We started out the day full of plans with our buddy boats to go to Campbellford just 6 locks ahead. Lots to do there. We led the pack out of our overnight "home" with Magic following and Mz Fullcharge bringing up the rear. BTW - Kathy on Mz Fullcharge was a school principal! The other boats stayed behind for now.
The "path" through the river is marked by buoys, a little different shape than those in the USA but they mean the same. Keep the green to port and the red to starboard. (If you are going down stream this is reversed)
Just in the middle of this area our starboard engine decided to overheat. We shut it down and pulled out of the channel and anchored to do some troubleshooting. Magic offered to stay with us and we urged Mz Fullcharge to go on ahead - no use all of us getting stuck! Randy on Magic is an experienced boater and was able to talk Bob through things to check. We have an excellent manual and between that and Randy on the radio, Bob changed the impeller (the impeller is part of the pump that brings cold water from the water around the boat and into the engine's heat exchanger -- similar to a car's radiator, but it uses water instead of air to cool the antifreeze in the engine). (We carry spare impellers :) ) By this time there is not a dry spot on his body as the engine room is quite hot. I tried to keep him supplied with ice water but I think he sweated it out faster than he drank it! He said he probably lost 5 pounds that day! The engine was better but still not running right and then the engine wouldn't even turn over! We decided to go on ahead with only one engine to the next lock and see if we could get a mechanic to help out. I was quite nervous about docking with only one engine but Bob is a pro by now and got us right up to the wall so I could catch the cleats with our lines. The lock masters were there to meet us and help tie up. They were worried as the lock 6 lock master had said 3 boats were coming and only one showed up. They were relieved that we made it and gave us the name of two mechanics that may be able to help. A fellow boater on Facebook also sent us the name of a boat yard that may be able to send someone out but they were further away. The mechanic we got hold of and explained the problem to said he would be happy to come out later that afternoon. Meanwhile Randy and Bob went below and spent the afternoon fixing it themselves!!! Awesome team. It was two separate issues - a burned out/broken wire that made the engine think the transmission was in gear, so wouldn't let the engine turn over and a problem with the impeller installation. By 4:00 they were done but the locks were closed so we spent the night at this peaceful location. So relieved to have the boat running again we ordered a pizza, salad, and poutine to be delivered to the boat in celebration! Randy saved us a ton of money in repair bills - our angel in boat shoes as one of my FB friends tagged him. Bill on Mz Fullcharge called us that evening to check on us and are waiting for us in Campbellford. Loopers are the best!
Here is all of Randy that you can see!
While the guys were working on the boat I got to know the lock master and even helped open one of the locks! They still do it by hand at several of the locks and often let the spectators experience the fun of going round and round! This is Scott. He took a video of me going round and round but the video didn't turn out.
I forgot to get a picture of our Canadian courtesy flag after we checked in at customs. The quarantine flag is back in storage until we re-enter the US.
Safely docked at Lock #7 lower wall 6/20/17
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