We
had set the alarm...usually not necessary as the early light (430a!)
wakes us by 5:30a but neither one of us slept too well last night...
when you are our age that happens now and then. At 8a we left the
lovely park and arrived at the blue line for the last lock through
Smiths Falls. It is positioned right beside a camp ground so those
folks are well entertained by the passing boats... we chatted with
them a bit as they ate their breakfast and fed the local ducks.
There
was a boat just ahead of us on the line with its Captain reading with
his back to us as we came ever so close. Walter did his thing and
slowed the boat then idled the engines. Just for fun I decided to
see what this other captain would do... so I said, ”Don't worry we
will just bump you gently”! Immediately he stood up and said he
would scream if we did (ha!) and then did what a normal captain
does....sent his first mate out to grab our lines! She came running
bare feet and all and Alice is now my newest friend. We talked for
some time before the bridge & the lock opened at 9a. They live
in the beautiful Georgian Bay area of Canada. If we are together
again at the Big Chute Railroad lift she will take pictures of us
going over it in the sling... more on that when we get there.
We
began to get into a large marshy area of the Rideau and it was
shallow so we had to be careful always putting the Green marker on left of
boat and the Red on the right.
 |
| Barry & Alice's boat ahead of Miss gg |
 |
| Marsh all around Us |
Big
Rideau Lake really is BIG and a great weekend playground for
Canadians.
Here
is a family with 3 or 4 kids on the tube they were pulling behind
their wave runner. They were enjoying our wake as they raced back and
forth across it many times.
We
pulled up on the blue line at the Narrows Lock. Many other boats
were there hooked up to electric on the other side of this dock and
not on the blue line (waiting for lock to open). So several came to
help and chat... all curious about our LONG trip.
Others,
mostly smaller boats, began to arrive to lock through. The lock
master told us he wanted us in first. Others on the dock were too
fast to untie us and we started to drift out but I lassoed the post
again... there was some language barrier also with them forgetting we
were Americans and mixing their French in with the English. We never
free ourselves from the dock before Walter has both engines started. AND the starboard
engine would NOT start!
The
Captain went down into the engine room with his favorite tool: The
Hammer! Some knocking occurred but to no avail.... we were
crippled!! Then the HELP really started... oh! Dear! ...one pushing
the stern which was not going to work as we couldn't control the boat
and needed the bow out first to keep from running into the outside
lock walls! One young man with a large family with him put all his
kids and wife and another adult friend back into his boat and offered
to take a bow line and tow us... Walter said okay and he proceeded to
get close enough to take my line... now pulling 34,000 lbs with a
little speed boat is no easy trick and I kept suggesting they tie the
line on their boat somewhere......the wife had it first and I thought
she would be pulled out of their boat... then one of the men took it
and wrapped the line around his arm three times...scary! Finally the
pilot of the boat got in the back and successfully attached the line
to their boat and slowly turned us around. Whew! We limped off after
slowing traffic at this lock for several minutes but the lock
personnel were so nice wishing us a quick fix and hoping to see us
again soon.
Walter
has learned to maneuver Miss gg so well without the bow thrusters
that so many boats have now. And now he can add to his
accomplishments piloting on ONE engine! We had been told that we
could get the best help at a marina back down the Big Rideau at
Portland, Ontario... only 2 miles back. So that was where we headed
very slowly... I called the marina and told them we would need help
to dock and couldn't put the boat in a slip but needed an end or T
dock. They were very accommodating and said they would have folks
there to help.
When
we got out in the middle of the lake and not too many other boats
around Walter played with the controls to see if he could turn the
boat and at what speed would work best...this was a great idea as he
quickly found out he could not back up straight or to Port but could
back up to Starboard. This was going to be tricky and if the wind
was blowing more than it had been.....
I
tried not to panic when the marina didn't answer the Captain's radio
call.. eeek! We could not turn around.... but then there were those
wonderful kids in their bright orange shirts. Yippee! They caught
our lines and helped to pulled Miss gg on to the outside dock where it
looked like they had put up a lemonade stand. ??? Here they are
with the “stand”.
Turned
out there was a “Poker Run” today...not sure what all that means
but it seemed to be some sort of race on mostly wave runners and our
dock was one of the stops and this Orange clad team was going to be
handing out the chips and bottled water. They later moved to the
end of the dock. Then the boats started coming for the chips...
 |
Handing out Chips and Water |
 |
| The long line up for the Chips |
Then
all left for the next “chip” stop.
The
Captain says we will probably be here until Wednesday awaiting
repair....he knows it is the starter solenoid on the engine that
needs replacement. Two mechanics are here at this marina working
this weekend but they are not qualified to work on our Caterpiller
engines... The marina said they knew one that was and he will be here
on Monday.. plus the part may have to be ordered.... closest part is
probably about 107 miles away.
I'm
a happy boater because the truth is we didn't get the much needed
rest yesterday. Also, there
are friends behind us that were going up the Erie but changed their
minds after all the flooding & are now on the way here.... so
perhaps we will meet them again soon.
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