Ontario. In a few minutes (as soon as I can finish this log) we’ll be heading across it. The trip here was great. We left our slip in Brewerton about 6:30, and we made it to the first lock (lock #23 on the Erie Canal) by 7 AM when they opened. Once clear of that lock we had about 4 miles to go before we came to a place called three rivers, and joined the Oswego River, and the beginning of the Oswego Canal. This canal headed straight north, and took us to Oswego, NY (once we went through 7 locks) and the junction of Lake Ontario. When we got out of lock #8 (I know I said there were only 7 locks on the Oswego Canal, but some how they left out a number, and the last one is #8) we could see the lake, and it didn’t look good at all. There is a rock break wall at the lake’s entrance, and the waves were crashing over it like something out of a movie, so we decided that we’d make the trip when things calmed down.
Without being able to cross, we made some alternative plans, and found a marina to enjoy the rest of the day. (It was only 1 PM) Once settled, we took the dinghy off the swim platform, and Terry and I went fishing. Well almost. We went out in the dinghy, and decided we better get a fishing license, but after tying up to a wall, and walking into town to buy one, and the place was closed, we decided to just take a boat ride and not risk being pulled over by some conversation police.
We thought we’d go out to the lake and see how big the waves were, and if it had calmed down any. We came around the lighthouse at the mouth of the harbor, and got caught in a huge wave that almost came over the side of the dinghy. (It looked like something out of Perfect Storm of something) I made a hard right turn, and gunned the 25 horse motor on the dinghy. We were down in the wave, and working our way out. As it turned out there was no problem, but we looked at one another and were glad we had decided not to cross.
One thing I did forget that happened while we were getting our slip. As I was leaving the boat I knocked one of our folding chairs in the water (Annie..remember the one you knocked in, and Donnie caught? That one!) and we spent the better part of an hour trying to hook it with something, and get it out. Which we did, while Deb and Jeannie watched, laughed, and took pictures.
The rest of the day was spent doing a number of things, but nothing if you know what I mean. For dinner we decided to go out because Terry and I were working on the charts, and we figure that this may be the last restaurant we see for a few days. The Trent-Severn coming up is fairly remote, and we will probably be eating on the boat. We found a good place right next to the marina, and all had great meals. After which we walked into town and went to the grocery store for some last minute stocking up. (I don’t mind being in a desolate area, but I didn’t want to run out of tonic)
Once back to the boat things slowed down pretty quickly. The girls took showers, and Terry and I tried to throw a line in the water, and see if we cound snag anything. (Which may have been the only way we would catch anything) All we ended up doing was practicing for the big cast, because we didn’t catch any fish. I hope with all of the opportunities ahead of us to catch some big fish, I don’t end up just saying, “All we did was cast”.
Today…
NOA weather says, “winds less than 10 mph, and waves 2 feet or less”.
As soon as the sun is up over the trees to warm things up a bit we’re heading out. The chart plotter says we’ve got about 65 miles to our destination (Trenton Canada) on the other side. From our slip it looks like it will be a great day to cross. It won’t be “dead calm” but it shouldn’t be too bad. Whatever the case…here we go.
I’ll keep you posted..
BK
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