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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