And the Crowds all Here

It was at Burleigh Falls when we all finally got together to spend some time visiting.

Docktails and dinner Lakefield Marina, Mom, Linda, Bob and Peter

All four boats together. On the Sunday morning we all headed out for Lakefield Marina. They could accommodate all of us. They had a wonderful grassy area with a picnic table under the shade of a tree late in the afternoon. It became the meeting place for docktails, snacks, and a communal dinner. Each boat took turns making the main the course with the other boats make the side dishes and snacks.

Paper plates so there were no dishes, or at least minimal dishes.

Bob and Linda Wilkens and Linda and Jim Murray

We stayed for 4 nights at Lakefield. Everyone was enjoying eah others company and were reluctant to head off in different diretions. We knew that we were going to travel along with Bob and Linda and experience the Rideau Canal. Steve and Linda wanted to spend some more time on the Trent Severn before committing to further travel destinations. And Jim and Linda needed to stay reasonably close to Toronto airport to be ale to pick up their granchildren that are joining them on July 8th.



 Several afternoons we treated ourselves to Kawartha Ice Cream cones. And there was a coupon in our welcome package for buy one get one free.

Sunset photo of the three boats. From left to right ..... Guppy, Waypoint, and Symmetry.
Lakefield made us an offer we couldn't refuse, Pay for 3 nights and stay 7. They even gave us a note that when we return we can use the remaining 3 free nights. The marina is owned by the county, and I think they saw all of the shopping bags coming aboard the boats and knew that we were all helping the local economy.

Each sunset was very different from the last.

Now how many men does it take to get one of those Perkins ladies running? On the Thursday morning we wanted to leave, the starboard engine wouldn't start. So Peter went down and bled the system for possible air bubbles, not the solution. Tried a number of other things, don't know them all. And then finally it started after more than an hours systematic process of elimination. The final concensus was that he had flooded the engine. He often will turn one of the engines over just to test to see if it will start, and then shuts it off. He thinks that flooded the engine and was the cause of the problem.

While the men are working on the engine, Mom is putting her time to good use on the computer. Checking on those emails, checking the bus schedule for different locations. Her time on the boat is coming close to the end so we need to try and decide where and how best to get her home. She has made some committments that can't be changed, or else she said she would have stayed on the boat. We would have been glad to have her. She is great fun.

 Well this is the most unusual thing I have seen for awhile at least. At one of the locks a couple were letting their rabbits graze on the lawn. They had a harness and leash for each of the rabbits. Now I have seen everything. Quite familiar with dogs and cats on leashes, but a rabbit????





Wildlife continues to abound. We came across these 2 families of Canada Geese in the canal/river. They definitely were not very concerned about our boat and they allowed us to be so very close to them. And check the numbers in these two families. I think I can count 24 in all. They are so prolific.

 The Peterborough Lift Lock is well renowned on the Trent System. Breathtaking. It is a huge bath tub for boats. Going this direction you come in on the top and have a wonderful 180 degree view.



On the run from Lakefield to Peterborough we had a variety of weather. Sunshine, cloudy and overcast, rain, and then clearing again. Once we got into Peterborough and got tied up we looked back over our shoulder to see this huge black cloud approaching. Looked like a big storm would be eminent. We had a few sprinkles and then it moved on.

We had Bob and Linda over to cocktails before dinner on our boat.  Dinner was leftover spaghetti. Then watched some old Carol Burnett Show DVD till it was time for bed.

Jimm Murray telephoned to see how far we had gotten and if we had run into any bad weather. They reported that they had only got as far as Youngs Point when the bad weather caught up with them and they hadn't left. Decided it was as good a place to spend the night as anywhere.