August 13th: Back to Orillia

When we arrived at the Swift Rapids lock we decided to stay at the bottom. It was a comfortable day and the sun would be on the solar panels all day. The view from above is beautiful.

View from the top of the lock.

Ramp connecting the top and bottom

There is a long ramp with intermittent stairs for boaters to get to the top of the lock where the office and rest rooms are located. I walked up to get some pictures. You can just see Guppy at the bottom left of the ramp. The ramp gives a good perspective as to how massive this lock is.

Inside Swift Rapids Lock

Look at the people at the top of the picture for a size perspective of the huge doors which are partially open.  It is sort of ominous when inside and the doors close. It would be a long climb up the ladder if necessary!

View of the dam from Guppy

Sitting on Guppy we were able to get a good view of the dam. There has been very little rain so there was not much water coming down the tall concrete chutes. There was, however, an almost full moon with the reflection in the calm water.

This was a nice place to make supper on the camp stove. Always nice to have a picnic table. I made salmon pinwheels stuffed with crab meat, one of our favorites.

Tried fishing but there was no catching. Planned to get an early start the next morning.


The evening was quite pleasant including a nice sunset. The calm water made a very pretty reflection. Although we would have liked to continue sitting outside, the mosquitoes descended in force. Planned to get an early start the next morning. It was 27 miles to Orillia and we wanted to maximize our stay there. If all went well we could be there in time for a Chinese lunch takeout.




We made it to Orillia in good time, Chinese lunch.

The next day we wanted to check the distributor cap because the engine was not running up to cruising speed. I checked the cap and it had some grooves in the contacts. Decided to replace the cap and the rotor. Put the new parts on and tried to start the engine. Engine wouldn't start. Hmmmm. Took the distributor cap off and looked at the rotor. It was cracked! Did I put it on wrong? Let's try again. Put another rotor on and same thing happened.

Long story short it turned out we were carrying the wrong spare rotors. They looked the same as the old one but obviously were not right. I made two trips to the auto parts store trying to determine the correct rotor. Both times I returned with a rotor but neither one was correct. I did not want to crack another one. Fortunately, after the two trips to the auto parts store with no luck, we called Blue Beacon Marina. They were confident they could supply the correct rotor.

Blue Beacon is about 3 km away so I rode my bike. I was almost there when I got a flat tire. :-(  I decided to chain my bike up and walk the rest of the way. After a considerable amount of time with their mechanic trying to help me, he found the rotor I needed as part of a kit. I didn't need the entire kit but was happy to get the rotor. I walked back knowing that Lois, Cheryl's mom, was coming to meet us at the Chinese restaurant for lunch. I knew she wouldn't mind picking me up and going to get my bike. I made it back with the parts and waited for Lois. We went to lunch first, returned the incorrect parts to the auto parts store and then picked up my bike. It was enjoyable  spending several hours with Lois and hearing more about her growing up. Unfortunately, didn't think about taking a picture. Next year.

I decided to fix my bike, per Lois's suggestion, while she was still there. My first attempt failed. I was using a screw driver to replace the tube and accidentally punctured the new tube. Fortunately, Linda remembered there was a bike shop next to the Chinese restaurant. I went over, bought a new tube and the plastic tool designed for replacing a tube without puncturing it. Second attempt was successful.






We decided a good supper was in order. I made some of the great almond flour buns and we had beyond meat mushroom, mozzarella cheese burgers. They were great!






A short distance from our boat there was a floating oil catcher which catches anything bad coming through a drain pipe. It looks kind of like a big snake. Four juvenile ducklings decided to hang out there most of the time we were there. They seemed quite content to stay there even though many people were walling by. Very cute.



After three days, resupplying, completing boat repairs and bike repairs we were ready to move on. Our last night we saw a full moon rising above the horizon. It looked huge. Nice way to end our stay. We planned to stop for fuel the next morning, cross Lake Simcoe, travel through 5 locks and the Kirkfield Lift Lock and then meet Cindy, Randy, Liam, Mia, Gigit and Cricket on Margaretville in Balsam Lake. We knew it would be a long day but the weather was good and we were anxious to see our friends.

Last blog's wild flower: Canada Thistle:

Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) is a root-creeping perennial. Thickets of thistle crowd out forage grasses in pastures and rangelands, reducing crop yields and productivity. 

Considered noxious under the BC Weed Control Act, Canada thistle is commonly found on roadsides, cultivated fields, pastures, logged forests, riverbanks, and other disturbed areas. It is a major concern in the Peace River, Omineca and Skeena areas, and is a widespread throughout the province.

Canada thistle has purple or white flowers, with stalkless, spiny, dark-green leaves, growing to 0.3-2 metres in height at maturity.

Canada thistle spreads rapidly through horizontal roots that give rise to large infestation patches nearby and out-competing native plants. Canada thistle develops seeds sparingly and may produce 1,000 to 1,500 seeds per flowering shoot. Best adapted to rich, heavy loam, clay loam, and sandy loam, it grows poorly in shaded conditions, can tolerate saline, wet, or dry soils, but does not tolerate waterlogged or poorly aerated soil. Dispersed primarily by wind, seeds can also be dispersed by water, animals, clothing, equipment, and vehicles. 


This blog's wild flower: