Rain Day, and Another Goodbye, Sept 8, 2012

We woke to an all day rain. Weatherman calling for thunderstorms and winds. Change of plans. We will stay put. We are tied to the wall in Fenlon Falls, we have hydro, and some good books to read. What more can you ask for.

The bikes will stay on board Guppy for the winter.

Steve and Linda are leaving this morning. They packed the car with everything from the boat that they will need to take back to Yesterday's Dream. Linda is taking the boat to the marina where Guppy will be put away for the winter. Steve drove the car to marina. Once again we are saying good bye to them. Not sure how many times we have said goodbye to these folks. Often.

Saying Goodbye Again.

They will have a nasty driving day. Their plan is to drive to Buffalo airport and pick up another rental car that they can drive all the way back to the Neuse River NC, where their daughter lives.

Goodbye, they look happy even in the rain. Rain does not deter them from their plans.

We have already made plans to hopefully be able to join them this spring at Marathon. And who knows, we may even get out to the Bahamas with them. Surona will be in her glory.

Officially Finished The Loop

We officially finished the Loop, yesterday, Tuesday, Sept 11, 2012, at 3:30 pm. We passed the red can in Midland Bay. Hurray! Never thought we would be finishing it in a trawler, when we left Midland Bay 2 years ago, Aug 15, 2010.

We are tied to the dock at the Midland Town Dock. Today we will leave to go back to get the car in NY. Then the plan is to come back to the boat and hopefully go out and enjoy Georgian Bay for awhile. We missed the summer here because of having the engine rebuilt. We thought we would return mid June, not September.

To fill in some of the blanks of the end of our journey.

The Last Supper with Steve and Linda before they left to go back to their other boat "Yesterdays Dream" in NC

We left Bobcaygeon and travelled on to Fenelon Falls, where Steve and Linda were leaving on Saturday morning to take their boat Guppy to the marina to be put up for the winter. It was a rainy and nasty day with lots of wind. We decided it was a good day to stayed tied and read books. Mom was agreeable to this.

Mom's camera is just a smoking. She helped us on the last 24 locks. She has been a real trooper. She had some tricky times in the locks, and almost lost the pole two times. But each time she held onto it. She is probably a couple inches taller now, from being stretched out.

We left Fenelon Falls and spent the next night at Lock 40, Thorah. This lock has no public access so we had complete privacy, no other boats. The only thing that disturbed our evening was a skunk. Not sure what upset him, but we had to endure his strong aroma for awhile. Phewey.

Good to be back in our Georgian Bay landscape. There is nothing like it

The next morning we locked thru and made it the 44 miles to Swift Rapids lock. Again a pretty good lock for privacy. We shared it with 2 other boats. One of the boats who frequented this lock, made a bonfire for the evening. We did not join in, as it was just too cold.

We locked thru with the first lock opening. The plan was for my sister Kathy to come and join us for Lock 44, the marine railway. Much to our surprise, my sister Wendy joined her. Wendy was supposed to be working, but she took the day off. It must have been important to her. I suggested that this was one more thing they could check off their bucket list.

Sisters Wendy and Kathy on board for Lock 44, the Marine Railway.

It was so good to have Mom, Wendy and Kathy on board for the marine railway, and part, if only such a small part of our last day of "finishing the loop."

We were tied to the Midland Town Dock by about 4:00 pm. Made some phone calls to invite friends to the boat to celebrate with champagne. We had a great evening catching up with friends and family.

Brian and Carolyn Handy, Cheers.

Mom and Debbie Laramey. And then I forgot to keep taking pictures. It was so good to see everyone again. Craig, Heather and Jacob also came to join us, but no pictures.

Technically Finished Loop in Bobcaygeon !!!! Hurray.

Mom joined us on Tuesday Sept 4th in Peterborough. She arrived in the middle of a rain storm. Peter went to get her at the bus station and brought her to the boat on the local transit bus. She looked like a bit of an exhausted, drowned rat as she boarded the boat. Think she was happy to arrive at her destination. The first thing she said was that "it's easier to get onto than the sailboat"

Steve and Linda joined us for dinner and a game of TriOminoes.

Mom's first night onboard. 

Leaving Peterborough Harbour

After a breakfast out we set out for Young's Point. We had fun with Mom aboard. She sees a lot of different things than we do. We had one lift lock at Peterborough, and 6 locks to travel before Young's Point. By the 3 lock Mom was helping to land the boat and hold the lines. There is no free ride on this boat!

Relaxing on the back deck.

Steve made dinner and brought it to our boat. Mom said it was "take out".

Claiming salvage rights.

We had breakfast on the boat and were off for a long travel day to Bobcaygeon. Only 35 miles, but when you stop for lunch, and then stop at Lovesick for some fishing it takes much longer to travel 35 miles.

I almost forgot to mention that we had to give a helping tow to "Guppy" Steve and Linda's boat. While they waited for us to get thru a lock, Steve was doing some drift fishing. When they tried to start the boat again; it would not start. In the most kind and loving way we offered to give them a tow. Glad I took this picture very quickly, because within about 15 minutes they had it fixed and wanted to be untied. We arrived at Bobcaygeon about 5:30 pm. Once we had the lines tied, Peter looked at me and said "Kiss me baby, we just finished the Loop."

The reason I said technically we finished the loop, is because we were in Bobcaygeon last summer with the 21' powerboat. So, by arriving at Bobcaygeon again ..... we have technically finished The Loop. And it only took 3 boats to do it. Surona (the sailboat), Deja Vu (the trawler) and Frankly Scarlet, (21' Sunray).

And Peter poured.

We celebrated with Champaigne and crackers and crab dip (provided by Steve) on the back deck. It seemed so appropriate that we would share it with Steve and Linda and Mom. We have probably travelled half of the Loop with Steve and Linda. They have been so much fun and helped us a great deal. Really good to share this experience with them. We also called Jim and Linda Murray to tell them of our celebration and they too were excited and liked being able to share our excitement. We then had dinner aboard Deja Vu a Shrimp Scampi Alfredo.

Celebrating "crossing our wake", Finishing The Loop. Only took 3 boats and a lot of great friends, who helped at every turn, and even offered help before we knew we needed it. Thanks All.
Pictured: L to R: Peter, Cheryl, Mom, Linda and Steve Franko.

Officially, we will cross our wake in Midland Harbour. And that will probably be Sunday afternoon.

We are making plans with sister Kathy and Wendy to join us at the Big Chute to go over the marine railway with us. This will be a bit of a task as we have over 70+ miles to go to do this. If we make a big day tomorrow and can get across Lake Simcoe; we should be able to meet them Sunday. Now that would be special.

Lock 13 to 19, Campbellford, Hastings & Peterborough, Sept 3, 4, 5th. 2012

I have been negligent in my blogging.

Peter in basement with "the ladies".

We had a very leisurely start to the day in Cambellford. I don't think we got away till about 11 am. The Perkins Ladies in the basement wanted some more attention. Peter had an epiphany. He decided to route some of the fuel lines through the pump on the fuel polisher so it would pump up the system in the hopes of eliminating the air problem that makes it so the system has to bled.  I hope I have this right. Not being a mechanical person, it makes it difficult to translate all of the mechanical mumbo jumbo into laymans terms.

The more important point is that it does seem to be working.  At least for 2 days now. If that is what it takes he will be very happy not to have to bleed the system every 3 days or so.

Double Lock.

Lock 13 to 18 took us to Hastings at the beginning of Rice Lake. Lock 16 and 17 are a double lock. It is just what it says. Two locks together. You go in and they raise you up 20' or so. Then they open the doors, and you move the boat into the attached lock, and they raise you another 20' or so.  I think it was the previous day where we went through one normal lock, and then in a very short distance (not even 1/3rd of a mile we had a double lock)

Hastings, boats we had met at Campbellford, on Lock wall for the night. They would travel with us, and lock thru at Peterborough.

Hastings. "What would you rather be doing?"

We talked to Steve and Linda and they were at Lakefield. We had told them we would probably make it to Peterborough the next day. They decided to come and join us in Peterborough as they will be leaving on Friday to return to their other boat that is on the Neuse River, SC.

Another Gulfstar. They are everywhere. This is 36'

Life is good for Peter once again. We got up in the morning and went to Tim Horton's for breakfast, and then to Canadian Tire right next door. Does it get any better than this????

We get to travel 40 miles today. Rice Lake and the Otonabee River. Only one Lock - 19, and then we will be at the Peterborough Marina.  Once into the River, we noticed a number of boats following us. This group are boating together. We met them first in Campbellford and then again in Hastings. There were about 6 boats approaching the lock. The locks are smaller now. We went in first,  another 4 boats were able to get in, but then the lock was full. The locks fill from the front now.  It seems to be easier to control the boat in the lock.

We had called ahead and made arrangements with the marina. Steve and Linda are already there waiting to catch our lines. The dockmaster wants us be stern in. Oh boy! We have only back into our slip one other time and that was Tangier Island. At Tangier once you got the back of the boat between the first two posts, you just backed straight and the remaining posts guided and held the boat.

Peter was up for the challenge. I moved the dinghy to alongside the front of the boat. And then it was his job. And of course, you always have an audience at a marina. Remember it was the holiday weekend, Monday afternoon when everyone is returning. He did a great job. He went in, swung the boat around, and backed into the slip like he had been doing it all the time. I was so proud of him. There is a lot to be said for no tides, no currents, and little wind. Have I mentioned how nice it is not to have to be checking, winds, tides and currents all of the time.

We had dinner with Steve and Linda on our boat. I had set the crockpot up in the morning and dinner had been cooking while we travelled. It was so good to be with them again and get caught up on their summer on the Trent and Georgian Bay. We got a tour of their new boat "Guppy". It will be their Canadian boat. They love it here for the summer, and then they will return to their boat and go back to Marathon Key for the winter, after some time on Chesapeake Bay.

Linda has reminded us several times that they had one lift lock and 6 locks to go thru to get to Peterborough to have the extra time together.  Now that is the measure of friendship. This gives us a couple extra days together before they leave on Friday. We always have such a good time together.

Mom is coming to join us on Tuesday.

Fountain in Peterborough Harbour. At night it is lighted.  A great centerpiece for Peterborough.

We woke to an overcast sky. It was to be a rain day. Got up in the morning, did a load of laundry, went for breakfast with Steve and Linda, and then off to the grocery store. Rain days are good for these things. Peter got a bus pass for the day, and it would cover 2 people. He went to the bus station to bring Mom back to the boat. Shortly after he left, the rain started in earnest. By the time they got to the boat, they looked like drowned rats. Now I am sorry that I didn't get a picture.

Mom was introduced to Steve and Linda and we all spent sometime together. Steve made his now famous salmon with dill sauce, along with a kale salad that is wonderful, and he prepared a wild rice dish. What a terrific meal. They brought everything over to our boat to eat together. Mom commented that this must be "take out" dinner.

We ended our first evening with Mom onboard with a game of TriOminos. Steve and Linda didn't like that each person had to keep their own score, so we abandoned the counting and just played the game. By 9 pm everyone was ready for bed. Mom, because she had been up since 6 am, and the rest of us because that is what boaters do. "Early to bed, Early to rise." We rise with the sun, and go to sleep shortly after sunset.

Breakfast out tomorrow. The locks go to fall hours now. They operate from 9 am to 4 pm. No rush to get started. Looking forward to sharing our boating life with Mom.

Trenton to Campbellford, Lock 1 to 12, Sept 1st.2012

At Trenton we ordered a computer chip for the Garmin GPS system. As it was purchased in the US it covered all of the US, but nothing for Canada. We tried a few West Marine stores locally, and ended up calling Midland, and they not only had one in stock, they agreed to ship it Fed Ex Express (overnight) to Trenton and get this "no charge" for the shipping. So we had a layover day in Trenton.

Snowy Owl, Horned Owl and Peter outside the Trenton Museum

We have started a bird contest. Or I should say Peter started the contest between Steve and Linda, Jim and Linda and ourselves. The object of the contest is to get the most bird pictures, close enough to recognize the bird, and also have the name of the bird. The boat with the most pictures over the next year wins. The prize is an all you can eat dinner at the Burger King of your choice. Linda Murray has already posted 6 pictures on her blog. Peter was feeling as if he was losing at his own game.

Our Loon June, and Peter

We went to the local museum in Trenton. They had a lot of stuffed birds. He asked if we could get them down from the shelf and take pictures of them. The museum was under renovation and they were quite excited to help us with our contest. We came back the next morning and started taking pictures. He asked them if he could buy one of the birds from them. As luck would have it, the museum had just thrown out 2 birds and Shawn agreed to give them to us. They now decorate the front of our boat. Now top this SymetryII and Yesterday's Dream.

Shawn from the Museum. Our accomplice.

We got 19 bird pics from the museum, and I already had 36 pictures of birds from a slide show in the Tangiers Island Museum. We now have 55 pictures PLUS 2 birds on the boat.



Peter had warned everyone, that there could be some cheating involved as he made the rules of the game.

Well the GPS chip came in the following morning about Noon and we were able to get away shortly after. We entered the Trent Severn Waterway and started the last leg of our trip. Lock 1 thru 6 came in very rapid succession, 7 miles. That put us as Frankford Lock and it is one of only 2 locks that have hydro hook up. A wonderful place to spend the night. We were very lucky. We were the last boat to get onto the wall. They were full.

The last leg of our adventure. 240 miles to Port Severn. 45 Locks. Only 33 more locks to go. 

We had a very leisurely start to today's travels. I don't think we left till after 11 am. The ladies in the basement wanted some Peter attention. We are still chasing air around.

Today we ran thru Locks 7 to 12. 11 and 12 was a double lock. A first for us. The total lift was 48 feet. You come in on the first lock that lifts you over 20 feet. Then the doors open and you move immediately into the second lock that takes you up the remainder.

The entire day was a very leisurely pace. The water was unruffled, little to no wind, air temperature perfect. We were in no hurry so we had a very relaxed ride from Lock 7 to 12. We arrived at about 5:30 pm How wonderful to be able to get up with no real time table.

We will spend the night tied to Campbellford town dock. We went out for a dinner of Ribs. Very good.

Steve and Linda Franko emailed that they are at Lakefield. We will join up with them and have some time together. We haven't seen them since Edisto Island SC.

And everyone thought they threw away the mold when they made him. There is another Peter Webb in Trenton.

We are making arrangements to have Mom join us for the remainder of the trip home. We hope to meet her at Peterborough.