SIX LOCKS TO THE BEAUTY CONTEST

July 14, 2011  Dateline  Frankford, Ontario Canada

Yesterday was a rest day and today was an easy day.  I did only about 5 miles and six locks.  There were six boats that left Frazer Park this morning and we went out in groups of two.  Each group of two “filled” the lock so the timing prevents me and the other boats from having to wait while the lock cycled through.  These locks are different than those on the Eire Canal.  I have to stop my engines, and then when the lock doors are open they must be started again.  I suspect that is left over from gasoline engines where there is a fear of the lock filling with carbon monoxide.  The lock doors are operated manually.  Each lock has two people working at it.  They each have a “V” shaped handle and they walk around in a circle to open their side of the gate.

After I passed through the 6^th lock, Rich and Carol tied me up for the night.  Live Wire, from Hamilton, Ontario,  was tied up at the lock as well and had been for two days, her captain came over to help each boat as it passed through the lock.  I think that he was bored with nothing to do.  Live Wire, an old Mainship was built in New Jersey.

Rich and Carol told me that Frankford is a small town like so many on the Chesapeake.  There is a main street with a few shops two restaurants but not much else.  The spot I am at is spectacular, the sun is warm but the air is dry and not hot.  Tomorrow night there is going to be the Frankford Blues Festival across the canal form where I am, I will be long gone but I bet it will be fun.

There was a beauty contest at Lock #6. All of a sudden someone ran up with a sign and held it up over me.  Guess what I scored?  I wonder what I would have scored if I didn't have that fender hanging down.

A REST DAY

July 13, 2011  Dateline Trenton, Ontario Canada

Today was a rest day for me.  When I woke up this morning, the dockmaster, his wife and Carol pulled me off the wall and around a corner so I could get pumped out (my holding tank emptied) and take on my favorite food, diesel.  Rich got to stand at my controls with the engines running so it something went wrong he could fix it.  Once, I was fueled up was going to get pulled again to another location.  Suddenly the sky opened up and the wind blew.  They all ran for cover, there I sat getting rained on and blown around.

There is a bridge that crosses the Trent River announcing the start of the Trent Severn Canal.  The lighted sign on the bridge glows in the dark of night.  Tomorrow I start the Canal there will be six of the 45 locks completed by the end of the day.

Here is another picture of me at the marina.

After I was pulled out of the dock wall today a large boat named Coconuts was moved into the spot.  Coconuts has a beautiful wooden transom and dark blue hull.  After she was tied up and against the wall, one of her owners hit a control and she sprung into reverse.  The good news was she did not hit the wall behind her but her dock line did chip her blue hull and dented the wood transom. One one was hurt and money will fix her.

OF TIGHT SQUEEZES AND WEED

July 12, 2011  Dateline Trenton, Ontario Canada

There was no internet access last night or today so this post is a little larger than usual.  Make sure that you read the entire post as there was some interesting comments on Picton.  Rich got this picture of Picton before we left this morning

Today was an easy trip.  The CATs became Caterpillars as we crawled along behind Nauti Nell.  The trip from Picton to Trenton was nice behind the islands with Lake Ontario on the other side of them so the islands blocked the wind.  The biggest waves were about a foot.  I do not like going less than 9 knots in open water, there is not enough water passing around my rudders for them to effectively hold my course.

My thanks go out to Rich, when he got me to the marina in Trenton; he had to put me sideways at the head of a fairway.  The fairway was 78 feet wide and there were boats parked on either side with about 28 feet of beam in the aggregate.  Rich turned me sideways and yes I am overhanging  into the beam of the boats on either end.  Fortunately, the wind was light and coming off of the land.  Rich mumbled something about changing his underwear.  There was a park next to the bulk head that gave me a nice view.  The picture of course was taken looking toward me from the park.  I like my picture taken.

This is the sunset in Trenton last night, the sky was incredible.

July 11, 2011  Dateline Picton, Ontario Canada

Today I took Rich and Carol from Kingston to Picton in Ontario.  It was a short trip only about 35 miles.  Rich’s fat fingers hit the wrong buttons on my chart plotter and succeeded in erasing the route for today’s trip.  After a few minutes of thought they got the route back and off I went, my autopilot showing the way.  The water was flat; there weren’t even ripples in some of the spots.  As I pulled into the sea wall to dock for the night, a sea plane landed and then after a little while it took off again.  I wonder what it is like to fly.  I guess the airplane can’t go for long distances on the water like I can so at the end of the day all is good.

A few other Loopers told Rich and Carol that there was nothing in Picton, so they were going all the way to Trenton, a 10 hour day for them.  The marina here is small and I got tied up to a wall, great job Carol!!!  Clearly there is something in Picton, see the picture of the store that Rich took.  What could be better than a sale on weed?

Picton is a very nice community. It has a large long Main Street with a lot of shops and stores.  Almost everything you could want is on that street and like most Canadians the people in Picton are very helpful.

Like any woman I love to size myself up against the competition.  When Rosebud came into the harbor I asked Rich to get a picture of her.   He told me that she is not nearly as pretty as I am, but I will publish her picture any way.

I suggested that Rich take Carol out for dinner tonight.  Carol looked outside and saw that it was starting to rain.  She decided she did not want to walk up the hill to the restaurant.  She declared an “at anchor day”, which means she will cook on board.

CLEAN FOR A DAY!

July 10, 2011  Dateline Kingston, Ontario Canada

Today was a rest day for me; I got to sit in the marina for the day.  Before he left me this morning Rich gave me a wonderful bath with soap, WOW did that feel great.  Carol, cleaned the living spaces.  Here is picture of part of the marina taken from shore.  I should have been a basketball player because guess which one I am.

Yesterday, I posted a picture of a Porsche with a bike rack on it and the license plate “Weiner 1”. Well here is a picture of the cart that the wieners are sold from.  Rich and Carol each had one; they told me that they were very good.  My favorite food is CAT food or better known as diesel.

Here is the fountain located by the marina it is really pretty and is very large.

While Rich and Carol were walking, they saw this mouse climbing up a wall to a Canadian Military installation.  He was about half way up the 12 ft wall.  He was in no man’s land, a long way up and a long way down.  He was just holding on.

Kingston was the first capital of Canada and was a wealthy town. The city streets are clean and neat.  It was highly fortified during and after the War of 1812 to keep the Americans away.  England spent more money building defenses around Kingston than any other English city.  Kingston was never attacked.  The City was formed by Americans loyal to the crown who fled the American Colonies during the Revolution.  To show their loyalty they named the area Kings Town shortened to Kingston.  The Canadian Royal Military College is located in Kingston. The City later became the western port on the Rideau Canal.  The Rideau was built so that cargo could come down the St. Lawrence within English controlled territory from Montreal to Kingston and not go near the rivers rapids or those pesky Americans.

A WOMAN'S WORK IS NEVER DONE

July 09, 2011  Dateline:  Kingston, Ontario Canada

I left Oswego, NY at about 8:30 this morning, went through the last lock on the Oswego Canal and out onto Lake Ontario.  For about the first hour it was like a roller coaster, and then the lake flattened out for a really smooth ride.

As I was taking Rich and Carol for a long open water ride, Carol had to pull in all of the lines and fenders---what a mess she had.  See the woman’s work below.



Carol took this picture of the Oswego Lighthouse as we pulled out for the open water. 



When I got to Kingston Ontario they did not have a slip for me so Rich put me in a “day slip”.  I stuck out just a little bit as the slip was meant for a boat less than 30 feet.  I sucked up a lot of weeds in my generator strainer, such that I filled the strainer and the hose from the through hull to the strainer.  Rich had to pull the strainer and hose apart to get the all of the weeds out. 

Rich and Carol’s friends Pierre and Suzanne came over from their marina in Ivy Lea, Ontario to visit us for a while.  Pierre turned on his charm and got me a real slip with real electricity for the night.  The marina is run by the City of Kingston and they have their rules and that is that.  Carol messed up and didn’t make timely reservation so there was originally no slip for me.  Thanks Pierre!!!

Rich saw this Porsche with a bike rake on the back of it.  Notice the name.

  The owner had a hot dog stand nearby.  I guess there is real money in selling weiners.

AAAHHHHHHHHH and ON THE WATER AGAIN

July 8, 2011    Date Line Oswego, NY

Yesterday at 11:40 AM my bottom touched water again.  It was so nice to be wet again.  The hot sun reflecting on the black pavement and then on my black bottom made me very hot, and my 62,000 pounds sitting on 9 points was uncomfortable as well---but I think I said that before.  Jim from Winter Harbor took me out and opened up my Cats.  They really purred with the new turbochargers.

Rich and Carol had gone to the Eisenhower Lock in Up State and they asked me to include a few pictures that they took.  They told me that the freighter coming into the lock filled the lock from front to back and there was 1.5 feet on each side between the lock wall and the its hull.  I don’t think that Rich could have put that boat in the lock, but he is getting better.  I can tell you that Carol would love to have the winches they had to hold the boat in place in the lock rather than the ropes and cables she has to use.  The self unloading crane was huge on this ship. There are interesting water pressures as the freighter moves in and out of the lock.  Because she is so big, there is huge quantity of water of water is pushed out of the lock as she enters and there is only a 1.5 feet for the water squeeze out of on her side, pulling out of the lock she creates the same effect as the water rushes in to fill the void her forward movement creates.

Rich took a picture of this panel that explains how the lock works.

Today at 7:45 we got on our way.  We went down one lock and then came upon this sign.  Rich turned me north and up the Oswego Canal, we started on our way to Lake Ontario.  I saw this interesting bridge at a place call Minette and asked Rich to take a picture so I could share with you.  The day was uneventful for the next five locks.  The last lock for the day is under repair and it had a scheduled opening time of 2:30. I and several other boats got there by 1:30.  Rich told Carol he would guide me close to a wall and she would have to jump off and tie me up.  She did one helluva job.  The crew of my new friend “Plain Jane” helped us cast off and into the lock we went.  There were six other boats in the lock with me, which are more boats than I had ever been in a lock with.  Well Rich got me out and we traveled about ¼ of a mile and Carol again had to jump off me and tie me up to a wall---great job Carol.  I have one more lock tomorrow morning and then it’s off to Lake Ontario.  I can hardly wait.  Rich said he would make my Cats roar for the 40+ mile trip to Kingston, Ontario.

While I was tied up at Oswego, this work boat went by.  Its captain can’t tell where he is going so the two men on the port side give him hand signals as to which direction to head.

OF OPERATING TABLES and PALLETS

July 4, 2011

I would like to wish everyone a very happy Fourth of July.  Some 235 years ago a great experiment started and it looks like it is still running fine, thanks to all of the world’s people who came here to live, prosper and make it great as well as all of the military people who gave their lives or body parts to prevent it from being destroyed.

Rich and Carol stopped by to see me today.  I am still sitting on the ground, now, without my propellers.   Rich cleaned some soot off of my transom and waxed it.   Carol added some foam to the mattress on the master berth.  Sure -   thinking of themselves again.  I sit on the hard pavement and they want a soft bed----what wimps.

On the right is a picture of my port transmission, in pieces.  There are not many parts but they are big.  The parts are neatly laid out on the pallet---oh I mean the operating table.  The large shaft on the left of the picture is the one that got damaged.  Rich was told that the new shaft came in on Friday.  With any amount of luck, I will be on my way next Friday.  The transmission is simple as there is only forward and reverse and it operates at the same ratio in either direction.

My propellers were sitting close by so Rich got a picture of them as well.  They are nice and shiny now, but that won’t last long once they go back in the water.  They look small in the picture, but they are 3 feet across.

Rich is having my water line cleaned as the fresh water has left a dirty mark around my hull.  I guess he is getting lazy since he is having someone else do it. Carol and Rich went back to Alexandria Bay in the Thousand Islands for the fireworks tonight.  They went back to the same hotel they stayed at last week and, I am told, will have a great view of all of the action over Boldt Castle.  Last night they saw great fireworks over the canal in Oswego. 

Another Laker went by their hotel this afternoon. They are such huge graceful boats.  I don’t, however, think I want to meet one up close and personal. When the Laker came into the channel all of the small boats got out of the way, Rich said that size matters