Catching up in Hastings

Hastings Village Marina

In my life..... by The Beatles

There are places I'll remember, All my life though some have changed. Some forever, not for better, Some have gone and some remain.

All these places have their moments, With lovers and friends I still can recall. Some are dead and some are living, In my life I've loved them all.

Hastings is just that place that we will remember from this trip. On our way down the Trent we stopped at this marina for 3 days as we waited for our props to be repaired and we worked on fixing our Generator. On our way back up the Trent, we ended up at the same marina for two nights. Again, we had prop issues and our generator still was not working.

On Wednesday, when we came into Hastings with another busted prop, "Our favorite dive team" arrived and removed it, but after speaking to the owner of Kawartha Propeller we decided to purchase two new props and have them installed early Thursday morning. We also will have our old props repaired. The new props are different from our existing ones and should offer better performance including getting up on plane easier and better fuel consumption. During the day the Captain and Swabbie changed the water impellor on the Port side engine that keeps on overheating. It took over 2 hours to replace the impeller as it had been starved of water and was tight in the pump casing. After much persistence we managed to get the damaged one out and replaced. The Captain would never have been able to do this himself without the help of Swabbie.

Rubber impellers for the cooling system on the engines

While we were in Hastings we borrowed a car and drove into town to do laundry. It was another pit stop for Jan to get more puppy love, since her Fynn is still not around and it will be another week before she gets to see him and spoil him with treats.

How cute is this puppy in the Laundromat?

Yesterday we were able to order a new solid state controller for our generator and it was to be delivered by Cardinal Courier to the Hastings Marina on Wednesday morning. We waited all day for the delivery and at 4 pm we finally got in touch with the supplier only to find out it likely was not going to arrive. How sad. In the end it never showed up and we had it re-routed to Wye Heritage where we will install it when we return. to our port.

The props were to be installed at 7 am on Thursday morning but we would need to move the boat from the marina to get it accomplished. The water running in the river was at 170 cu feet per second and they told us that the divers could never hold themselves long enough in the fast moving current to change the props so we moved the boat over to the inlet of the locks, where there was no current as the locks were closed. This way the two divers would be able to do the swap safely.

Over that past week we have been travelling with Le Soprano, a 42 Ft Carver, heading from Gatineau, Quebec to The Bahamas. We invited Michel and his wife to our boat for some drinks and we had a great time talking about our trip, as well as their plans for the next 12 months. I promised to send them information on where they can go in Georgian Bay and the North Channel as they travel through the bay and the North Channel this summer.

At 5:30 am this morning (Thursday) I was up and getting things ready for the new props. I had to tie down the dingy, remove the power supply and water connection to our boat, and do some prep for our daily cruise as we were heading back home. It was a gorgeous morning and The Captain was hoping the rest of the day would work out fine. At 6 am Jan had my morning coffee and muffin, just enough nutrients to get my day started.

The divers were on time and arrived at the Hastings lock at 7 am right on the dot. They changed into their dive gear and down they went to get us back on the water again. We explained to them that we liked them lots but never wanted to see them again.

Two new props and guess what? Now we will also have to spares. What a bonus.

We were back on the road again (oops water) and we knew it would be a long haul to get to Peterbourgh. The run down Rice Lake and the Otanabee River was going to take 4 hours and most of it going 7 Knots per hour. We followed Le Soprano most of the way and when we arrived at Peterbourgh he was staying there. We carried on, hoping to get to Lakefield Marina by the end of the day.

The rains had caused most of the area to be flooded and many of the docks along the route were under water or else just about covered. We saw lots of things that we didn't notice on our way down the Trent including a cannon on the lawn at one cottage. It was a day for cows, geese, osprey, herons and abandoned boat houses on the shorelines. Some properties were flooded including one with a small tent that seemed to be in the canal but it was on land.

Our second lift on the Peterbourgh Lift Lock #21 was as exciting as the first. It is amazing just how they lift the boats in the big bathtub configuration. It took 90 seconds to lift us to the upper level of the locks.

As mentioned earlier in our blog, the currents in the Trent are very fast and we did have trouble getting into some of the locks. It was a good thing that we didn't pass or see many other boats on our way today. It was tough enough to maneuver all by ourselves.

At 4 pm we arrived at the Lakefield Marina where we had a reservation for the evening. The sky was dark, the rains were just beginning and the winds were picking up. We tucked Out to See III alongside the dock in front of another boat called Worth the Wake. We have been bumping into them all along our trip. We travelled down part of the Trent with them, we stayed at the Crate Marina in Belleville together on a very windy evening, as we were coming up the eight locks in Ottawa, we passed them going down, and yesterday we met up with them again in Hastings. Now tonight, we are docked alongside each other here in Lakefield as we watch the thunderstorms and the tornado alerts happening. It's a small world out there.

Now, at 11 pm Thursday evening, the rains have stopped and we are hoping for a clear day tomorrow. Our plan is to get past Bobcaygeon and Fenlon Falls on Friday and hope to arrive back in Midland by Sunday latest.

The sun came out after the storm tonight but no rainbow. We are hoping that the double rainbow we saw yesterday is our good luck charm with a clear sail home.

The Hallman Experience: Today we had a great run. No issues, we dodged bad weather and made it part way back to our port in Midland.

Solution: More of the same - Good luck be with us!

We will be back on the water at 8:30 am Friday morning heading to the Kawartha Lakes Region.