Sunday Oct 26

Sunday Oct.26

I guess I paid for all my bragging about the good weather. There was an awesome lightening show all night with rain on and off. It’s wet this morning and the dull weather is persisting but so what...somewhere in my near future is sunshine, turquoise water and white sand!

We were up and moving at 8 am this morning...early for us but the lock master had the gate open and the green light on. And you don’t make them wait because they always ask how far we’re going and they call ahead for us. This one told us that at Lock11 there is a great restaurant, a beautiful park and dock and since that’s about how far we can get today, we’ll consider stopping. It’s at a place called Amsterdam.

Last night when I called HS, the guy had no idea where I was. I almost lost it and told him to look at a map. We’re on a boat...it’s not like we can take a different route!!! But he’s probably in California!  I was nice, Joe, not grumpy J

Not sure if it’s just the light but some of the trees here look like they are getting ready to leaf again...especially the willows. Some are still very red and gold and refuse to drop their leaves.

Lock 15 was a short one ...only 8 feet deep. I like the little ones! There is a huge damn being constructed along and over it. It was a little unnerving to sit under a construction site that big! Especially with the tarps hanging over the edge filled with rain!  However, that was not as bad as some of the unused bridges we’ve been going under. They are downright scary!  The pilings are eaten away, big road closed signs up top and warnings to stay off! I wouldn’t want to be in the river when one of them falls!!!

The day is still chilly. Most days except for two or three we could see our breath. It doesn’t feel cold but I guess living outside for the last five months has acclimatized us. The hard part is getting used to the dampness, which is not so bad on mild days, but on cold nights getting into bed is tough. The past two nights are the first time I haven’t slept in sweats and a fleece since we left Georgian Bay.

The debris in the canal was caused by heavy rains a couple of weeks ago, according to one lock master. And tons of debris have been dragged up by the river barges onto the shores. According to another lock master, some of them haven’t been doing their jobs.  The river is divided into sections and each locking area is supposed to maintain their area. The barges are beautiful. They are cute little tugs with matching houseboat barges in navy blue and orange, some with fretwork around the house tops.

Lock 13 was only an 8 foot drop, and maybe they made it mall because of the number! What could go wrong in 8 feet??

The engine seems to breaking in nicely. I probably shouldn’t have said that.

We are able to cruise at 6 knots under 3000 rpm. Our supposed optimal speed should be around 3500 but why push if we don’t have to?

We are ahead of the sailboat and the bid power boat as well. And we have 12 locks to go. The last 6 locks are basically steps..out of one straight into another, so they will be done all at once, probably tomorrow afternoon. We are going to stop below Lock 11 today for some shopping, hopefully hot showers and  possible laundry.

The train lines are still running along the canal. So far every engineer except one has hooted at us he went by...kinda cool...lots of Canadian cars and a few engines as well.

We are stopping at Lock11 below the lock. The wind is really high right now and there is a lot of construction going on in this part of the canal. Apparently we should have stopped at the top of the lock for the best restaurant but I don’t care. I would rather cook my own dinner than walk half a mile to find out I can’t eat anything but salad.

The big cruiser, Solitude, is travelling the same direction. The jerk followed us out of the last lock, passed us and tied up in the middle of the town dock. We just managed to squeeze into the spot so we don’t need a ladder to get off the boat. He thinks because he helped us tie up he’s a hero. OK so sometimes I’m grumpy. No wait, I just proved I’m a better boat driver... I parked within 5 feet of his stern, the wind at my back and without hitting his million dollar boat. Ha! Parallel parking without backing up!

It’s a little chilly. It’s not raining but the sky is cloudy. We’re going to close up the boat and cross the tracks [there’s a skywalk] and see if there’s a fuel station and possible a good restaurant close by.  Maybe I won’t have to cook after all.

Nope...a bunch of empty stores, a liquor store and a Chinese take-out place. The old guy didn’t understand what I as asking about gluten...His only English covered what was on the menu.  But it was a good walk.

The trains go by every10 minutes and blow their horns for the crossings. Now it’s not so cool and it definitely won’t be cool if they do it all night. Silent hours?  It reminds me of the first time I ever slept on a boat. We were heading up to Lake Nipigon on a fishing charter boat to check out some archaeological sites. The trains passed within 20 feet of the dock [much like here] and I nearly choked Rick when it came screaming by at 6 am. I’ll be the engineer laughed all the way to Armstrong! But I digress...

Salmon, rice, corn and green beans for supper: post this and some pics; read and sleep ! I hope this isn’t boring.  Tomorrow!