TERI ANN: Peterborough, Ontario

7/15 & 7/16

It rained off & on all day. We only went through one lock today, #19. Luckily the sun come out for us to go through the lock. We had to wait for the lock operators who where over by the dam. They were putting timbers down into the spillway to slow the flow of water because water levels in the lake were getting too low. We were able to travel by ourselves today, and go at our usual cruising speed. We even went wide open in Rice Lake to blow out the motor a little. We went across Rice Lake, which is the second largest body of water on the Trent system. It is 20 miles long & 3 miles wide. The lake was a giant granary in Indian times and was named for the wild rice that grows around it's shores.

We went to the Peterborough Marina, which is in Little Lake and in the town of Peterborough. There's a giant water fountain in the lake. We plan to spend an extra day here to relax. There's a free concert in the park right next to the marina tomorrow night. Colin James is playing, and they say he is very famous in Canada. They expect at least 10,000 people to show up. We'll listen to the concert from our flybridge.

We were met by the AGLCA Harbor Hosts, Don & Freya. We were given a welcome bag with town info, Freya's homemade jam & invited to their boat for docktails where we met several other "loopers".

Al's project of the day was to make the autopilot stop beeping. We rely very heavily on the autopilot. Every time we hit the button to make a course correction it beeps. Over the whole day hearing all those beeps will make you crazy. (Al, more than me!) He decided to take the unit apart to see if he could remove the beeper. He was determined to stop the beeps. He took the unit apart & it's filled with many small parts & electronic circuits. He ripped out the piece that he guessed was the speaker. He put everything back together & it appears the problem is solved. We won't know for sure if it works properly until we take the boat for a ride.