August 18 – Smiths Falls
44°53′43″ N 76°1′22″ W
Today was a layover day in Smiths Falls. We were going to take advantage of having a car & do some touring around the area as Ed has to leave for home tomorrow (Sunday).
Before we went for a drive I wanted to move Santosha a few feet to a different mooring spot. I also wanted to check the engine because I had to add a liter of coolant to the engine the day before & that was not a good sign – there must be a small leak forming somewhere. Hopefully just a loose hose clamp somewhere.
When I crawled down inside the engine compartment my worst fears were realized. The bilge underneath the engine was full of engine coolant. There was a major leak somewhere! A quick look around the engine with a flashlight revealed the source of the problem. One of the hoses leading from the engine to the hot water tank was laying against an engine motor mount & the constant vibration of the engine had worn a hole through the hose.
The hole must have started to leak a couple of days before & then finally broke through yesterday while we were en route to Smiths Falls. It’s a miracle that the engine didn’t overheat during the last segment of our trip!
Thankfully the hole in the hose was in a spot that was easy to access. We drove over to a nearby Canadian Tire store & picked up some supplies to make a repair. The repair only took a few minutes but the cleanup job in the bilge took a couple of hours hours!
After that job was done we went over to the marina building for a shower & headed out on our road trip adventure.
I took Ed to the locks at Jones Falls. It took us about 45 minutes by car. The same journey on Santosha will take me almost 2 days!
Photo below: the dam at Jones Falls. Amazing construction in the 1830s & still in service today!
After exploring the locks & the Hotel Kenny we returned to Smiths Falls. A crowd was gathering in the park beside where we were docked & a rock band was setting up their instruments. We were docked beside Smiths Falls’ first annual gay pride celebrations!
Thankfully the band was pretty good because in our location we had no choice except to listen to it – unless we were willing to leave the boat & go somewhere else until it was all over.
The hosts of the event announced that there was lots of cake left at the refreshment stand so Ed & I wandered over to check out the band & have some dessert!
Most of the people around the band stage & the refreshment stand were under 20 so Ed & I stuck out like a couple of sore thumbs but it was an “open to all” event, so why not, eh!
The cake was so good that we went back for seconds. Besides, the first pieces were pretty small.
Cheers!