Ontario Canals here we come -2

[tribologist]

Le boats are probably cheaper than towing from AZ A week last minute rental is in the $3500-$4000 range. The boats are very nice looking.

We ended the trip with a two night stay at Peck’s marina at Ivy Lea . Arrived on friday at 2pm with cab waiting to take us to to Brockville train station Took the train to Montreal for $152 ea! Then a Uber to Marina du Nord east of Montreal. Drive back to marina sucked. Some sort of timewarp.. looked at gps every half our and noted we were 5 min closer…. The following day Saturday we cruised over to Boldt castle. 1000 islands are fantastic and Boldt Castle was a great experience. Was even able to get my hotdog Swedish style! Ramp at Peck’s was perfect and it was overall one of the best marinas i ever visited. Next time we do Rideau we will start there or possibly at Hurst Marina. Montreal-Ottawa was not that great besides the might Carrillion lock and Fairmont Montebello

[tribologist]

Even more swedish way to do hotdogs… bread AND mashed potatoes. Very much standard in a Albin 25 in sweden. The 12v lunchbox heater we got at a Love’s truckstop get a lot of use. Sweet&Hot mustard and ketchup!

[tribologist]

Misstake we made and nearly made.. planned to drive right by what might be the best town on tge Rideau, Merrickville, to stay in Smith falls. A fuel spill in Smith Falls saved us. The following day we stayed in Smith Falls rather than continuing to Perth. Now we need to go back to check of Perth.. Ottawa river was not nearly as nice as Rideau. Next time we would launch in Ivy Lea at Peck’s marina or at Hurst Marina and spend a full two week on Rideau.

[tribologist]

greenenvy.jpg

Lack of air conditioning in La Dolce Vita is one downfall to hot weather cruising. But at this point with all I've put into our boat adding A/C is not in the budget. We have a 9,000 acre lake 15 minutes

The AC is probably the thing i would spare no money or time to fix if it breaks. We have the Dometic 10kbtu unit. Doing it again i would buy the 6kbtu to get less cycling. It saved so many days. It was very hot the first week and we might have returned home if we did not have it. Possible we could have managed with some added fans but it makes a huge difference to get humidity out. The Dometic unit fits so well in the cubby for the heater. The only thing that is causing issues is to get it to prime. Im using the old toilet water inlet and its not low enough to allow the strainer snd pump to prime so i solved that by adding a tee after the pump with a hose and valve that allow me to blow it clear. At some point im going to move the intake to the rear bilge.

https://www.westmarine.com/dometic-6000 ... gLlPPD_BwE

[tribologist]

greenenvy.jpg

Lack of air conditioning in La Dolce Vita is one downfall to hot weather cruising. But at this point with all I've put into our boat adding A/C is not in the budget. We have a 9,000 acre lake 15 minutes

The AC is probably the thing i would spare no money or time to fix if it breaks. We have the Dometic 10kbtu unit. Doing it again i would buy the 6kbtu to get less cycling. It saved so many days. It was very hot the first week and we might have returned home if we did not have it. Possible we could have managed with some added fans but it makes a huge difference to get humidity out. The Dometic unit fits so well in the cubby for the heater. The only thing that is causing issues is to get it to prime. Im using the old toilet water inlet and its not low enough to allow the strainer snd pump to prime so i solved that by adding a tee after the pump with a hose and valve that allow me to blow it clear. At some point im going to move the intake to the rear bilge.

https://www.westmarine.com/dometic-6000 ... gLlPPD_BwE

[DesertAlbin736]

The AC is probably the thing i would spare no money or time to fix if it breaks. We have the Dometic 10kbtu unit.

We really are getting close to the end of our boat ownership days with my Admiral turning 80 yrs old next year in the fall of 2024. She had a very serious health issue hit this year that she thankfully recovered from but which was a real wakeup call that we're not getting any younger. So yeah, spending any more money on the boat than absolutely necessary isn't in the cards. We have other items still on our bucket list. It's been a great run with all the things we've done and places we've seen, and especially the great Albin people we've met since we first acquired our boat in 2014 (see my YouTube channel 72 Terramar Del Rey for some of that). At this point we're looking at a final run to NW Washington state next spring/early summer, doing Puget Sound, San Juans, Gulf Islands, and hopefully but not promised, attending one of the BC Albineer summer rendezvous. We don't need an air conditioning unit for that, nor do we for fall/winter outings on our local lake. After that laying up La Dolce Vita on consignment at a brokerage yard yet TBD. Was going to do that this year but just didn't feel up to a 1,500 mile road trip towing at 11MPG & $4+ per gallon diesel. Plus since it would be one way we'd have to take the mast rig, sails, and all the spares along with us & we got a late start on that & the needed touch up bottom paint job. I see Mike Almvig's A25 is still on the market, so that sale is going slow. Also the famous "Shatoosh", formerly owned by Hira Reid is on the market in Olympia. That's priced at $24,500 and mine has a better engine with single lever throttle/gear shift, better $2,000 Gig Harbor dinghy on lift davits, better looking hull (I''ve seen that boat in person & the hull was repainted & rougher than mine which still takes a mirror shine on the original gelcoat), plus I have the factory option sail rig, a better stern rail & full lifelines. The Rideau charter is still a bucket list item, but at least two years away.

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