WEEK 17 - Peterborough, Ontario to Midland, Ontario

We are very excited this week to be right on the doorstep of what for most loopers is the highpoint of the whole trip – Georgian Bay and the North Channel. This last week we finished up the Tent-Severn Waterway, including the lift locks at Peterborough and Kirkfield and the famous Big Chute marine railway. All told we got up to 840 feet above sea level before dropping down to the 609-foot elevation of Lake Huron at Port Severn. Our stops along the way this week were Young’s Point Lock (free dock), Bobcaygeon (free dock), Fenelon Falls (free dock), Thorah Lock (free dock), Couchiching Lock (free dock), and finally a night anchored out in Gloucester Pool before navigating the final lock of the Trent and entering Georgian Bay. The lock walls along all the Canadian canals have been great places to stay along the way – sometimes right in the middle of towns, sometimes out in the wilderness, but always convenient and best of all FREE (with your Parks Canada mooring pass, which we bought in advance before we left).

Leaving Peterborough, the big treat of the day was the Peterborough Lift Lock, which lifts a load of boats 65 feet straight up in a giant pan of water which is counterbalanced by a second slightly heavier pan, like a giant see-saw. Peterborough is the largest such lock in the world and is still considered an engineering marvel. After going through a closely spaced group of five more locks, we were ready to quit for the day at Young’s Point lock. So for the day we went just under 10 miles with 7 locks in 8 hours. Above Young’s Point Lock, we are entering “cottage country”, a group of beautiful little lakes with hundreds of tree covered islands, many of which have summer cottages built on them. The water is clear and surprisingly warm, so swimming is on the docket every day.

Preparing to enter Peterborough Lift Lock

Close quarters maneuvering

Secured in the cavern of the lock prior to being lifted 

Going up!

Top of the lock

The next day was 35 miles and four locks to Bobcaygeon, a very busy little tourist town where watching boats go through the lock is a major attraction. People were fascinated that we came all the way from Florida, and we explained a couple dozen times how we got there and where we were going next.

Passing through lake country on the way to Bobcaygeon.

Bella waiting for her walk

The following day was a short one, two locks and about 20 miles to Fenelon Falls, where we scored a coveted wall spot with electric and water. If you want one of those spots, it helps to arrive before noon, when the boats from the last night have left and before a fleet of new boats arrive. The early arrival gave us plenty of time to have a lunch in town and also get some laundry done and some other mundane housekeeping chores that are still necessary even in paradise.

BellaGatto on the wall at Fenelon Falls

Downtown Fenelon Falls

Amazing used book store and cafe adjacent to the laundry 

When we got underway in the morning, we transited the Rosedale Lock, which brought us up to the summit of the waterway at 840 feet above sea level. Still cruising through cottage country, we passed through some VERY narrow and shallow canal cuts. There is not enough room for two large boats to safely pass in these canals, so you need to make a Securitay call on the radio before entering. Now heading down, we went through second lift lock on the system (the Kirkfield Lift Lock) which drops us 49 feet down. Continuing through more shallow and narrow spots, including the Hole in the Wall Bridge, which doesn’t look big enough to pass a dinghy, we dropped through 4 more locks and spent the night on a lock wall at Thorah.

Securitay, Securitay!

Hello muskrat

Top of the Kirkfield lift lock

Leaving the Kirkfield lift lock

How does your garden grow? Beaver lodge.

Pretty as it is, we are starting to get lock fatigue and are about ready for this stage to come to an end. But today is also a big treat….the Big Chute Marine Railway! Not really a lock, it’s a giant railroad car that takes boats in slings on a big platform that runs on rails across a road and down a 58 foot slope. The reason for the Big Chute is that there is a giant granite ridge located there, and it was easier to go over it than to blast through it to build a lock. It’s a real thrill ride. That night we spent at anchor rafted up with Nomadic Spirit behind a little island in Gloucester Pool where we could dinghy the dogs ashore. A family of loons provided entertainment with protecting and teaching their young one.

Buddy boat Nomadic Spirit in the sling of the Big Chute

BellaGatto getting secured in the sling

Here we go!

The view looking back as we exit the Big Chute

A feeding Loon

This Loon was all puffed up trying to scare a kayaker away from his family

BellaGatto & Nomadic Spirit rafted up

A few more easy miles in the morning and we were at the last lock in the system (yea!) at Port Severn. A few miles of twisty channel later, we are out into Georgian Bay. Our destination for the next few days is Bay Pointe Marina, a nice facility in Midland where we will meet our next guest crew, Christi. It’s also time to do some major refueling and re-provisioning before launching into the wilderness, and this is a good spot for that. We will do some maintenance here as well, changing engine oil and fuel filters and cleaning sea strainers, etc. There is a Yanmar shop here at the marina, so we are going to get a tech to look at a couple of nagging little issues with the port engine.

The last lock on the Trent Severn. YAY!!!!

Next stop, Georgian Bay!

WEEK 16 - Picton, Ontario to Peterborough, Ontario

This week we did the first half of the Trent-Severn Waterway from Trenton to Peterborough, with stops at Trenton (marina), Trenton Lock (free dock), Frankford Lock (free dock), Campbellford (marina), Margaret Island (anchor), and Peterborough (anchor). Guest crew Patti and Dave joined us for a few days from Trenton Lock to Campbellford.

The first step to the Trent-Severn was to get the 40 miles from Picton to the waterway’s beginning in Trenton. This was an easy and straightforward trip up to the head of the bay of Quinte, where we stayed at the Port Trenton Marina, a brand new and super nice facility right in the heart of town. We did some major provisioning and took full advantage of the free washers and dryers at the marina getting ourselves all squared away for Patty and Dave, who will arrive tomorrow. We topped the night off with a free concert in the park.

Provisioning for the week

Free outdoor concert with the locals

Full moon rising at the marina

Welcome to the Trent-Severn Waterway!

The next day we traveled a whopping 1.4 miles to the first lock in the waterway and locked through and docked to the free wall on the upper side of the lock. This worked out well because: A) it’s free, B) it’s an easy place for Patty and Dave to find us; and C) we have a one lock jump an the big crowd of looper boats at Trent Port, so instead of being crammed in with the thundering herd at each lock, we will stay on jump ahead of them all day.

We made it to Lock 1 of the Trent-Severn

A beautiful end to a fantastic day at Lock 1

With our good friends on board we had simple dinner and talked about then next part of our adventure. The following day was another short one, only 5 miles to the lock wall at Frankford. Since we were the early boat there, we got one of the coveted wall spots with electric, a nice treat on a hot day. We took a walk into the town of Frankford, had a swim at the town beach, and then Patti whipped up a fantastic batch of jaegar schnitzel and spaetzle made from scratch that had us in a food coma by sundown.

Entering Lock 2, the Sidney lock, for a 20 foot lift

Patty scoping out the situation

Finally got to enter to lock after a delay due to high water
 from the adjacent hydro plant releasing too much water. 

BellaGatto on the wall

Joined the locals for a swim in the river.

The next day was 25 miles and 7 locks to Campbellford, where we spent two nights at the town marina. The marina is at Old Mill Park, which features a giant replica of the Canadian 2-dollar coin (the “toonie”), which was designed by a local resident. We also did a hike at Ranney Falls Gorge in Ferris Provincial Park and took in another free concert at the park.

Campbellford Marina is mostly just a wall with electric adjacent to Old Mill Park

The swing bridge at Ranney Falls

Exploring Ranney Falls 

Jayne, Jonathan, Patty, & Dave at Ranney Falls

Finally, it was time to send Patti and Dave on their way to Toronto and thence back to Florida, and we set out 25 miles and 5 locks to Rice Lake. With all this locking up we are getting pretty high now, over 400 feet above sea level, and still a couple hundred feet to go. It was getting seriously windy by the afternoon, so we looked for a sheltered place to drop the hook for the night. At Margaret Island we got out of the wind but got into some very thick weeds growing from the bottom in 10 feet of water all the way up to the surface. We got a good bite, but also got the props and rudders so fouled with weeds it required a dive in the morning to cut everything loose so we could get under way. We were rafted up with Nomadic Spirit, and had a great potluck dinner of ribs, sweet potatoes, and peach cobbler.

Jonathan clearing the weeds from the props of both boats

Steve and Janice clearing the chain of weeds

Rice Lake

Weeds all clear and we are underway

The next day the unseasonably hot weather we had had all week continued, with highs near 90 degrees and a lot of humidity. Just the sort of weather we left Florida to avoid. It’s not too bad when underway, but going through a lock is brutal, down in a sunny concrete pit with no breeze. We were ready to splurge on a slip at the marina in Peterborough so we could plug in and have AC, but they were full up. So we again dropped the hook, this time in Little Lake right near downtown where we could dinghy over to the action in town, but still get a nice breeze for sleeping. I have gushed over Canadian towns large and small, but Peterborough will be a bit of an exception…it seemed loud, tacky, and dirty and we decided to push on first thing in the morning.

Anchored near the fountain in Peterborough

Downtown Peterborough

By the end of the week we should be in Lake Huron!

WEEK 15 LOG – Ottawa, Ontario to Picton, Ontario

This week was spent largely wandering our way down the Rideau Canal, 120 miles from Ottawa to Kingston, on Lake Ontario. The canal system is both a Canadian National Park and a UNESCO world heritage site, and the design, construction, and operation of all the locks is done just as it was in the pre-civil war era when the canal was completed. We go through a total of 47 locks that lift us up to a bit over 400 feet above sea level, then back down to the level of Lake Ontario. Our stops this week were Burritts Rapids lock (free dock), Smiths Falls (marina), Colonel By Island (anchor), Westport (marina), Davis Lock (free dock), Kingston (marina), and Picton (anchor).

After 2 days in Ottawa with friends Debbie and Steve on board, we all started our trip down the Rideau (up, actually, since the first 33 locks will be lifting us). It was 39 miles and 9 locks to get to Burritts Rapids, and that made for a long, hot day. We were very happy to get a spot on the wall where we could plug into electric and run the AC.

Getting underway and bidding Ottawa farewell

Steve and Debbie on the fore deck as we enter lock 9

A quick flight of 3

The trip to Smiths Falls the next day was much shorter at 20 miles but has 12 locks to go through. Each lock-through takes 15 minutes to half and hour, and much of the way has a 10 kph (6mph) speed limit, so it takes a while to get where you are going. But the scenery keeps getting better and better as we go, and we are in no kind of hurry. Days are still about 15 hours long this time of year and with all the fresh air and sun it’s hard to even stay awake until it gets dark.

Nomadic Spirit and BellaGatto at Burritts Rapids

Beautiful morning at Burritts Rapids

Entering Smith Falls lock

Locking up into Smith Falls

Beautiful Sunrise at Smith Falls

The next day we got up into the Rideau Lakes part of the system. These are 3 big, deep (300 feet in places) lakes with hundreds of islands big and small, pink granite covered with pine trees and many with little fish camps and cottages on them. A few of the islands are parks, and we stopped and picked up a (free) mooring ball at Colonel By Island. We could see the bottom in 20 feet of water at our mooring, so we broke out the snorkel gear and went for a swim. The water was surprisingly warm, maybe 78 degrees. Following our swim, we took Bella for a nice 3 mile hike on the nature trails and then another swim to wash off the sweat and poison ivy. We had a great cool evening and saw the milky way clear as a bell that night.

Trail head at Colonel By Island

Team BellaGatto

Team Traxler

A boy and his dog

Colonel By Island

The next day we took a short side trip to Westport and stayed at a marina, since we needed to provision, pump the head, and do laundry (the mundane side of cruising in paradise). While there we couldn’t resist an ass-kicking hike up to the top of Foley Mountain. It didn’t look far from the marina, but half of it was straight up. There were clouds of biting horseflies to keep us motivated and moving along. Good times.

Foley mountain overlook (pant, pant, pant!)

Westport Marina

The view from Westport Marina

The town of Westport

When we left Westport, the first lock we came to was Newboro, the first “down lock”- we were now dropping back down to the level of Lake Ontario. We just went a relatively short way past there to Davis Lock, the most remote lock in the system, 10 kilometers from nowhere. Like at all the locks, the Parks Canada lock staff here was super nice, and they helped up get tied up and plugged in to the electric. We had time for a quick swim in the now 80 degree water before an impressive (even by Florida standards) thunderstorm rolled through. After the storm, the sky cleared up and we were treated to another great night sky with every star in the galaxy on display.

Jumping in for a refreshing swim

Steve casting a few by Davis lock

Scenes from Davis Lock area

By the end of the day the lock area was pretty full

Sunset at Davis Lock

In the morning it was on to Kingston, a pretty long day of 33 miles and 11 locks. The last lock in the system, Kingston Mills, is a group of 4 in quick succession on a very steep pitch. By then we were all ready for a break from locks – as interesting and historical as they are, they represent a lot of work for the crew, and we are glad to have Steve and Debbie along for the extra help. Feeling like we have earned it, we docked at the fanciest marina in Kingston and had a great dinner out at a top-shelf Italian restaurant (Casa).

While we're waiting to lock through there is plenty of time to get off the boat and look around

The water is pretty high in the canal system so when entering the lock chamber when locking down you are up to the tippy top

Final lock down of the day

Kingston, Ontario

Downtown Kingston

Farmer's Market in Kingston

After sending Debbie and Steve on their way back to Florida via Niagara Falls, Jayne and I packed it up and took it back on the road. Our goal is to get 80 miles to Trenton and the start of the Trent Severn Waterway (more locks, yea!) in time to meet our next installment of guest crew. Today was seriously windy, so we were glad to be in the mostly sheltered Bay of Quinte and we got as far as the little town of Picton, where we ran into our buddy boat Nomadic Spirit. They had found the only decent anchoring spot in the town, so we rafted up with them and had fun catching up and comparing notes.

  

Love this little guy, DeeO'Gee