Day 5 - Lakefield Lock 26 to Hastings Lock #18

Lock #21 - Finally repaired & worked like a charm

For the past few days we’ve had lots to blog about with our adventures and experiences as we travel the Trent Canal, heading to Montreal with a final destination of Ottawa for the Canada Day holiday July 1st. We never expected our trip to be trouble-free, but we never thought we would end up with delays which would result in travel modifications but here we are in Hastings (a very cute and quiet little town) with unknowns that will force us to change our plans.

This morning a crew of two divers and one assistant arrived to remove the prop, evaluate the damage and see if they could get it to a repair shop. Good news – the damage to the prop appears to be minimal (it is really smucked in my view) and when they checked the drive shaft for any other potential damage it was ok. We had one diver go under the boat while I ran the one engine and he checked it with a “device” to ensure it was not bent. Now

had it been bent, it would have been a disaster. That would have been an adventure with no quick resolution.

While we were docked at the Lakefield Lock a lovely family from Toronto was out experiencing their first ever canoe trip down the Trent, through several locks and literally camping in the evenings. There were two boys and two girls between the age of 3 to 9. What a life-experience for those children. They had two small tents, Coleman stove and all sorts of other goodies set up at their campsite and it truly was their home away from home. At 7 am they were all outside taking down the tents, mom making breakfast for 6 and dad packing everything up so it fit in two canoes. When the scuba divers arrived they were so excited to watch.

By 9 am our prop was removed and on the way to Kawartha Prop for repair. We were hoping for good news – like maybe we will get it back the next day. At 5 o’clock Friday evening we get the dreaded phone call explaining that they will do whatever they can to get the repaired prop back, but likely not till Wednesday NEXT WEEK- Yikes! That screwed up our plans.

We travelled through two locks with the canoeists and then they took a mid-morning break while we kept going. Great to see kids experience the outdoors with their parents and be happy together.

So here we are, looking at Plan B.

Instead of hanging out in one place waiting we have made the decision to slowly meander through the rest of the Trent system visiting some of the smaller towns along the way. We plan to stay in Cambellford for two nights and Frankford for one evening and then at Lock 1 in Trenton where the scuba team will return with our prop. That means we’ll likely have to change our plans for the stays along the St. Lawrence so we can still visit Old Montreal. We’ll know better when confirmation of the prop return is known.

When we arrived in Hastings we tied up to the town wall to hit the Laundromat to get some clean clothes and for Captain to look at the generator, because it wouldn’t start again. After checking, we couldn’t identify why it wouldn’t start again. It’s now time to figure out what the heck we’ll do with one engine and a generator that is pooched. Everyone’s cell phones, iPads and computers were limping on minimal battery power. Plus we had no way to make a hot dinner.

Docked at the Hastings Village Marina drying our laundry

Across from where we were docked was a small marina called ‘Hastings Village Marina” so Kyle and the Captain walked over to see if they had transient slips and sure enough Scott, the first person we talked to replied Yup, and we will help you dock. Bonus time – Scott is a techie kind of guy and a diesel mechanic and promised to look at our generator when we got to the marina.

The challenge was to get the boat from the wall to the marina in high winds and only one engine. With a little risk taking and some critical maneuvering we made it safely to the marina slip.

The Hastings Marina was a pleasant surprise. The other boaters were helpful, friendly and an interesting group. The washrooms and showers were a pleasant change of scenery and everyone was pleased that we could shower. Even though we have a shower on board we’ve been trying to preserve our water usage.

So back to Scott, the techie diesel mechanic. He came to see us after his dinner with electrical testing gear in hand. We did some searching for the problem and decided it had to be electrical. Sure enough, as he banged on a relay, the generator started. That was it – a faulty relay switch that would not allow the current to start the generator. It is a $10 part at any Canadian Tire store and there’s one located across the street from the locks in Campbellford which happens to be our destination tomorrow. This should be an easy fix.

The highlight of our day was the big lock in Peterborough. This lift lock is a 65 ft. hydraulic lift and it operates both up and down at the same time. In other words, boats go up while others go down together in large basins of water. The hydraulics on this lift have been broken and under repair, supposedly to be completed by the end of June. The time down was 45 minutes and the time up was 4 hours, so needless to say we expected to have delays getting through this lock. To our surprise they completed the repairs yesterday and our ride, along with two boats coming up the lift, was the very first lift they did this year after the repair. All the lock staff cheered as we successfully completed the lift. As you drive your boat into the lift at the top, the view over Peterbourgh and area is beautiful, and we were able to sit on our bow and take in the view.

On the bow watching us go down the Peterbourgh Lift Lock in the rain

The better part of the day was spent in rain. Jan, Cynthia and Kyle managed the lines on several locks in pouring rain and were troopers all day. Poor Cynthia was soaked, as she was on the bow all day with no cover, but as a true crew member she managed the bow lines with no complains. Kyle manned the stern lines and hopped ashore at each lock to secure the lock lines. He soon looked like a drenched rat as well. Again, no complaining and always asking what he can do to help. There were lots of wet butts.

When I started this blog I though it was going to be a short message. I was wrong. It just became a long drawn out dissertation of what happened today.

The Hallman Experience Day 5:

1. Our Prop went out for repair but we may not get it back till next Wednesday.

Solution: Stay the course - use one engine and visit towns from Hastings to Trenton and see what trouble we can find.

2. If you have a family, get them out to enjoy the outdoors. We were smiling all the time the little kids did their thing in the canoes

Enjoy your family and don’t hesitate to Explore!