Canadian Hospitality

 Thursday, 1 August – Blind River Marine Park

Partly cloudy, 60 degrees. Pretty calm in the morning (turned into nice day, but quite windy in the

afternoon). We planned to leave early to take advantage of the calm morning breeze. But the adventure started when the port engine would not start. Not even a click. Starboard engine started up without a hitch, but the port was definitely dead. I started troubleshooting, looking for a simple explanation. Battery was OK. Ignition switch worked yesterday, besides why would both upper and lower helms suddenly have bad ignition switches? I soon had my voltmeter out and the DC distribution panel apart. I waited for the marina to open to seek help. Daryl came over with his probe. We probed, measured, traced wires, to no avail. I called my friend, Ron – an electrician – and went through some good troubleshooting suggestions. Nothing seemed to explain the strange behavior. I went to the marine shop to see if they had a mechanic who could help. Their senior mechanic was on holiday until next Tuesday. While at the counter lamenting my predicament, I met Roger buying spark plugs for his outboard. “What’s wrong? he asked. “Do you want me to look at it?” After producing cards showing

he was a certified heavy machinery mechanic, I took him up on his offer. He was in town shopping with his wife, Brenda. While Charli took Brenda on a tour of the boat, Roger was methodically tracing the wiring from the battery to the ignition breakers, while I held a flashlight and voltmeter. Hard to believe how he fit between the boat wall and the port engine to get to all the wiring. Bottom line – Roger found that the cable coming from the battery to the starter was loose. Tightening that connection solved the problem. My hero! He wanted no compensation, taking joy in helping a stranded American. I talked
them into going to lunch – my treat – the least I could do. Thank you Roger! A great example of Canadian hospitality and generosity. Later, when we returned to the marina, we met Murray and Leslie on Big Blue, another Mainship 400 trawler.  Murray was from Waterloo, ON, and we were surprised to learn that he knew Barry (who will be renting our beach house this winter) from minor league baseball in Waterloo. Small world. And they gave us some clips that we were looking for – that fit on our 1.25 inch rails. Very gracious. On our last night in Canada over a glass of wine at sunset, we reflected on the nice folks we met in Canada – Peggy and her baked
goods and pictures, Roger and his eagerness to solve our problem, Murray and Leslie and their generosity, all the loopers, and all the docktail parties we shared with our new found Canadian friends. Thank you all! Life is good.