Chest Pains

The docktails (a cocktail party on a boat) began at 5 pm and were hosted by the Trent Port Marina Harbor Hosts, Eric and Karen, who are volunteers to assist Loopers on their journey.   We met some other Loopers and got Eric’s briefing on the 250-mile Trent-Severn Waterway, the next phase of our cruising.

My chest discomfort started mildly but soon rose to the point where I signaled to Molly that I needed to leave the gathering.  We made a graceful exit but I soon had to stop on a bench as the pain intensified, perhaps now a 7 on that hypothetical 10-point scale.  We both quickly agreed that I needed to go to the local hospital.  Could I, healthy me, be having a heart attack?

The pain was an 8 when the ambulance was called, and I struggled to get enough air.  Finally the ambulance arrived, and I do remember thinking that the EMTs should have jumped out of the vehicle more urgently then they did!  After all, this is my life here.  Molly sat in front and I was strapped in the rear, asking for oxygen.  The hospital was only a few minutes away, and I was quickly on an ER bed in the hospital.  Now my pain level was a 9, perhaps, the most intense that I have ever experienced.  They put a number of probes on me along with an IV that was used for morphine.  The ER doctor made a brief appearance, checked my vitals and called for a chest x-ray.

The results came back quickly – DOUBLE PNEUMONIA!  Yippee, my heart is fine!!  I was discharged at midnight with my antibiotic prescription.  Full recovery from pneumonia takes times, but I am now well on the mend.  We will never know how I got it although my swimming and cleaning canal dirt off the boat probably didn't help.  Molly has been a great nurse, but my privileged state is almost over!

Here Salty Paws is tied to a typical wall in a town along the
Waterway.  At each stop we like to explore and often talk to
other Loopers.

Campellford honors the work
of its local artist who
designed the Toonie,
Canada's two-dollar coin.

 We spent an extra couple of days at the Marina and finally entered the Trent Severn Waterway on August 7^th.  The Waterway crisscrosses beautiful Ontario and includes 44 locks.

. 

This is the only lock so far where we
have had to tie up to another boat, in
this case our Looper friend Zyg's
30-foot sailboat Domino.

The locks take any kind of
boat from jet skis to canoes.

 The canal waterways all have a number
 of  low bridges.  To transit, sailboats
have to take their masts out and carry
them horizontally using cradles
that are strapped to the deck.  Zyg
is doing most of the Loop solo. 

 After the Erie and Oswego Canals, locks have lost their excitement.  As one Looper told Molly,” there are two favorite locks that you will have” (Molly was listening in anticipation about some new upcoming lock) ----- “your first one and your last one!”

The lock operator is opening the lock door.

The locks on the Trent-Severn tend to be a little smaller and are much less automated than those in New York.  Many of the lock operators are young women.

These ducks entered the lock
with a purpose, feeding off
zebra mussels just below
the waterline when the lock
is empty.

The Peterborough Lift Lock.

Actually, we would add at least one more lock to the favorite locklist, the Peterborough Lift Lock, the world’s largest such lock.  Basically it is balance scale with each side being a vat that is,

Behind Molly is the piston
of one of the lift locks that
will go down when there
is more weight (water and
boats) in its twin lock.

perhaps, 50 feet by 200 feet and 8-10 feet deep.  The more weight that is added to higher side causes the lower side to rise until they switch places.  We are staying for two nights in Peterborough and walked up to see the lock before we have the opportunity to “float” up the lock.  In fact, it is so intriguing that I am trying to convince Molly to first do it in our tandem kayak.  Stay tuned!

A boat has entered the raised lock.

The operator added more water to the lock on the left and took
out a foot or so from the lock on the right and now the left lock
is going up and the right lock is going down.