Sunday May 31: Hunkered Down in Frankford

Yesterday we once again left Trenton and passed under the “Gateway to the Trent” sign on the bridge. 

Last time we were headed this direction was in 2012 – the year we decided we needed a northern boat to escape the Florida summers. It's worked out pretty well ….

The forecast was for unseasonably warm weather: highs in the mid-80's.

 But it wasn't going to last as a northern cold front was due in sometime in the next 24 hours. The plan? Travel through the first 6 locks and stop at Frankfort. Only 7 ½ miles – a pretty easy day :-) One of the two locks on the Trent that has power stations for boats – which makes it much easier if we are going to be stuck here for a while.

The wind was crazy strong which led to some interesting locking – that along with a boat that hadn't traveled in the smaller Trent locks (compared to the NY canals) and a houseboat (which are always like a sail in the wind!) and the fact that only one side of the lock wall can be used due to the way the lock fills. 

The houseboat decided to stop after the second lock – just too windy. It was sad to see them stop but it sure made the next 4 locks easier with only one other large trawler and us.

So here we are, sitting in the rain in Frankfort! An all day rain. And cold. A high of 51 degrees and lows in the 40's. Maybe we should have waited a bit before heading north!

Yesterday we did manage to get the grommets in the new gray rain cover that bridges the gap over the cabin door (also made while in Banana Bay).- good decision as the rain started last night and still continues.

But the light rain didn't deter us from breakfast out :-) The Oasis has been here for some time – good name for it today!

The rain also didn't deter Steve from washing the boat. He says it's easier when the boat is wet. Makes sense to me.

Although I was kind of wondering when the first thing he did when finished:

You gotta love this little heater :-)

If it rains tomorrow we stay put. If it isn't raining, we move on 24 miles to Campbellford. Low predicted to be 6 degrees Celsius - about 42 Fahrenheit. I see more heater use in our future :-)

Friday May 29 - Trenton, Ontario!

Up at 6 am and into the last lock above Lake Ontario at 7. The weather forecast appears to have held true!!

The sailboat in front of us (which tied up behind us last night) left from Cuba only 7 weeks ago! Talk about really long days ....







It was a great crossing over Lake Ontario. So calm that we opted for Plan B: travel directly from Oswego, NY to the entrance of the Murray Canal. Distance: 75 miles rather than take the longer but more protected route on the east side of the lake - which was Plan A.




The water is still quite cold: 38 degrees. I'm thinking this is what produced the light fog throughout the 3 1/2 hour run across the lake. And it definitely made the trip colder (read: jacket, sweatshirt, long sleeved shirt, jeans and a hot pad for a glove - Steve's idea :-)  )

I'm very much a fan of cruising though even though it was cool - traveling 21 mph vs. traveling 8? Hands down give me the speed :-)

There were a number of flocks of swans along the way into the Murray Canal. I don't recall ever seeing them in this area though. Maybe something new ....

We arrived at Trenton a little after noon. Time to relax a bit! Or so we thought. The upper helm ignition switch wouldn't start the engine (turned it over but no starting) so it became a pain to start the engine from the cabin and then drive from the flybridge.

Not a big deal until you start going through 7 locks a day and the engine has to be stopped and restarted at every lock. So that was my job for the afternoon. Had to be fixed before tomorrow when we will again go through 7 locks in one day.

After cleaning all connections: still no go. My only other thought was it might be the kill switch - you know. Like on a jet ski or an outboard engine. If you fall overboard, the lanyard attached to you makes the kill switch stop the engine. So let's just bypass that .... never drove with it attached anyway - it just ran to the key. Big deal - so if the key fell overboard the engine would stop??? Dumb. Besides that was the problem so now it's not :-)

Steve thought the engine blower motor didn't sound right. Too noisy. Probably the bearings in the fan.

This blower takes care of removing any gasoline fumes that might have accumulated in the engine compartment due to a fuel leak.

Definitely a safety hazard to not be working. Must also be fixed before traveling slow through 7 locks tomorrow as the blower motor runs anytime we are not cruising at speed.

Found a marina a cab ride away that had one in stock. Replaced and done.

I'm thinking stuff like this happens when a boat sits without being used. At least I'm hoping that -- no more issues please :-)

Thursday May 28: Oswego - On Lake Ontario

 By the time we ran errands - including a trip to the local library to print a needed return slip yesterday, Guppy was in the water and awaiting our return!!

I can't quite figure out how it took us 5 days to get things done but then maybe we just weren't working all that hard. Time flies I guess.






It seems there are always last minute things to do. Most important of course is for Steve to restock the boat with supplies. Not that we are going to be very far away from store but you just never know!

The new 110 fridge is really a welcome addition. It means there is room for everything that needs to be refrigerated without having to use a cooler for extra space.

New inverter? Seems to be working well so far. It will be continued to be monitored until we're familiar with how well it works.

Funny how many things we are beginning to remember about how this boat works compared to the trawler. Lots of notes are a big help :-)

Finally this morning we moved out of the hotel and onto the boat. 6:30 am start time with a goal of being on the water and moving at 11:00 am.

One last breakfast out - at Fratelli's in Brewerton - best Italian bread toast ever :-)

One last trip to Walmart for Steve before turning the car back into Enterprise.

One last stop at the fuel dock to top off the tank for the run across Lake Ontario (about 100 miles) and we were off.


Travel down the Oswego River started out cloudy and plenty windy (as was evidenced by my being sideways in the next to last lock - yikes!!). As the day progressed the weather improved (as predicted).

By the time we arrived at Oswego after 24 miles, 6 locks and 5 hours, it was perfectly calm and so warm that we needed to put the shade covers on!

Settled for the night.


Score of the day for me? Steve finding a knitted stocking cap in case of cold weather!! It really helps with my not ending up with a sinus headache in the morning on cold nights.

The cap definitely improves my disposition in the morning so I think it's a win-win for both of us :-) So nice of him to keep looking out for me :-)

Dinner tonight? Cooked of course on the induction burner and Steve's new cast iron fry pans.

Wonder how long it will take me to de-season them? I'm thinking I may have to not do dishes when these are used, right?

Just ask Wendy if I'm safe around cast iron ....


Tomorrow: last lock above Lake Ontario opens at 7:30 and then it's off to Belleville or Trenton on the Canadian side of the lake!

Tuesday May 26: Funny How One Thing Leads to Another ....

So yesterday's plan was to get the new windshield on first thing - while ours minds are fresh, right?

But then if they are putting the boat in, we really needed to finish up the depth finder by using a marine waterproof adhesive to seal the screws that are drilled below the waterline. It needs to dry overnight. Ok - windshield is pushed to later. And while Steve's working on the new depth finder, he might as well get the old one off and seal the holes. And might as well run the new depth finder wire to the inside of the cabin while he's working with it. And of course there was the leak in the water tank that needed fixed while we're in the engine compartment .......

Some general sweeping up of stepped in mud so it's not all over the aft deck.

While Steve finished up the depth finder, I thought I might as well get the new inverter installed. First disconnect the old inverter from the battery. If I'm going to do that, I might as well check the connections on all three batteries and coat the connections with an anti-corrosive to keep the terminals clean.

A trip into closet (hanging cloths removed of course) is always on the agenda to deal with the inverter. I can get in but need Steve to pull me out!


And so the morning went. One small project leading to another which led to another. Next thing we knew it was time for lunch and our minds where no longer fresh! Put the windshield off another day.

Might as well break for lunch. Not too hard to figure out where we were, right? But a relatively healthy (which means low in saturated fat) lunch. Chicken sandwich (1.5 grams) and a small fry (1.5 grams) for a total of 3 grams out of my allowed 10 grams of saturated fat a day. Steve's salad is also a good pick.





Steve finished off his projects for the day by waxing the sides of the boat. It really made a big difference and will make washing the sides so much easier.

I spent  the last of my time swapping out a couple of the old plastic cabin lights with new led lights. Way more energy efficient and they actually put out enough light to read by :-)



Time to head back to our home away from home. Loved the song on Willie's Roadhouse as we headed back to our local motel: Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn's "You're the Reason Our Kids are Ugly." Where but on country radio would you hear a song with a title like that!!

Maybe we were just really tired .....

So we have the weekly rate at the BelAir Motel here in Brewerton. How can you beat a clean, homey place with a nice tub (good for soaking after the long workdays) and everything Steve needs to produce great meals: microwave, coffee maker and fridge!!

It really doesn't take much to make us happy :-)

Finally, today - first thing - put on the new windshield. It is plastic heated to form the curve needed to fit the round front of the flybridge.

Assemble all needed tools: drill, screw driver, screws, rubber grommets.

First: unwrap the bubble wrap and then the saran-like wrap from each side. Place the windshield and mark where to drill the holes.

Next put the small rubber grommets in each hole and screw the right side in place.

Alright!! Went well and that side only took an hour to do ..... Don't know how it could possibly take that long but we were being very careful.

Wouldn't be a good thing to crack it putting it on....

Repeat procedure for left side. Add the small center strip of plastic for the center and ....

Presto! Job done. Could not have gone any better. Really. It might have been one of the smoothest projects ever....

Until we were ready to head back to the hotel. And I find that I seem to have somehow managed to lock the keys in the car.


Fortunately, we are pretty good at breaking into locked cars - especially when Steve happened to leave his window open a crack.

Just needed a flyswatter and a pair of vice grips to unbend the wire from the swatter, form it into a hook on the end, guide it to the door lock by Steve (looking in through the driver's door window) - voila!

Another good day - Guppy's ready for the water tomorrow!!

Sunday May 24: Doesn't Take Much

I'm really just not a hard person to please. Give me a car with XM radio and Willie's Roadhouse and I could just live in the car :-) Newer cars often have XM for free - lucked out this time :-)

So we turned in our one way rental (pricey to drop cars normally) in exchange for one from a local Enterprise which we'll have for the next couple of days yet as we work to get Guppy cleaned up and ready to travel. No problem with the non-working EZpass - happens all of the time? Then why don't you fix it .... but I will definitely keep an eye on the credit card bill.

First thing (after breakfast of course at the Red Onion) Saturday we had time to drive by Pirate's Cove to see how Guppy faired.

Couldn't find the boat!!! Only until we returned later and asked Paul where the boat was did we realize that we actually drove past it twice. Totally covered and under the shed. When we left we didn't know if we would be back in 8 months or 20 months - depending on if we decided to do the loop again in Yesterday's Dream. Opted not to loop again (this year at least) but Paul made sure Guppy was totally covered and well tied for the 20 month option!

First order was to remove the tarp and get the boat uncovered. We were very happy with the good condition the inside (and outside) was in.

Way different than how the trawler fares in Florida.

Give us this northern storage anytime :-)  Of course that's only because it's so cold you couldn't even be ON a boat in New York for the winter.

No problem - we'll exchange a few days of clean up for the great weather for the 7 months of living on the trawler.

The insides were more messy than usual as we had removed all of the cushion covers so new could be made (major project for while we were in Banana Bay this year).

Couldn't wait to see how things fit. What a chore to get the covers on!!




Steve did a great job with the folding, stuffing and squeezing needed to put the new cushions covers over the old foam.

Overall? Quite happy with the results - especially given I was working with very old covers as a pattern. Some of the cushions still need the foam adjusted but that will come after they've been sat on a bit.

While the boat is out of the water, we're adding a new depth finder, changing out the zincs (only for fresh water the anodes will be aluminum), paint the outdrive (job for Pirates's Cove) and waxing the sides (by Steve - assuming he has time to do this).

A new 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter will be added. This will allow the 110-volt fridge to run more effectively.

But there is still time for play, right? A road trip to the casino about 45 minutes away. It was a nice place. Smoking and non-smoking areas. But the place was packed! Could hardly find a slot machine open ....

We even resorted to trying the smoking side - that lasted all of 5 minutes. Couldn't take it an longer. Sad that so many folks are just smoking themselves to a short life or a longer than wanted life being unable to breathe.

Really cool, though? We walked in and said "There's a Chihuly!" Thanks to our stop in St. Petersburg, we were able to readily identify this as one of his chandeliers. This particular one would have cost about $700,000.

Good thing we didn't leave having lost $$ - hate to think that is where my money went :-)

Tomorrow: a well planned out day - starting with mounting the new windshield. We are always at our best in the morning and this installation is something we want to do right!!