5 am, Wednesday morning. "WHAT'S THAT NOISE?" Cindy ask me waking me from my slumber. I listen, then in my foggy state of mind I tell her it is just someone motoring around in the slips in their dinghy and try to go back to sleep. After all the stress of the past few days with the boat issues I was finally got a desent night's sleep and was not really wanting it to end at 5 am.
But as I laid there trying to go back to sleeep that noise remained constant. It sounded like the faint hum of an electric motor and water running. The water sounded like it was right behind our boat. That seemed odd as the fresh water spigot to our slip was up in front of the bow. Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks! That wasn't some one in their dinghy, it was our BILGE PUMP!!!!!
When we first started keeping her in the slip I feared getting a call at 3 am from the guys at the boathouse that our boat had sunk so I put in a automatic bilge pump just in case. Our boat does not have a true bilge area so it wound up in the keel locker with the hose ran to the stern just under the rub rail. It won't pump the boat dry but it might keep it above water till the battery dies.
I scrambled out of the V birth and put my feet down into 2 inches of water on the floor. I just dropped my head and told Cindy we had a leak. So for the next 2 hours we sponged and chamoised water up and dumped it overboard. About 7 am we had it dried up enough to see that the keel bolts started leaking sometime after I last looked at them at 11:30 last night.
I gave Russell a call at 7 and he asked if we were on the water. I laughed and said well were almost under water. " Oh No!" Replied Russell. After talking a few minutes Russell told me to get back to the lift and they would be waiting on us.
So back to the lift we went and out came the keel again. Cindy and I got some breakfast and checked out the LCBO store, liquor and beer all in one right where we turn to go down to the marina. We finally went back and resealed the keel bolts and put it all back together. This time we all agreed to just let her hang in the lift for 24 hours.
Cindy and I hopped in the big white semi and headed off to Little Current as I wanted her to get there one way or another. On the way there Cindy asked me if I saw the canoe in the tree? I was clueless on that one but she swore there was a canoe in a tree down over a guardrail. I mentally marked the spot and continued on.
We arrived in Little Current and found a parking spot big enough for our steed. We strolled around the streets of Little Current all afternoon checking out the shops, beach, and docks. The water around the docks was so clear you could easily see 20 feet down to the rocks on the bottom. No trip to Little Current would be complete without a stop at Knockerville ;-)
We stopped in the bar where the Cruisers net is aired from and got a beverage and snack. I finally tried the poutine which is french fries covered in brown gravy and shredded cheddar cheese. We had seen that on the menu at all the resturants we had been to in Canada so I had to give it a try. While it wasn't the worst I had ever eaten it would have been much better with white gravy.
After ice cream on the docks and a stop by the quilt shop before we headed north out of town. I had remembered seeing a sign for White Fish falls so I was curious to see if there was a water fall there. We followed the signs through a small town that looked like it was out of a Hollywood movie set then around to a road side pull off where you could just barely see the water fall.
Thinking there had to be a better place to see it from we drove on and came to a small park where we parked. We walked a short trail and then bingo! There it was! We had to take a couple of pics.
Granted, not Niagara Falls but still a pretty little waterfall. There used to be a mill there but it is long gone now. Wish I had my fly rod with me as I would have loved to try to catch a small mouth hiding down in the rocks.
We continued on back to Spanish but had to stop where Cindy saw the canoe in the tree. I passed it then turned around and went back pulling over close to the guard rail. There was no water anywhere down there so I was a bit perplexed where it was. Then Cindy saw it and pointed it out to me.
Yep, it was a canoe in a tree alright, about a 100 yards off the road and down the hill. How Cindy ever saw it still baffles me to this day as she can miss some things inches from her eyes LOL! Not only was it a canoe but there was a dummy sitting in it with a fake bear climbing the tree with a fake moose standing back watching. All those things Cindy did not see until I pointed them out. See what I mean? How did she ever see the canoe LOL!
We made it back to the marina at Spanish and made use of our slip rental with hot showers before returning to check on the boat. She was still hanging where we left her. The sealer around the keel bolts had skimmed over bit to be safe this time we were going to leave her hang over night.
Russell and Jean offered us the use of one of their camper trailers to spend the night in since lodging was not that easy to come by. We gladly accepted and joined them in the patio chairs till the skeeters told us it was time to go in. We retreated to our camper and played some cards before we both fell victim to heavy eye lid syndrome. It felt good to be in a bed that wasn't on a boat trailer or we had fear of waking up under water.
My beautiful lil cuddle buddy snuggled up tightly to me and soon we were both out like lights! I wonder what excitement tomorrow might hold for us???
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