Up, Up & Away

After a stalled start today, 'Boogaboo' was able to finally leave the dock this afternoon around 2:30 for SUMMER HOLIDAYS!! Ya, seems that Mother Nature was in a bit of a mood, as we had just gotten a pump out when a really strong storm hit. Good thing we were stilled tied up to the dock as it was pretty intense!

So, after waitng for the worst of it to pass, we headed out onto Lake Simcoe to see how things were. As it was, the lake was still quite lumpy, so we headed back to the dock to wait for the dark clouds to pass by.

Right now, we are in the Port of Orillia, spending the night and planning to carry on tomorrow to The Bay. Looking forward to doing the next three weeks up there & taking advantage of the new equipment (the dinky, inverter and the new $99 generator Anchor Girl picked up for me over the weekend).

Here's a shot of the boat at the dock - right before the time that we DID'NT pull out :-(

Speaking of Orillia and holidays, we will be ending our 3 weeks back here to catch the 'Elvis Weekend' at the Legion. If any if you are wanting to join in on the fun, I'd suggest that you contact the Port of Orillia to book your slip, as the boat and cottage show is also taking place that weekend, so things could fill up early;

Burnin' Ring Of Fire

This past Sunday morning we got lots of excitement with not one, but two fires at the marina - in less than an hour!

The first one started off with the women noticing smoke coming from the area where a few cars were parked - just across the lawn from our deck. After a bunch of speculation as to what the source was, I suggested to Graham that he go & check it out. Sure enough, it was a new BMW that had been parked in the same spot for at least two days (the owners had gone away on their boat for holidays). By this point, there was an increasing amount of smoke coming from it, as the wind was really blowing directly into the engine compartment (where the fire had started).

I started yelling that there was a car on fire & for someone to call 911. Sanja had her cell phone on her, so she made the call.


The above photo shows the car burning just before the firemen put it out. Kinda bizarre, as the car wasn't running & it wasn't that hot out. The thing just decided to start on fire all by itself. Can you say lawsuit?

Here's a shot of the fire guys extinguishing it;


Here's the aftermath of the blaze;


After that was over, everyone went back to what they were doing. Less than an hour later, a boat from our marina was going by with a bunch of teenagers on it when smoke started pouring out of the engine compartment!

Another boat pulled along side to help (it was the parents of one of the kids + owner of the boat that was smoking). Another shot of adrenaline, as me & Von Brauweiller starting yelling at the kids to jump off the boat!!

As it happens, another guy was going by in a dingy & he pulled up to the boat & a couple of the girls jumped aboard it & the rest jumped in the water to swim for shore.

Eventually, we got the boat pulled into one of the finger docks & the owner jumped aboard & got things cooled down. It seems it was the starter & battery cable overheating, hence the smoke. By this point, Sanja had again called 911 & the same guys from the fire department were once again dispatched to our quiet little part of Everglades Marina . . .


 Here's the hero of the day, posing beside Tim, the marina owner - whom she also had to call twice in that hour - & one of the firemen;

Finally, to make things easier for everyone, I made up this little sign and put it out front of our slips;