FIRST DAY IN THE CANAL

 We left Dutchman's Cove an hour later than we had planned but we had morning coffee with friends that we won't see for a while, so well worth the delay. Copper Penny and R.Calista.

It was an easy trip arouund past Midland to Port Severn and the lock opened almost as soon as we got there. There was quite an audience waiting for us to pass though.
Big Chute railway was next after Little Lake and Glouchester Pool with the ususal assortment of muscle boaters who don't pay attention to what their wake does as they pass other boats, and not just sail boats...little guys fishing in small boats get tipped as well.

So we're sitting at the bottom of Swift Rapids Lock 43. Its a big one. But that's a problem for morning. They are supposed to run 10 am - 4 pm, but if your not at the lock by 3:30 your s$*t out of luck. We got here at 3:45 and one of them came screamng past us in a tinny, at 2x the speed limit...the uniform was a dead giveaway.

Quiet night, a couple of chores, dinner and a movie LOL

Duthman's Cove now Foundry Marina

 We got up thismorning to a lovely calm sunny day and called Foundry Marina to see about taking down the mast...most accomodating. It took 3 hurs to get here and ut was amazing that not pushing the boat past 2500rpm we were doing 5+ knots. To non-sailors that is like...what??? who cares?  To us it is a VERY big deal. We dumped enough weight off the boat to GAIN a knot in speed at that rpm.

The mast was down by 3 pm and we could have left and headed over to theCanal but we would be stuck on the wall witing for it to open. Instead we opted to stay thenight here [no cost to us] and BONUS   Copper Penny met us at the dock!!! George and Cindy [Bahamas friends] heard that a yellow cat was coming in so they looked out on thewater and saw GOOSE [ George never bothered with the "Other" part - he always just called "Goose, Goose" on the radio.

He has taken Rick to town to get a shackle that we lost and we are having dinner there tonight.  Also Paula and Paul [also Bahamas friends] just f/b'ed me to let me know they are heading back this way [ I can't rememebr the name of their new boat] 

Going to be a great evening!!

 An ocean-sailing friend many years ago in Genada taught me how to look at the water and decide what the sea-state was, and if it was safe, or not. And the worst condition when you DON'T go, he called "elephants dancing".

Yesterday we left GSMarina at 9:30. About an hour into the trip [at 5 -7mph] a wind warning for Lake Huron and Georgian Bay came over the radio. Coincidentally, the OPP were heading out at the same time and commented how calm it was over here as opposed to Huron. By the time we got to Cape Commodore 20 or so miles up the Bay, they weren't dancing. It was a stampede and I'm sure there were hippos in the mix.

With 30 knots [mph for you land lubbers] on the nose, we had to drop the sails and still couldn't push through, so we turned back as far as Presquile [you can see Owen Sound from here] and sat for the night in a barely protected but shallow beach. I'm seasick today!

In the course of assesing the situation, we have decided that the smartest, safest course for us is to go back over to the dreaded Trent Severn Canal system, suck it up, pay to have the mast taken down and the cost of a one-way transit [about $600.00 all tolled]

Its 300 miles shorter and we will give ourselves an extra 6-8 days of down time if necessary. The weather is too unpredictable. We are still 5 days ahead of when we left last year. And right now we are closer to Midland that we are to Tobermory.

Right now we are still at anchor, waiting for another storm system to pass. The winds will be behind us and we will follow the rain over to the canal. Even another day lost going this way is not a problem, so we have confidence that it will be ok.

I HATE the Trent Severn System; I've made that quite clear but it's the devil you know. Sometimes you have to do what you need to do, so it is what it is. Not sure when I will post again. Everyone is asking me to blog again [if I can still open it} so if you can't find me here try the othergoose.blogspot.com.

Stay warm and dry !!

P.S. We are anchored at Beckwih Island just east of Christian Island. Lovely little Bay. Sails are off the boat andwe are hunkering down for the night. Bright blue sky right now and very little wind... good decision to come this way. Tomorrow Midand and dwn with the mast! Have a good night!

 So ... update. Apparently I will live. Today is my last day of antibiotics and my PICC line gets removed tomorrow. Still have issues with my hands. Feels like I'm wearing gloves -can't really feel anything with detail, and anything more than lukewarm water burns. The surface skin on my quads is still numb and my feet also have numb spots.My skin still is still mottled and I look like an [old wrinkled] alien - Zindi comes to mind [Star Trek Enterprise ref]. And I am still losing my hair. [My sister is not sympathetic].

So no idea what happens next. Haven't found a local gp to replace my Owen Sound doctor. I went to went Owen Sound for a "follow-up" but my doctor didn't bother to show up. The doctor who did show up tried to tell me that there was no information about my hospital stays in Trenton or London but when I told her that the OS clinic had confirmed they had received all the info, including blood work results, she backtracked. The best she could tell me was "nerve damage [ ref. hands and fingers] takes about a year to heal and that's as good as it gets", and " very sorry this happened to you but there's not much we can do." She was out of the room before I could stand up.

SO..one more time... do your own research - get a second opinion - whatever it takes to be sure you know what you're being prescribed and why!!

PS the only good thing is my nails are hard as daggers. But it hurts if I stick myself accidentally because my skin is so sensitive! lol

Its lovely here in London - still warm, no snow. Good thing bcuz we couldn't find our winter clothes in the storage unit! Next week we will go to Kingston to finish winterizing the Goose. *sigh*

take care all!

 So it kills me to say this  but we cannot go south this winter. I was prescribed a drug by my doctor that I am severely allergic to ... Terbinafine. It has reduced me to complete skin breakdown. My hands and feet are so swollen I cannot walk .  I was hospitalized in Trenton; sent to Toronto for assessment; moved to London for hospitalization. again.

Doctors have no idea how to leach the 'poison' out of my system. This is a horribly painful condition and so many variables to what is happening to my body, and no guarantee t will get better or not have permanent liver damage.

The boat is put up in Collins Bay for the winter.Luckily we had friends in Ottawa come down to help Rick move the boat from Trenton - 11 hours to Collins Bay.  He has to go down on the 8th of October to strip the boat and get it winterized. Unfortunately, I can't help him.

 So not sure what day this is literally, but we are in Trenton. Today is a blustery and we were waiting for tomorrow to move out to False Duck Island to do the crossing but I have developed this excrutiating rash and blisters all over my body. After spending a day at the hospital 3 doctors are of the opinion that they have no clue what it is so they are sending me to Toronto to a dermatologist. How?? "Well don't you have a car?" What part of travelling on a boat don't you understand? MY mouth is dry; water feels like oil; I have no appetite; its too hard to fold clothes bcuz I have no strength. I took a Benadryl yesterday morning and its still coursing through my system. Haven't felt that that stoned in decades!! And I don't like it

So far the weather has been excellent and will stay good to cross the lake as soon as I can be let out so enough whining. I will load some photos when I find the right back up

Getting ready again!

 August 28 2023. Who knew it would take this long? In 3 days we move onto the boat and 10 days after that we leave for the sunny south. Sadly we will be leaving family and new friends here. Thats the problem with standing still to long. 

You saw the pics of the new galley [again] . I will post pics of the new rigging when the mast goes up in Castleton, NY. Until then we're a really awkward power boat. 

I was actually amazed that the blog is still active [cuz I wasn't!]. So stay tuned ! Stuff always happens to us!