From Fenelon Falls on the Trent-Severn, Ontario, Canada.

Recap of the week.

We spent 2 days & 2 nights earlier this week at a lock dock in Hastings, ON (Sunday and Monday). Winds were stiff on Monday (25 MPH with gusts to 40 MPH) so Annick did not want to go. We had a great breakfast at a little family restaurant and a …boring rest of the stay.

Tuesday was a 10 hour-day as we made our way to Lakefield (Lock 26) for an overnight: nice and pleasant park- like setting. On the way, we took the famous 65 feet LIFT lock at Peterborough: an engineering marvel to look at (see pictures), except that we were not impressed by the ever-changing locking procedure. There are 2 side-by-side chambers. When one is at the top, the other one is at the bottom. One chamber moves up while the other one goes down (driven by pistons). We were directed to wait for the right chamber, so we positioned Sirocco just to do this. At the very last moment, a young summer student shouts (couldn’t they use a P.A. system???) to tell us to go to the left chamber, already occupied by a large tour boat. Of course, we were ready for a starboard locking, and now we have to do a port locking, and there does not look to be a lot of space for Sirocco to squeeze in. Michael The Wonderful exhibited great skills to bring her in the chamber, and stopped her just as there were a few inches between us and the tour boat (see pictures). We could not move any further, but we were in the chamber. So off we went…up and up and up: Impressive.  As we went up, the Kawartha Voyageur (overnight regional cruise boat we have come to know on the Rideau) was coming down. We were happy to find a very peaceful dock at the lock in Lakefield for a good night rest.

Went from Lakefield to Buckhorn (Lock 31) on Wednesday. Very windy day again. Scenery becoming increasingly picturesque, with rose granite rocks and islands. Very, very beautiful.

Yesterday, Thursday we drove to Fenelon Falls (Lock 34).Very few locks to go through, and long lakes much like the Finger Lakes in NY State.  An easy ride that day, as the winds had finally subsided. We are staying 2 overnights here (max allowed stay), enjoying the A/C as it has become rather hot, and the lock docks are getting very full for the long holiday weekend (Canada Day is Sunday July 1 – Monday is a Holiday here, and many weekend boaters are out). Not sure where we’ll find a dock on Saturday and Sunday evenings…

Our impression so far of the Trent-Severn: it is a very long waterway; it takes a long time to drive through because of the many, many locks; many of the locks are deep, and takes time to fill/empty; the lock staff is as helpful and friendly as on The Rideau; many of the locks are in little towns where basic conveniences are available (Michael got a haircut as I am writing this, and he even found an optometrist to repair his sunglasses). The scenery becomes interesting and very picturesque at times after Peterborough. Too bad one has to go through so many locks and common looking winding rivers to get here…    

Now for the excitement of the week: You knew there was going to be one, didn’t you?

After we arrived in the Fenelon Falls lock yesterday afternoon we shut down the engines in the lock as normal.  After locking up, neither engine would start.  So what do you do when you are in a lock, and you are expected to get out swiftly so that the incoming boat traffic already lined up can get in the chamber, and you have no power? You call for help to walk Sirocco along and out of the lock, to the nearby dock. I am certain the passers-by watching boats lock in and out had an amusing spectacle: the big ass boat which had to be pulled by humans alongside the dock like mules used to do in the old days on the barge canal…

Michael decided to let the engine room cool down (must have been 130^oF down there) before investigating what the issue might be. We decided to take a walk and go see Kawartha Voyageur which had just arrived and docked further up. As Michael chatted up with John, the Kawartha’s captain, he told John that we could not restart the engines after the lock. John immediately got on his radio, hailed his mechanic Brian, and asked him to come down to Sirocco and see what was going on. Now that’s when it helps to hang around the BIG GUYS! Brian, in his spotless and perfectly pressed white shirt with epaulettes, looking very nautically official, went in the bilge with Captain Wonderful. By then, the temperature was almost bearable.  Annick was sent up to the bridge to try and start the engines. They both started without a glitch as usual…Brian did not even have to use a wrench or a meter. We now understand that we should be running the bilge blowers when the weather gets hot (it was 95^oF yesterday), otherwise we may experience a vapor-lock when attempting to restart the engines. We never had this problem in hot and humid North Carolina nor even along the Chesapeake Bay last summer, because we never needed to restart the engines after shutting them off like we do in locks. Live and learn Diesel 101!

So all is well now. Until next time. Happy Canada Day and Fourth of July to all our Canadian and American friends. We’ll celebrate both!

Check the added albums and pictures on Picasa.

Click on the location at the very bottom of the page to see where we are.

Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco

From Campbellford on the Trent-Severn, Ontario, Canada

Proceeded to leave our beloved Rideau Canal last Monday. It took 3 days instead of 2 to reach Kingston as we stayed put at one lock on Tuesday due to 30 knot winds. Taking locks with that high a wind is not fun, especially with just the 2 of us on Sirocco.

Arrived in Kingston at noon on Wednesday, so we had the entire afternoon to do some shopping, including getting an "internet stick" from one of the Canadian wireless provider (Telus). Had a wonderful early dinner at Le Chien Noir, a bistro-style restaurant in the heart of Kingston. Their Poutine is out of this world - made with melted brie, duck confit and a reduced brown sauce (not gravy please) over French Fries...to die for, and we may, as this is not dietary and loaded with bad fat, but OH soooo good!

Left Thursday morning and travelled the 65 miles through the Bay of Quinte to reach Trenton late afternoon. Trenton is at the southern end of the Trent-Severn Waterway. It was very windy that afternoon. As we approached the municipal marina to prepare for docking, the port engine quit, never to start again. Captain Wonderful landed perfectly on the long dock despite the wind, aided by one good dock hand. After gathering our thoughts and setting up for the 2 nights planned there, we realized what had happened. And it is embarrassing for Annick, the assigned fuel manager on-board, and Michael, the Captain who is supposed to check everything.

Sirocco is equipped with 3 fuel tanks: one main and a port and starboard one (wing tanks). Wing tanks are smaller and typically reserved for the generator and for emergency. Late last season, since we had not used the wing tanks (our generator was busted), "we" (the Captain) switched the engines to the wing tanks to use up some of this fuel and not let it sit too long. Well, when we drove Sirocco off the dock this season, Annick forgot to carry over this vital information and all fuel calculations were done assuming the engines were on the main tank...so we simply had ran out of diesel on the Port tank  and the Starboard tank was not far behind. We got VERY lucky that this happened just at the marina as we were docking. It could have been much worse, caught in a windy situation with both engines down until we figured out the fuel supply issue. But all is well that ended well. Although the port engine diesel line was air-locked and we had to call upon a diesel mechanic to show Michael how to remedy this situation. A good learning experience: never trust the First Mate and ensure the Captain is checking all critical information! We did have a good laugh after the overall embarrassment.

Trenton is a little town with not much going on, except that it is at the beginning of the Trent-Severn and it has an outstanding grocery store with quality products that easily rival the Harris Teeters or Wegmans of the USAs. Their fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and cold cuts are just outsdanding in flavor and ripeness. Can't find this is the USAs for sure. We loaded up! We generally find that fruits and vegetables are more flavorful in Canada, likely because they are locally grown and people demand this quality. Forget about the look; it is the taste that matters! 

The municipal marina is located right in the middle of the town, so easy walking distance to everything. We had great Italian food on Friday evening at Tomasso's and got the boat ready for departure the next morning: all fueled and watered up, pumped out, etc... At around 3:30AM, as we are sound asleep, we are both awakened by voices and stumping noises. Annick thought there were guys on the dock horsing around, but Michael, with all his hearing deficiencies, knew right away someone was ON THE BOAT! He jumped out of bed to find 2 young men on our aft deck peering through our glass door to the salon. He yelled at them to get off the F....ing boat or he'll call the cops. They jumped out through the aft deck canvas (which we had left open because of the heat), hopped into a parked car and took off. We went back to bed but sleep was difficult to find after this troublesome event. We reported the incident the next morning to the marina's manager, who filed a police report. Unbeknown to us, the city of Trenton monitors the transient docks with a video camera and the hope is the police will be able to get a license plate to find these guys. They certainly were up to no good and we got relatively lucky.

Left Saturday morning and went through the first 12 locks to arrive at Campbellford (31 miles covered of 250 to Georgian Bay...not there yet, and 36 more locks to go). The locks are much deeper than on the Rideau, but otherwise pretty much the same procedure. So far the lock attendants have been helpful and friendly. The scenery, as advertised in this section of the waterway, is not as picturesque as The Rideau. The picturesque is to come later.

All is well. We are enjoying discovering new territories. I have added a few new albums and pictures.
So long, until next time on the internet.

Annick & Michael aboard Sirocco.

P.S.: You can view our location on Google map by clicking on the link (green) at the very bottom of the blog. Zoom out to get the perspective of our travel.

It’s a boat@#$&%**!

From Westport, Ontario, Canada.  Still on the Rideau system.

Since last writing, “WE” (a.k.a. Michael) have had to wrestle with minor and more serious boat issues. Michael was able to finally and totally repair our fresh water leak last Wednesday. He had onboard in his magic supply of parts the length and size of tubing required, YEH! We found the connectors at a nearby marina.  It is such a luxury to have (almost) plenty of water for showers and dishes. A treat for me!

We also identified the cause of a “ticking” noise in the port-side rudder area. We noticed this noise but had no vibration on the rudder shaft as we were crossing Lake Ontario earlier. Some vibration at low RPM on The Rideau from the propellers too. Lots of weeds we thought, and proceeded to clean these up. But the rudder noise was still present. We happened to know one of the lockmaster here who is also a diver. So Michael asked him if he would dive under our boat and check. Ian came prepared with his scuba gear and underwater video camera system. The camera picture can be viewed from up on deck while he is transmitting during the dive.  A real neat tool! Ian was under for no more than a few seconds when he pops back out and says:  “I think I found your problem. There is a huge rag wrapped around your prop. Give me a big knife.” After shredding the culprit, we saw that it was a LARGE plastic tarp with metal grommets and a line still threaded through…therefore the ticking noise. Ian checked for other issues, and found everything in great condition, except for a missing zinc (anode) on a shaft. One more repair crossed off THE list, YEH! And we did not have to spend hundreds of dollars either, YEH! YEH!

As soon as these 2 issues and repairs were addressed, Michael The Wonderful  tackled the electrical issue we have had this year. I have not mentioned this yet, because it was not clear as to what was happening.  We have been experiencing a drain on our inverter system batteries, to the point where only about 20% of the system’s capacity was available before it demanded to be charged again due to low voltage at the batteries. This meant either running the generator a lot, or plugging-in to shore power at a dock. Forget about anchoring for extended period of time, defeating the purpose of the inverter system (for our no- boater friends, the inverter allows us to run all our AC type of appliances on battery DC power, such as coffee machine, micro-wave, lights, and our3  refrigerators/freezers). Yes, we like our comfort and this is why we have the kind of boat we do. At any rate, after hours of trouble-shooting for a potential short or damaged batteries during the winter lay-up, it appears that we do have a short draining our batteries. But the short may not be with the inverter system at all (a RELIEF!), but rather with a faulty shore power connector.  Repairing either the inverter itself or having to replace one or more of the inverter batteries may have forced us to scratch our plan to travel through the Georgian Bay and the North Channel, a real bummer. Now the problem may not be as critical to repair since we have another shore power plug we can use until the faulty one is repaired. Michael will hopefully finalize his evaluation and conclusions in a few days. Right now, the inverter and batteries seem to be behaving as expected as we are plugged in at a dock using a “good” shore power plug.

And now for more drama…you did not think this was it, did you? We are spending the weekend at a boaters Rendezvous in Westport, a quaint harbor town on the Rideau. Our friends Dale and Wendy are here on their boat, as well as a few other acquaintances we have made over the past years boating these waters. We just happened to have 8 people over on the aft deck early yesterday afternoon (Friday) kicking off the weekend. The weather has not been the greatest, but who cares, right? Increasingly ominous clouds are making their appearance, teasing us with the threat of a thunderstorm. A few rain drops hit the waters, nothing unusual. All of sudden, 40 to 50 mph squall winds hits us broadside and we all yelled: ”the stern is loose” as we see the back of Sirocco moving AWAY from the dock at a rapid pace!  

The stern cleat had been ripped off the dock; fortunately, we had just enough other lines holding Sirocco that allowed for just enough time for the men onboard to jump on the dock to grab any line they could and yell for additional help. More men nearby came and in the end it took 7 guys and a few more quickly added lines to get Sirocco stabilized. Wendy went up front on the bow to fend off our anchor from our neighbors’ canvas…, all this during a North Carolina type downpour and a fierce squall. Everyone (except Annick…busy finding, tying and handing out additional lines) was drenched to the bones. What an experience this was! The real cause turned out to be a poorly installed cleat. It had been mounted with 2 inch screws instead of being properly bolted through the dock!

So the squall hit and went fast, our guests and rescuers left, and Annick gets set to do dishes. NO WATER PRESSURE! NO WATER PERIOD. What’s the heck??? Water pump is running like mad of course.  Water leak was fixed, right? Michael and I crawled down in the bilge, and immediately heard a not-to-be-mistaken huge water leak noise. Mister Wonderful skillfully diagnosed this leak as a NEW one, on the cold water side etc…found the right tubing at the little hardware store up the harbor, came back running with excitement at having found the right part, and fixed it. DONE!

Recap of Friday afternoon at quaint little Westport:  survived another fierce Rideau-type squall while ripping the municipal dock apart, and a drowning of a water leak. And boating is meant to be relaxing?  

Check the added pictures on Picasa.

Until next time,

Annick & Michael Smart aboard Sirocco

At The Narrows on Big Rideau Lake, Ontario, CA

We have been at a dock since last Friday. That day, the weather turned and it has been raining, much cooler, and windy since...rather miserable for a solid 4 days now. We are staying put and hope the wind will subside by tomorrow so we can drive Sirocco on the lake (no lock to take) to Portland where we can fill up with water. Good books, some knitting (Annick), paper work and bill paying (Michael), cooking (both), and boat repairs (both...oops I mean Michael) are all keeping us amused; or at least occupied.

And water we need! Because we have had a fresh water leak for quite a while. It was gradually getting worse, to the point where we were losing as much water as we actually were using. Not pleasant when you save every drop during showers, only to feed the bilge fresh water all along...may be I should have bathed in the bilge??? At any rate, after many investigative attempts on Michael's part, our friend Dale located the source of the leak on Saturday. As you would have it, not an easy access. I wish I could announce that it is all repaired, but alas, repairs so far have mitigated about 75% of the leak, but there is still a leak. So Michael will be working on this once again later today and tomorrow.

In return, Michael was able to get Dale's satellite TV system back up and running again. So our team has a good plumber and a good electronics repair man. Let's see what can fail next and whether we have the tools and skills to fix it...
   
So long, and until next time,
Annick and Michael Smart aboard Sirocco.