Soggy Bottom Girls

Day 331: Thursday, August 1, 2013

Port to Port: Percy Reach to Hasting (Lock 18)

Underway: 9:03 am Motor Off: 5:07 pm Miles Traveled: 26 Stayed At: Lock Wall

Mile 25 to Mile 51: The day started with a steady, warmish rain – just like what is did all night. No wind. No thunder. Just rain. We decided to go up with the first lock through – if we hadn’t, we would have had to wait until 11:30 am for the next opportunity and, by then, who knows how many boats would be waiting. We like our simple little group of three. So we cast off our lines and started the first in a quick sequence of 6 locks – only a mile or two between each one. The rain was falling straight down, the water was calm, the locks were ready for us each time and the girls got wet working out on deck catching the bow cable at each lock (the guys were able to stay fairly dry under our sun shields/biminis). At least we didn’t have to get up early to get cold and wet.

After a refreshingly quick 6 locks, the sun came out just as we were stopping in Campbellford to top off our fuel and get ice. Who do we find at the municipal dock but Irish Attitude, Harmony and Journey from Kingston. What a small world. They had stopped to rest and recover after Mike and Rick got sick. We never dreamed we would catch up to them again. (I am sure they will be passing us sooner rather than later but, at least for today, we aren’t the last Looper in the loop).

Campbellford was a memorable stop from our trip in 2002. The girls and I found a chocolate outlet store near downtown (it is still in business) and went crazy buying chocolate of all kinds by the pound. It was really cheap and really good. We had one problem, though. It was hot. As we walked back to the boat, the chocolate was rapidly melting. We went into crisis mode. We needed to save the chocolate. So we rearranged the food in the cooler, through some of it out (who needs food when you have melting chocolate) and put the chocolate in its place. We knew where our priorities were didn’t we girls? If I remember right, we still had chocolate left when we got home (even after we gave lots away to fellow boats and ate more than our fair share. I told you it was a memorable stop.

After our quick Campbellford stop (only a few chocolate samples courtesy of the Information Booth), we did another 3 locks and a scenic 3 hour lock-free run and found ourselves a nice place to tie up right before Lock 18. After cleaning the boat, we joined Carina and Never Say Never at a nearby Italian restaurant and enjoyed good company and so-so food (it always amazes me how some of these places stay in business).