August 16th: Caught up to Margaretville on Balsam Lake

We crossed Lake Simcoe with good weather. But despite having changed the distributor cap and rotor, we still could not get the engine to run past 3,000 rpms. That means we could not get the boat on top of the water, limiting our speed to about 16 mph instead of 22 - 25 mph. It also means we are not burning fuel efficiently.


We arrived at the entrance to the Trent around 10:00 am. Knowing we had 5 locks and one lift lock to go through, plus miles of man made canals provided motivation to get an early start. We came to the first lock and found it ready for us which is a great way to start.




 The construction crew was still working on the right hand side of the canal wall. There were some fun looking little vehicles hauling the rocks. Linda wanted to drive one that sort of looked like a tank!

The remainder of the five hand operated locks were almost all ready for us when we arrived. That made the trip quite fast.

One of the locks had this hand carved beaver on a picnic table outside the office.nThe lock master told us it was carved by a local wood carver and gave it to them several years ago. I told him I was surprised we never saw it before. He said this summer they decided to bring it out of the office and put it outside for everyone to see. Good idea!


After five or so miles of canal travel we arrived at the lift lock. As usual, it was very fast. Because one tub goes up as the other tub goes down boaters don't need to wait for the locks to fill and empty. We finally exited the canals onto Balsam Lake, the highest elevation of the Trent Canal System.

Relaxing on Margaritaville

We sort of knew where Margaritaville was anchored so we got out the binoculars and looked around. Sure enough we saw them pretty close by. We slowly came up to Margaritaville to tie up and Cindy motioned for us to be quiet. The grand kids, Liam and Mea didn't know we were arriving. They finally looked up from the back deck and Mea said, "There's Steve"! We tied together and relaxed for a while.



I know Liam and Mea like to kayak so I asked if they were interested. Absolutely. We came across a cottage that had three very life-like looking fake coyotes in the yard to discourage the Canadian Geese from coming into the yard. The geese can make quite a mess. I asked the kids if they could howl like a coyote. Probably a mistake. Not only were they able, but they could do it quite loudly. There was a lot of howling on the way back. Mea asked why I wasn't howling, so of course I had to join in. Although we were pretty far from the boats, Cindy, Randy and Linda said they had no problem hearing us.

It was a fairly long ride and Mea's 7 year old arms were getting tired. I tied her kayak to mine and towed her for a while. Liam thought that looked like fun so he tied his Kayak to Mea's and we had a little train going. It was actually pretty easy to tow them once we got moving.





The next morning Cindy took Mea in one kayak, Liam and I each went in our own and we retraced the kayak path. I assured Cindy I could tow them if she got tired. It was difficult for her to paddle with Mea sitting in front of her so she took me up on the offer.

Tied to the public dock in Coboconk

We decided to move on to Coboconk, which is a little bit off of the typical Trent system route. It's a nice quiet little town with a public dock which we have been enjoying for years. There is also a nice grocery store, hardware store and General Store that sold ice cream cones.

Mea and Liam

The trash cans were across the river close to the general store so I asked the kids if they wanted to come along. En route Liam spotted a large Kawartha Dairy Ice Cream truck headed to the General Store. Of course ice cream cones became part of the trip.


Close to the trash cans was this fun sign designating Coboconk as the Fresh Water Summit of the continuous navigable waters in North America. The explanation follows. In the serene waters of Balsam Lake, in the heart of the Trent-Severn Waterway, lies Canada's highest body of fresh water from which one can circumnavigate the world. Whether you travel west toward Lake Simcoe or east into Cameron Lake, both ways are downstream from Balsam Lake.

While there are two higher global navigable rivers, Balsam Lake is the only spot that gives the skipper the choice to go east to the Atlantic Ocean, west to the Pacific Ocean, south to the Caribbean Sea or north to the Arctic Ocean. What makes this most unique is the fact that from this point, one can circumnavigate the world, by seaworthy vessel, without ever having to travel on land.

After the Coon Rapids Dam, Mississippi River in Upper Mississippi (which is considered the limit of commercial navigation) and the Danube River where it connects with the Rhine Main Danube Canal in Kelheim Bavaria, Germany, the next highest point of fresh water in the world is Balsam Lake in the City of Kawartha Lakes.

The next morning we planned to walk up to breakfast. When we woke up it was raining. Waited a while, still raining. Decided we had umbrellas and we've been wet before so away we went. The breakfast was worth the walk in the rain

I told Randy, Cindy, Liam and Mea that there was a nice park close by. They decided to check it out. I went along and we walked past the post office on the way to a park. Outside we saw the most healthy flower basket ever. The basket was the standard size but the flowers were massive. Perhaps buckets of Miracle Grow? Canadians love their flower baskets. Virtually every small town has flower baskets that are watered regularly. Really adds some beauty to the streets.

As we got closer to the park we were watching the sky turn rather dark. Hmmm. It was just that kind of day. Perhaps we should turn back? Naw! As it turned out most of the storm went around us. We just had a few sprinkles.









Once in the park I found this sign about water conservation. There are many examples along the Trent of projects like this educating people about their wonderful natural resource.

Liam

Mia

A main attraction in the park was the jungle gym area. Liam was able to cross the overhead bars after a couple attempts. Once he got the hang of it (no pun intended), he was able to do it at will. After Mea watched Liam a while and learned, she decided to join in the fun. Both kids are quite physically fit.



The park also had an interesting approach to a teeter totter. Liam and Mea soon had it rocking back and forth.

Randy and I checked it out and it was very substantially built. We decided we should give it a try. We had a successful ride, no falling off nor injuries!

When we returned from the park, Linda told me our umbrella disappeared. I had wedged it between the fly bridge and back canvas to stop the rain from coming in. Guess I should have tied it. I looked over the side and there it was at the bottom of the river. Fortunately, it's nice and bright so I could spot it in the 8 foot deep water. I pulled out my goggles and was able to retrieve it.



The next day, we moved on to Rosedale Lock where Niki, Liam and Mea's mother, was going to pick them up to take them home.

While we were waiting at Rosedale Linda thought we should check the timing on the engine. Years ago we had a similar problem and found the timing was off. If the timing is off, the spark doesn't hit the gasoline at quite the right time. Fortunately, we had found a timing light at a flea market a few years back and we carry it.

Timing mark on engine

I was having a hard time getting my head into the spot where the timing mark is located. The thought occurred to me, take a picture! It took a couple tries but I finally got a good one.  As it turned out, the timing was right where it should be.


I decided to change the spark plugs to see if that would solve our engine problem. Some of them were somewhat fouled but didn't really look bad enough to cause our problem. We'd find out next time we were in open water.

One more chore while we were here. Last week, when Randy and Cindy were at Rosedale, Randy lost the small flagpole off the front of his boat. He tried to find it but didn't have goggles nor a mask. I suggested I give it a try. It worked out well that he was tied to the same spot on the wall as last week. I jumped in and found it on the first try! Another successful recovery at sea. It's now safely secured on the front of Margaritaville.

Nick, Liam and Mea's father, (not to be confused with mom Niki, pretty similar names) surprised us by showing up at the lock. He was making a delivery nearby so he stopped to say hi. Not having seen him for a week the kids were surprised and excited to see him. Niki showed up a short time later and the kids were soon gone. Things suddenly got a lot more quiet and relaxed. I think it took the four of us to keep up with the 7 and 9 year olds. We just recuperated the rest of the day.

Even Gigit and Crickett were worn out!

Rosedale Lock

The next morning it was a little cool and foggy but a beautiful morning. Rosedale is a pretty spot and the fog and rising sun made quite a picture.









Last blog's wild flower: Purple Loosestrife

This blog's wild flower: