September
30, Tuesday
Change
of pace...font, that is.
We
waited patiently until 10:00 am until the Lockmaster arrived to open the lock, or
more precisely, unlock the washrooms, open the doors, find his coffee cup and
THEN ask us what we wanted. So by the time we got into the lock it was 10:30
and it took about 10 minutes to lock through, but we had to go back inside once
we were in the lock because they forgot to charge us for PULLING the dinghy. If
it was on the deck, it wouldn’t count, although if we use it in the river and don’t
have a sticker for it, would we be in trouble...we paid the extra $55.00.
The
weather was cloudy and warm most of the day, with on and off rain and a few
feeble attempts at sunshine. We got over the Big Chute railway with no problems
and we tied up for a few minutes before realizing that we could make the next
lock today! So we took off.
The colours are glorious here, and despite the
weather we got a few good pictures. The waterway system has changed a lot in
the last 10 years... bigger cottages, more cottages, humungous houses with
crappy little boats. I have to say the power boaters haven’t gotten any smarter
or better at boating. They still think that ‘no wake’ doesn’t apply to them and
it’s funny to watch a sailboat bob around in their waves. And there are no sailboats here because
there is no place to put masts up and down. We passed one sailboat heading to
Georgian Bay.
SO
we are sitting in ‘Hamlet’... that’s the name of the hamlet...a cottage resort,
some condos and a general store. Close to the top of Lake Couchiching. Lots of houses and boat but no distinct edge
to the village. We missed the bridge opening. It says in the charts, there is 9
feet o clearance and we needed 8 but Rick measured it and there is really only
7.5 feet..high water this year. So we tied up and wait for 10:00 tomorrow. We
should be well past Lake Simcoe tomorrow and into the bottom half where most of
the locks are. We had thunder and some rain when we arrived here but its
stopped now. We had soup for supper and went over to the general store to get
ice cream for dessert. The soup was Potato and leek but I jazzed it up with
cauliflower and turnip and corn that was left over and some spices and feta
cheese. I have this handy-dandy little starfrit chopper that can do almost
anything with veggies cooked or otherwise.
Oh and we cancelled the phones today. I tried this morning and got into
an argument with the other end. Apparently both phones were in Rick’s name and
no-one would talk to me. He tried later and as of Oct. 13 we will be without phone
numbers. However, I was told that the phone can be used to create a hotspot
even without a sim card...I somehow doubt that...so I can keep the blog and
facebook going.
Time
for dishes and bed...I know, I know, its only 8:00 pm but its hard work driving
the boat and reading all day! It is
really dark here right now... no stars and tall trees in the narrow
river...kinda creepy...and funny noises...I think the ducks are sneaking up on
us. Time to shut the door. G’night
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