Starting the "Trent"

23 July, 2018

We've been official Loopers for two weeks now. It's still hard to wrap our heads around that. We're slowly getting into our new routine of taking it one day at a time and not rushing ahead as fast as we usually did when we were on vacation... we are now "travelers". 

Checking for the next marker on Lake Ontario

The end of the Rideau Canal

We left Upper Brewers Locks and made our way down the Rideau Canal to Kingston (15 July). We took advantage of everything that was within easy walking distance from the marina to resupply a bit and also took advantage of the free laundry and showers at the marina!  

Sea Bee leaving Kingston, ON

There was another Looper boat leaving the Kingston Confederation Basin at the same time as us the next morning. We weren't sure we would meet up with them, but we took a few pictures anyway. We were happy to see them after our four (give or take a few minutes) hour traverse to Picton, in the Bay of  Quinte. The "Picton Harbour Inn" marina has new slips, and we decided to spend a second day (the price for the dock was very reasonable) and explore "downtown" Picton. The "Naval Marine Archives" surprised us by being so interesting! It is Free to visit, had air condition, displays, paintings, and books... We easily spent a couple hours there.

Arriving in Picton Harbour

Picton's Naval Marine Archives

Somewhere in the Bay of Quinte

Welcome to the Trent Severn Waterway Canal!

Before starting the "Trent" we stayed a night at the Trent Port Marina. The facilities there were "outstanding"! We were expecting something nice, and we were not disappointed at all. Everything was new and really well thought out! From the laundry, the showers, the canteen, the self serve herb garden... nothing was overlooked. I wonder if there is still room for seasonal boaters there??? We would seriously consider this place as our new summer port.

Gateway to the Trent Servern Waterway!

We went as far as Frankford's Lock 6 and spent two days there (this is one of the few locks that has power along the Trent). We've also had our 1st official "Dock tales" with Howard and June from Sea Bee, the Loopers we had seen and photographed leaving Kingston. I think we are going to enjoy meeting people as we travel along.  

I have to make a special note to say that there is a "Tourist Park" right next to the lock station here. They have a small campground, a Beach, a skate park and a Canteen.  Pretty nice for such a small community. Papi even braved the river and crossed it! I wish I'd had my phone with me to take a picture!

View of the Tourist Park "beach" - taken from the bridge

We carried on from Frankford to Campbellford. We've been here before, so we knew we would want to  take advantage of the "stay two nights and stay the third night Free". 

In one of the Locks

There we are, still the baby boat!

We worked on another project I've been thinking of - installing a canvas panel to hide all the stuff (bucket, bins & cleaning supplies) we store in the starboard side gunnel. Papi wasn't sure about it, but it turned out so well, he wants to do the same thing for the port side.

Before we added the panel

After - With the panel installed.

Papi had noticed that our trim tabs were not working when we went on plane to catch up with the other boats we were following (on our way between locks). They worked fine before, but now... nothing, only a bit of noise. After some investigating and a few nasty words, he finally figured out what the issue was. There was no hydraulic fluid left in the reservoir. Could this be the source of the red fluid we had in the bilge? Papi filled up the reservoir, noticed a hose with a loose fitting and tightened it. The trim tabs are now moving as they should! We'll see if the loose fitting was the cause of the loss of fluid in time. For now, all is good!

The artist who designed the "toonie" was from Campbellford

You cannot leave Campbellford without taking a selfie with the giant "toonie"

We've filled up the water tank, run our last errands here in Campbellford, and we're ready to carry on.

Tina & Papi

"In life, it's not where you go, it's who you travel with" 

– Charles Schultz