Off to Trenton, Ontario and the gateway to the Trent-Severn canal

74 low, 84 high

We had a leisurely morning in Picton after turkey burgers for dinner in the park and a good nights sleep. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was fantastic. As we approached Trenton there were more and more of these very fast small fishing boats heading in. Later we found out that there was a fishing tournament going on and 3pm was weigh in time. Just as we were arriving.

After docking we saw Ron & Jan from Adagio who had left Brewerton a few weeks ago and traveled back up to Ottawa. The had arrived the day before us. We had several packages for them that had arrived in Brewerton after they left. We had dinner with them last night at Tomasso's Italian. Everybody's meal was fabulous. We plan on traveling together some this summer.

Tomorrow is Canada Day here, like our 4th of July. We will remain here for the fireworks and parades. Last year we were still in NY for the 4th of July. Today will be boat chores and a wash down as well as a walk around town.

Prepping dinner in the park at Picton

Dinner complete with IPad music

Beautiful!

Our lunch spread, veggies and humus

Dinner with Ron & Jan

Our own dock concert

At rest in Trenton's Fraser Park Marina

Clock tower in town

Hello again Canada!

61 on the lake as a low today and a high of 89 here in Picton.

Early start this morning slipping lines at 0550. We set out across Lake Ontario with a forecast of winds less than 7 and seas less then 1 foot. Today we traveled with friends Lon & Pat on C.A.R.I.B. 2. They followed us across the lake in a beautiful trip. There are 3 other looper boats here as well as us 2. WE plan to head to Trenton tomorrow and stay through the 1st which is Canada Day. There will be lots of fireworks. Picton has a beautiful little harbor which really surprised us. Totally different than what we expected.

Oswego Lighthouse

C.A.R.I.B. 2 behind us

Putting up the Quarantine Flag

Lon & Pat

On Our Way!!

8 Locks today, 8 locks for the trip. High today was 79.

Today was the day. We headed for the fuel dock about 7am for a pumpout. After that and saying goodbye to Wayne and paying our bill, we got underway at 8am. We traversed 1 lock on the Erie and 7 on the Oswego. We pulled into the Oswego Marina at 2pm. Everything on the boat worked well and it was great to be back cruising after sitting so long. Tomorrow we will leave at 6am to cross Lake Ontario with another looper boat that we met in Brewerton. We had dinner early at Aztec's Mexican restaurant as we had skipped lunch. The food was great and the margaritas even better.

Wayne and Helen, it was hard saying goodbye as we had become close.

Our front view

Sunset last night

The view as we leave Brewerton

Out of the lock

Right turn for Oswego

Flat, flat, flat

Oswego Marina Office

Charis at rest for the night

Great Day!

Our prayers were answered yesterday. The mechanic arrived with the new fuel pump and had it installed and tested by 1100 am. Everything worked as it should and no fuel leaks. Yeah! A loose nut on the transmission cable was causing it not to go into reverse sometimes. That was fixed also. So after 3 weeks we are finally ready to depart. We will do our final provisioning today and head for Oswego, NY tomorrow. The weather looks good for a Saturday crossing of Lake Ontario.

We had Mike and Marian from Midas Touch over for doctails last night. A great social time swapping stories and I was able to help him with a few of his navigation programs and resources. They will probably leave today but I'm sure we'll see them again along the way.

Scott, the mechanic, in the engine room. He usually repairs tractors!

Mike and Marian

Sharing planning notes.

First 2014 docktail setup.

The hostess with the mostess!

Still in Brewerton.

Another week has passed and we are still here. After the injector nozzle replacement and returning from Niagara Falls, I noticed the fuel line coming off that injector was dripping. I first replaced the hose clamps and tightened them down. Still leaking. I ordered the fitting from the John Deere dealer and replaced it the next day. After running the engine to check the fix, the engine would not shut down with the shut off switch. Depressing it would sometimes result in a decrease in engine rpm and sometimes an increase in rpm. That had happened a few times last year and a good cleaning of all electrical connections took care of it. This time, nothing. I went over them several times. Finally a call to the John Deere dealer again brought the mechanic out the next day. He also checked all the electrical connections and all were good. The shut off solenoid is part of the fuel injector pump, so a call to a local shop that rebuilds them told him that if the solenoid was clicking then the metering valve was bad. But, they had at least a 6 day backlog before getting to it. Next step was to order a new pump which as with the other parts, I expected to arrive the next day. Not so, they had trouble finding one and it should be delivered next Tue. or Wed. We will swap them out and have the original rebuilt then shipped home to Florida.

So in the meantime we have just about completed all our get ready chores. Ann says she has cleaned and re-cleaned just about everything. Friday night we had docktails at the next marina with a couple that followed our blog last year and were heading to Lake Champlain. So we had a great time discussing our trip with them. Yesterday we finally got out on the water in the dinghy and traveled west to 2 different marinas. There were 5 or 6 looper boats in them. On the way back we stopped and talked with one boat, Burke and Stel on Estrellita out of Charleston, SC.  They stopped by later for a tour of Charis. 3 looper boats arrived here late in the day and after talking with a few of them about the problems they have encountered, I feel a bit better and thankful that ours happened here at the dock.

Being here in Brewerton, we have been able to attend church each Sunday. We found a church just north of here last year and have enjoyed going there. We keep our fingers crossed and keep praying for success this week.

Happy Hour!

Gary and Peg on Latis, heading for Lake Champlain.

Niagara Falls

Friday we drove to Niagara Falls. We stayed at the Hilton on the Canadian side. When we checked in they upgraded us to a 2 bedroom suite. What a start! The afternoon we spent touring on the public bus system that travels all along the river and into the village. We also went up to the top of the Skylon Tower. It has a revolving restaurant as well as on observation deck at the top. We had a drink in the restaurant lounge and then ventured up to see the sights. What an incredible view from up here. After dinner we went to the lounge on the top floor of the hotel and enjoyed more great views as well as a fireworks display later. We met some really nice people and shared a great evening. Saturday was off to Hornblower Cruises and a ride on the top deck of a catamaran to go up under the mist from both the American and Canadian falls. What a blast!!



Lunch in the hotel

Our suite

Skylon Tower

The American Falls

 

The Canadian Falls

View from Skylon Tower

Lounge at the top of the hotel with the American Falls

Getting ready

The wind kicks up as you get close

Hornblower Cruises boat

What a great time!!