Top book on my list - The Shack

Thanks to Sara and Troy who loaned us their copy (its coming back soon, Sara!) I just finished The Shack by William P. Young. I also noted others are reading it too, now number 2 on the USA Today best seller list. In any event, this book is a phenominal work of art, a novel which explains God and his relationship to us like nothing I have ever read. Eugene Peterson (The Message) said "this book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress did for his. It's that good!"

We are just about finished with our unscheduled stay in Barrie, Ontario and will likely be on the boat again and on our way sometime tomorrow as we complete this leg of our journey on the Trent-Severn Waterway. Then we head into Georgian Bay and probably the North Channel.

Trent Frick, our Nephew needs a miracle

Transcending all of this is the news that our 35 year old nephew Trent, an architect living in Denver with his lovely wife of 5 years is in critical condition, just having come out of brain surgery to remove a malignant tumor(Glioma). But only one of the three that were there could be removed surgically. Trent has had this condition for 4 years and this has been an ongoing battle. Now it is getting serious as there are more tumors.

So we are asking everyone reading this blog to stop right now and pray for a miraculous healing for Trent. We believe in healing and have seen it in our own family. So please pray.

Thanks.

Another Update on our "Bump in the Water"

This is the damaged port prop the divers brought up from under the boat.

Then, to repair the bent drive shaft, we had the boat lifted out of the water.......

....and placed in the boat yard so the mechanics could work on it.

When the boat hit the boulder or something hard, it damaged the strut, the cutlass bearing the shaft and the propeller.

We should be back on the water in a couple of days. Meanwhile, we are getting to know more about Barrie, Ontario, about 60 miles north of Toronto.

Prop and Shaft Damage - Update

Well, the bad news on our running aground in the Trent-Severn Waterway channel is that the boat will have to be hauled (a term for taking it out of the water with a big lift) and remove the shaft which was also bent in addition to the port prop damage. We are in Fenelon Falls today, a bustling little riverside community, on our way to Lake Simcoe where the boat will be hauled. I will have pictures on the next post so you can see what the boat looks like out of the water.

I keep thinking what I would have done differently to avoid this. The answer is nothing, since we were inside the channel when it occurred. So we are accepting it as is. I'm not a person that generally believes in good luck or bad luck, but this seems to qualify on the bad luck side.

I've sent an email to the folks in charge of the canal system to see if we can get some consideration for their error in not properly marking the channel. However, I'm not holding my breath.

A Bump in the road (more like a boulder in the canal)

As we were nearing the mid-point of our Trent-Severn Canal trip through the province of Ontario near Peterborough, we sort of rolled over something firm on the bottom of the canal. Then a thud which sounded like one of the props hit it too. It did. So we have been in a holding pattern at the Peterborough Marina since Tuesday and it looks like our departure will not be until Friday at the earliest. The delay is caused by the time required to arrange for divers to go under the boat and pull the damaged prop and replace it with one of our spares. They are busy this time of year since it is when most props get damaged in these shallow waters.

I'll have pictures by Friday or Saturday so you can see exactly what happened. Meanwhile, we are planning our time to do some projects on the boat. The weather has been quite rainy the past three days so we are ready for some sunshine.

Sunday in Campbellford

We found this Assembly of God affiliated church about 3 blocks from the canal as we again headed for church in the rain.

Small church, yes. But the warmth of the fellowship of God's people and the message from the Word was so very genuine. Read about my interview with Ruth and Dennis at this church on my First Generation blog. The pastor has been there for 39 years.

As we were looking at the church bulletin, we noted they were promoting their family camp in Cobourg, Ontario. That struck a familiar note with Marlene, who confimed that it is the same camp that her dad preached at over several summers about 20 years ago. It is good to know that church camps are alive and well here in Canada.

Campbellford, Ontario, Canada

Marlene (AKA The Admiral) takes it easy after helping us get through 7 locks in about 4 hours. This is coming into Campbellford

Joy @ Sea docked in downtown Campbellford. Note the mast is in its lowered position because of the maximum height of 22 feet through this area (we are at 26'4" with the mast up)

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Kingston to Picton

Our plans are to get to the Trent Severn Waterway by Thursday, so this day we made it half way to Picton, a fairly decent size town on the Bay of Quinte. We were able to get a mooring at the Prince Edward Island Yacht Club for $10, then dinghy in to shore for dinner and to buy a large wrench to try to stop a small oil leak in the starboard engine. This is a picture of one of the many sailboats returning to port from a day in the Bay of Quinte

Touring Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Kingston was the first capital of Canada. There is a lot of history surrounding this city which is considered the sailing capitol of Canada. After our ordeal of the previous day, we checked into another marina in the heart of the city and had a huge breakfast of eggs, ham, French toast and pancakes. (made up for all we lost) The weather was spectacular as we toured the city on a trolley. They have both a Canadian Military Academy as well as a large (Harvard of the North) University in Kingston.

This steam engine and coal car were built right in Kingston. It's interesting that the railroad industry was so big here and in Oswego 75 years ago.

Oswego New York to Kingston, Ontario, Canada

We arrived at the end of the Canal System on Saturday and went to a small Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oswego, joined by a boater friend Tata who has a very interesting background in the plant business and a great testimony.

The weather had been rainy, but things cleared up for our planned Monday morning crossing of Lake Ontario for Kingston. The weather forecast called for winds from the South at 10 to 15 knots. This meant following seas, which is tolerable. This is not what happened. As we came out of the breakers from Oswego harbor, the winds were coming out of the West in the 15 to 20 knot range. This is called "beam seas", meaning the boat is rocking heavily from left to right as the 4 to 6 feet waves were rolling under us from port to starboard. Not expecting rough seas, we didn’t batten down the hatches like we should have. The first thing to fly off the counter was a goblet of over 200 tiny sea shells Marlene had collected on a beach with Lisa. Then just about everything else that wasn’t fastened down toppled over (chair, plants, fruit, candles, books, etc…)

Leaving the boat on autopilot, I went down to check on the Admiral who decided to ride it out in the main cabin. However, she was sitting on the bed in the aft cabin after having lost most of her breakfast. Being the strong one, I, of course had to keep my responsibilities as Captain and would have no problem riding out this inconvenience --- until after about 2 hours it became apparent that the Captain can still maintain control of his ship while throwing up ---- 3 times over the five hour ordeal.

We arrived into a welcoming harbor in Kingston around 3:00pm as it was beginning to rain. Both of us went to bed around 7pm and slept about 12 hours.

Canada Here We Come!

Plans are to cast off tomorrow morning from Oswego and head for Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It rained almost all of today but the sun is coming out as I write this around 7:30pm Sunday. So the weather looks good for the 50 miles across the big lake. Will post more in a couple of days.

Conquering the Unknown

CRUISE'N UP THE ERIE CANAL

One of the things about boating on a trip like this is the uncertainty of what lies ahead. A lot of the stories of those who have traveled this route center on things like when they ran aground or had some other calamity. I guess it's human nature to remember more vividly those times when things went bad. So even with our years of planning, there are those times of apprehension about a segment of travel, like going out into the ocean or crossing one of the Great Lakes or going aground. For the most part, the concerns have been overblown. I'm finding that problems usually arise when there is lack of good planning or the mind wanders when it shouldn't. Since we're only one third of the way around the Loop, I should probably hold my tongue. But the travel so far has gone real well. I think that is because we have a lot of good people praying for us. Thanks!!

Tonight we are in Brewerton, NY on the Erie Canal at one of the finest maintained boat yards and marinas I have seen so far. The day was beautiful following a 24 mile cruise across Lake Oneida. The Admiral and I went to WalMart, Target, and a great new grocery store to reprovision for our trip north to Canadian waters.

What We Expected vs What We are Experiencing

I asked Marlene today if this trip so far is what she expected. She said yes, generally, except there are more things to do and less free time than expected. My answer: I have spent much more time than expected planning our steps for the next day or days. I know generally where we are going but one needs to know specifically where and when to park this 38,000 pound rig every night. You can't just stop when you get tired and drop anchor. (I suppose you could but you could wake up on the rocks without careful thought) Also, the time needed to study the navigational part of the journey is fun but time consuming. Fortunately, we have had only minor mechanical issues so far, so that is a testimony to the quality and maintenance of the boat.

New Duties for the Admiral and Captain

After getting into the Erie Canal we are quite a bit more active through the day managing the locking-through experience. Here is Marlene holding on to a lock line from the bow of the boat. I'm doing the same thing from the stern. We have about 35 of these on the Erie Canal alone.

My duties have changed too. The Admiral gave me a list of things to buy at a grocery store about 2 miles away. Turns out I had about $60 worth of groceries in the two saddle bags of my bike plus a 24 bottle pack of water on the rack.

Fresh Water and no Tides till this Fall, but....

As we entered the Erie Canal from the Hudson River, salt water gave way to fresh water and the tidal changes we have encountered for the first 2000 miles of this trip ended, at least until we get back down to the Gulf of Mexico.

But a new adventure awaited us on the Erie: Locking through. That is a term to describe how our boat goes up and down a series of "stairways" to get over terrain of anywhere from 300 to 500 feet in this area. There are about 35 locks to pass through on the Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal before we get to Lake Ontario.

Last night we tied up to a wall and ran the generator in the town of Canajaharie, NY, home of Beech Nut baby food. Pictures will be on the next posting of this beautiful area.

More From New York

We spent last Saturday morning at Ellis Island with Troy, Sara and the kids. And the following Monday night, we anchored out next to the the island which is about 500 yards from the Statue of Liberty. Lisa and Jack were on the boat that night and it rocked a lot from the wakes of the passing ferries and other boats.

A waterfall underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. Maybe you've read about it recently. There are four around the Manhattan Island and Brooklyn area. My understanding is they are all solar powered.

Here we are with the Statue of Liberty in the background. So thankful to be in America. With all it's faults, it's still the greatest nation on earth.

Here's Marlene in NYC - Times Square area. She's been a great first mate on this trip. I just promoted her to Admiral. And yes, it is possible to live happily together on a 42 foot boat - but she has her space (aft cabin) and I have mine (engine room).

Our New York Stop with Family- Part I

Ruby Cate Groves is getting quite a personality. This was her newest thing as we were dining on the corner of Broadway and 50th in New York City.

Troy, Sara, Kirby and Toby in front of the Statue of Liberty. Sara had a concert in New York which worked out great for us to see them.

Then came another special treat to have Lisa and Jack join us for a few days as we started in Manhattan and went up the Hudson. This is on the Hudson River near Croton, NY. We didn't find any bodies. The dockmaster said this part of the Hudson is cleaner than a swimming pool.

Lisa and Jack on the East side of the Hudson river with West Point in the background.

We've been playing Mexican Train with a lot of our guests. It's a version of dominoes that is really fun. Lisa took first place and Jack was a close second as we finished this series.

On Our Way Up the Hudson

Had a great week in New York city with friends and family. Will have pictures on the next posting. Troy and Sara surprised us by bringing Kirby, Toby and Ruby along with them. It worked out that Sara had a concert at the Times Square Church in connection with the 50th anniversary of Teen Challenge, a very successful drug rehab program started by David Wilkerson. So we had a great time with them in the Big Apple before another grandson, Jack, arrived with his mom, Lisa, for a few days.

As I write this, we are docked on the East side of the Hudson river at Garrison, New York with a spectacular view of West Point on the West side. Lisa and Jack will be leaving us in the morning to get on the train back to Grand Central Station in New York City, and then on to the airport to fly home. It worked out that they could be with us for 4 nights on the boat to get a feel for the type of boating experience we are having.