Fun traveling today. After a good warm dry sleep I left Campbellford at 0900 and got to the Murray Canal at 1730. Sunny, light winds, temps in the high teens. I love lazy rivers like the Trent, and the locks break things up, though there are a lot of them on today’s segment.
I took a video tour underway from the flybridge. https://youtu.be/Pz4kTX3zNHk
I decided to try to limit my use of the thrusters. I left this morning with charged batteries, but have some power management issues.
I was traveling with another boat and on my best behaviour for the first half of the day. But they dropped off at lock 4, and it was just me and the roving lock tenders for the last three locks so I figured I could drive Mazurka style. I came into one a little hot and ended up a couple of feet from the wall and deliberately kicked my stern in rather than use the thrusters. All good except I wasn’t really fendered up for that.
Lesson learned. There is a now a second minor paint scratch on the hull. My first. I had a buoy sitting in the cockpit ready to hang over the side. But I’d become so accustomed to doing perfect landings using the thrusters I had neglected to fender up properly.
I’m now anchored just off the canal entrance. Met up with Samantha and Sarah for takeout dinner at the bridge then came out here for the night. Tomorrow I’ll head for Toronto.
Boating Adventures 