6/29/18 Friday: Today was our Looper seminar day. We heard presentations about the locks in the TSW, and the route through Georgian Bay and North Channel. I made lots of notes, but I still don’t have an itinerary figured out! The more info and options I have, the harder it is to choose! We visited with lots of old and new friends. I think there were 100 attendees – some Gold Loopers (those who have done the loop once already), some in progress for the first time like us, and some planning and dreaming. It was a fun day. Lunch was included as well as a happy hour in the evening. This has been the only ‘docktail’ time around here. The marina specifically says no alcohol anywhere off the boats, since they are a licensed facility – so we bought our beverages there. Later after dinner, we joined Bru and Sandy on Coconuts for some fun laughs. They are great people! They are on their second time around with no schedule or itinerary – they just make it up as they go.
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6/30/18: We were rudely awakened at 5:00am to big giant loud bright thunderousboomus and buckets of rain, right on top of us! WOW! I’m glad we didn’t have anything outside that needed to stay dry, and that all the windows were closed! At least it only lasted less than an hour.
We had a car reserved for the weekend. We really only wanted it for a day, but it is Canada 🇨🇦 Day weekend so the car rental store is closed Sunday & Monday. We had to rent it until Tuesday. Today we made a trip to Kingston. It is one of the large towns that we skipped past. We didn’t have any specific plans to tour the town – that would require planning and driving in downtown traffic, and parking and so on. I didn’t have anything that I really needed to see. So – our first stop was at a Marine Supply store. Engineering has been complaining that the blower fans down in the engine room are old and rickety. So the mechanic found some in stock at this store. On our way, we found a challenge for you math wizards. Check out the average fuel economy displayed on the dashboard: 7.4 l/100km. (Liters per kilometer) Translate that into something meaningful to us Americans who think in miles-per-U.S. gallon while you’re driving. 🤔
The countryside was very pretty. Lots and lots of farmland. We saw acres and acres of corn, just like the Midwest U.S.
And we saw how many demerit points for speeding! I don’t know how many you have or how many you can lose. The speed limit was 100km/h. I guess there’s no demerits, and it’s ok to go 110 km/h (which is what our car was doing).
We got the new blower fans and a new good book for the navigator. Just what I need – even MORE info! This will be good though. It has lots of aerial views of marinas and anchorages for Georgian Bay and the North Channel – and I won’t always have good cell service to just pop up something from my friend, the Google.
After the Marine Supply store, we hit Costco. They have a lot of the same stuff as in the U.S., and some different stuff too. We stocked up on some favorites like chips, nuts, bacon, eggs. Nothing critical that we couldn’t get somewhere else, but it’s always good to see what they have. Then we hit Walmart for more groceries. It really is a different country. Everything is in English and French, of course. No hable Espanol here. And yes – everyone sells milk in plastic bags, and slabs of cheese. Even Costco did. Still wondering how to slice that cheese for a sandwich!
We were hungry, and we keep seeing Tim Horton’s. I told Captain that I thought it was a coffee store. But we decided to try it, because I know that the Canadian’s love their Tim Horton’s! I wasn’t too far off. Their primary menu is coffee and pastries. I’m talking lots of donuts and muffins and all kinds of good-morning goodness! They also had sandwiches and wraps, and poutine. It was time we tried us some poutine. It is a Canada thing. Get your taste buds and cholesterol pills ready – this was seasoned french fries, topped with soft cheese curds (which is like cheddar cheese blobs in it’s infancy before being pressed into a block or slab of cheese). Then smother the whole thing with brown gravy. That is poutine. And it was good, eh?!
We headed back to Trenton. On the way, we saw the Beer Store. There are several of these around! Phonetically, I don’t know how to pronounce a long B. Do you? Oh wait! I just now got it! That’s the head on the beer! HA! These clever Canadians!
Then we stopped at the LCBO store. Not quite the size of our Total Wine & More, but a nice size store. I think that is Liquor Control Board Ontario – the only place to buy liquor in this province is at the government run stores. They have all kinds of spirits! But no mixers. Once again, we aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto. They have a zillion kinds of canned beverages that are not just wine coolers or cider or ale based. You can get cans with vodka, gin, rum…. I guess you just buy it this way instead of needing mixer! This is pineapple mandarin orange sparkling vodka beverage. It’s tasty and light on ice!
We arrived back home, safe & sound, only to find that one of our air conditioners wasn’t running properly. Oh now what?! It was in the mid 80’s outside, and we like our A/C! Mechanic Kenny sprand into action! Well – not really, he’s not Tigger, so he doesn’t have any springs. But he did get right on the problem. The strainers were clogged, so not enough water was getting through. This marina where we are docked has weeds that I swear grow a foot per day. The dock hands are out here everyday with rakes, raking the water and gathering up wheelbarrows full of weeds. Well, apparently the weeds under the boat are growing like the water is Miracle Grow enhanced. We learned back in the St Lawrence River (on the tour to Singer Castle, I think), that the river is full of zebra muscles. These little critters clean the water so much that the water is crystal clear – which makes it really easy for weeds to grow like crazy. The strainers were full of weeds. Maintenance Man had to clean them out, get a coat hanger down the hose, run the system to suck more through… repeat, repeat. He finally got them cleaned out and we’re cooling again. Thank goodness! The high temperature is supposed to be 90 degrees for the next few days! AGH! We are not au natural sailboaters who love to live as one with all the elements… we like our creature comforts!
Looks like you are having a great time. Get used to the weeds. I never would have thought there would be so many. We learned to anchor in deeper water where they didn’t grow. However they were a constant pain in the butt when it came to clogging up the AC water line. We used our dinghy air pump to clear. Disconnect the intake tube at the filter attach the hose and WHOOSH, all is good. Only had to use a coat hanger once!
Thanks Kent! Captain started with trying the shop vac in reverse blow mode, but not enough whoosh! Maybe the pumper upper will whoosh better!