#### Happens!

7/18  Starport Marina in Port Severn  and a Big Mess Happens!

      When traveling on a boat, you have to get what is called a pump out, which  is emptying the holding tank (toilet waste!)  This is done at the marinas, where they connect a "hose" into the top of the holding tank on  the side of the boat.  The fitting of the hose has to be applied just right so the suction can take place.  A young deck hand was eager to help us, so she found the right fitting, but unfortunately did not apply enough pressure to hold it in place.  All of the sudden the hose jumped out of the fitting and an explosion took place!  The waste flew out all over her and the boat!  It was a very stinky  mess!  Of course we were mortified and the traumatized teenager asked her boss if she could quickly jump in  the water!  After cleaning everything and everybody up, we all had a good laugh!  I don't think she will let that happen ever again!  I did  not pause to take pictures,  though!

Georgian Bay-One of the most pristine cruising areas of North America!

More Pictures!

Prop planes fly in to Henry's for lunch

Lunch stop at Henry's for fish and chips! Pickerel fish is very popular to eat

Sunset

Hopewell Bay Anchorage

Another sunset

This home has a gorgeous view!

      More pictures of this gorgeous area and the many anchorages we have been to so far.  We have enjoyed being totally unplugged, we are fishing, paddle boarding, cooking on the boat, reading, taking the dingy out to explore the many coves and planning where to venture next.  Salty loves to hop on the paddle boards with us and likes to jump back and forth from my board to Karl's.   She loves dingy rides, too.  When we wake up in the morning, we hear the Loon birds singing their eerie sound.

There are so many Dragonflies

Our Dingy

Georgian Bay, Ontario

7/19-7/26      Thirty Thousand Islands

We bought charts

Our first anchorage

We found a small island to take Salty to do her business!

     We traveled to Midland, Ontario and stayed at Bay Port Marina with several other Loopers.  The manager, Ken, gave us a great chart briefing on what to expect and where to go in the Georgian Bay.  There are hundreds of beautiful anchorages to choose from and a few marinas along the way.  We bought paper charts for this area.  We depend so much on on our electronic charts, but the internet is sketchy and it is hard to download the necessary charts at times.  I am so proud of Karl. There are many different choices of routes, but he always comes up with a great plan and we have gone to so many beautiful areas.  There are at least thirty thousand granite islands in this area.  There are many exposed rocks, so navigation can be challenging.  You have to follow the channel markers and the  planned routes very carefully.  The islands are very remote, but surprisingly have many houses and cabins on them.  Many houses are on their own private islands.  All are only accessible by boat.

Boats will often raft up!

Granite islands and tall pine trees seem to grow right out of the rocks!

Peaceful

Small Mouth Bass

Sunset

The Big Chute

Kirkfield Lift Lock

View from the top of Kirkfield Lift Lock

Narrow Passage on the Trent Canal

July 17-19   Finishing the Trent Severn Waterway

     We traveled for several days through locks 37-45 to finish the Trent Severn at the town of Port Severn.  We experienced a thrilling ride on the Kirkfield Lift Lock where we started 5 stories high and descended down to the other side.  We are going downriver now!  We were traveling with two other looper boats, owned by Laurie and Peter and Laurie and Kevin.  We stayed with them for several days, enjoying their friendship along the way.

     Lock 44 is by far the most  interesting and challenging lock we encountered.  It is called the Big Chute Marine Railway and it is a one-of-a kind lock in North America.  It actually lifts the boat out of the water and over the hill on a railway track system and sets you down on the other side, a change of height of 60 feet.  The boat floats onto the wooden track and then is supported by straps onto a cradle.  Karl and I were pretty nervous at first, but everything went smoothly.  We were taking pictures the whole time.  Some fellow loopers took some great pictures from the ground, where they were waiting to be next on the Chute!  It was an amazing ride!

   

Endorphin Voyager Entering the Big Chute

Strapped into the cradle

The boat is totally out of the water

Good view of the props!  

   

View from the top of the chute and down we go!

Lock Towns

Bobcaygeon is a charming town

7/13-7/15
      The scenery is beautiful along the Trent Severn.  We traveled through Bobcaygeon and Fenelon Falls.  These are small communities built around the locks.  It seems that on a pretty Sunday afternoon, the local excitement is to buy an ice cream cone and go to the locks to watch the boats go through!  This is an area where lots of families rent houseboats and some of the drivers are not very experienced, so I suppose it could be a challenge for them, making it more fun for the observers to watch!  It is all about the lakes and canals in these rural areas.  On Sunday, we ate at a pub and watched the last hour of the Men's Wimbleton finals.  It was so much fun to see the big upset..Novak Djokovic defeated Roger Federer in the 5th set tiebreaker!

View in a typical lock

Endorphin Voyager waiting on a "blue line" to go through the lock.  The locks are very orderly.  You don't have to call ahead on the radio, the lockmasters can see you.  If you are lined up on the blue line side of the lock, you will be granted passage through in a single file.  You can also tie up on the other side of the lock if you just want to hang out for a while.  

A nice cabin tucked away on the lake

We usually find a great path to exercise on!

      The towns have gorgeous displays of flowers decorating the streets and their yards.  I am guessing, but maybe because their winters are harsh, people especially welcome the pleasant summers and the flowers  seem to survive so well in the warm summer environment.  As usual, we found some very nice trails to walk and run.

These stores are all over Canada.  When you enter, you notice how cold it is!  Almost the whole place is one big refrigerator!  After you order, the beer comes out on a conveyor belt!

What would Canada be without Canadian Geese!  Sometimes we see beautiful white swans, too!

A Ride up on the Peterborough Liftlock

Preparing to get a lift up!

Peterborough Lift Lock

7/12   Friday
      We went through 7 locks today, only traveling 10 miles and  it took us 6 hours!  We went through the  world's  highest lift lock.  It is an engineering marvel that was completed in 1904.  There are two chambers side by side, with one in the up position  and one in the down position, each weighing 1300 tons. Imagine 2 giant bathtubs!  We entered into the lower chamber and tied up to the wall.   There were three other boats in the chamber with us.   Then an additional foot of water is added to the upper chamber making it heavier by 130 tons.  Then a valve is opened, and the heavier upper chamber descends forcing the lower chamber up 65 feet!  We were all pretty  astounded to suddenly be lifted up 65 feet.  The gates opened and we were on the other side!  Everyone was taking pictures.

View from the top!

     We pulled into a small marina around 4:30 in a little town called Lakeview.  It has a great, well stocked Market where we resupplied.  Our "lock buddies" came over for a drink and we talked about the day and our plans for the next few days.  It was a lot of fun.

Locks, Bridges and More Locks!

The Canadian Loonie

7/8
     We traveled from our anchoring spot to Campbellford, Ontario, passing through 5 locks, the last one was a double flight!  This means that when you enter the first lock you are looking at the doors to the second lock.  It was an impressive site! Imagine a 5 story building!  Our boat went up 24 feet in the first chamber and then we entered immediately into the second chamber, rising another 24 feet!
       We ate lunch at a charming restaurant and enjoyed our first Canadian beer called Steam Whistle!  Even I liked it!  We stayed on the west wall of the Town dock.  This little town is known for a bakery called Dooher's Bakery.  It claims to be the "sweetest bakery in Canada."  By the time we got there, they were sold out of their famous doughnuts, so we took home a much healthier choice, bread, which was very good.

7/9
     We traveled to Hastings, Ontario, going through 6 locks.   It took all day to go about 15 miles!  The locks are part of the Canada Parks system and it is evident that they take pride in them.  They are nicely landscaped and equipped as parks, with shady trees, grassy areas and picnic tables.  Visitors come to watch the boats "lock through" and it is great entertainment for them!  Apparently it is a spectator event!  We struck up a lot of interesting conversations with the lock masters and people who came to watch us go through.  It was fun, but tiring.  Sometimes you have to really pull hard on your lines to keep the boat against the wall and out of harms way to any of the other boats.


7/10 -7/11
     We traveled about 35 miles to Peterborough, Ontario on a long stretch through a lake and the Severn River.  We passed by lots of pretty summer homes along the waterway.  There were many people out on kayaks and in small fishing boats, enjoying the warm, sunny weather. Lots of kids were swimming.  While we were traveling in the open lake, Karl noticed that the port engine was not getting up to speed, not engaging the turbo engine,  We stopped so that he could dive under to look at the props, which seemed to be all ok.  We had no choice but to keep going slow, about 6 miles per hour.   We love going slow, but the engines need to go fast for a few minutes every 4 hours, to burn off the carbon.  We were anxious, thinking that something may be really wrong, but after another few hours, we opened it up to full throttle and the turbo engaged.  Relief...hopefully won't happen again, but we will be watching it!

     Peterborough is a big town, about 80,000 people.  The marina is very nice and we met up with a lot of loopers for docktails.   There was a country band playing in the evening by our marina, which is situated in a park.  We rented a car and ran errands today, finding a Walmart so we could replace our coffee maker which broke this morning!  We are used to having coffee every morning on the boat!

     The internet is sketchy and I suspect it will be from now until the end of the North Channel.  Tomorrow or the next day, we will be going through the Peterborough Lift lock which is the most famous of the Trent locks.  It is the highest hydraulic lift lock in the world, 65 feet high!  Karl ran to it this morning to take a look at it and talk to the dock master.  It should be a site to see and fun to go through!

 
 
   

Double Lock

Cruising the Trent Severn Waterway in Ontario, Canada

How a lock works

July 7  Sunday

     We started the Trent Severn Waterway this morning!  This waterway was completed in 1920, after ninety years of building it, to connect the lakes and rivers and to generate hydroelectric power.  We start at 243 feet above sea level and lock up to 840 feet at Balsam Lake.  Then we will begin a series of locks to decline to 576 feet above sea level at Port Severn.  Then we will enter the beautiful Georgian Bay and North Channel.  That is the plan!  There are 44 locks!  Each lock is beautifully landscaped with blooming tress and flowers.  I think they compete with each other, to generate many compliments!  These locks are at least 75 years old, and for the most part are still manually operated.  The locks still have wooden doors and the lock masters hand operates the valves that allow the water to fill the lock chamber or to drain it.  Then they push a crank handle, walking around in a circle to open or close the gates.  It is amazing to watch and be a part of it.

     Locking through a lock takes time and patience.  Today we went through 7 locks, many were just a few miles apart.  We started at 8:30 and did not arrive to our anchoring spot until 3:30!  This was a total of only about 22 miles!  When the boat enters the lock at a very slow speed, I am at the bow and will grab the steel line (coated with rubber) and wrap a line around it.  Karl then cuts the engines and runs down and catches the cable on the stern and wraps a line around it.  Then we wait for other boats to go through the same process.  Usually the locks can only hold 2 to 4 boats at a time.  Sometimes we were the only boat to go through!  It gets kind of quiet, dark and cool, because we are about 25 feet down, surrounded by concrete walls.  The sounds of the water trickling down the walls are soothing.  Karl and I communicate with our headsets (aka "marriage savers!")   We float up and all of the sudden we pop up to the surface!  I kind of think it is like a gopher popping out of his hole! There is sunshine all around us!  Then we talk to the young people who are operating the locks.  They are very knowledgeable and friendly.  They call ahead to the next lock to let them know we are coming.

Lock Master pushing the crank to open the lock. 

     We watched the USA Women Soccer team win the World Cup on TV.  We spent the night anchored out at Blue Hole, where Karl tried his hand at fishing in these Canadian waters!  No luck, but we enjoyed a peaceful, quiet evening.  The stars were bright and beautiful.

Pretty homes along the waterway

   
   

Ontario, Canada and going through customs the easy way!

July 5
    We crossed Lake Ontario for 85 miles.   Seas were less than one foot and it was a beautiful, warm, sunny day.  The crossing was uneventful.  We arrived safely at Trent Port Marina in Trenton, Ontario.  We checked into Canada via phone, which was so convenient!  This marina is really nice, new and clean.  The harbor host, Erik and Karen were very helpful.  They lent us their truck so we could run some errands and take a look at the first lock of the Trent Severn Waterway.  We bought our season pass to go through the waterway.  There is a grocery store nearby, within walking distance.  It was a great layover for a few days, to do laundry and grocery shopping.  As usual, Karl found a great running trail around the Lake.

Finally in Canada!

     We were walking back to our boat when we heard, "Hello Dr. Hempel!"   Karl turned around and recognized his patients, a couple from Tallahassee, Barbara and Jorge!  Wow, that was a shock!  They are traveling on their boat, going through a part of the same route as we are!  They had stored their boat nearby for the winter.  They have already done the Loop in 2015 and enjoyed this area so much, they decided to return!  We look forward to seeing and visiting with them along the way!

   

Catching Up

Anne and Joy gave us these T-shirts and 2 beautiful engraved wine glasses!

Our family surprised us with a special dinner to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary at St. George Island!

Evelyn at the beach!

Orion at the beach!

June 12 through June 30

     A lot has happened over these weeks!  We returned to Lexington, Ky. to visit family.  Karl's older brother, Hugo, was very ill and in the hospital with a recurrence of cancer.  My sister was recovering from an operation and I wanted to help.  We were able to visit both of them and also spend time with my Mother.  It was great for Karl to spend time with his brother.

     We flew back to Tallahassee for our annual family vacation at St. George Island.  It was a nice break from the boat, we actually got to spend a night at our home in Tallahassee!  It was wonderful to see our children, grandchildren and family!  Karl's brothers and sisters and their families come from Kentucky for a week at the beach.  We have gotten together every year for 41 years! This year, however, Hugo could not come because he was still in the re-hab hospital and we missed him very much. After a fun week at the beach, we returned to New York to resume our boat travels.  Our boat had been professionally cleaned, waxed and polished inside and out! That was a real treat.

      We traveled to Kingston, New York.  The next morning, Karl's brother passed away.  We took the boat to Shady Harbor Marina, close to Albany, New York and left it there to fly back to Lexington for the funeral.  We spent four days in Lexington.  It was a sad time, yet we were so thankful that we had gotten to see and talk to him just a few weeks earlier.

     June 30    Start of the Eastern part of the Erie Canal!
  

         We traveled to Waterford, New York on the Hudson River.  We went through Troy Lock, first lock of the Erie Canal.  After securing to the city dock for the evening, Karl was mentally and physically exhausted and was actually very sick for  several days, with fever, muscle aches and chills.  This is unusual for him, but I think it was a culmination of everything that had happened.  He recovered after about four days of feeling poorly.

      July 1-4   Erie Canal
            We enjoyed traveling eastbound on the Erie Canal.  It has a fascinating history.  It started as the New York Canal System in 1817 and was finished in 1825.  It connects the Hudson River with Lake Erie and the other Great Lakes.  It opened up this part of the country to shipping and the rest of the world.  The first day we went through 9 Locks, lifting us up for a total of 241 feet! I couldn't help myself from humming that song we all learned in grade school, "I've got a mule, and her name is Sal.  Fifteen years on the Erie Canal! From Albany to Buffalo, Fifteen years on the Erie Canal!"

Entering a lock in the Erie Canal

           We stayed the night along the way at several charming towns: Amsterdam, Little Falls and Sylvan Beach and went through 22 locks.  The locks are about 100 years old!  A marvel!  We enjoyed wonderful fire works at Sylvan Beach on July 3rd.  Not sure why they had the display a day early, but we felt lucky to have been there for the celebration.  Along one side of the canal is a running/biking trail, probably was part of the original trails on which the mules would pull the ships along the canal system! We found it a great place to walk and run in the mornings.  Along the other side of the canal is a train track, a very busy track with noisy trains running all through the day and night!

Salty loves going through the locks!  She is wearing her life jacket, that is one  of my gloves to handle the slimey ropes 

            The next day we crossed Oneida Lake, the largest body of water on the Erie Canal.  At mile 160, we met the junction of 3 rivers, the Oneida, Seneca and the Oswego.  We turned into the Oswego Canal and went through another 7 locks, ending up in Oswego, New York.  We ate out that night and tried to regroup, planning to cross Lake Ontario and into Canada the next day!