We had a perfectly leisurely 19 mile run from Little Current through the West Bay to the bottom of Mudge Bay to Kagawong, another town located on Manitoulin Island. We were cruising along under beautiful blue skies, with 75 degree temps and minimal wind and waves and wondering why boaters in the North Channel were already ending their season.
Kagawong is a really small town off the beaten track with only a few transient spots in this tiny town marina, but in 2000 and 2001, it hosted a Looper Rendezvous when the marina was under different management. We’re here to explore as well as get our leaky Zodiac dinghy fixed. Do you remember on 7/25/09 when the pirates of Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River stole our dinghy, took it for a joyride, dumped it and it was luckily retrieved by the Duchess County Sheriff days later and returned to us? That was the incredibly good news; bad news is that it has had leaks since then and we finally found someone to help us repair it here in Kagawong.
But first, put yourself in the first picture----we were approaching the Kagawong marina while 10 kids were jumping off the dock wall. All of a sudden Captain Bob hollered out that the transmission was stuck in forward and he could not shift into neutral. He had already throttled back, but was still going 3 mph with no room to turn away. He had to make a hard right turn into our assigned dock as there was a swimming beach to the left and a dead end straight ahead. This is every boater’s nightmare—being out of control in a small area with the possibility of injuring people. Bob tried to shift a few more times and concluded that the only safe option was to shut down the engine.
I used my Mom voice which still works to yell to the kids swimming to get out of the way NOW, told adults in the area to help with this, and alerted the dock hand to the situation. Luck was with us as the SW wind increased which helped to brake us a bit, the fenders helped cushion the impact and Collin, the young dockhand, and I were able to secure the boat to the dock. It remained a good day as no one was hurt and not even a scratch on the boat—Captain Bob definitely earned his stripes.
Captain Bob then shifted into fix-it mode. He took apart the flybridge and lower station shifting mechanisms, saw that the cable had broken, but by cutting it, the lower helm shifter worked for a quick fix (tech heads can email Bob at bob1064@gmail.com for the detailed version). Without the required special tools, it will be impossible to fix both stations until we’re at a bigger marina. Fortunately, our little trawler works just fine from below so no need for delays and expense now, so we’ll keep on cruisin’.
Kagawong is a really small town off the beaten track with only a few transient spots in this tiny town marina, but in 2000 and 2001, it hosted a Looper Rendezvous when the marina was under different management. We’re here to explore as well as get our leaky Zodiac dinghy fixed. Do you remember on 7/25/09 when the pirates of Poughkeepsie on the Hudson River stole our dinghy, took it for a joyride, dumped it and it was luckily retrieved by the Duchess County Sheriff days later and returned to us? That was the incredibly good news; bad news is that it has had leaks since then and we finally found someone to help us repair it here in Kagawong.
But first, put yourself in the first picture----we were approaching the Kagawong marina while 10 kids were jumping off the dock wall. All of a sudden Captain Bob hollered out that the transmission was stuck in forward and he could not shift into neutral. He had already throttled back, but was still going 3 mph with no room to turn away. He had to make a hard right turn into our assigned dock as there was a swimming beach to the left and a dead end straight ahead. This is every boater’s nightmare—being out of control in a small area with the possibility of injuring people. Bob tried to shift a few more times and concluded that the only safe option was to shut down the engine.
I used my Mom voice which still works to yell to the kids swimming to get out of the way NOW, told adults in the area to help with this, and alerted the dock hand to the situation. Luck was with us as the SW wind increased which helped to brake us a bit, the fenders helped cushion the impact and Collin, the young dockhand, and I were able to secure the boat to the dock. It remained a good day as no one was hurt and not even a scratch on the boat—Captain Bob definitely earned his stripes.
Captain Bob then shifted into fix-it mode. He took apart the flybridge and lower station shifting mechanisms, saw that the cable had broken, but by cutting it, the lower helm shifter worked for a quick fix (tech heads can email Bob at bob1064@gmail.com for the detailed version). Without the required special tools, it will be impossible to fix both stations until we’re at a bigger marina. Fortunately, our little trawler works just fine from below so no need for delays and expense now, so we’ll keep on cruisin’.
