WPSU

Friday, July 2, 2010

What This Boat Lacks

Insert caption to photo below:  Bill is saying "Darn, I knew there was one more modification I needed to make to OUR boat."

We docked next to this boat while we were in Peterborough.  Houseboats with slides are very popular.  Alas most houseboaters have not read "Chapman's Boating Etiquette" and can do all kinds of imaginative things while trying to tie up in a lock.

Here's a particularly nice houseboat--a house, on a boat!--decked out for Canada Day, which was yesterday. Canada Day is kind of like the fourth of July without the revolutionary fervor--fireworks and parades, but no harking back to glorious battles.  (All the newspapers were full of reports of the Queen's visit to Canada this week.  I wonder what she is going to do with my pepper spray?)  

One good thing about houseboats:  They are even slower than WE are.  We were cruising up Pigeon Lake yesterday, into the wind, with waves rolling at us, just one in a long line of houseboats, lumbering like elephants, nose to tail, up the lake towards the Canada Day celebrations in the little town of Bobcageon.  And, drumroll please: Dragonfly actually passed another boat! (It was very exciting, in a super slow-mo kind of way.)




3 comments:

  1. I've really been enjoying reading both your blogs. Your entries about engine problems reminded me of when my father was always working on the diesel engine of his sailboat. He is a civil engineer and the sailboat provided endless opportunities for keeping busy.

    It's great that you added solar panels and batteries. Do you know how much current the electric motor draws when you're traveling? Also, did you consider adding a wind generator on the boat? Here's a 48v one for marine use.

    http://store.oynot.com/aima48w.html

    Good luck on your trip.

    Chuck Paulson

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  2. Love the pictures! I think a diving board would be a great accessary for Dragonfly. Bill, watch this passing stuff. This is not Nascar!

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  3. Great idea about the wind generator, Chuck! And well in keeping with our sustainablity goals. We understand they work a bit better on sailboats, which have those nice tall masts . . . .

    Mary, you should have seen Bill pull us into the dock at the Orillia marina--200 slips, and it seemed like all the people on every boat were watching as he manuevered Dragonfly around a tight corner past expensive yachts with nary a back-and-fill. Nascar-worthy driving in super slo mo!

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